Demystifying Genocide: an Exploration of Yugoslavia's Bloody Breakdown
On June 28, 1989, at exactly high noon, a helicopter descended from the sky upon the field of Kosovo Polje. From its doors emerged Slobodan Milosevic, Serbian politician and soon-to-be president of Yugoslavia. He mounted the stage, saluted the audience of one million, and set Yugoslavia down a path of bloody genocide not seen since World War Two. Six hundred years earlier to the day, cavalry, knights and infantry clashed on the same ground now occupied by Milosevic’s supporters. It was the Battle of Kosovo Polje , where, at the “Field of the Blackbirds,” Serbian Prince Lazar mustered his forces to fight a decisive conflict against the Ottoman Empire. By the end of that day in 1389, Prince Lazar lay dead, and the Ottomans proclaimed victory. It marked the beginning of several centuries of Ottoman domination over Serbia. “Slo-bo! Slo-bo! Slo-bo! Slo-bo!” Chanted the crowd before Milosevic. Prince Lazar’s bones were on display, having just returned from a pilgrimage across the c...