Bridge between worlds: uncovering the allure of Bosnia in one day

Bosnian war

The Bosnian War or “war within a war” (1992-1995) dismantled the patchwork of multiculturalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina to reveal rising ethnic and nationalist discord.

The horrors of war

Ethnic cleansing occurred across the country, and horrific atrocities were committed by all sides. In retaliation for the sins of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the Bosnian Serbs murdered thousands of Bosnian men and boys in the Srebrenica massacre near the Serbian border. Bosnian Croats raped and killed Serb civilians, and neighbors turned against neighbors. All sides committed war crimes, leaving a stain on European history after World War II. Many fear that this is the beginning of World War III, and some still worry that it may be.

International intervention

The Clinton administration found itself helpless about what to do during the early years of the war. As criticism mounted of Washington’s indecisive policy in Bosnia, the United States considered launching air strikes against Serb aggressors and arming Bosnian Muslims. President Clinton’s position was ambiguous, but interestingly, US President Joseph R. Biden Jr., then a Democratic senator from Delaware in the Clinton administration, favored air strikes. Admiral David Jeremiah, Vice Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed them, warning of the deaths of civilians. France and Britain feared that allied military action would inflame the situation. Eventually, a NATO aerial bombing campaign began in July 1995, leading to a ceasefire and the establishment of a set of constitutional principles for a single Bosnian state.

Dayton Accords

The war ended on November 21, 1995, with the signing of the Dayton Accords, a fragile peace agreement that established a power-sharing government but left deep ethnic divisions. It was brokered by the United States and signed by the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. Under the terms of the agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a single state with three separate autonomous regions: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosniaks and Croats), Republika Srpska (Republic of Bosnia Srpska), and the Brčko region (a symbolic nod toward its multi-ethnic roots after ethnic cleansing removed all but Serbs from the region). Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mostar is the traditional capital. The UN Security Council unanimously approved the establishment of a multinational military implementation force on December 15, 1995, to ensure compliance.

Aftermath of war

More than 100,000 people died in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war, more than anywhere else in the fighting that followed in shattered Yugoslavia. The city of Mostar saw up to 2,000 people killed. Bodies were left where they fell due to fear of snipers in the steep hills above the city. Among the victims were 12 mosques, several churches and the historic Stari Most bridge in Mostar. Millions of people were subjected to disfigurement and displacement. The UN General Assembly was expected to review a draft resolution declaring the Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys by Bosnian Serbs a genocide on May 2, after this post was published. The Republika Srpska Parliament adopted a resolution on April 18, denying that the killing in Srebrenica was genocide. The separatist president of the autonomous region represented by Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, admits that the deaths were a mistake but not genocide.