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ost_uid0]Yugoslavia is an artificial country cobbled together after WWI from the Slavic-speaking areas of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The name means "south Slavs," more or less. After 70-odd years of being stuck in the same country, four out of the six constituent republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Unpronounceable and Macedonia) decided they were sick of being dominated by Serbia and declared independence. What followed was a decade of bloody conflicts in which the term "ethnic cleansing" was coined.
Such is an outsider's perspective. Nic can probably provide a more detailed (and accurate) synopsis.[/color
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