Slobodan Milosevic was a President of Yugoslavia during the Balkan Wars. He was indicted for crimes against humanity for his role in the genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo, but died during his trial at The Hague. Milosevic was born in Serbia during World War II. He attended the University of Belgrade, where he was the leader of the ideology committee of the student Communist Party. In 1960, he became an advisor to the mayor of Belgrade. He went to work for a local company in 1968, before becoming the head of Yugoslavia's largest bank in 1978. In this position, he traveled frequently to Europe and the United States and developed numerous contacts with Western leaders. In 1986, he was elected to lead the Communist Party in Belgrade. Within a year, Milosevic was one of the most important figures in Serbian politics. In 1988, he was able to force the Serbian president to resign and take his place. As president, Milosevic used nationalism to enhance public support and, in 1989, rescinded the autonomy of provinces such as Kosovo, which was populated mainly by ethnic Albanians.

In 1990, in the waning days of the Cold War, Milosevic oversaw the transition of the Communist Party to the new Socialist Party of Serbia. He also supervised revisions to the Serbian constitution that bolstered the authority of the presidency. Milosevic was elected president of Serbia in 1990 and reelected in 1992 in balloting marred by fraud and voter intimidation.

By 1991, the Yugoslav federal government had become increasingly ineffective and paralyzed by factionalism. That year, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia declared independence. The federal government attempted to suppress the independence movements, but the Slovenes quickly defeated the federal forces in a 10-day war. Milosevic responded to the breakup of Yugoslavia by calling for the creation of a Greater Serbia that would include all ethnic Serbs. Through 1995, ethnic Serbs and Yugoslav federal troops fought against Croatian forces. During the conflict, both sides committed atrocities and ethnic cleansing, but Croatia eventually won. Milosevic coordinated a more extensive ethnic-cleansing campaign in the Bosnian Conflict, during which Serbs took control of more than 70 percent of the territory and killed or displaced hundreds of thousands of ethnic Bosnians and Croats. The civil war attracted international condemnation. Milosevic tried to position himself as a moderate and blamed the worst excesses on the Bosnian Serb leadership. In 1995, at the end of the Croat civil war, Croatian forces joined with the Bosnians to recapture areas gained by the Serbs. The failure of various international initiatives to end the Bosnian conflict led the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to oversee peace enforcement. NATO air strikes and the Bosnian-Croat offensive prompted Milosevic to seek a negotiated settlement through the 1995 Dayton Accords.

Milosevic was limited to two terms as Serbian president, but was elected president of Yugoslavia and took office in 1997. A rebellion in Kosovo commenced that year, and Milosevic authorized its brutal repression. By 1998, hundreds of ethnic Albanians had been killed and thousands displaced. Western leaders, including William J. Clinton of the United States, Tony Blair of Great Britain, and Jacques Chirac of France, threatened further military action. Negotiations were undertaken at Rambouillet, France, in February and March 1999, but Milosevic refused to accept successive plans offered by the Western allies and the talks ended without an agreement. Milosevic hoped that Russia, Serbia's traditional ally in the region, would prevent military action, but Moscow refused to intervene. NATO subsequently launched the Kosovo War, a 77-day aerial campaign that forced Milosevic to accept a United Nations–sponsored cease-fire placing Kosovo under the protection of a NATO-led peacekeeping force. Meanwhile, in May 1999, Milosevic was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

In 2000, Milosevic trailed opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica in the first round of balloting for the Yugoslav presidency. Efforts by Milosevic to remain in office led to widespread street protests. He was forced to concede defeat on 5 October, and Kostunica took office the next day. In 2001, Milosevic was arrested by Serb security forces and turned over to the ICTY. His trial began in 2002, but Milosevic became ill and requested repeated delays. He did not appear before the court until 2004. He died of a heart attack on 11 March 2006 in the midst of his trial.

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on Biographies at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to Biographies and other relevant topics.