The Demise of Yugoslavia
A Political Memoir
Stipe Mesic, President of the Republic of Croatia
"Mesic's memoirs provide a valuable insider's
story of the collapse of the SFRY. The amount of detail,
the first-hand account of events and the portrayal of
the key personalities involved in the political struggles
of the time make this an essential contribution to understanding
how and why the SFRY disintegrated in 1991." -
International Affairs
A political memoir by Stipe Mesic, the last president
of the former Yugoslav Federation, and key witness to
the chain of events that would send the Balkan empire
toppling, aided by notable figures like Slobodan Miloševic.
Formed in the aftermath of WWI, Yugoslavia was founded
as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ("three
tribes of the same people"). But in the early 1990s,
following a series of violent conflicts on Slovenian
and Croatian soil, the two republics successfully succeeded
from Yugoslavia, which would later be followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Macedonia.
Mesic was member, later head of the Presidency of the
Yugoslav Federation from August 1990. His memoir details
an intricately woven storyline, which analyzes events,
personalities and motivations inside Yugoslavia and
its former nations, as well as in the international
arena. The narrative is rich with excerpts from Mesic's
personal diaries during times of heated conflict and
bloodshed. Extensive notes and a short chronology assist
the interested reader and scholar in disentangling the
complicated plot.
After years of relative political passivity, Mesic
was elected independent Croatia's second president in
2000, following the death of former President Franjo
Tudman.
Contents
Prologue; The Headless State; Sovereign, Independent
Croatia; The Belated Election of the Constitutional
President; The Joint Brijuni Declaration; Futile Cries
for Peace; Serbia Angry at the World; EC Declaration:
Serbia and Yugo-Army as Agressors; Peace Conference
at the Hague; Army Out of All Control; The Army of Crime
Loses State; Dubrovnik as the Estuary of Conscience;
Chronology of Events, Index
2004
422 pages
ISBN 978-963-9241-71-8 cloth $49.95 / €44.95 / £40.00
ISBN 978-963-9241-81-7 paperback $24.95 / €21.95 /
£18.99 out of print
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