On the Balkan Peninsula, in the early 1990s, war and chaos raged once again. However, this war, unlike the two previous Balkan wars fought against the occupiers, was civil. The member states of the once great and glorified Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) turned against each other. In 1991, Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence, beginning the breakup of Yugoslavia (Pavkovic 136). Many causes led to this result, some of which were the death of Josip Broz Tito, the great Yugoslav leader and the fall of socialism after the Cold War, both of which resulted in growing dissatisfaction of the Yugoslav people with the system of their village. Another important factor worth focusing on was religion and its diversity within the Federation. The three largest states – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia – had their respective religions – Islam, Catholic Christianity and Orthodox Christianity, which often merged with their national and cultural identities. These were the three states most involved and affected by the disintegration process. The idea that this was not a coincidence and that these religious differences were one of the main factors that led to the start of the war between these states and continued it will be the main focus of this essay. The essay will argue that, even though the war was primarily political in nature, religious diversity in the Balkans completely merged with nationalism and fanaticism to create a major source of hatred among the affected nations, and thus contributed significantly to the escalation of the conflict. conflicts and war in this region in the early 1990s. Furthermore, the essay will make a connection between media and religion and attempt to...... middle of paper ......in the Balkan Wars: Ten Years after the Breakup of Yugoslavia. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Web. 2 April 2014. Pavković, Aleksandar. The fragmentation of Yugoslav nationalism and the war in the Balkans. New York: St. Martin's, 2000. Web. 2 April 2014. Powers, Gerard F. “Religion, Conflict, and Prospects for Peace in Bosnia, Croatia, and Yugoslavia.” Journal of International Affairs 50.1 (1996): 221-252.Ramet, Sabrina P. Balkan Babel: The Disintegration of Yugoslavia from the Death of Tito to the Fall of Milošević. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2002. Web. April 2, 2014. Vrcan, Srdjan. "The war in the former Yugoslavia and religion". Religion, State and Society: The Keston Journal 22.4 (1994): 367-378. If this had not been the case, the consequences of this war could have been much less horrific and devastating for the civilians of the region.