The Serbian people have always been nationalistic since the time they were slaves under the Ottoman Empire. Since they were so restricted during this time, their culture grew and became independent and proud of their Slavic heritage. This drove them to combine the Slavic nations, and try to control them, when they were too different to live together. This caused a Bosnian civil war, and a war between Croatia and Serbia. Eventually all of the nations split and they became separate again.