Below is a brief walkthrough of the history of Yugoslavia from its roots as the post-WWI Kingdom of Jugoslavija, to the division of the Jugoslavs over support for Fascism or socialism, to the foundations of a dictatorial socialist power after World War II, until the total decay and collapse under the Serbian regime of Milosevic.

Kingdom of Jugoslavija, division during World War II, & the Republic of Jugoslavija:

In the 15th century, the awesome Jihad of the Ottoman Turks plunged the blade of Islam into the heart of the Balkans, conquering Albania, what is now Greece, Slavic Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, and had pushed Hungary and Croatia to their knees. This rule -- along with its often forced mass conversion and compulsory conscription in Istanbul's Janissary elite -- continued for nearly 400 years. To save the Slavic and Hungarian Christians from the Jihad, the massive German empire of Habsburg Austria annexed Bosnia, Slovenia, Croatia, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. Serbia freed itself on its own from Islamic conquest after two brutal wars with German and Hungarian support. These South Slavs (Bosnians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonian Serbs) united under common ethnic and cultural nationalism under the increasingly socially-unstable Austrian Empire. In 1918, with the closure of the war, the Treaty of Trianon forced Austria's and Hungary's forfeiture of nearly all of their land. Czechia and Slovakia (later merged as Czechoslovakia), Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Hungary became independent, and Serbia retained its independence throughout the war. These South Slavs quickly rallied under the banner of their common Slavic racial and cultural heritage behind the Serbian kingdom led by King Piotr I; in 1918, the Kingdom of Jugoslavija was announced after its name changed from the "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, & Slovenes" comprising Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbian Macedonia and Kosovo -- all centered at Serbia. This was not a socialist state, but rather a monarchical dictatorship. Again, to learn the exclusive complete historical and cultural relation between these Slavic Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats from 900 until today, read this article.

In World War II, Jugoslavija was conquered by Axis Hungary, Germany, Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria. The broken kingdom became split between the political worldviews of Fascist National Socialism and socialism or Communism. The destroyed kingdom was now a warground between socialist rebels like Marshall Broz "Tito" and Fascist sympathizers. Most Croats welcomed the Fascist invasion as a solution to Communist overthrow; Croatia became an ally of the Third Reich under the government of Ante Pavelic. Tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims (having converted as a generally-forced result of the Turkish Jihad) joined the Nazi SS elite (Schutzstaffel) due to mutual opposition of Jews, Communists, and Allied liberalism and atheism. The radical Islamist muftiy cleric of al-Quds (Jerusalem) offered support for the Axis and the Bosnian Muslim SS in their war against so-called "world Jewry" of the Allies, as he foresaw the coming creation of a Jewish state in previously-Arab Palestine. By the end of World War II, when it became apparent that liberalism of the West and Communism of the East would triumph, most Croats and Jugoslavs switched to support for a socialist ideal with support of the Soviet invaders. Under the banner of socialism, the Federal People's Republic of Jugoslavija was declared in 1944 when the Germans were withdrawing to fight the invading Americans and Soviets on both fronts. This was a socialist dictatorship centered in Serbia but with relative autonomy for each of its constituent republics: Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia. This socialist state thrived as a relatively peaceful state free of the Soviet Union's endless wars. Tito became a national hero despite being a dictator, as remains today. Tito set aside political disputes between Serbs and Croats, etc., and treated the South Slavs with relative equality via cultural and ethnic ultranationalism (unlike Milosevic, which caused the nation's downfall), but was far from the equality of the West: Albanian Muslims, Gypsies, and many Jews were treated as anti-social opponents to the states and either killed, expelled, or disenfranchised; Jugoslavija was a socialist Slavic dictatorial state only.

Wars of Independence/Breakup following Tito's death:

Near the death of the charismatic leader Tito, broad corruption, overspending, and infrastructural and economic decline became disastrous. As the Jugoslav government was centered at Serbia, "equal" constituent republic Slavic peoples affixed more and more blame to the self-interested and corrupt Serbs. Tito's death in 1980 exploited the hardships between these Slavic peoples. Jugoslavija was on the verge of collapse. To alleviate the economic hardship and to prevent internal schism, Serbia embraced a militant and expansionist policy, bolstering its strength via force and centralized Serb control. This had the opposite effect: constituent republic Slavic peoples saw this as Serbs taking more control than before for their own already-corrupt self-interest. As Serbia declined, other states therein also considered themselves drained by Serb economic decline, especially the coastal states of Croatia and Montenegro, who were often forced to send their exclusive port supplies and trade goods to the corrupt Serb elite to the east. In 1997, Slobodan Milosevic ascended to power as the president of Jugoslavija, but instead of embracing union and stability, focused on continued Serb centralization to alleviate internal dispute. One of the biggest problems was the violent Albanian Muslim minority in Kosovo and throughout the empire, who frequently fought for statehood (independence) via Jihad and terrorism especially under the Kosovo Liberation Army's Mujahidin (Jihadists). This is the source of Milosevic's and the Serbs' perceived slaughter and war crimes of the Albanian minority.

In 1999, the decline had become too apparent. The Ten-Day War for Slovene independence saw a short but bloody war by the Serbs to reinforce their political right to prevent internal schism by "traitor peoples". Croatia followed suit in the Croatian War of Independence, a horrific and bloody war in which thousands on both sides were killed, slaughtered, and displaced, leading to American claims of war crimes on both sides (despite this, Croat "war criminals" are today treated generally as cultural heroes). The war raged from 1991-1995. Bosnia followed suit in 1992 for its independence war, leading to a great deal of violence for both parties, especially due to Jugoslavs' hatred for the Bosnian Muslim minority that converted as a result of the Ottoman Jihad. In 1992, the new state of Macedonia broke from Serbia (though it was politically a separate state) for the first time with almost no violent resistance due to its uselessness.

By 1992 Jugoslavija was no more than de facto Serbia-Montenegro, though this would not be entirely apparent and recognized by the Serbs until 1995 or even later. The Muslim revolt of the Albanian terroristic minority in Serbia's Kosovo region -- as well as claims of war crimes in the revolting regions of Croatia and Bosnia -- caused the supporting US to bomb Serbia for several weeks via NATO. Eventually, as is retained today, the US exerts authority and political control of Kosovo via the UN, and supports independence for the volatile Islamic region despite the brutal rejection of Serbs, Russians, and much of Europe overburdened with Albanian Muslim immigration and crime. The overwhelming expenses and casualties endured by Serbia, US and NATO bombing, corruption, and total bankruptcy caused a new Serb (Jugoslav) regime to be elected by the end of 1999, when Milosevic was turned over to the US (NATO) for trial in the International Criminal Court for alleged (and reportedly true) slaughter of Croatian, Bosnian, and Albanian [rebelling] civilians during the many wars the Balkans have suffered from 1991-2000. As it quickly became apparent that the concept of "Jugoslavija" was entirely meaningless as it referred now to no more than Serbia and Montenegro, a new name was adopted for the personal union of the two as "Serbia & Montenegro". Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovenia, and Macedonia were now all independent states.

In 2006, further, Montenegro of post-Jugoslav Serbia-Montenegro resolved its political weakness in Serb politics (due to its tiny comparative size) by declaring independence, effecting the schism between Serbia and Montenegro; Jugoslavija had ended for good.

Kosovo's Islamic Albanian independence wars:

Albanians were once culturally-Slavic tribes occupying the hills of modern Albania. When the Jihad of the Turks came, they coalesced for the first time into their own state with a bizarrely-unique language formed due to isolation under the Christian hero Skanderbeg. The revolt failed, and within 200 years of forced conversion, over 70% of Albanians had converted to Islam. Their own kingdom under King Zogu after 1912 (having been liberated by Serbia, Bulgaria, and Western European allies) collapsed into Communism under charismatic and still-hero dictator Enver Hoxha, who seemed to apply a backward yet fully stable Communist state unlike most others. Outside of Communist Albania, however, Albanian Muslims are famous burdens for Greeks, Slavs, Germans, Italians, and other host nations where they are almost universally hated for poor academics, crime, rebellion, and southern Europe's primary source of terrorism and Jihad. Their violent Jihad against the Serbs (previously Jugoslavija) from 1990-today has left tens of thousands dead on both sides. Serbia suppressed the Jihad uprising of the Kosovo Liberation Army by what the UN and US call the genocide of innocents. For this reason, the US/UN-controlled Kosovo region (after Clinton's bombings throughout 1995-1999), where most inhabitants are ethnic Albanian Muslims, fights violently against the ethnic Serbs via terrorism and Jihad for independence, which the US supports. Nearly all Serbs in Kosovo have fled their homes to avoid persecution and murder by the Albanian Muslims, or so is feared. The US has also welcomed tens of thousands of Albanians fleeing from Kosovo under claims of asylum, where a minority actually continue the Jihad against Europe and America as seen in 2007 in the foiled Albanian terrorist attack on America's Fort Dix military base. To read the EHA's exclusive first-hand social and cultural profile of Muslim Albania from my exclusive vacation to the scarcely-toured nation, read this article.

As no independence has been achieved, and the oppressive and genocidal Serbs (as they claim) still dominate the Albanian Kosovars, the US is fighting strongly to force Serbia ultimately to forfeit nearly half its land to those they and many Europeans perceive as Jihadist terrorists. Russia and Serbia officially, as well as the Slavic and Greek public reject the independence of the Albanians. This has led to a major dispute between the US and southern and eastern Europe over the Albanians' independence movement. In May of 2007, the United States announced that the Islamic region could be given full freedom by "the end of the month." The radical far-right Serbian government, elected by the public largely for this very reason, firmly reject the movement. The US and its EU allies is encouraging Serbia to forfeit some 30% of its land with the lure that it will profit from EU membership and American trade.