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Fully understanding the history of Yugoslavia is a task that few could ever hope to achieve. Some parts of its history are more well-known than others. Perhaps no single person is more recognized or has had a greater impact on Yugoslavia than Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic was the Serbian leader who is known, mostly, for having presided over the violent erosion of what was once known as Yugoslavia. This is a closer look at the man, the positions he took, the decisions he made, and his never-ending impact on the world.
Stanislava, a schoolmistress, gave birth to Milosevic in 1941. This, of course, was during the Second World War. He lived in a tiny town called Pozarevac in central Serbia. While his father was a deacon in the Orthodox Church, his mother became proudly supportive of Tito's Communists and their fight against the Germans. His parents did not stay together long, however. They separated while Milosevic and his brother were still very young. Perhaps the most difficult thing for Milosevic was the fact that both of his parents eventually committed suicide; first his father, then his mother (Tanner 36).
A great deal of assumptions can be made as to the state of his psychological well-being given such a childhood. The lack of care and parenting he received likely created the hardened emotional qualities that are present in so many natural leaders. His leadership qualities would eventually gain him fame and prestige. Unfortunately, the respect he built for himself as a leader would not last. His upbringing made him who he was and, no doubt, influenced the decisions he made. The world will not remember him for the wise choices he made, however, for the many terrible actions he took as President of Serbia greatly over-shadow the good.
In 1965, Milosevic married Mirjana Markovic. Milosevic found comfort in Mirjana's company. Mirjana had been his friend since childhood. Her childhood was nearly as sad as his own. Her mother was a Partisan and lost her life to a gunshot wound in 1942. Mirjana was then raised by her aunt, one of Tito's confidantes. This made Mirjana part of "the new class." She was associated with the blessed Communist Zlite (Tanner 36).
Mirjana Markovic, however, was not the only influential connection Milosevic had with the Communist Zlite. He became increasingly close to Ivan Stambolic. Stambolic, like Mirjana, was also a child of the Communist Zlite. Stambolic was becoming ever more popular among the ranks of the Zlite within the party's Serbian branch (Tanner 36).
Milosevic went to Belgrade University in order to satisfy his interest in the field of Law. It was after studying Law that Milosevic began climbing the ranks among the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. He did so using his Zlite connections; Mirjana and Stambolic. As Stambolic gained recognition, so did Milosevic. Before running Beobanka, the Serbian state bank, Milosevic was also put in charge of the state gas company. Before long, Milosevic had proven himself as a leader and found himself in the seat of the President of the Serbian League of Communists. This move might not have occurred, however, had it not been for Stambolic's new position as President of Serbia in 1986 (Tanner 36).
The following year, 1987, would be known as the Stambolic's presidency would be shaken. Unknown to Stambolic, Milosevic had been strategically placing people of his own amongst the ranks of the Serbian party and even in the media. On April 27, Serbian demonstrators were crying out to the leaders about harassment and abuse they received from the Albanian police. Milosevic saw the opportunity to become loved by the people and he took it. There, in the crowd of Serbian demonstrators, Milosevic replied to their cries. He told them, "you will not be beaten again." Naturally, Milosevic had his companions from Serbian television news there to film the entire show. That night, the footage was broadcast for all to see. The people loved him for what he had said. Milosevic's speech, along with his strategically placed allies, created a surge of popularity that put Stambolic to shame. The media became attached to the nationalist cause and efforts of removing Stambolic went underway immediately following the speech. Milosevic had all the momentum and took over the Serbian party. From there, his wish was to have all sections of Yugoslavia. He built up rallies for the Kosovo issue. In Vojvodina, a massive crowd of demonstrators, in the city of Novi Sad, threw out the leaders of the province. The same happened to the republic of Montenegro. The Albanian leader in Kosovo, Azem Vlassi, had no choice but to resign after Milosevic convinced other republics to send troops and police into area. Milosevic then claimed Kosovo and Vojvodina as part of Serbia. The nation of Gazimestan praised Milosevic for his actions (Tanner 36).
Although Gazimestan praised Milosevic, his popularity finally saw its limits. Milosevic deeply wanted to gain the rest of Yugoslavia, but the rest of Yugoslavia did not necessarily want him. His political outlook was not favored by the rest of Yugoslavia. Perhaps because of his lack of care as a child, he wanted to dump his views of Serbia, as the greatest nation in the world, onto the rest of Yugoslavia. He wasn't interested in selling the idea of Yugoslavia nationalism. Instead, the same media he had once manipulated revealed his strong Serbian allegiance.
In fear of this blind allegiance, Croats turned to Franjo Tudjman. Centuries of differences separated these two groups. It would have been a miracle had a massacre not occurred. Unfortunately, bloodshed did occur on a monumental scale. The Serbians were mostly Orthodox Christians. The Croats were mostly Roman Catholic. The Serbians had come from Ottoman rule and the Croats had come from the Hapsburg rule. Civil war was imminent. When the war erupted, violence overflowed into Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegovic directed the Muslim plurality in an attempt to keep the civil war from affecting the state. However, Milosevic and Tudjman proved too big for Izetbegovic to stop by gaining international support. Bosnia was pounded by war relentlessly for over three years. What occurred there during those three years will forever be described as ethnic cleansing. Around 200,000 were killed and millions were kicked out and away from their homes. NATO began paying close attention to Milosevic's power trips. NATO already held Milosevic responsible for instigating previous violence. Eventually, Milosevic really set off NATO when he attempted to confront the Albanians of Kosovo. NATO had seen enough. In early 1999, NATO rained bombs down upon Milosevic's Serbia. Factories and government buildings were reduced to ash in a Serbia that was wounded long before. Serbia was crushed. His loyal followers could no longer support him. Milosevic had to manipulate election after election, yet in the end, not even that could save his position. In 2000, everyone turned against him. Milosevic was kicked out of office and placed under house arrest. Vojislav Kostunica replaced him. The prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, saw to it that Milosevic was moved to The Hague in 2001 (Simons 34).
Some Serbs still love Milosevic. Many Serbs, however, hated him for the shame he brought upon the nation. He was eventually put on trial for war crimes. The trial itself was expected to last fourteen months. What resulted stretched on for four solid years. Milosevic used many techniques to juice the court of any time he could. One technique he used was to represent himself in trial. Also, Milosevic was in very poor health in his 60's. He refused to quit smoking and suffered from high blood pressure and heart complications. He used these things to his advantage and dragged the trial through the four strenuous years. All the while, the trial was televised in Serbia which he also used to his advantage. He portrayed himself as being an innocent man being forced to sit on trial for years by a monster of a judicial system that was doing nothing but burning hundreds of millions each year in court costs (Saunders B7).
Milosevic did not live to see the end of his trial. The report states that he died of natural causes in his jail cell. He was found guilty of 66 charges of torture, murder and genocide. Much confusion surrounded Milosevic's death, however. Marko, his son, claimed he had been killed. A few days before his death, Milosevic had even told people that he had been poisoned. Despite the suspicions and the confusion, U.N. authorities were completely cleared of any blame. There were no substances found during the autopsy that contributed to his death. In fact, there is much evidence that he refused the doctor's treatments and self-medicated instead (Amsterdam).
Dutch medical investigators found that a heart attack was the exact cause of death. Milosevic is now known as the "Butcher of the Balkans." Milosevic loyalists, on the other hand, held a candlelight vigil near offices of the Socialist Party to remember him. Women were seen kissing photographs of him. U.N. prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, believed Milosevic's death was a failure for them and the efforts to secure his conviction. However, she also believed all of the evidence presented would be enough to show the atrocities for the history books. Milosevic's death also buried much of the information about the massacres that only he could have given. In that sense, his death was a blow to justice and to the countless victims he left in his wake. Milosevic, no doubt, will be seen as the head figure of Europe's most grotesquely violent era since World War II (Nickerson).
Who was Slobodan Milosevic? He was a troubled, power-hungry man from a broken home. His leadership qualities and acquaintances lifted him to rule nations. His character, unfortunately, was not a good match for leadership. It was a recipe for disaster, but by the time this was realized, the damage was too great to ever be made right again. He rose to power using Serbian nationalist grudges and enforced his views of a mighty Serbia on all that he could. He created war after war in the name of Greater Serbia. He created violence with his own people against Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and all the forces of NATO.
The Berlin Wall crashed to the ground and Communism fell to pieces. What should have been a time of celebration for all of Eastern Europe was somehow tainted by the "Butcher of the Balkans." The Yugoslav republics were dealt immeasurable damage. Milosevic had left his mark. His mark was a bloody, gaping wound that scarred all of twentieth century Europe.
Works Cited
Tanner, Marcus. "Obituaries: SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC Ruthlessly brutal Serbian leader who presided over the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia." The Independent 13 Mar. 2006 : 36.
Amsterdam. "Heart Attack Killed Milosevic, Report Says." Los Angeles Times 1 June 2006 : 27.
Saunders, Debra. "Slobo's trying moments in The Hague." The San Francisco Chronicle 21 Mar. 2006, Final Ed. : B7.
Simons, Marlise and Smale, Alison. "Slobodan Milosevic, 64, Former Yugoslav Leader Accused of War Crimes, Dies ." The New York Times 12 Mar. 2006, Late Ed. : 34.
Nickerson, Colin. "Autopsy Cites Milosevic Heart Attack." The Boston Globe 13 Mar. 2006, Third Ed. : A8.
Evan Hart is a 23 year old full-time student at the Univesity of Oklahoma where he is majoring in Professional Writing. More than anything, Evan enjoys offending his English professors.
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