VII. The Contemporary Period, 1945–2000 > B. Europe, 1945–2000 > 7. Eastern Europe, 1945–2000 > d. Yugoslavia and Successor States > 1999, March 24–June 3
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  The Encyclopedia of World History.  2001.
 
 
1999, March 24–June 3
 
After U.S. and NATO pressure on the Yugoslav government failed to slow Serbian assaults on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, NATO launched an air war against Yugoslavia. In a terrorizing Serb retaliation, hundreds of thousands of Kosovars fled to neighboring Albania and Macedonia. An estimated 850,000 refugees fled from the attacks.  1
 
June 9
 
After 78 days of air attacks by NATO, Yugoslavia signed an accord; Milosevic promised to withdraw his troops from Kosovo. Making peacekeeping efforts more difficult to manage, Russia insisted on participating in the peace deal while ignoring NATO jurisdiction over the matter.  2
 
June 11
 
An international force (KFOR) of 50,000 troops entered Kosovo; by Sept. 1 most of the Kosovar refugees had returned to the country. During the conflict, NATO had changed its intervention objective from that of preventing a Balkan war to that of stopping ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. However, throughout the conflict NATO withheld deployment of its ground troops out of concern that such an action early in the conflict might lead to international discord within NATO countries.  3
 
 
 
The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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