The History Book

326

See also: The October Revolution 276–79 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■

The fall of the Berlin Wall 322–23

T

he Siege of Sarajevo,

Bosnia, was one of the

most appalling tragedies

in Yugoslavia’s civil war (1991–

2002). During the 44-month siege,

the city’s food and electricity

supplies were cut off, and the

civilian population was bombarded

by nationalist Bosnian Serbs.

Thousands of Bosnian Muslims

were targeted and murdered.

A new wave of nationalism

Yugoslavia was comprised of

six socialist republics: Croatia,

Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia and

Herzegovina, Macedonia, and

Serbia, each with its own prime

minister and constitution. Overall

power in Yugoslavia was held by a

president, notably communist leader

Josip Broz Tito from 1953 to 1980.

After the 1991 break-up of the

Soviet Union, a nationalist revival

swept Eastern Europe. Croatia and

Slovenia’s call for independence was

opposed by Serbia, and Vukovar, in

eastern Croatia, was destroyed by

the Yugoslav army under Serbian

leader Slobodan Milosevic. When

Bosnia also declared independence

in 1992, the violence intensified.

Bosnian Serbs aimed to create

a separate ethnically pure Serbian

state, the Republika Srpska,

carving it from the new Republic

of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nationalist

Bosnian Serbs, supported by

neighboring Serbia, launched a

campaign to expel non-Serbs, and

during the Siege of Sarajevo, they

targeted the majority Bosnian

Muslim population.

The Bosnian War ended in 1995,

but fighting continued in Kosovo,

where ethnic Albanians began a

separatist movement against the

Serbs. Ethnically based nationalism

also led to bloody anti-Armenian

pogroms in the Nagorno-Karabakh

region and in Baku, the capital of

Azerbaijan. In Georgia, violence

erupted between the Georgian and

Abkhazian population.

The wars in Yugoslavia forced

the issue of the global community’s

responsibility to resolve disputes

that threaten wider instability

or cause unacceptable human

suffering or rights violations. ■

CREATE AN UNBEARABLE

SITUATION OF TOTAL

INSECURITY WITH NO

HOPE OF FURTHER

SURVIVAL OR LIFE

THE SIEGE OF SARAJEVO (1992–1996)

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Conflicts since the collapse

of the USSR

BEFORE

November 9, 1989 The Berlin

Wall collapses, leading to the

reunification of Germany.

1989 Romania overthrows the

ruthless regime of Nicolae

Ceau ̧sescu.

1990 In Poland, Hungary, and

Czechoslovakia, newly formed

center-right parties take power.

1992–95 The war in Bosnia-

Herzegovina results in the

death of some 100,000 people.

AFTER

1998–99 War breaks out

in Kosovo between ethnic

Albanians and ethnic Serbs.

NATO troops intervene.

2014 Fighting erupts between

Russians and Ukrainians in

eastern Ukraine.

US_326-327_Sarajevo-Sept11.indd 326 15/02/2016 16:45

327

See also: The Young Turk Revolution 260–61 ■ The establishment of

Israel 302–03 ■ The Suez Crisis 318–21

O

n September 11, 2001, a

group of Islamic extremists

launched a devastating

attack against the US. Two hijacked

airliners crashed into the World

Trade Center in New York; another

hit the Pentagon, in Washington,

DC; and a fourth plane crashed

in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000

people were killed.

The seeds of extremism

September 11 was not the first terror

attack on American soil by Islamic

extremists. On February 26, 1993, a

bomb was detonated at the World

Trade Center by men thought to

have links to al-Qaeda, a militant

Islamist organization. Some

Muslims had been radicalized and

adopted international terrorism

during the struggles over Israel.

In 1979, the Soviet invasion of

Afghanistan led to the worldwide

mobilization of Muslim militants to

fight the invaders. Around that time,

Osama Bin Laden formed al-Qaeda.

Intelligence reports suggested that

he was the mastermind behind

September 11. He was killed in 2011.

The civil war in Syria since 2011

and the power vacuum left by the

departure of US forces in Iraq has

led to the emergence of ISIS, the

so-called Islamic State of Iraq and

Syria, which has taken control of

several towns in the region.

The events of September 11

mark the largest terrorist attack

ever on US soil. Subsequent

attacks in London, Madrid, and

Paris, carried out by a diffuse

network of regional terrorist

groups, have added a chilling

dimension to the threat of

Islamic terrorism. ■

THE MODERN WORLD

TODAY OUR FELLOW

CITIZENS OUR WAY OF

LIFE OUR VERY FREEDOM

CAME UNDER ATTACK

THE 9/11 ATTACKS ( 2001 )

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Rise of Islamic radicalism

BEFORE

1979 The Islamic Revolution of

Iran replaces the pro-Western

shah with Shia Muslim cleric

Ayatollah Khomeini.

1989 As Soviet troops leave

Afghanistan, Saudi millionaire

Osama bin Laden forms

al-Qaeda to fight a new

jihad (struggle).

February 26, 1993 Al-Qaeda

makes its ambitions clear with

an audacious attack on the

World Trade Center, New York.

AFTER

2004 Al-Qaeda urges Sunni

Muslims to rise up against US

forces in Iraq. Bombings by

Islamic extremists in Madrid,

Spain, kill 190 people.

February 2014 Terrorist

group ISIS aims to create an

Islamic caliphate that covers

Iraq and Syria and spreads

its influence worldwide.

We love death more

than you love life.

al-Qaeda motto

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