During the free elections of 1990, all the republics had winning partys who aimed at turning the republic into the national state of the majority 'nation', thus ethnically defining the states and excluding minorities. It is clear to see that nationalism pulled together those who were of the same ethnicity, but divided those who were different. There was so Yugoslav nationalism- but nationalism of each separate state.The Yugoslav people moved away from the "brotherhood and unity" principle and became so incompatible as to make life together unfeasible.
What followed politically in the country was the message that the joint states of Croats, Serbs and others was not a viable option anymore and that the nations had the right to 'self-determination'. Already by 1991, Serbs had come to know a nationalist ideology that was exclusive of Croats, and visa versa. From the Serbian point of view, the Croats could have Croatia as long as it did not include any areas with Serb majorities. It was soon clear that Yugoslavia would disintegrate because of the separatist (supporter of independence) self-determination of the separate republics and their nationalist ideas.
Extract from "The Myth of Ethnic War: Serbia and Croatia in the 1990s" by VP Gagnon Jr (Page 9)
The driving force behind the Serbian fight for independence came from Milošević. He proposed the idea of a "Great Serbia"- a Serbian land where all the regions of Serbs could live unitedly. By coming up with the slogan "strong Serbia, strong Yugoslavia" he gained much support from the Serbian people. The slogan united Serbs, but divided them from the others. By using violent, aggresive political stratergies and speaking of Serbia's importance in the world, he appealed to nationalist passion and gained many loyal followers. He supported a centralized Yugoslav state, which would ensure the unity of the Serbs by decreasing the powers of the other republics, while others in Yugoslavia opposed this and called for a decentralization. He sent a message that most other Serbs echoed: all Serbs in the Yugoslav republics had the right to be united in a common state. Thus ethnic conflict arose as the Serbs sought unity and the other ethnicities sought independence.All the Serbs in Yugoslavia were united under the idea of unity for a "Great Serbia" which would lead to a "strong Yugoslavia".
"Milošević believes he now has the historic opportunity to, once and for all, settle accounts with the Croats and do what Serbian politicians after World War I did not- rally all Serbs in one Serbian state"
- Belgrade (Capital of Serbia) newspaper Borba, August 1991
On the other hand, there were violent altercations between nationalist Serbs and non-nationalist Serbs, who condemned the Serbian government and their actions. Serbs who opposed the nationalist ideals were reported to have been harassed, threatened and even killed. This was definitely a divisive force.
Serbian media at this time greatly supported Serb nationalism. It promoted xenophobia towards the other ethnicities living in Yugoslavia. Albanians were targetted the most and were labelled as anti-Yugoslav counter revolutionaries, rapists and a threat to the Serb nation. During the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995), the media promoted Serb nationalism, hostility towards Croatia and violence. The media was used as a tool to unify Serb thinking and dividing them from the other ethinicities.
A falsified image with the caption: "a Serbian boy whose whole family was killed by Bosnian Muslims", published by Vecernje Novosti during the Bosnian War. The image was actually painted 100 years prior to the war by Serbian artist Uros Predic.
After the wars, Yugoslavia was a disjointed country full of resentment and anger between the different republics and their majority ethnicity. Torn apart as a country because of extreme nationalists of each republic carrying out extreme violence, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing (genocide), yet each republic was united in a common goal and unified nationalist ideals. Some argue that the course of the wars caused the breakup of Yugoslavia, but Yugoslavia essentially collapsed when the separate and exclusivist Serbian (and Croatian) nationalism achieved politically, consequently making the joint state impossible and irrevocably divided.
