1999 Military Action in Kosovo and Yugoslavia

In order to understand the diplomatic and military situation in Yugoslavia in 1999, it is essential to understand Balkan history. The recent past, fractured by war and horror, can be traced to the now familiar collapse of the Soviet empire and the vacuum left by the death of Tito, under whom Yugoslavia had carved out a species of nationalist independence not available to such Soviet satellites as Poland and Hungary (Goldman 148-50).

The distant past of Yugoslavia is at once more complicated and more relevant to events of 1999. One analysis cites the abortive Fourth Crusade of 1203-1204, when Western European noblemen sacked rather than saved Constantinople and instead of returning all the way West appropriated as private spoils the residue of Byzantium: "Carved up into pathetic fiefs among quarreling barons and knights, the fabric of the ancient Empire quickly disintegrated" (Bradford 199). Over time, these fiefdoms, sharpened by rivalry between Orthodox and Roman Catholicism and between Christianity and Islam, were transfigured into ethnic entities.

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Approximate Word count = 936
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)