Former Yugoslavia is now the six nations of Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo. The six states that are now independent nations began to break away from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
Ethnic conflicts had been taking place within Yugoslavia since it had become a socialist republic following World War II. By the 1990s, the tensions reached an all-time high, and Croatia and Slovenia became the first states to secede. Violent fighting ensued, and Serbia soon followed suit, which kicked off more fighting between Bosnians and Serbs. Kosovo and Macedonia were next in declaring their independence. Montenegro and Serbia briefly tried to re-form into a new Yugoslavian republic but soon also split.
