Tracking the Birth Pains- 5 Significant Ethnic Conflicts of 2015
Conflicts Divide Nations Chapter 17 Section 1. Ethnic Differences Lead to Conflicts In recent...
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Transcript of Conflicts Divide Nations Chapter 17 Section 1. Ethnic Differences Lead to Conflicts In recent...
Ethnic Differences Lead to Conflicts In recent decades, many wars and conflicts
have arisen over ethnic differences Example: in Sri Lanka, Sinhalese Buddhists are
the majority Sinhalese nationalists forbade the use of the
Tamil language and made Sinhalese the official language
This and other policies led to a civil war between the Buddhists and Tamils
Tamils agreed to a ceasefire when the government agreed to negotiations over a separate Tamil government
Malaysia and Singapore
Malaysia and Singapore have great ethnic and religious diversity but little internal conflict. Both countries enjoy peace because they have tried to distribute economic resources and political power fairly among their ethnic and religious groups.
Peaceful Resolution of Conflict
In some countries, conflicts have been peacefully resolved
In Canada, the democratic government helped prevent French-speaking Quebec from seeking independence
Occasionally, residents of Quebec vote to decide if they want to remain part of Canada or if they would like to secede from Canada
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland was the scene of another long-term conflict
In 1922, the Protestant majority in six northern counties voted to remain part of Britain when Ireland became independent
However, many Catholics in those counties wanted to join with Ireland, which has a Catholic majority
Beginning in the 1960s, extremists on both sides turned to violence and fighting (religious conflict)
Peace talks dragged on for years as violence continued
Northern Ireland (continued) Finally, in 1998, Protestants and Catholics
signed the Good Friday Agreement, a peace accord that finally ended the violence between Protestants and Catholics.
Ethnic Tensions in the Former USSR
After the fall of the Soviet Union, any minorities in several former republics wanted independence
For example, ethnic Armenians fought for freedom against Azerbaijanis
The fiercest struggle occurred in Chechnya where Muslim Chechen nationalists fought to free Chechnya from Russian control
Russia crushed a Muslim Chechen revolt in the mid-1990s that killed many civilians
Both sides committed war crimes against humanity When a 1997 peace treaty failed, some Chechens turned to
terrorism and extreme violence
Yugoslavia Ethnic tensions tore apart Yugoslavia in the
1990s Before 1991, Yugoslavia was a multiethnic,
communist country The Serbs dominated Yugoslavia, which
was controlled by the Communist Party The fall of communism resulted in
nationalist unrest and fighting between Serbs and Croats in Croatia
Soon the fighting spread to neighboring Bosnia
Yugoslavia (continued) During the war, all sides committed horrible human
atrocities In Bosnia, the Serbs conducted a vicious campaign of ethnic
cleansing, the killing or forcible removal of people of different ethnicities from an area by aggressors so that only the ethnic group of the aggressors remains
Thousands of Bosnians and Croats were murdered in mass executions and placed in mass graves
Croatian and Bosnian fighters took revenge Croats launched an ethnic cleansing campaign to drive
ethnic Serbs from parts of Croatia The ethnic cleansing ignited painful memories of the
Holocaust In 1995, the war in Bosnia ended with the signing of the
Dayton Accords (peace agreement)
Yugoslavia (continued) Then, however, another ethnic crisis broke out in the Serbian
province of Kosovo Ethnic Albanians made up about 90% of Kosovo’s population The rest of the population was mostly Serbian In 1989, Serbian nationalist president Slobodan Milosevic began
oppressing the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo Milosevic wanted to exterminate the ethnic Albanians living in
Kosovo Ten years later in 1999, NATO launched air strikes against Serbia
to stop the ethnic cleansing campaign NATO air strikes eventually forced the former Yugoslavia to
withdraw its forces from Kosovo UN and NATO forces eventually restored peace through military
intervention and effective air strikes on Bosnian Serb targets
Slobodan Milosevic
Former President of Serbia who authorized ethnic cleansing campaigns against ethnic minorities in Serbia.
Milosevic was arrested and ordered to stand trial for charges of war crimes. Milosevic conducted his own defense in the five-year long trial, which ended without a verdict when he died on March 11 2006 in his prison cell in The Hague (Netherlands).
Milosevic, who suffered from heart ailments and hypertension, died of a heart attack.
Powerpoint Questions (13 points)
1. The war in Sri Lanka was between ___ and ___ (2 points).2. Which multi-ethnic society has avoided violent conflict? (2 points)3. What event led to nationalist unrest in the former Yugoslavia?4. While Yugoslavia was multi-ethnic it was dominated by the __.5. Who was Slobodan Milosevic?
Powerpoint Questions (13 points)
6. Define “ethnic cleansing”.7. What happened to thousands of Bosnians and Croats?8. What peace agreement concluded the war in Bosnia?9. In what break-away rebel republic did Russia fight Muslim separatists?10. Whom did Slobodan Milosevic begin oppressing in 1989 that triggered NATO intervention in 1999?11. What agreement ended the violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland?