1941

World War ll brought fresh turmoil to the region. As German troops

 invaded, they were welcomed by Croatian fascists. Hitler rewarded the

 Croats with a nominally independent puppet state, which also incorporated

 Bosnia.

 In the course of a series of overlapping civil wars, widespread atrocities

 were committed by all sides. In Croatia, Serbs, Jews, gypsies and

 anti-fascist Croats were killed in concentration camps. Serbia came under

 the control of German troops while the Italians occupied Montenegro. Rival

 partisans under Josip Broz Tito, a communist, and Dragoljub Mihailovic, a

 Serb nationalist, fought the Germans - when not fighting each other.

 Kosovo was occupied by Albanian and Italian troops whilst the Bulgarians

 invaded Macedonia.