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Learn how ethnic and religious conflicts have torn nations apart. Explore the causes behind civil wars and regional disputes fueled by rivalries among ethnic, religious, and nationalist groups. Discover how historical events, like the drawing of borders by European powers, have contributed to tensions. From Sri Lanka to Chechnya, and from Yugoslavia to Kosovo, delve into the complexities of conflicts arising from discrimination and exclusion. Understand the impact of power dynamics on minority groups, ranging from peaceful resolutions like the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland to violent struggles for independence as seen in Chechnya. Witness the aftermath of conflicts and the ongoing challenges of achieving peace and reconciliation in divided nations worldwide.
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Why have ethnic and religious conflicts divided some nations? Civil wars and regional conflicts have complex causes. Rivalries among ethnic, religious, and nationalist groups have often led to these conflicts.
The European powers that drew their borders had little concern for ethnic, religious, or regional differences. New nations were created with culturally diverse populations. Often one ethnic group dominated. Many new nations were created after World War II.
In Sri Lanka, Hindu Tamils felt excluded from government; their language and religion were not recognized. A bloody civil war resulted. By contrast, minority French speakers in Quebec, Canada, have been able to work within the political system. Conflicts may occur when members of a group feel they have been treated unfairly.
Years of violence plagued Northern Ireland. Both sides signed a peace accord known as the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In 2007, a power-sharing government was set up.
Ethnic and religious tensions fueled conflict in Chechnya, a province in Russia. • Muslim Chechens were one of many minority groups in Russia. • When Chechnya tried to declare independence, Russian troops invaded, killing many civilians. • Chechens responded with terrorist attacks in Moscow and elsewhere.
Other former Soviet republics have had ongoing conflicts. • Minority Armenians in Azerbaijan have clashed with majority Azeris in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where Armenians outnumber Azeris. When they declared independence, fighting broke out. • In 2008, Georgia attacked separatists in the region of South Ossetia. Tensions remained high after the conflict.
Ethnic, nationalistic, and religious tensions tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Serbs, Montenegrins, and Macedonians were Orthodox Christian. • Croats and Slovenes were Roman Catholic. • Bosnians and Albanians were mainly Muslim. Before 1991, Yugoslavia was a multiethnic nation made up of many religious and ethnic groups. The nation was held together by a communist government.
After the fall of communism, individual regions began to break away, starting with Slovenia and Croatia in 1991. In Bosnia, fighting erupted among Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. This led to fighting between Serbs and Croats in Croatia.
With his aid, Serbs engaged in ethnic cleansing, removing or killing Croats and Muslim Bosniaks, to create ethnically “pure” Serbian regions. As the fighting spread, Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic aided and encouraged Bosnian Serbs.
During the Bosnian War, which lasted from 1992 to 1995, both sides committed terrible atrocities. • Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, lay in ruins. • NATO air strikes against the Bosnian Serb military forced both sides to negotiate. • The Dayton Accords, sponsored by the United States, ended the war. People in Sarajevo view therubble of their home.
When a small guerrilla force of Kosovo Albanians emerged, Milosevic rejected international peace efforts and increased his ethnic cleansing campaign. Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic began oppressing Kosovo Albanians in 1989. In 1999 NATO launched air strikes at Serbia.
Serbs protested, believing that Kosovo was a historic part of their country. Kosovo moved toward independence. Kosovo Albanians celebrated independence in 2008. A small NATO force remains to keep the peace.
