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Flip to reveal answersWhere is Kosovo, and who are most of its people?
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All 12 Flashcards — Causes of the war in Kosovo
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Question
Where is Kosovo, and who are most of its people?
Answer
A small region in south-east Europe (the Balkans) whose people are mostly ethnic Albanians, but which Serbia sees as its historic heartland.
Question
Define autonomy.
Answer
The right of a region to run many of its own affairs within a larger state.
Question
What happened to Kosovo's autonomy in 1989?
Answer
Serbia, under Milošević, revoked Kosovo's autonomy and ruled it directly from Belgrade — the trigger of the crisis.
Question
Who was Slobodan Milošević?
Answer
The Serbian leader from the late 1980s who built power on Serbian nationalism and ended Kosovo's self-rule; later tried for war crimes.
Question
What was the Gazimestan speech (1989)?
Answer
A nationalist speech Milošević gave in Kosovo on the 600th anniversary of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, hinting at future 'battles'.
Question
Who was Ibrahim Rugova?
Answer
The Albanian leader who urged peaceful, non-violent resistance in the 1990s and built a 'parallel state' of Albanian schools and clinics.
Question
Why did peaceful protest fail?
Answer
Rugova's non-violence won no real change, and the 1995 Dayton Agreement ended Bosnia's war but ignored Kosovo entirely.
Question
What was the KLA?
Answer
The Kosovo Liberation Army, an armed Albanian group that attacked Serbian police from about 1996, triggering harsh Serbian reprisals.
Question
What was the Drenica attack of 1998?
Answer
A Serbian offensive in the Drenica region that killed dozens of the Jashari family and turned the insurgency into open war.
Question
Name the three stages that led to war (L-P-A).
Answer
Loss of self-rule (1989), Peaceful protest that failed, and the Armed rising by the KLA.
Question
Long-term cause vs trigger of the Kosovo war?
Answer
Long-term: deep Serb–Albanian nationalist rivalry. Trigger: the 1989 removal of Kosovo's autonomy.
Question
What does the command term 'evaluate' require?
Answer
A judgement: weigh the causes against each other and reach a supported conclusion — not just a list.
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Full study notes for Causes of the war in Kosovo
Topic 5.2 hub
Kosovo (1989–2002)
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