The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its
name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Occupation by Nazi Germany
in 1941 was resisted by various paramilitary bands that fought themselves
as well as the invaders. The group headed by Marshal TITO took full
control upon German expulsion in 1945. Although Communist, his new
government successfully steered its own path between the Warsaw Pact
nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In the
early 1990s, post-TITO Yugoslavia began to unravel along ethnic lines:
Slovenia, Croatia, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia all
declared their independence in 1991; Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.
The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new "Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY)in 1992 and, under President Slobodan
MILOSEVIC, Serbia led various military intervention efforts to unite
Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia."
All of these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In 1999, massive
expulsions by FRY forces and Serb paramilitaries of ethnic Albanians
living in Kosovo provoked an international response, including the
NATO bombing of Serbia and the stationing of NATO and Russian peacekeepers
in Kosovo. There are Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS)-led coalitions
governing at the federal and Serbian Republic levels, implementing
a wide-ranging political and economic reform program. The governing
coalition in Montenegro is seeking independence from the Federation.
Kosovo has been governed by the UN Interim Administration Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999, under the authority of UN Security
Council Resolution 1244.
Yugoslavia is slightly smaller than Kentucky. The climate in the north
is continental (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well distributed
rainfall). The central portion is continental and Mediterranean and
to the south the climate is adriatic along the coast. It has hot,
dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall
inland.
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