Yugoslavia...

[dude_uk]

So how do you fit this into the timeline?

1) Fear of Soviet Intervention. Keeps everyone civil until the war at least.

2) A Soviet incursion. Whilst US is distracted by events in the Gulf. Perhaps the Soviet Premier uses this to settle an old score?

[Rainbow Six]

Fairly sure that the various timelines have Yugoslavia still existing as a Sovereign state at the start of the War (going from memory there are references to Yugoslavia being granted membership of NATO, the Yugoslav Army being halted in the vicinity of Lake Balaton, etc) so that suggests to me that the breakup into splinter states does not happen until 1997 (at the earliest)?

I'm no expert on Balkan politics, but it does seem a bit coincedental that the break up of Yugoslavia IRL coincided with the break up of the Soviet Union (more or less) so an intact Soviet Union would suggest that there's an increased likliehood of an intact Yugoslavia?

[Benjamin]

I go with a modified TL that borrows a bit from Sir John Hackett's books. In those Yugoslavia begins to fall apart and its various parts ask for support from the two big blocs. Civil War occurs and includes a clash between US Marines and Soviet troops along the Slovenian border. I'd imagine Croatia and perhaps Bosnia and Macedonia would be pro-NATO as well. Serbia would tend to lean towards the USSR an attempt to reclaim whatever it could take by force.

Benjamin

[Olefin]

One thing you could change is to make the breakup states in the game actually match reality versus what they did in the game. I.e. Albania, who was pro-Chinese, would definitely aid in any fight against the Soviets. Croatia would be more pro-US and pro-Germany along with Slovenia, whereas Montenegro and Serbia would be pro-Russian.

Bosnia would be more of the battleground area - i.e. a place where the Serbs and Croats are both fighting to grab territory and thus a complete mixed up mess instead of anything approaching a country

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by Olefin

One thing you could change is to make the breakup states in the game actually match reality versus what they did in the game. I.e. Albania, who was pro-Chinese, would definitely aid in any fight against the Soviets. Croatia would be more pro-US and pro-Germany along with Slovenia, whereas Montenegro and Serbia would be pro-Russian.

Bosnia would be more of the battleground area - i.e. a place where the Serbs and Croats are both fighting to grab territory and thus a complete mixed up mess instead of anything approaching a country

Whilst I would repeat my caveat that I'm no expert on the politics of the region, it does seem a bit odd that GDW had the US allied with the Serbs. Were the Croats actually aligned with anyone in T2K or were they fighting everbody?

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

Whilst I would repeat my caveat that I'm no expert on the politics of the region, it does seem a bit odd that GDW had the US allied with the Serbs. Were the Croats actually aligned with anyone in T2K or were they fighting everbody?

According to my mother (who is from Croatia and was an Anti-Tito partisan for many years), a US Administration that aligned itself with the Serbs would be despised throughout the Balkans, possibly including Greece and European Turkey. Serbia was the home of the hated Chetniks; the way she talks, the Chetniks didn't even like each other. But they were united in their love of torture, murder, rape, etc. They even aligned themselves with the Nazis when they were around.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

I'm no expert on Balkan politics, but it does seem a bit coincedental that the break up of Yugoslavia IRL coincided with the break up of the Soviet Union (more or less) so an intact Soviet Union would suggest that there's an increased likliehood of an intact Yugoslavia?

I agree.

[Canadian Army]

2) A Soviet incursion. Whilst US is distracted by events in the Gulf. Perhaps the Soviet Premier uses this to settle an old score?

This is most likely scenario, after the "intervention" they would set up a puppet government, and then start build soviet ships to put on Mediterranean in order to pressure on NATO and divert some forces away from Germany.