The Yugoslav wars, a series of wars stretching from 1990 to 2001, are a string of conflicts that will live in infamy among people worldwide. The nation of Yugoslavia, founded in 1918, consisted of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and modern-day Kosovo (Formerly part of Serbia.). These republics united after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire, giving independence to the two south slavic republics of Croatia and Slovenia. Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, independent republics at the time, joined together with Croatia and Slovenia to form Yugoslavia, a union of South Slavic states. These republics were then, during World War II, occupied by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Croatian fascist party, the Ustase, ruled the nation and committed a large number of war crimes in Bosnia, which seems to be a trend for any ruling fascist party in the south Slavic states. This put a very large anti-Croatian sentiment in the air in Serbia, Bosnia, and other South Slavic states.

A major factor in the Yugoslav wars was ethnic cleansing mainly against Bosnian Muslims. Ottoman occupations over hundreds of years had put sour tastes in the mouths of the mainly Catholic and Eastern Orthodox southern Slavs, and the Bosnian Muslims were the main target of the Serbian military’s “ethnic cleansing” campaign across Bosnia. Instances such as these occurred in Srebrenica and many of the Serb-run death camps. These death camps had horrible conditions, and many died from sickness and starvation.

The first war, the 10-day war of independence, was the Slovenian army, fighting against the mainly Serbian Yugoslav army. It only lasted 10 days, and Slovenia got independence. Following this was the Croatian war of independence, a conflict lasting from 1991 to 1995. The Croats eventually gained independence, but with much more conflict than the 10-day war, in which they had helped Slovenia gain independence.

The Bosnian war is the second to last of these wars, which will live on in infamy among the minds of Bosniaks everywhere. This is where the biggest ethnic cleansing campaign began. Bosnian Muslims across the country were rounded up to die in death camps. This war was the most deadly of the wars, most likely due to the war crimes committed.

The last war, the Kosovo war, lasted from 1998 to 1999 and was fought between the Albanian Kosovars and the Serbs. This war led to the independence of Kosovo, which had been Serbian territory for hundreds of years. This war was the last of the Yugoslav wars, but the wars should never be forgotten.