Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
After World War I (1914-1918), the state of Yugoslavia was formed. Yugoslavia
consisted of the republics of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia.
Kosovo remained an integral part of Serbia. At this time it is estimated that 64% of
the population were Albanian.
During World War II (1939-1945), Germany had conquered Kosovo, but it was
put under Italian control along with Albania. As the war neared a conclusion,
Albania and Kosovo came under German control. The Albanian community
increased as Serbs fl ed. In the aftermath of World War II, Serbs who had fl ed were
not allowed to return.
The end of World War II marked the beginning of the communist era in Kosovo,
as Tito (Josip Broz Tito: 1892-1980) came to power. Kosovo was defi ned as an
autonomous region of Serbia, under Yugoslav rule. Diplomatic ties to Albania were
cut in 1948 and closer ties built with Russia.
Albanian nationalism within Kosovo increased in the decades which followed.
Throughout this time Serbs continued to leave the region, and Albanians to move
into the region (Malcom
1998
).
Kosovo retained a high level of autonomy up to the late 1980s, with estimates of
between 80 and 90% of its population ethnic Albanian (Ron
2001
; Wilson
2009
). In
1989-1990 the issues arising from the disintegration of Yugoslavia resulted in the
abolition of Kosovan autonomy. Many of the regions in different provinces accused
each other of discrimination, violent unprovoked attacks and political repression.
This era was marked by a celebration of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of
Kosovo, during which the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic made a speech at the
Gazimestan monument (a tower built in 1953 to commemorate the Battle of Kosovo
which took place in 1389) to rally Serbian nationalist feeling. Anti-ethnic Albanian
sentiment escalated, Kosovan Albanian public servants were removed from their
posts, and a repressive society resulted for the next decade (Kubo
2010
). Kosovan
Albanians set up parallel systems such as education, medical care and a shadow
government, but were effectively cut off from the outside world.
When the international community brokered the Dayton peace talks to stop the
violence which had broken out throughout Balkan region in the 1990s, the issues in
Kosovo were not addressed. This led to frustration amongst Kosovan Albanians that
the non-violent resistance was not leading to change. During this time the Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) emerged. Opportunity arose to acquire previously unavail-
able arms from neighbouring Albania in 1997. This was due to the collapse of the
Albanian government following the collapse of a pyramid investment scheme. This
led to chaos, and vast quantities of looted arms and ammunition became available
(Kubo
2010
).
The confl ict between ethnic Albanians and Serbs escalated in 1998-1999. An
estimated 100,000 people were ethnically cleansed from the region within a few
weeks in 1999. Many people became the victims of genocide. Mass graves have
been discovered, and thousands of people are offi cially missing (Krähenbüh
2000
).
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) led a military campaign in March
1999 to drive Serbian forces from the region and end the confl ict. The confl ict
offi cially ended in June 2000. Kosovo was placed under the UN administration.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search