9.5 Postwar Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Atrocities
🇪🇺AP European History Unit 9 Review
9.5 Postwar Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Atrocities
🇪🇺 AP European History
9.1
Contextualizing Cold War and Contemporary Europe
9.2
Rebuilding Europe
9.3
The Cold War
9.4
Two Super Powers Emerge
9.5
Postwar Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Atrocities
9.6
Contemporary Western Democracies
9.7
The Fall of Communism
9.8
20th-Century Feminism
9.9
Decolonization
9.10
The European Union
9.11
Migration and Immigration
9.12
Technological Developments Since 1914
9.13
Globalization
9.14
20th- and 21st-Century Culture, Arts, and Demographic Trends
9.15
Continuity and Change in the 20th and 21st Centuries
TLDR
After World War II, hopes for lasting peace ran into a hard reality: nationalist and separatist movements, ethnic conflict, and ethnic cleansing kept disrupting Europe. The most extreme case was the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, where new nationalisms in central and eastern Europe led to war and genocide in the Balkans. For the AP exam, you should be able to explain the causes and effects of these mass atrocities from 1945 to the present.
Postwar nationalism and ethnic conflict show how total war and a polarized Cold War order gave way to new fights over national and ethnic identity. The topic ties directly to the themes of national and European identity and states and institutions of power.
Postwar Nationalism and Ethnic Violence in Europe
- Nationalist and separatist movements, ethnic conflict, and ethnic cleansing repeatedly disrupted the post-World War II peace in Europe.
- New nationalisms in central and eastern Europe led to war and genocide in the Balkans, the clearest required example for this topic.
- Separatism means breaking away to form a new political unit, while nationalism focuses on unity and shared identity within a nation. Know the difference.
- Some movements stayed mostly political; others turned violent, so causes and outcomes varied a lot.
- Ethnic cleansing is the systematic removal of an ethnic or religious group from a territory, often through violence or forced migration.
- The international community, including the UN and NATO, gradually took more active roles in responding to atrocities in the 1990s.
Nationalism and Separatist Movements
After WWII, many ethnic and regional groups pushed for greater autonomy, cultural recognition, or full independence. Outside Europe, colonies were winning independence. Inside Europe, tensions between ethnic and language groups produced separatist movements that strained national unity.
Keep the basic distinction straight:
- Nationalism usually promotes unity and shared identity within a nation.
- Separatism seeks to break away from an existing state to form a new political unit based on ethnicity, language, or culture.
Examples of Postwar Nationalism and Separatism
These are useful applications of the concept, not a required checklist. Use them as evidence when they fit your argument.
- Ireland: Nationalists in Northern Ireland resisted British rule through both political and violent means during the period known as the Troubles. The Good Friday Agreement (1998) brought a peace settlement.
- Chechnya (Russia): Chechnya, a region in the North Caucasus, fought two wars for independence from Russia in the 1990s and 2000s. These conflicts involved harsh crackdowns and widespread reports of human rights abuses and civilian casualties.
- Basque (ETA): Basque nationalists in Spain pursued independence, and the militant group ETA used violence over several decades.
- Flemish Movement (Belgium): In Dutch-speaking Flanders, separatists pushed for more autonomy. Language and cultural differences from French-speaking Wallonia fueled demands for more local control over taxation, education, and governance.
Ethnic Conflict and Mass Atrocities
Nationalist feeling sometimes turned violent, especially when mixed with ethnic or religious hostility. That combination produced ethnic cleansing, the deliberate removal of a minority group to create an ethnically uniform region.
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic removal of an ethnic or religious group from a territory, often through violence, terror, or forced migration. It is not a separate crime in international law, but acts of ethnic cleansing can be prosecuted as crimes against humanity or genocide.
The required core for this topic is the Balkans: as Yugoslavia broke apart in the 1990s, new nationalisms led to war and genocide.
Examples of Postwar Ethnic Cleansing
- Bosnian Muslims (1992-1995): As Yugoslavia disintegrated, Bosnian Serb forces carried out ethnic cleansing and genocide against Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks), most notoriously at Srebrenica.
- Albanian Muslims of Kosovo (1998-1999): Albanian Muslims in Kosovo were targeted by Serbian forces in another campaign of ethnic cleansing, which drew international intervention.
The table below organizes the Balkan atrocities that anchor this topic. The Holocaust belongs to Unit 8 and is shown here only as earlier context for comparison, not as part of the postwar 1945-to-present focus.
| Event | Perpetrators | Victims | Region | Time Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims | Bosnian Serb forces | Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1992-1995 |
| Kosovo conflict | Serbian forces | Albanian Muslims | Kosovo | 1998-1999 |
| Holocaust (earlier context, Unit 8) | Nazi Germany | Jews, Roma, and others | Central and Eastern Europe | 1941-1945 |
International Response
During the 1990s, the United Nations and NATO took more active roles in humanitarian intervention in the Balkans. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was created to prosecute war crimes committed during these conflicts. This response is a strong example to cite when you discuss effects of these atrocities.
Arguing Causes and Effects of Balkan Atrocities
Free Response: When a prompt asks about causes and effects of mass atrocities, lead with the required claim: new nationalisms in central and eastern Europe produced war and genocide in the Balkans. Then back it with specific evidence like atrocities against Bosnian Muslims and the targeting of Albanian Muslims in Kosovo. Naming the ICTY and NATO intervention gives you concrete effects.
Causation: Build a clear chain: the collapse of multiethnic states (especially Yugoslavia) plus rising ethnic nationalism led to violence, ethnic cleansing, and eventually international intervention. Avoid listing events with no link between them.
Continuity and Change: This topic pairs well with the Holocaust from Unit 8. You can argue continuity in how ethnic and religious identity was weaponized, and change in how the international community responded more directly by the 1990s.
Comparison: Compare separatist movements that stayed mostly political with those that turned violent. For example, contrast peaceful or negotiated outcomes with armed campaigns. This shows you understand that causes and effects varied.
Common Trap: Do not assume every nationalist or separatist movement led to genocide. Many were political struggles for autonomy. Keep the violent cases (the Balkans) separate from the broader, often nonviolent push for self-government.
Common Misconceptions
- Misconception: Nationalism and separatism are the same thing.Actually: Nationalism and separatism are not the same thing. Nationalism builds shared identity within a nation; separatism tries to break away and form a new state. Mixing these up weakens your analysis.
- Misconception: Ethnic cleansing is always the same as genocide.Actually: Ethnic cleansing is not always the same as genocide. Ethnic cleansing focuses on removing a group from a territory. It can include genocide, as in Bosnia, but the terms are not interchangeable.
- Misconception: The Holocaust is the focus of the post-1945 topic.Actually: The post-1945 focus is the Balkans, not the Holocaust. The Holocaust is Unit 8 content. For this topic, your required evidence comes from postwar ethnic conflict, especially in the former Yugoslavia.
- Misconception: Postwar Europe was simply peaceful.Actually: Postwar Europe was not simply peaceful. Even with moves toward unity and cooperation, nationalist and separatist movements and ethnic violence kept disrupting that peace.
- Misconception: International intervention was strong right after WWII.Actually: International intervention came late and was uneven. The UN, NATO, and the ICTY became more active mainly in the 1990s, so do not assume strong global enforcement existed right after WWII.
Related AP European History Guides
Practice Questions for 9.5
1 of 10
In the 1990s, Bosnian Serb forces systematically removed Bosnian Muslims from mixed communities, destroyed their cultural landmarks, and forced survivors into refugee camps. This process most directly illustrates which of the following concepts?
A.
Separatist movements seeking independence from a larger political entity
B.
Religious persecution motivated by doctrinal differences between Christian denominations
C.
Nationalist consolidation of state power through military conquest
D.
Ethnic cleansing as a deliberate strategy to create ethnically homogeneous territories
Vocabulary
The following words are mentioned explicitly in the AP® course framework for this topic.Term | Definition |
|---|---|
ethnic cleansing | The forced removal or extermination of an ethnic group from a territory, often involving violence, displacement, and systematic persecution. |
ethnic conflict | Violent or political tensions between different ethnic or cultural groups, often rooted in competition for resources, power, or recognition. |
Genocide | The deliberate and systematic destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. |
mass atrocities | Large-scale violent acts committed against civilian populations, often involving systematic killing, torture, or other severe human rights violations. |
nationalist movements | Political movements driven by the desire of people sharing a common identity, language, or culture to establish independent nation-states or assert national sovereignty. |
separatist movements | Political movements seeking to withdraw a region or group from an existing state to form an independent nation or autonomous region. |
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