The Bosnian War (1992 - 1995) is one of the bloodiest consequences of the collapse of Yugoslavia.
The Bosnian conflict on ethnic grounds is of a non-standard type: the warring parties belonged to a single community, spoke the same language (although the unity of the “Serbo-Croat” language has been disputed for many years), but differed on religious grounds.
Bosnian Serbs are Orthodox, Bosnian Croats are Catholics, and the third group is Muslim Slavs.
Start
The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the last to separate from the united Yugoslavia. The referendum on independence took place without the participation of the Bosnian Serbs, so they did not recognize it and formed their own Republika Srpska.
Each of the three groups of Bosnian inhabitants (Serbs, Croats and Muslim Bosniaks) had their own army, and war broke out between the armies. The Serbian and Croatian armies had a numerical and technical advantage as they were assisted by the Serbian and Croatian governments. However, then the Serbs began to give in to other parties.
At the same time, the Bosnian Croat army quickly stopped its attack on the Serbs and focused on the destruction of the Bosniaks: the Muslims lived in the territory that Croatia considered its own, and the Republika Srpska was not part of this territory.
Progress of the war
The war in independent Bosnia and Herzegovina flared up very quickly, so much so that it paralyzed the entire state life: government bodies virtually ceased to exist. Representatives of Serbia and Croatia began attempts to divide the Bosnian territory, and the Bosniaks found themselves out of work: they were poorly armed and trained and were not ready for war.
An attempt to prevent war was the Carrington-Cutilheiro plan, which developed an agreement signed by the leaders of Bosnia's three ethnic groups in Lisbon. The plan included the following:
- Organize the distribution of power in the country along ethnic lines;
- Transfer the powers of the central government to local authorities;
- Divide the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina into “Bosnian”, “Serbian” and “Croatian” provinces.
However, the Bosnian leader Alija Izetbegovic soon withdrew his signature and spoke out against the ethnic division of the republic. The country's Muslim leadership organized the Patriotic League, which began intensively preparing for war. Izetbegovic traveled to Iran, where he was received with favor as a “true Muslim.”
The Bosnian troops thus received support, including material, from Islamic states. Other ethnic groups of the republic also began to prepare for war. One of the first major actions in the war was the siege of Sarajevo. The city's population was predominantly Muslim, but the surrounding area was dominated by Orthodox Serbs.
The Serbian JNA army occupied the city and surrounding areas, forming additional units from among the local Serbs. The siege lasted from 1992 to 1996. In response to the capture of the capital, its Muslim inhabitants organized resistance - in particular, camps and prisons were created for the Serbs.
For several years, battles unfolded throughout Bosnia. In 1994, a full-scale war began in the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna. That same year, NATO troops invaded the Bosnian hot spot. At the height of the war, concentration camps were created throughout the country. They were erected by each of the warring parties.
The result of the war
The Bosnian War brought enormous destruction to the country: two-thirds of buildings, all railways, most roads, and 70 bridges were destroyed. The number of killed is estimated in tens of thousands of people. For Bosnia and Herzegovina itself, the war ended with the Dayton Agreement, which is designed to restore peace in the country to at least some extent. The state system established by the agreement is considered ineffective and cumbersome, but it cannot be abolished, otherwise the country will be mired in a new war.
Material from our reader.
Background
In fact, both Croats and Bosniaks used to be a single Serbian Orthodox people. But it just so happened that the Balkans became a place of contact between two empires: the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian ones. The Turks began to impose Islam mainly in the Bosnian part, many accepted it because it was profitable (those who accepted were exempt from taxes), and they threatened many. But some retained the Orthodox faith. The Croatian territory of the future Yugoslavia was influenced by Austria-Hungary; accordingly, the local part accepted Catholicism and was guided by the instructions of the Vatican. We must remember that the fatal shot of Gavrilo Princip was fired in Sarajevo, which started the First World War. The religious differences of the three peoples were clearly demonstrated in the Second World War. The Croats, under the patronage of the Germans, created Ustasha detachments, which also included detachments of Bosnian Muslims. The Ustasha committed especially atrocities against the Serbs, which was well remembered by the latter and was not forgotten until the 90s. After 1945, Tito, who defeated both the Chetniks and the Germans, took advantage of the post-war redistribution of Europe and gathered the Slavic lands in the Balkans into a single socialist state. Socialism with a “human face” was built, nationalism was severely punished, and it seems that the marshal managed to keep the “powder keg of Europe” in peace and harmony.
The heart of Tito's empire was multinational Bosnia or "Yugoslavia in Yugoslavia", where Muslims lived - 44% (then not yet called Bosniaks), Croats -17% and Serbs -31%. The capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo, was an experimental city, in which three communities also lived closely, and even hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984. The whole country threw its efforts into the construction of Olympic venues, many donated money from their salaries, thousands of volunteers enthusiastically helped hold the games. Large Western companies came to Sarajevo (which was impossible to imagine in the USSR), the Holiday Inn built its own hotel, the Momo and Wezir skyscraper towers appeared in the city, a large television center and a television tower for broadcasting games, which finally turned Sarajevo from from a small town to a metropolis and the most prestigious city in Yugoslavia to live in. Nobody could have imagined that in less than 10 years “Momo” and “Wezir” would be on fire, and the capital of the world and the Olympics would be under siege.
After Tito's death, Yugoslavia went to hell. The death of the Marshal made it clear that no one simply knew what to do, how to keep local nationalists in the republics, who quickly changed from communists to supporters of democracy and independence for their peoples. In the late 1980s, the Serbian Academy of Sciences, in response to emerging Croatian and Muslim nationalism, issued its memorandum, which hints at a Greater Serbia - a republic not within the Yugoslav borders, but within the borders of the Serbs (these are parts of the territory of Bosnia and Croatia). Yugoslavia was doomed.
In 1990, the first free elections were held in Bosnia. They are won not by the communists, but by the three national parties of Croats, Serbs and Muslims. Moreover, the votes are divided almost according to the percentage of the population. At first, on the wave of democracy, all parties welcomed each other's political enlightenment. Muslims sent greetings to SDA, the party of Radovan Karadzic. But as soon as the elections to the Assembly (parliament) were held, Muslims and Croats declared the independence of Bosnia, all that remained was to consolidate this with a referendum, which, naturally, purely mathematically, Muslims and Croats won. The Bosnian Serbs, under the leadership of a psychologist (by the way, who worked at the Koshevo Olympic Stadium) and dissident Karadzic, declare that they will create their own republic on the lands where Serbs live and join Yugoslavia, and “the Muslim people will not be able to defend themselves in the event of war.” Here we must clearly understand that all three parties, especially the Croatian and Bosnian ones, were nationalist. The Muslims from the Democratic Action Party were inspired by the “Muslim Declaration” of party leader Izetbegovic and wanted to populate Bosnia with another 5 million formerly deported Bosniaks from Turkey and build a “Euro-Islam” based on European order and civilization. The Croats were guided by the Zagreb new Ustasha ultranationalists. Before the referendum, the situation is heating up, the police in Sarajevo are divided along national lines, and in the Bascarčija quarter, a Serbian wedding is being shot, as they say, for the Serbian tricolor, traditional at weddings. In Sarajevo, barricades appear in areas populated by Serbs. But not everyone wants to separate, three peoples speak the same language, there are many mixed marriages, because there was no great religiosity in a socialist country. A large demonstration of one hundred thousand people against the war and for the unity of peoples takes place in Sarajevo. As it was stated then, snipers are shooting at her from the same Holiday Inn hotel where the office of the Serbian SDA party is located. Although further investigation shows that the shots came from the other side of the city, from the mountains. But the fuse was lit, the provocations continued and after the referendum escalated into war.
Siege
After the referendum, the Yugoslav People's Army gradually began to withdraw from Bosnia, but interethnic clashes slightly slowed down this process, the Serbian part of the army began to go over to the side of the local Serbs, the Muslims and Croats did not have the same weapons as the YuNAs, and at first they were content with seizing warehouses or supplies from abroad. If desired, the JNA could quickly resolve the issue with Sarajevo, part of which the Serbs wanted to see as their capital, but time was lost, and the matter was limited to the siege of the city. Sarajevo was located in a valley between two mountain ranges, and it was not difficult for the Serbs to organize a siege of the city. By this time, many Serbs had left the city, and those who refused to do so were declared “not Serbs” by the Serbian command. The siege lasted almost 4 years, with interruptions and all four years there was a seesaw between the international community, Yugoslavia, Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Muslims.
The open and most dangerous part of the city from the Bascharchia quarter to the Butmir airport was called “sniper alley”, it was dangerous to appear on it, people only moved there at a run, and the local Yugo cars rushed at maximum speed since this part was under fire from the surrounding mountains. The chance of survival here was 50/50. Residents of Sarajevo tried to wear shorter skirts and wear brighter makeup - a sniper would see it, regret it, and not shoot. In the city itself, gangs of local crime bosses popular among young people begin to operate, who first, under the guise of defenders of Muslims, deal with Sarajevo Serbs, and then rob their own. One of these commanders, Yussuf “Yuka” Prazina, was later liquidated by the decision of the Muslim authorities.
The Serbs almost completely close the defense circle of Sarajevo, only Butmir airport is controlled by UN peacekeepers. Under the airport, Muslims are digging a tunnel (now a museum, you can even walk 200 meters) leading to the free Bosnian territory, the city is supplied through it, and Muslim leader Izetbegovic even has his own personal trolley. However, the city was supplied not only through the tunnel, but also through the UN. The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a city in modern history, ending only in 1996. In the city, houses are still riddled with bullets, but it has been practically restored, and a new skyscraper has appeared. Locals say that Greece helped a lot in the restoration in order to “excuse” its Greeks who fought for the Serbs from extraditing to the tribunal. We don’t know how true this is, but the Greeks were really actively restoring Sarajevo. In the Sarajevo brewery, which during the siege actively served as a source of water for residents (beer here is brewed with spring water), you can still drink a glass of local light or dark beer.
Nowadays there are Muslim mosques, Orthodox and Catholic churches in the city, but they have few visitors, and the locals are not particularly religious. Bosniak, Croat and Serb can only be distinguished from each other by their names. Muslims have Turkish names, and surnames often sound like Serbian ones, Croats have names after Catholic saints, Serbs often have names like Alexander, Mikhail, Vladimir that sound to the Russian ear. But the war has done its job, the three communities live their own lives, the Serbs live more separately in East Sarajevo, but young people, unlike the older generation, more often cooperate and do business with other communities, and do not look at nationality. Under the terms of the Dayton Accords, which ended the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two parts: the Muslim-Croat part and the Republika Srpska. Muslims did not receive a purely Muslim state, as Izetbegovic dreamed, but began to be called not in Tito’s “Muslims”, but Bosnians. They are forced to continue to live with two other communities in a secular state and dream of joining the European Union. The Croats were not allowed to join Croatia with the Croatian lands and even create their own republic within Bosnia, while the Serbs received their own republic, but it does not have the right to join “big” Serbia, remaining part of Bosnia. Formally, this is now a single state of three nations with its own currency and army. Three presidents rule for one year each - a Croat, a Bosnian and a Serb. The siege, the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 and the former Olympic venues have become a tourist attraction in Sarajevo, people are busy with their own affairs and do not remember the war, but who knows what awaits the powder keg next?
The 90s became another era of bloodshed in the Balkans. Several ethnic wars began in the ruins of Yugoslavia. One of them unfolded in Bosnia between Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. The intricate conflict was resolved only after the international community, primarily the UN and NATO, intervened. The armed conflict became notorious for its numerous war crimes.
Prerequisites
In 1992, the Bosnian War began. This happened against the backdrop of the collapse of Yugoslavia and the fall of communism in the Old World. The main warring parties were Muslim Bosnians (or Bosniaks), Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. The conflict was multifaceted: political, ethnic and religious.
It all started with the collapse of Yugoslavia. A variety of peoples lived in this federal socialist state - Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Macedonians, Slovenes, etc. When the Berlin Wall fell and the communist system lost the Cold War, the national minorities of the SFRY began to demand independence. A parade of sovereignties began, similar to what was then happening in the Soviet Union.
Slovenia and Croatia were the first to separate. In Yugoslavia, in addition to them, there was the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the most ethnically diverse region of the once united country. About 45% Bosnians, 30% Serbs and 16% Croats lived in the republic. On February 29, 1992, the local government (located in the capital Sarajevo) held a referendum on independence. The Bosnian Serbs refused to participate in it. When independence from Yugoslavia was declared in Sarajevo, tensions began to escalate.
Serbian question
Banja Luka became the de facto capital of the Bosnian Serbs. The conflict was exacerbated by the fact that both peoples lived side by side for many years, and because of this, in some areas there were many ethnically mixed families. In general, Serbs lived more in the north and east of the country. The Bosnian War became a way for them to unite with their compatriots in Yugoslavia. The army of the socialist republic left Bosnia in May 1992. With the disappearance of a third force that could somehow regulate relations between opponents, the last obstacles holding back bloodshed disappeared.
Yugoslavia (where it lived predominantly from the very beginning supported the Bosnian Serbs, who created their own Republika Srpska. Many officers of the former unified army began to join the armed forces of this unrecognized state.
Which side Russia was on in the Bosnian War became clear immediately after the start of the conflict. The official authorities of the Russian Federation tried to act as a peacekeeping force. The rest of the influential powers of the world community did the same. Politicians sought a compromise by inviting opponents to negotiations on neutral territory. However, if we talk about public opinion in Russia in the 90s, then we can say with confidence that the sympathies of ordinary people were on the side of the Serbs. This is not surprising, because the two peoples were and are connected by the commonality of Slavic culture, Orthodoxy, etc. According to international experts, the Bosnian War became the center of attraction for 4 thousand volunteers from the former USSR who supported the Republika Srpska.
Start of the war
The third party to the conflict, in addition to the Serbs and Bosnians, were the Croats. They created the Herzeg-Bosna Commonwealth, which existed as an unrecognized state throughout the war. The capital of this republic was the city of Mostar. Europe felt the approach of war and tried to prevent bloodshed with the help of international instruments. In March 1992, an agreement was signed in Lisbon, according to which power in the country was to be divided along ethnic lines. In addition, the parties agreed that the federal center will share powers with local municipalities. The document was signed by the Bosnian Serb Radovan Karadzic and the Croatian Mate Boban.
However, the compromise was short-lived. A few days later, Izetbegovic announced that he was revoking the agreement. In fact, this gave carte blanche to start the war. All I needed was a reason. After the bloodshed began, opponents named various episodes that served as the impetus for the first murders. It was a serious ideological moment.
For the Serbs, the point of no return was the shooting of a Serbian wedding in Sarajevo. The killers were Bosniaks. At the same time, Muslims blamed the Serbs for starting the war. They claimed that the Bosniaks who took part in the street demonstration were the first to die. The bodyguards of Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadzic were suspected of the murder.
Siege of Sarajevo
In May 1992, in the Austrian city of Graz, the President of the Republika Srpska Radovan Karadzic and the President of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna Mate Boban signed a bilateral agreement, which became the most important document of the first stage of the armed conflict. The two Slavic unrecognized states agreed to stop hostilities and unite to establish control over Muslim territories.
After this episode, the Bosnian War moved to Sarajevo. The capital of a state torn apart by internal strife was populated mainly by Muslims. However, the Serbian majority lived in the suburbs and surrounding villages. This ratio determined the course of the battles. On April 6, 1992, the siege of Sarajevo began. The Serbian army surrounded the city. The siege lasted throughout the war (more than three years) and was lifted only after the final Dayton Accords were signed.
During the siege of Sarajevo, the city was subjected to intense artillery bombardment. The craters that remained from those shells were already filled in peacetime with a special mixture of resin, plastic and red paint. These “marks” were called “Sarajevo roses” in the press. Today they are one of the most famous monuments of that terrible war.
Total war
It should be noted that the Serbo-Bosnian war ran parallel to the war in Croatia, where conflict broke out between local Croats and Serbs. This confused and complicated the situation. A total war broke out in Bosnia, that is, a war of all against all. The position of local Croats was especially ambiguous. Some of them supported the Bosniaks, the other part supported the Serbs.
In June 1992, a UN peacekeeping contingent appeared in the country. It was originally created for the Croatian War, but its powers were soon expanded to Bosnia. These armed forces took control of the Sarajevo airport (previously it was occupied by the Serbs, they had to leave this important transport hub). Here, UN peacekeepers delivered humanitarian aid, which was then distributed throughout the country, since there was not a single area left untouched by the bloodshed in Bosnia. Civilian refugees were protected by the Red Cross mission, although the efforts of the contingent of this organization were clearly not enough.
War crimes
The cruelty and senselessness of the war became known to the whole world. This was facilitated by the development of the media, television and other methods of disseminating information. The episode that occurred in May 1992 became widely publicized. In the city of Tuzla, combined Bosnian-Croat forces attacked a brigade of the Yugoslav People's Army, which was returning to its homeland due to the collapse of the country. Snipers took part in the attack, shooting at cars and thus blocking the road. The attackers cold-bloodedly finished off the wounded. More than 200 soldiers of the Yugoslav army died. This episode, among many others, clearly demonstrated the violence of the Bosnian War.
By the summer of 1992, the Republika Srpska army managed to establish control over the eastern regions of the country. The local Muslim civilian population was repressed. Concentration camps were created for the Bosnians. Abuse of women was common. The relentless violence of the Bosnian War did not happen by accident. The Balkans have always been considered the explosive barrel of Europe. The nation-states here were short-lived. The multinational population tried to live within the framework of empires, but this option of “good neighborliness” was eventually swept aside after the fall of communism. Mutual grievances and claims have accumulated over hundreds of years.
Unclear Prospects
The complete blockade of Sarajevo came in the summer of 1993, when the Serbian army managed to complete Operation Lugavac 93. It was a planned attack organized by Ratko Mladic (today he is being tried by an international tribunal). During the operation, the Serbs occupied strategically important passes leading to Sarajevo. The surrounding area of the capital and most of the country is mountainous with rugged terrain. In such natural conditions, passes and gorges become places of decisive battles.
Having captured Trnov, the Serbs were able to unite their possessions in two regions - Herzegovina and Podrinje. The army then turned west. The Bosnian War, in short, consisted of numerous small maneuvers by rival armed factions. In July 1993, the Serbs managed to establish control over the passes near Mount Igman. This news alarmed the world community. Western diplomats began to put pressure on the leadership of the Republic and Radovan Karadzic personally. At the negotiations in Geneva, the Serbs were made to understand that if they refused to retreat, NATO airstrikes would await them. Karadzic folded under such pressure. On August 5, the Serbs left Igman, although the rest of the acquisitions in Bosnia remained with them. On a strategically important mountain, peacekeepers from France took their place.
Bosnian split
Meanwhile, an internal split occurred in the Bosnian camp. Some Muslims advocated maintaining a unitary state. Politician Firet Abdić and his supporters took the opposite point of view. They wanted to make the state federal and believed that only with the help of such a compromise would the Bosnian War (1992-1995) end. In short, this has led to the emergence of two irreconcilable camps. Finally, in September 1993, Abdic announced the creation of Western Bosnia in the city of Velika Kladusa. This was yet another protest against the Izetbegovic government in Sarajevo. Abdić became an ally of the Republika Srpska.
Western Bosnia is a clear example of how new short-term political entities emerged, which gave rise to the Bosnian War (1992-1995). The reasons for this diversity were the huge number of conflicting interests. Western Bosnia lasted two years. Its territory was occupied during Operation Tiger 94 and Operation Storm. In the first case, it was the Bosnians themselves who opposed Abdić.
In August 1995, at the final stage of the war, when the last separatist formations were liquidated, Croats and a limited NATO contingent joined Izetbegovic's government forces. The main battles took place in the Krajina region. An indirect result of Operation Storm was the flight of about 250 thousand Serbs from the border Croat-Bosnian settlements. These people were born and raised in Krajina. Although there was nothing unusual in this emigrant flow. The Bosnian War removed many from their homes. A simple explanation for this population turnover is this: the conflict could not end without defining clear ethnic and religious boundaries, so all small diasporas and enclaves were systematically destroyed during the war. The division of territory affected both Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats.
Genocide and tribunal
War crimes were committed by both Bosnians and Serbs and Croats. Both explained their atrocities as revenge for their compatriots. The Bosnians created detachments of “bagmen” to terrorize the Serbian civilian population. They conducted raids on peaceful Slavic villages.
The worst Serbian crime was the massacre in Srebrenica. By decision of the UN, in 1993 this city and its surrounding environs were declared a security zone. Muslim refugees from all regions of Bosnia flocked there. In July 1995, Srebrenica was captured by the Serbs. They carried out massacres in the city, killing, according to various estimates, about 8 thousand Muslim civilians - children, women and the elderly. Today, all over the world, the Bosnian War of 92-95. She is best known for this inhumane episode.
It is still being investigated by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. On 24 March 2016, former Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He initiated many of the crimes for which the Bosnian War is known. The photo of the convicted person again spread throughout the world press, just like in the previous 90s. Karadzic is also responsible for what happened in Srebrenica. The intelligence services caught him after ten years of living under a secret false name in Belgrade.
Military intervention by the international community
Every year, the Serbo-Bosnian war with the participation of the Croats became more chaotic and confusing. It became clear that neither side of the conflict would achieve its goals through bloodshed. In this situation, the US authorities began to take an active part in the negotiation process. The first step towards resolving the conflict was the agreement that ended the war between the Croats and Bosniaks. The corresponding papers were signed in March 1994 in Vienna and Washington. The Bosnian Serbs were also invited to the negotiating table, but they did not send their diplomats.
The Bosnian War, photos from the fields of which regularly appeared in the foreign press, shocked the West, but in the Balkans it was perceived as commonplace. Under these conditions, the NATO bloc took the initiative. The Americans and their allies, with the support of the UN, began to prepare a plan for aerial bombing of Serbian positions. The military Operation Deliberate Force began on August 30. The bombing helped the Bosniaks and Croats push back the Serbs in the strategically important regions of the Ozren Plateau and Western Bosnia. The main result of NATO's intervention was the lifting of the siege of Sarajevo, which had lasted for several years. After this, the Serbian-Bosnian war approached its end. All parties to the conflict were drained of blood. There is no entire residential, military and industrial infrastructure left on the territory of the state.
Dayton Accords
Final negotiations between the opponents began on neutral territory. The future ceasefire agreement was agreed upon at the American military base in Dayton. The formal signing of the papers took place in Paris on December 14, 1995. The main characters of the ceremony were Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. Preliminary negotiations took place under the patronage of observer countries - Great Britain, Germany, Russia, the USA and France.
According to the signed agreement, a new state was created - the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Republika Srpska. Internal borders were drawn in such a way that each subject received an equal part of the country's territory. In addition, a NATO peacekeeping contingent was sent to Bosnia. These armed forces have become a guarantor of maintaining peace in particularly tense regions.
Violence during the Bosnian War was hotly debated. Documentary evidence of war crimes was transferred to an international tribunal, which is still in operation today. It judges both ordinary perpetrators and the direct initiators of atrocities “at the top.” Politicians and military personnel who organized the genocide of civilians were removed from power.
According to the official version, the causes of the Bosnian War were ethnic conflict in the collapse of Yugoslavia. The Dayton Accords provided a formula for compromise for a divided society. Although the Balkans remain a source of tension throughout Europe, open war-scale violence there has finally ceased. It was a success of international diplomacy (albeit belated). The Bosnian War and the violence it caused left a colossal imprint on the fate of the local population. Today there is not a single Bosnian or Serb whose family has not been affected by the inherently terrible conflict of twenty years ago.
The topic of the Bosnian War is rarely raised in foreign media. The acute ethnopolitical crisis that arose 25 years ago is generally considered resolved. In the West, they ignore the existing contradictions between the supposedly reconciled parties to the conflict, so as not to work on mistakes.
Modern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a confederation with a very weak economy and high levels of corruption and crime. BiH is a state that is commonly called patchwork. Bosnia consists of two de facto independent entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, which is divided into two enclaves.
According to 2015 data, the federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is populated predominantly by Muslim Bosniaks (ethnic Serbs and Croats who converted to Islam) and Catholic Croats. Republika Srpska consists mainly of Orthodox Serbs, but the proportion of its Muslim population is gradually growing.
Preparing for war
The armed clashes in BiH that began in 1992 were the result of the internal crisis of the Yugoslav state and external pressure on its leader Slobodan Milosevic. Belgrade suffered its first defeat in the summer of 1991 in battles with the Slovenian militia.
The example of Slovenia, which left socialist Yugoslavia, inspired Croatian nationalists. In response to Zagreb's declaration of independence from Belgrade, local Serbs declared the creation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. On May 16, the Skupshtina (parliament) of the self-proclaimed state decided to join Yugoslavia.
In the second half of 1991, fierce fighting occurred between Serbian militias, supported by the Yugoslav army, and the armed forces of the newly formed Croatia. In January 1992, thanks to the intervention of the UN, a ceasefire was established.
However, in March of the same year, the fire of war broke out in neighboring Bosnia, which was torn apart by contradictions between Muslims (44% of the population in 1991), Croats (17%) and Serbs (31%). In Yugoslavia, the Serbs, in fact, were the state-forming people. The Serbian population of BiH, like Croatia, opposed secession from the socialist state.
On January 9, 1992, the Assembly of the Serbian People of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced the creation of the Republika Srpska (RS). The Serbs began to form their own authorities and armed forces.
The catalyst for the formation of statehood in the RS was the increasing frequency of clashes with the Bosniaks and Croats. On March 5, 1992, the parliament in Sarajevo confirmed the independence of BiH. The contradictions in Bosnia have become irreversible. The Serbs became separatists in the country that broke away from Yugoslavia.
Part of the officers of the Yugoslav army moved to the RS. The republic's authorities realized the nature of the impending threat and began to prepare for war. A headquarters was created in the city of Han Pesak (70 km from Sarajevo), under whose control there were six corps. In a fairly short time, the militias were united into something like a regular army.
- Bosnian soldiers in Sarajevo, July 12, 1992
How myths were created
In March 1992, Croatian soldiers entered northern Bosnia, which was controlled by the Serbs.
On March 27, in the border region of Posavina, Croats carried out the first ethnic cleansing of the Bosnian War.
Soon, massacres of civilians will become an integral part of the fighting in BiH.
On April 5, 1992, with the active support of the Yugoslav army, RS troops laid siege to Sarajevo. The Serbs' goal was to take the capital of BiH and other major cities, but they did not achieve significant success. Bosnia plunged into chaos, the victims of which were mainly civilians.
According to the materials of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, all parties to the conflict were guilty. However, since the spring of 1992, foreign media and politicians have been diligent in portraying Serbian soldiers and militias as thugs, ignoring the numerous ethnic cleansings carried out by Muslims and Croats.
Such an information picture contributed to the emergence of various myths, which over time acquired the status of historically reliable facts. One of the widely circulated examples of myth-making is the generally accepted interpretation of the events in Srebrenica (Eastern Bosnia), where 7,000-8,000 unarmed Muslims were allegedly killed.
In July 2015, Russia blocked a British-proposed resolution condemning the massacre of Muslims that occurred 20 years ago. This action had not only compelling political reasons. Russian and Serbian historians insist that there is no evidence that even 1,500 people died.
The Serbs were deliberately labeled as bloodthirsty killers in order to make the events in Srebrenica an instrument of political pressure, says Elena Guskova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the Center for the Study of the Contemporary Balkan Crisis. The expert does not deny that a terrible tragedy really occurred in the Bosnian city, but the scale of the shelling of a column of Muslims with weapons in their hands was inflated to the point of genocide. Where did the myth about the killing of 7,000-8,000 Muslims come from?
These figures were announced on November 3, 2004 by the prosecutor of the UN International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla del Ponte, in an address to the NATO Council. She referred to the report of the Republika Srpska commission of inquiry into the events in Srebrenica.
Later, a member of the commission, historian Zeljko Vujadinovich, pointed out that there was no such data in the report. According to him, there was accurate information about the death of more than 1,000 Muslims between July 10 and July 19, 1995, without specifying the reasons.
“The list of 7,806 names refers to persons who were listed as missing throughout July 1995,” Karla del Ponte Vujadinovic explained the “error.” By July 2005, the remains of 1,438 people had been identified, he said. It is noteworthy that 800 people who died throughout 1995 are buried in the Memorial Center in Srebrenica.
Fruits of independence
25 years ago, a conflict broke out in southern Europe, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of people. The exact number of victims of the Bosnian massacre has not been established to this day due to the huge number of missing people.
The population of BiH suffered from a lack of food, medicine, and drinking water. The military carried out mass executions, raped women, and organized concentration camps. Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks have forgotten that, in essence, they are one people, although they profess different faiths.
The Bosnian War ended with NATO intervention, after which the Dayton Accords were signed, legitimizing BiH's secession from Yugoslavia. It is worth noting that Western governments officially supported the collapse of a large state, by European standards.
On January 5, 1992, the European Union recognized the independence of Slovenia and Croatia. On April 7, 1992, the United States took a similar step, including Bosnia in the list of recognized states, in addition to Slovenia and Croatia.
In the second half of the 1990s, the West supported the Kosovo separatists, who were trained in Albania by American and European instructors.
On March 24, 1999, NATO began an operation to destroy military and civilian targets in Serbia.
The formal reason for the air strikes was accusations of ethnic cleansing against Albanians. “Humanitarian intervention” became the final chord for Yugoslav statehood.
The autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija became a territory not controlled by Serbia, and in 2008 Western countries recognized its independence. In 2006, Montenegro set off on a free voyage. As a result, Serbia lost access to the sea, becoming a small land state with a dilapidated economy.
However, a difficult socio-economic situation has developed in almost all Balkan countries. Only Slovenia feels relatively well.
In the IMF ranking in terms of GDP per capita, Croatia, which joined the EU, is in 56th place ($21.6 thousand). BiH ranks 105th ($10.5 thousand), and Kosovo, according to the World Bank, is in 103rd position ($9.7 thousand). Things are somewhat better for Serbia ($13.6 thousand), Montenegro ($16 thousand) and Macedonia ($14 thousand), which bloodlessly separated from Yugoslavia.
Funeral of international law
The Yugoslav peoples were captivated by the illusion that they could change their lives for the better by separating from Belgrade. According to Elena Guskova, this is a widespread misconception of “small nations”.
“Yugoslavia was a state where there was a fairly high standard of living, and lagging regions were supported at the expense of the prosperous ones. There was no oppression of national minorities or persecution in Yugoslavia. Rather, on the contrary, it was the Serbs who bore the main burden,” stated Guskova.
“For 25 years, the Yugoslav peoples have lived separately. This is enough time to build statehood, the economy and find that better life for which tens of thousands of people died. And what is the result? — Guskova asks a rhetorical question.
The head of the Belgrade Center for Geostrategic Research, Dragana Trifkovic, believes that the European Union and the United States were not initially interested in forming stable developing states in the Balkans. The goal of the West's policy towards Yugoslavia was to erase the buffer zone that separated it from the East.
“Finding themselves in a stalemate, the Balkan republics rushed to the EU and NATO. However, European integration did not save Slovenia and Croatia from economic problems. Now other states, including Serbia, want to join the EU. However, the introduction of European standards only worsens their economic situation. This is a hopeless path,” Trifkovich told RT.
In addition to large-scale economic degradation, the Balkans have turned into a region of ethnopolitical contradictions.
“NATO destroyed the unwanted regime and cleared its way to the East, leaving smoldering hotbeds in the region. Nationalism and antagonism towards the Serbs is observed in Croatia, Bosnia, and Albania. Serbia is under great threat from all sides,” Trifkovic explained.
According to Guskova, the Bosnian war and the Kosovo crisis, as a result of which NATO aircraft bombed Belgrade, demonstrated that “since the 1990s, international law has ceased to exist.” According to her, politically dependent republics arose in place of Yugoslavia.
“The United States successfully conducted an experiment to fragment a fairly strong Slavic state, using diplomatic, information and military methods. Now it is impossible to seriously talk about any sovereignty of the current post-Yugoslav states,” Guskova noted.
The expert stated that Washington strategists successfully completed the task: “Having lost a prosperous peaceful life, the Balkans are under the influence of NATO and the EU. And in the West the prevailing belief is that a quarter of a century ago everything was done correctly.”
The next stage of the deepening Yugoslav crisis began with the proclamation of the sovereignty and state independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1991. The cause of military clashes was mainly the inability to agree on the future structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has a mixed population (Muslims, Serbs, Croats). In Bosnia and Herzegovina, ethnic separatism, mixed with national intolerance and religious extremism, has led to irreconcilable hostility between the Serbs, Muslims and Croats living in the republic. There was a polarization of forces along ethnic lines: Serbs and Croats began to demand the division of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina or its reorganization on a confederal basis through the creation of ethnic cantons. The Muslim Democratic Action Party, led by A. Izetbegovic, did not agree with this demand, advocating a unitary “civil republic” of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In turn, this aroused the suspicion of the Serbian side, which believed that we were talking about the creation of an “Islamic fundamentalist republic”, 40 percent of the population of which are Muslims.
The Muslim organization of “Bosniaks” tried to prevent the Serbian-Muslim conflict by signing a separate document on the joint life and relationships of the two ethnic groups. This initiative was accepted by the Serbian side, but did not find support from the PDA leader A. Izetbegovic. The Croats living on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not agree to be associated in any way with Yugoslavia - apparently believing that it would be easier for them to achieve their political goals in an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbs found it unacceptable for themselves to remain with minority status outside of Yugoslavia, in a state dominated by the Muslim-Croat coalition.
The Bosnian Serbs were clearly not happy with this prospect. Their goal was to create their own state entity with the subsequent possibility of unification with Serbia. On December 21, 1991, the Bosnian Serbs held a referendum and proclaimed the Republika Srpska on their territory with all the necessary institutions of statehood. In February 1992, Bosnian Muslims and Croats held their independence plebiscite. The Serbian population, who made up a third, refused to take part in it, hoping that as a result of this boycott it would be declared invalid. However, this referendum took place, and the majority of those who took part in it spoke in favor of the independence of an integral Bosnia and Herzegovina. This contradiction then became one of the driving forces of the conflict. Unlike the Serbian one, the expression of will of the Bosnian Muslims and Croats, which was organized by legally elected authorities, received international recognition.
The lack of consensus on the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina led to increased tension in the sector and the beginning of the formation of armed formations by all parties to the future conflict.
After recognizing the independence of Macedonia, only two republics - Serbia and Montenegro - declared their determination to continue to live together and created the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). It was she who was held responsible for the ethnic conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on May 30, 1992, the UN Security Council, with the support of Russia, imposed economic sanctions against the new “third” Yugoslavia. Subsequent events showed that these sanctions had no impact on the further development of conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But they put the FRY in the position of a “whipping boy” and meant the application of the principle of collective responsibility, condemned by international law, against the Serbian people for the actions that its leadership committed, but not alone, but together with the leaders of other Yugoslav republics.
On April 25, 1992, the People's Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the Assembly of the Republic of Montenegro proclaimed the continuation of the state, legal and political subjectivity of the SFRY in a new joint state - the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). The special declaration of the Presidium of Yugoslavia stated that this country has no territorial claims to other states. On May 4, it was decided to withdraw JNA soldiers originally from Serbia and Montenegro from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The United States and the European Community, however, have taken the position that the FRY, respectively Serbia and Montenegro, are the main perpetrators of the war on Yugoslav territory and the “aggression” against Bosnia and Herzegovina (despite the fact that Bosnian Serbs and not citizens and the Armed Forces of the FRY).
On this basis, the Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which seceded from Yugoslavia, were admitted to UN membership on May 22, 1992, although Croatia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, did not fulfill the necessary conditions for this. Nine days later, the Security Council adopted Resolution 757 imposing sanctions against the FRY under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, holding Yugoslavia responsible for the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On April 6, 1992, EU countries recognized the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Immediately after this, first in Sarajevo and then in other regions of the republic, clashes between armed groups of ethnic communities began, which soon escalated into a large-scale bloody conflict.
The international community blamed the Serbian side for the escalation of violence. Serbia was accused of supporting the separatist claims of the Bosnian Serbs and aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina.