Born out of German occupation and civil war, Yugoslavia was a federation of six republics, that brought together Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Albanians, Slovenes, and others under the rule of President Tito. Following President Tito's death in 1980 death, nationalism gave rise to ethnic tensions and calls for independence across the country. In the 1990s, brutal ethnically-fractioned wars of secession took the lives of more than 140,000 combatants and non-combatants, and left over four million individuals displaced. Towns were violently raided in efforts to establish ethnically homogenous regions and entire communities were forced from their homes — places their families had lived for hundreds of years. Empty or abandoned homes were subsequently destroyed or assumed by occupying forces. A tool of ethnic cleansing and genocide, domicide during the Balkan wars provides a tragic example of the destruction of home.