SUMMARY
Following the secession of Slovenia and Croatia from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Bosnia-Herzegovina proclaimed independence from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in March 1992, in turn prompting nationalist Serbs in the newly born state to proclaim their own political entity; the Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnian Croats eventually followed suit and in July 1992 proclaimed their own independent entity; the Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina (also referred to as the Croatian Republic or Croat Community of Herzeg-Bosna). This actor description also contains information on Croatian irregulars that fought on the side of the Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
After initially having fought on the side of the Bosnian government in its struggle against the Bosnian Serbs and the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) the nationalist Bosnian Croats began to argue that dividing Bosnia-Herzegovina along ethnic lines was necessary. The government of Bosnia did not accept this proclamation and armed conflict ensued in 1993 after minor skirmishes during 1992. In the context of this armed conflict the forces of the Bosnian Croats used one-sided violence against civilians in Bosnia.
As was the case in the proclamation of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina by nationalist Serbs, the main political party among Bosnian Croats was a nationalist party; in the Bosnian Croat context the HDZ (Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, Croatian Democratic Union). The HDZ had received mass support from ethnic Croats in Yugoslavia’s last elections in 1990, and thus exerted massive influence also among the Bosnian Croats. HDZ leaders in Croatia and in Bosnia thus took the lead in the project for an independent Croatian entity in Bosnia, to become its own state or to be integrated into Croatia proper. The HDZ leader in Bosnia at the time was Mate Boban, who became the leader of the Bosnian Croat entity. However, the leader of the main HDZ party (in Croatia) Franjo Tudjman, wielded significant amounts of power in regard to the activities of the Bosnian HDZ and its armed forces.
The Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina was proclaimed to be composed of some 33 municipalities in what used to be the Croat Banovina, based more on historic rights than demographic reality. The state was thus pronounced as including large swathes of territory in south-western and central Bosnia, and also to include a few pieces of land in the north. The Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina however never became an independent state, and the territory under its control was incorporated into the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina under the 1994 Washington peace agreement that ended the armed conflict with the government of Bosnia.
The forces of the Bosnian Croats were made up mainly of the HVO (Hrvatsko vijece obrane, Croatian Defence Council) and irregular forces that arrived in Bosnia after having fought and lost against the JNA and Serbian paramilitaries in Croatia proper. The HVO was viewed as the regular army of the Bosnian Croat community, but was in reality the armed wing of the HDZ party, and was controlled by Mate Boban. The irregular forces that arrived from Croatia were less disciplined and had their own agendas, although they were under the nominal control of the Bosnian Croat leadership. During the course of the conflict many of these paramilitary elements were integrated into the regular forces of the HVO.
During the conflict the Bosnian Serbs were supported by the government of Croatia. In 1993 (and also in 1992, before the conflict erupted) regular Croatian soldiers were posted in Bosnia, and took part in the fighting with the Bosnian government as a secondary warring party. Such support was not granted through most of 1994, but the government of Croatia still assisted the Bosnian Croats with financial and logistical aid during the year.
The initial leader of the Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina was Mate Boban, who was also the commander of the army. Boban resigned in 1994 after the signing of the Washington agreement which dissolved the Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and its affiliated irregular forces, have been involved in the intrastate and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
