Question What is going on with all the fighting in Yougoslavia and Serbia? Why are they fighting, and why does this have to do with Milosevic? It`s hard to find answers as to why, rather than just finding out that they are fighting. What does the new government hope to accomplish, and why was the old government so bad?
Answer Lisa,
The fighting goes beyond Milosevic. It goes to the aftermath of WWI when Empires were carved up and people who historically did not get along were forced together. Now since Yugoslavia crumbled and new nations formed, people are trying to reclaim a stake of land of their own and other groups are blocking it. Religion has created trouble in the region since the 1300s. Islam suppressed Christianity there by way of the Ottoman Empire. Many local Slavs (like Bosnian Muslims) converted under Ottoman rule. Eventhough they are ethnically the same as Croats and Serbs they are viewed as traitors and they can't be trusted in many's eyes because they were often the ones responsible to carry out Ottoman policies of taxation, punishment, etc. Add a new and weak government and financial instability and you get the mess we have. A crazy ex-communist dictator makes things out of control and that is what you had with Milosevic. So people fight over long standing historical differences and a new found sense to create a place (nation) of their own... trouble is decades of mixture as Yugoslavia made it difficult since there are not obvious borders. The new government hopes to first and foremost be something democratic and representative. Something the old regime was not - rather it was just a bunch of radicals supporting a nut. Milosevic sought to keep land together that was already apart and had an independent history (Bosnia). He used genocide against those who are developing that other area as an autonomous region because he had no respect for life since they were different from him. Seriously, he is not all together there. His son is known to drive around Belgrade drinking, with guns and girls in a flashy sports car drugging up and his daughter is a bit of a call her. NOT A MODEL FAMILY OR MAN. The new government hopes to recognize the needs of the people (even if some are ethnically mixed), try to find out what can be done to ease or solve the problems (not by killing or removing some people as a means), and to set up a fair and efficient government. It will be a tough job just because people have historically not gotten along there.
