Tito’s Yugoslavia
In April 1980 Tito died and a joint presidency took his position, but the mounting national debt, political and economic instability led to the break up of Yugoslavia. By early 1991, nationalism among the various groups in Yugoslavia led many to form their own republics like Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia.
Although Tito had been very successful in holding the various national groups together to form Yugoslavia he achieved it through the extensive use of rights violations, imprisonment of political foes, and creation of a sense of terror in the general population. Tito violated many human rights as he carried out policies like imprisoning over 7,000 individuals who spoke out against his government or policies on the barren island of Goli Otok. Media were not allowed to travel there which allowed atrocities against the political prisoners.
Tito was dealing with a much divided population that had a long history of infamous tribal conflicts and ancient antagonisms, which was especially intense in the Kosovo Province. Kosovo is where the Serbians claimed the heart of the medieval homeland, but an Albanian majority made up 90 percent of the population and claimed to be the original inhabitants. They trace their heritage to the Illyrians that inhabited the area around 1000 BC.
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