The Demise of Yugoslavia

A political memoir by Stipe Mesic, the last president of the former Yugoslav Federation, and key witness to the chain of events that would send the Balkan empire toppling, aided by notable figures like Slobodan Miloševic.

Formed in the aftermath of WWI, Yugoslavia was founded as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ("three tribes of the same people"). But in the early 1990s, following a series of violent conflicts on Slovenian and Croatian soil, the two republics successfully succeeded from Yugoslavia, which would later be followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia.

Mesic was member, later head of the Presidency of the Yugoslav Federation from August 1990. His memoir details an intricately woven storyline, which analyzes events, personalities and motivations inside Yugoslavia and its former nations, as well as in the international arena. The narrative is rich with excerpts from Mesic's personal diaries during times of heated conflict and bloodshed. Extensive notes and a short chronology assist the interested reader and scholar in disentangling the complicated plot.

After years of relative political passivity, Mesic was elected independent Croatia's second president in 2000, following the death of former President Franjo Tudman.