Bosnian conflict

Bosnian conflict, ethnically rooted war (1992–95) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a former republic of Yugoslavia with a multiethnic population comprising Bosniaks (formerly designated as Muslims), Serbs, and Croats. After years of bitter fighting that involved the three Bosnian groups as well as the Yugoslav army, Western countries with backing by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) imposed a final cease-fire negotiated at Dayton, Ohio, U.S., in 1995.

Background

In 1946 the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the constituent republics of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia. Life in Bosnia underwent all the social, economic, and political changes that were imposed on the whole of Yugoslavia by its new communist government, but Bosnia was particularly affected by the abolition of many traditional Muslim institutions, such as Qurʾānic primary schools, rich charitable foundations, and dervish religious orders. However, a change of official policy in the 1960s led to the acceptance of “Muslim” as a term denoting a national identity. By 1971 Muslims formed the largest single component of the Bosnian population. During the next 20 years the Serb and Croat populations fell in absolute terms as many Serbs and Croats emigrated. In the 1991 census Muslims made up more than two-fifths of the Bosnian population, while Serbs made up slightly less than one-third and Croats one-sixth. From the mid-1990s the term Bosniak replaced Muslim as the name for this group.

Meanwhile, the rapid decline of the Yugoslav economy in the 1980s led to widespread public dissatisfaction with the political system. In December 1990 multiparty elections were held in Bosnia, and new parties representing the three national communities gained seats in rough proportion to their populations. A tripartite coalition government was formed, with the Bosniak politician Alija Izetbegović leading a joint presidency. Growing tensions both inside and outside Bosnia, however, made cooperation between this government and Bosnia’s Serbian Democratic Party, led by Radovan Karadžić, increasingly difficult.

In 1991 several self-styled “Serb Autonomous Regions” were declared in areas of Bosnia with large Serb populations. Evidence emerged that the Yugoslav People’s Army was being used to send secret arms deliveries to the Bosnian Serbs from Belgrade. In August the Serbian Democratic Party began boycotting the Bosnian presidency meetings, and in October it removed its deputies from the Bosnian assembly and set up a “Serb National Assembly” in Banja Luka. By then the breakup of Yugoslavia was under way, and the partitioning of Bosnia among neighbouring republics—a proposal discussed during talks between the Croatian president, Franjo Tudjman, and the Serbian president, Slobodan Milošević, earlier in the year—remained a distinct possibility. Two Croat “communities” in northern and southwestern Bosnia, similar in some ways to the “Serb Autonomous Regions,” were proclaimed in November 1991.

Independence and war

When the European Community (EC; ultimately succeeded by the European Union) recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia in December 1991, it invited Bosnia to apply for recognition also. A referendum on independence was held February 29–March 1, 1992, although Karadžić’s party obstructed voting in many Serb-populated areas. Nearly two-thirds of the electorate cast a vote. Almost all voted for independence, which was officially proclaimed on March 3 by Pres. Alija Izetbegović.

Attempts by EC negotiators to promote a new division of Bosnia into ethnic “cantons” during February and March 1992 failed: different versions of these plans were rejected by each of the three main parties. When Bosnia’s independence was recognized by the United States and the EC on April 7, Serbian paramilitary forces immediately began firing on Sarajevo, and the bombardment of the city by heavy artillery began soon thereafter. During April many of the towns in eastern Bosnia with large Bosniak populations, such as Zvornik, Foča, and Višegrad, were attacked by a combination of paramilitary forces and Yugoslav army units. (By this time, Yugoslavia comprised only the republics of Serbia and Montenegro.) Most of the local Bosniak population was expelled from these areas, the first victims in Bosnia of a process described as “ethnic cleansing.” Within six weeks a coordinated offensive by the Yugoslav army, Serbian paramilitary groups, and local Bosnian Serb forces left roughly two-thirds of Bosnian territory under Serbian control. In May the army units and equipment in Bosnia were placed under the command of a Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladić.

From the summer of 1992, the military situation remained fairly static. A hastily assembled Bosnian government army, together with some better-prepared Croat forces, held the front lines for the rest of that year, though its power was gradually eroded in parts of eastern Bosnia. The Bosnian government was weakened militarily by an international arms embargo and by a conflict in 1993–94 with Croat forces. In 1994, however, Croats and Bosniaks agreed to form a joint federation. The United Nations (UN) refused to intervene in the war in Bosnia, but its troops facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid; the organization later extended its role to the protection of a number of UN-declared “safe areas.” Several peace proposals failed, largely because the Serbs refused to concede any territory (they controlled about 70 percent of Bosnian land by 1994).

In May 1995 NATO forces launched air strikes on Serbian targets after the Serbian military refused to comply with a UN ultimatum. Further air strikes led to U.S.-sponsored peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, in November. The agreement that resulted from those talks called for a federalized Bosnia in which 51 percent of the land would constitute a Croat-Bosniak federation (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and 49 percent a Bosnian Serb republic (the Republika Srpska). To enforce the agreement, signed in December, a 60,000-member international force was deployed. It was originally estimated that at least 200,000 people had been killed and more than 2,000,000 displaced during the 1992–95 war. Subsequent studies, however, concluded that the death toll was actually about 100,000.