Nov 29th 1971 The Croatian spring broken, Croat leaders imprisoned.
Feb 21st 1974 The new constitution introduces new state structure that gives the constituent republics much more autonomy, including the right of self-determination. This formed the legal basis for the country’s dissolution in the 1990s.
May 4th, 1980 Tito dies. Country is headed by the Presidency of Yugoslavia, rotating the President on an annual basis between the republics.
May 1986 Slobodan Milošević heads the communist party of Serbia and initiates a nationalist course.
1989 Slobodan Milošević is elected president of Serbia. His Gazimestan speech is seen as an ominous cloud foretelling the grim future of Serbia introducing a centralized and oppressive rule, trying to cancel out the freedoms granted by the 1974 constitution.
Jan 1990 Yugoslav communist party congress; Serbia tries to outvote Slovenia and Croatia and “democratically” establish the new, centralized, Serb-dominated direction of the country. Slovenia walks out. When Serbia tries to proceed without them, Croatia walks out as well, followed by Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, leaving the Serbs to play with themselves. Communist party of Yugoslavia becomes defunct, and this initiates the process of dissolution of Yugoslavia.
Apr 8th 1990 First multi-party elections in Slovenia. The pro-independence coalition defeated the communist party, starting the transition to the market economy and a liberal political system. The government starts pursuing independence of Slovenia from Yugoslavia.
Apr 22-23rd 1990 First multi-party elections in Croatia. The nationalist party won and ousted the communist party from power.
Aug 17th 1990 The “log revolution” starts; the Croatian Serb minority starts a separatist rebellion, using logs to inhibit railroad and road traffic.
Oct 1990 The Croatian Serbs declare autonomy.
Dec 23rd 1990 The referendum on the independence of Slovenia was held; 88% voted for independence.
May 19th 1991 The referendum on the independence of Croatia was held; 83% turnout, 93% voted in favour of independence. The Croatian Serb uprising is increasing in severity.
Mar 31 1991 The “bloody Easter” at the Plitvice Lakes; the Croatian police tries to intervene against the Serb separatist uprising, the Yugoslav Army intervenes against the Croatian police, siding with the Serb rebels. In retrospective, this is seen as the start of the Serb uprising and the independence war in Croatia, with Croatia’s first combat fatality. The rebel Serb entity declares itself separate from Croatia and seeks unification with Serbia.
May 2nd 1991 Borovo Selo killings in Croatia; the Serb paramilitaries ambushed Croatian policemen, killing 12 and injuring 21. This is a shock to the Croats and the public anger rises against the Serbs, whose “uprisings” were before seen as a joke (where “balvan revolucija”, or “log revolution” was basically a funny meme). It becomes obvious to the Croats that the Serbs actually hate them and want to kill them and take their land; things get really serious, and Croatia prepares for war.
Jun 25th 1991 Croatia declares independence and the dissolution of association with Yugoslavia, but forced by the EU to introduce a three-month moratorium on the decision.
Jun 25th 1991 Appropriate legal acts are passed and Slovenia legally declares independence. This is the formal date of the dissolution of Yugoslavia. In the morning of the next day, Yugoslav army intervenes, but is faced with unified resistance by the Slovenian people and at Jul 7th the Brijuni agreement is made, and the Yugoslav army agrees to withdraw. Slovenia is free, but for Croatia the war is just starting.
Aug 25 1991 Battle for Vukovar begins in Croatia. Throughout Croatia, war rages; the Army barracks are under siege, and the Army attacks targets throughout Croatia.
Sep 8 1991 Republic of Macedonia has a referendum and proclaims independence.
Oct 1st 1991 Siege and bombardment of Dubrovnik. Oct 4th Bombing of Zagreb TV tower. Oct 5th Croatia declares general mobilization. Oct 7th bombing of presidential residence in Zagreb in attempted decapitation strike. The Serbs massacre Croats in various locations where they have the upper hand.
Nov 18 1991 Vukovar falls, the Serbs massacre the captured defenders. International recognition of Croatia begins after all international dreams of salvaging Yugoslavia as a country shatter.
Nov 23 1991 Vance plan, Geneva accords signed; ceasefire is agreed, freezing the occupied parts of Croatia under Serb separatist rule. Croatia has to agree to this in order to buy time to create an army. Having achieved what they could in Croatia, the Serbs turn their sights to Bosnia.
Mar 1st 1992 Bosnia’s Muslims and Croats vote for independence from Yugoslavia; Bosnian Serbs mainly boycott the referendum.
Mar 2rd 1992 Bosnia declares independence. “Yugoslavia” now consists of Serbia and Montenegro, but it controls the entire formerly-federal army, which is a big deal. The local Serbs including the Yugoslav Army perform complete encirclement and siege of Sarajevo. The Serbs quickly seize more than half of Bosnia. The Muslims are caught by surprise due to misguided and failed policies of Alija Izetbegović, and suffer the hardest initial losses. The Croats were prepared by the experience in Croatia and, for the most part, retain control over their part of the land.
Jan 1993 The Muslims back-stab their Croat allies, in a fight for territory; the Croats are seen as a softer target compared to the Serbs. Total mayhem and fratricidal slaughter ensues.
Apr 1993 The UN establishes protection zones.
Mar 1st 1994 The Muslim-Croat alliance is brokered by the USA.
Mar-Jul 1995 Bosnian Serbs under Radovan Karadžić cut off Žepa and Srebrenica areas and “purge” the local Muslims. The UN troops are of course useless. The Serbs seem to have the upper hand in Bosnia and the Western Muslim enclave around Bihać is about to fall. However, this is the point where the Croats decide to finally show what they’ve been doing since 1991, and enter the game.
May 1-3rd 1995 Operation “Flash”, Croatia quickly liberates one of three occupied regions. It becomes obvious that the times of Yugoslav (now basically Serbian) army’s military supremacy have ended and Croatia now has the ability to call the shots.
May 2-3 The rebel Serbs perform a rocket attack on Zagreb, using MLRS with cluster ammunition, killing and injuring civilians across the capital. This outrages and angers the Croats more, if that’s even possible.
Aug 4-7th 1995 Operation “Storm”, Croatia quickly liberates the second, central occupied region. The local Serbs evacuate en masse, fearing reprisals for their actions from 1991 onwards. It is now obvious that the operation “Flash” was not a fluke, but a new pattern. The Croatian army has total military supremacy in the region, and enters Bosnia, making quick work of the Serbs there. The Serbs are panicking, they are evacuating from Banja Luka, fearing the rapid Croatian advance. The Americans intervene to stop the Croatian advance just ahead of Banja Luka falling.
Nov-Dec 1995 The Dayton Agreement formally ends the war in Croatia and Bosnia.
1998 Trouble in Kosovo brewing; the Albanians are starting to kill the Serbian policemen. Yugoslav army intervenes and makes quick work of the Albanian separatists.
1999 Uprising in Kosovo is subdued by the Serbian army, and it looks like a decisive Serbian victory. Macedonia is destabilised by the influx of some 360000 Albanian refugees from Kosovo. However, at this point America decides this constitutes a breach of the general terms they imposed at Dayton, and decide to make an example of Serbia, quenching their desire for military conquest and solving problems with neighbours by means of war. NATO (but de facto America) bombs Yugoslavia into complete submission. The Serbs are forced to abandon Kosovo, and America establishes a military base there.
This is the point where Russia wakes up from its Yeltsin-era slumber and smells the coffee, perceiving that Yugoslavia fell apart, that America bombed it, and concludes that American bombing destroyed Yugoslavia, causing everybody in the region to facepalm every time they say it.