Bosnia Reading Questions

1. What religious tensions existed in Yugoslavia pre-and during World War II?
The region was made up of eight different ethnic groups known as the Serbs, Croats, Muslims,
Slovenes, Macedonians, Albanians, Hungarians, and Montenegrins. They all had their
differences for centuries because their views on one another were suspicious. After WWII,
Yugoslavia ended up becoming six republics, with all mixed populations, creating a clash in
areas.
2. Why was Tito important in Yugoslavia?
He was important because he was a leader who kept all the area together as one. Nobody else
was able to keep the power of holding the region together the way he had.
3. What were Milosevics goals in Yugoslavia?
His goals in the area were to make everybody the same ethnic group. He disliked Muslims
especially, and wanted to make everybody Serb and E. Orthodox like he was.
4. Who did Serbian nationalists target in the Bosnian genocide?
They launched a war mainly going at the Bosnian Muslim population.
5. What happened in Srebrenica?
A war broke out where over 200,000 people died, due to the want of ethnic cleansing, and to
get rid of all the Muslim citizens in the area.
6. What does this this incident suggest about European leadership and the role of the UN?
I believe that this shows that it takes a very strong person to be a good leader and to keep
things running without major wars, such as this one. This war got very out of hand quickly, and
200,000 people had to lose their lives because of it. The role the United Nations plays isnt
always as efficient as it is supposed to be, and they really werent there to support this war the
way they had to have been.
7. Who was responsible for eventual peace in Bosnia?
Leaders of the three factions in the war signed a UN and US peace treaty.
8. In your own words, define ethnic cleansing
I believe that ethnic cleansing is the act of trying to wipe out an entire race, religion, or ethnicity
of people. Its the act of trying to make everybody the same.
9. How did the map of Bosnia look after 1995?
Serbian military controlled 70% of their nation. Also, by 2001 Bosnia and Herzegovina were
standing on their own as one nation.
10. Describe two problems Bosnia is facing today.
One problem Bosnia is facing is military invention to stop war. Also, another huge conflict
Bosnia faces today is the huge amount of refuges and asylum-seekers in the area.