The Death of Yugoslavia

I couldn't get through very much of it as I clearly understood the documentary's agenda which of course is extremely obvious considering it is made by the BBC. It's the same reason why don't they do a doc series on the BIRTH of Tito's Yugoslavia- the greatest era by far for that region. Oh yeah because it doesn't serve the needs of Western Imperialists. Not even sure why I'm bothering with this western made crap.

This documentary series (of five episodes) is a painstakingly compiled and researched account of the extended mass-bloodshed which marked the end of the old Federal Yugoslavia and spanned almost the entire first half of the 1990's. It includes a huge wealth of news footage and interviews with involved parties both "Yugoslav" and otherwise. The only real "improvement" which could be made to this amazing achievement would be the inclusion of later developments in the Balkans since the program was made. This was indeed done in the late 1990's for a repeat showing on BBC television, but the addition of some even more recent events would help to complete this admirably detailed and fulsome piece of work. Perhaps another whole episode might be warranted? The very succinct title of this documentary was made all the more appropriate by the eventual abandonment of the term "Yugoslavia" by the now-named Federal Republic of Serbia and Montenegro - a much belated and formal admission of that which occurred years before.

This program is required viewing for anyone who wishes to know about this horrible conflict, it's causes and it's many results.

This is a great 5 part documentary narrated by Christiane Amanpour about the Origins and Results of the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. It starts out following Milosevic and his break with Communist Party policy by supporting Serb nationalists in Kosovo. Slovenia was the 1st republic to oppose him and broke off with a short relatively minor war in 1991. Then came Croatia with a rising nationalist mentality of its own led by Franjo Tudjman. This war was much fiercer as the town of Vukovar was annihilated. Then a secret deal was reached between Tudjman and Milosevic to divide Bosnia between themselves launching the genocidal war there in 1992.

All the leaders are interviewed including psychiatrist-war criminal Karadzic (no contradiction there--we know Nazi concentration camps were run by psychiatrists, and we know the destructive effects of the psychiatric industry on humankind). Also Mladic, the general handpicked by Milosevic to take over the genocide operation in Bosnia. Here we get all the main incidents, including the Belgrade debates and power struggles within the party, the Serb sniper at Sarajevo's Holiday Inn, and finally an in-depth look at what happened at Srebrenica. The UN went in there and made it a "safe zone" only to abandon it to Mladic and his mass killers. And as we speak Mladic and Karadzic are safe and comfy in Republika Srbska. --Update: the two are now in the Hague awaiting sentencing for genocide.

Also importantly Bush the Elder is shown with James Baker after his own wars in Iraq and Panama, saying they have no interest in Bosnia, since they didn't care about saving lives; only taking them. And then Clinton came and didn't do much either until the war was winding down in 1995.

If you are interested in the Balkan wars, then this documentary is a must. I still cannot believe that they actually managed to talk to the people who were the lead characters of these events. It is absolutely unique to hear every one of them speak about it, share their story and be filmed while doing it. Not many a documentary has managed this kind of scope and well spent effort.

Clearly, there will be truths hidden that the interviewees did not want to speak about, but one should not expect miracles. Even so, this is a genuinely fascinating documentary that anyone, who is interested in this region's history, should see.

A word of caution though, there appear to be a number of people on this board, disagreeing, denying and generally dissatisfied about any film that shows the conflict as it really was and, hence, shows Serbs in a less than a positive light.

Pay no attention, even to this day, there are people in Austria and Germany who deny the atrocities of WWII; most of these people can hardly be helped by a documentary.

Whoever translated the Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian portions of this program into English ought to be ashamed of themselves. There are so many instances where the meaning of the speakers' words is obscured or distorted. Here are just a few examples:

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Speaker: "They simply could not believe their eyes, how it could all have been filmed in the offices in which they were conferring…not conferring, in which they were talking about the heinous crimes that they want to commit."

Subtitles: "They could not believe their eyes! They had been filmed planning murder and treason."

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Speaker: "They have an ethnically pure republic, they have no territorial disputes."

Subtitles: "It was an ethnically pure republic - no Serbs."

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Speaker: "I asked him if they are aware that they chose war."

Subtitles: "I said: 'This means war'."

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Speaker: "Until then, I never in my life saw a man who was as scared as him. I think that in a period of 30 minutes, he went to the toilet 10 times. Most likely he got, uh, diarrhea or something similar."

Subtitles: "I have never seen a man so scared. He went to the toilet ten times. Perhaps it was something he had for lunch."

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Such shoddy translation might be acceptable for a Hollywood action film, but it completely ruined what could have been an excellent war documentary.