What Happened in the Bosnian War?
On 29 February 1992, the multiethnic republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, constituting Catholic Croats, Orthodox Serbs and Muslim Slavs, passed a referendum for independence from Yugoslavia. However, not all Bosnian Serbs agreed with the move, although the rest of the population did, as they were trying to cede from Serbia, alarmed by the Serb leader, Slobodan Milosevic's attempts to seize control of federal government and his repressive measures in Kosovo. Under the pretence of protecting the Serb minority in Bosnia, Serbian leaders channelled arms and military support to Serbian nationalist minorities in Bosnia. Initially many Bosnians believed that the Yugoslav National Army would protect them, but before long is was clearly evident that the National Army was under the control of Milosevic. On 6 April 1992, the Bosnian Serbs began their siege of Sarajevo, cutting off Muslim, Croat and Serb residents from food, utilities and communications. For three years, the world watched normal people attempting to go about their daily routines while avoiding sniper fire. Throughout Bosnia, Bosnian Serb nationalist militias and the Yugoslav National Army began a policy of ethnic cleansing against the non-Serb civilian population. They captured towns, ransacked houses and apartments, separated men and women, detaining them in camps, killing many men and raping many women. Millions of Bosnians and Croats were forced to flee their homes, resulting in the worst humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War Two. However, the response of the international community continued to be very limited, the UN responded by imposing economic sanctions on Serbia and deployed troops to protect the distribution of food and medicine, but they strictly prohibited its troops from intervening militarily.
Similarly the US remained aloof until 1994, when a new American administration under President Clinton issued an ultimatum through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) demanding the immediate withdrawal of Serb artillery from Sarajevo, the Serbs quickly complied and a NATO imposed cease-fire in Sarajevo was declared. The US then began a diplomatic effort to unite Bosnian Muslims and Croats, but this new alliance failed to prevent continued Serb attacks against Muslim towns. Bosnian Serb forces also attacked UN peacekeepers, NATO forces retaliated by launching limited air-strikes against Serb ground forces. The Serbs fought back by capturing hundreds of UN personnel and using them as human shields, chaining them to their installations. On August 30, 1995, effective military intervention was launched as the US led a massive NATO bombing campaign in response to the slaughter of 8,000 Muslim civilians by Serb forces at Srebrenica. Following these strikes and successful incursions by Bosnian Muslims and Croats, the Serbs began to lose ground, eventually been forced to sue for peace. On 1 November 1995, all leaders of the warring factions convened in Dayton, Ohio to thrash out a settlement. Terms were reached that included the partition of Bosnia into two parts namely the Bosnian-Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation. The agreement also called for democratic elections and stipulated that war criminals would be handed over to face trial. Over sixty thousand NATO troops were deployed to preserve the ceasefire. The war had left Bosnia devastated, over 200,000 Muslim civilians had being systematically murdered, more than 20,000 were missing and feared dead and over two million had become refugees
Similarly the US remained aloof until 1994, when a new American administration under President Clinton issued an ultimatum through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) demanding the immediate withdrawal of Serb artillery from Sarajevo, the Serbs quickly complied and a NATO imposed cease-fire in Sarajevo was declared. The US then began a diplomatic effort to unite Bosnian Muslims and Croats, but this new alliance failed to prevent continued Serb attacks against Muslim towns. Bosnian Serb forces also attacked UN peacekeepers, NATO forces retaliated by launching limited air-strikes against Serb ground forces. The Serbs fought back by capturing hundreds of UN personnel and using them as human shields, chaining them to their installations. On August 30, 1995, effective military intervention was launched as the US led a massive NATO bombing campaign in response to the slaughter of 8,000 Muslim civilians by Serb forces at Srebrenica. Following these strikes and successful incursions by Bosnian Muslims and Croats, the Serbs began to lose ground, eventually been forced to sue for peace. On 1 November 1995, all leaders of the warring factions convened in Dayton, Ohio to thrash out a settlement. Terms were reached that included the partition of Bosnia into two parts namely the Bosnian-Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat Federation. The agreement also called for democratic elections and stipulated that war criminals would be handed over to face trial. Over sixty thousand NATO troops were deployed to preserve the ceasefire. The war had left Bosnia devastated, over 200,000 Muslim civilians had being systematically murdered, more than 20,000 were missing and feared dead and over two million had become refugees
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