Yugoslavia covers mountainous territory. The backbone of the region is made up of the Balkans, a mountain range that runs north-south. Continental plate movement from the south has created an intricate landscape of plains, valleys and mountains. This led to intensive compartmentalization of the region. As a result, there were few low-level routes and those that existed became very important strategically. Most notable are the Varda-Morava corridor, which connected the Aegean Sea and the Danube, and the Iron Gates of the Danube, linking Central Europe and the Black Sea, that controlled much of the trade between the Mediterranean and Central Europe since

The period of Turkish dominance during the middle ages left a much diffferent imprint on the region. An alien religion, Islam, was introduced, adding to already volatile mixture of geography, politics, religion, and nationalism. The administration of the Ottoman Empire was very different from that of the Romans. The Turks did not encourage economic development of areas like Albania, Montenegro and Romania that promised little in producing riches. They didn't invest in building roads or creating an infrastructure. Greeks controlled most of the commerce and Sephadic Jews, expelled from Spain, had influence as well.

ancient times. Most of the populations have lived separated from each other geographically and culturally, developing very strong national and tribal allegiances. This region is a frontier between Eastern and Western European civilizations and has also been influnced by Islam during the Turkish invasion.

CONNOR, MIKE, "Kosovo Rebels Gain Ground Under NATO Threat", The New York Times, December 4, 1998, vol.CXLVIII No.51, 361

PERRY, DUNCAN, "Destiny on Hold: Macedonia and the Dangers of Ethnic Discord", Current History, March 1998, vol.97 No.617 pp.119-126

The events that started the most recent escalation of conflict took place in 1991. The first republic to express anti-Serbian sentiments was Slovenia. They felt that although they and Croats had prospered the most in Communist Yugoslavia, they were lagging behind Austria, Italy, and even Hungary. They saw the transfer of their profits to the southern republics as the reason behind it. During the 1980s many started calling for separation from Yugoslavia. Serbia boycotted Slovenian products in 1990 and this only intensified the hostilities. In 1991, Slovenians declared their independence. The federal army attempted to suppress the Slovenians, but was humiliated by Slovenian militia forces. From there, it spread to Croatia, who resented the Serb domination in government and the economy. All the previous conflicts, from Serbian-led atrocities committed at the end of World War II that surfaced in the 1980s to Croatian support of the former Ottoman lands in Yugoslavia that came to the fore in the 1970s, and others, greatly contributed to the Croatian resentment of the Serbs and led to their declaration of independence in the summer of 1991 (Poulsen, 123).

Give

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Croatia Serbian, War II, Kosovo Greek, Kosovo Serbia, Serbia Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia Serbia, Sephadic Jews, Ljubljana Latin, Albania Serbia, world war, world war ii, war ii, central europe, army moved, differences led, yugoslavia experiencing, former yugoslavia, eastern orthodox, ethnic religious, vojvodina macedonia, former yugoslavia experiencing,
Approximate Word count = 1579
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)