Bosnia-Hersegovina Genocide: A History



          The Bosnia-Herzegovina Genocide resulted from conflicts between Serbs, Muslims, and Croats which originate back to the end of World War I, when Yugoslavia was formed, combining Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Croatia. The monarchy was composed of three major groups: the Orthodox Christian Serbs, the Catholic Croats, and the Muslim ethnic Albanians. Tensions gradually rose between these three contrasting groups because of ethnic diversity, however under the strong rule of Josip Tito, a Communist leader who came into power after World War II, Yugoslavia was reunified, its economy was successful, and tensions were suppressed. After the death of Tito in the late 1980s, Yugoslavia experienced a painful economic and political decline. 




 



In 1987, a man named Slobodan Milosevic, president of the League of Communists of Serbia, visited Kosovo to calm the protests of mistreatment of the Serb minority by the Albanian majority. The Serbian crowd was boisterous, and attempted to speak with Milosevic directly. Instead, they were beaten by local police. To this, Milosevic responded with, “No one has the right to beat you!” That moment sparked a change in Yugoslav policies.

            Milosevic began working to remove the current president and his former classmate, Ivan Stambolic, as well as Stambolic’s associates, from Serbian politics. This was done through many heated discussions in the League of Communists of Serbia. In 1989 Milosevic became the President of Serbia.

            Tensions between Serbia’s communists weakened the already collapsing Yugoslavia. The fear of Serbia conquering and dominating all of Yugoslavia also sparked nationalism among the neighboring states. These nationalist feelings were unsettling to the Serbians, especially Milosevic, because the Serbs have been subject to mistreatment and even genocide in the past. Nationalism also contributed to the fall of Yugoslavia and civil war among the breakaway nations. Milosevic was the natural ally of the Serb minorities living outside of Serbia.

            In 1991, Milosevic began invading the newly independent nations. He began with the invasion of Slovenia using the national army of Yugoslavia, which was mostly made of Serbs. However, Milosevic withdrew from the nation because of their resistance.

            Then, Milosevic turned to Croatia, where Serbs made up only 12% of the population. The Croat government seemed to be reviving the fascism seen in World War II, when Croatia had been pro-Nazi. The Serbs had been victims. This assumption of the restoration of fascism was supported when the leader of the Croat government, Frajo Tudjam, began enacting discriminatory laws against Serbs.

            Milosevic decided to invade Croatia to ensure the safety of the small Serbian population. However, his claims of protection came across as desires for destruction and aggression. Many believed he only wished to build a “Greater Serbia”. Milosevic and his army destroyed numerous cities in Croatia and killed hundreds of men. Despite this hostility, the U.S. didn’t get involved militarily. Instead, they recognized Croatia and Slovenia’s independence and inflicted and arms embargo on all of Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, this didn’t affect much because Milosevic’s troops were already the most advanced armed force. In 1991 the U.S. also sponsored a cease-fire agreement between the Serbs and the Croats.

            In 1992, Bosnia finally received recognition of its independence from the U.S. and European communities. The Serbs were also a minority in Bosnia, making up only 32% of the population in the primarily Muslim community. Milosevic responded to this recognition by invading Bosnia’s capital city, Sarajevo. Bosnian Muslims were severely outmatched and outgunned.

            The Serbs began systematically killing Bosnian Muslims in ways remarkably similar to the systematic killings of the Jews in World War II. Serbs used concentration camps and raped women and children as ways to terrorize and intimidate the Bosnian Muslims. Mass killings were occurring without intervention. These actions were described as the “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnia.

            While these horrific acts of violence were occurring in Bosnia, the U.S. remained militarily uninvolved. They imposed economic sanctions on Serbia and deployed their troops to ensure the distribution of food and medicine to the Bosnian Muslims. The troops were prohibited to interfere militarily. The U.S. was determined to remain neutral.

            The lack of foreign military intervention left the Serbs in Bosnia free to continue committing genocide against the Muslims in Bosnia. These Serbs were being directed by a local leader Radovan Karadzic, who was the president of the illegitimate Bosnian Serb Republic.

            Then, in 1994, a marketplace in Sarajevo was struck by a Serb mortar shell, which finally prompted intervention against the Serbs through military action. U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered Serbs to remove their weaponry from Sarajevo. Soon after this a cease-fire in Sarajevo was declared.

            The U.S. then attempted to unite the Bosnian Muslims and Croats against the Serbs. Despite this, the Serbs continued to attack Muslim communities is Bosnia, some of which had been declared Safe Havens by the U.N. The Serbs even began attacking U.N. peacekeepers living in Bosnia.





            NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) retaliated this attacks with limited air strikes on Serb ground positions, however this only resulted in the Serbs taking U.N. peacekeepers hostage, using these men and women as human shields against further NATO attacks. At this point the most horrific acts of genocide occurred. U.N. peacekeepers watched helplessly as 8,000 men were systematically killed. This was the largest mass murder to occur in Europe since the genocidal acts that occurred in World War II. Muslim women and children continued to be victims of rape.

            By 1995 it became apparent that forceful and effective military intervention was necessary in ending the violence occurring in Bosnia. The U.S. led a massive NATO bombing campaign targeting Serbian artillery positions in Bosnia. The Serbs began losing ground to the Bosnian Muslims who were also receiving help from the Islamic communities. Milosevic, realizing that the cards were no longer in his hands, was now more than willing to talk peace.

            Milosevic, Tudjman, and the leaders of other involved military groups met in Ohio on November 1, 1995 at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base for peace talks. After three weeks of negotiation and discussion, a peace accord was formed. This resulted in the partition of Bosnia, which separated the state into the Bosnian Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation. Democratic elections were also called for in the accord, as well as for criminals of the war to be handed over for prosecution. NATO deployed 60,000 of their troops into Bosnia to ensure the preservation of the peace accord.

            By the time the peace accord was finally established 200,000 Muslims had been murdered, 20,000 were missing and feared dead, and 2,000,000 refugees were left homeless. All of these occurrences resulted from Milosevic and his troops wishing to “protect” the Serb minorities in the states of the former Yugoslavia. Milosevic was the first sitting leader to be charged with war crimes, such as genocide.