SUMMARY
The armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina followed the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Its declared independence in 1992 was strongly rejected by the Bosnian Serbs who feared a minority status. The violence quickly escalated into a full-scale war. The conflict was fought between the Bosnian government troops and armed Serb forces and irregulars. Heavy international involvement characterized the conflict which was eventually terminated in 1995 through the Dayton agreement.
IN DEPTH
Background to the conflict
Already in the 1980s, a number of factors could be observed which prepared the ground for the dismantling of Yugoslavia and the period of instability that followed. Yugoslavia’s unifying leader, Tito, died in 1980. Around the same time, a period of economic decline began in the region. Growing demands for political independence and nationalistic/ethnic awareness could be noticed in several European countries. As a consequence of the end of the communist rule, free multiparty elections opened up possibilities for nationalistic politicians to compete for power.
Up to 1992, the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of six Yugoslavian republics. Bosnia was centrally located in Yugoslavia and in rough numbers populated by 17% Croats, 40% Muslims and 30% Serbs. In the early 1990s, armed conflict broke out in Bosnia, largely as a result of the prior secession of the Slovenian and Croatian republics from Yugoslavia. In July 1991, war for independence from Yugoslavia was fought in these republics. Around the same time, Alija Izetbegovic, President of the Bosnian republic, stated that Bosnia would not remain in a Yugoslavia without Croatia. Izetbegovic claimed that in a Yugoslavia consisting of Serbia and Bosnia, the Bosnian Muslims would be dictated by the more numerous Serbs. Gradually, Bosnia and Herzegovina began to move towards self-government. Independence was declared 1 March 1992.
The declaration of independence was not endorsed by the Serbs living in Bosnia. This group feared that they would be given a minority status in the new Bosnian state and preferred to remain within Yugoslavia. Thus, an incompatibility between the Bosnian leadership and the Serbs had developed concerning the constitutional status of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian territory. Already in January 1992, preparations for Serb autonomy within Bosnia had started and on 7 April, the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was proclaimed. While Bosnia contested the Serbian claim of this area, the Serbs, supported by the Yugoslav government, tried to consolidate their control over the territory.
The leadership in the Bosnian republic was initially made up of representatives both from the Croat, Serb and Muslim communities. However, by spring 1992, when Bosnia had become an independent state, Muslims had come to dominate its government. The new government received financial support from the Islamic conference. Bosnia and Herzegovina became independent on 27 April 1992. On this date, Yugoslavia adopted a new constitution, in which they no longer –officially - had any claims on Bosnian territory.
Formation of armed groups and the onset of the conflict
The Bosnian Serbs were led by Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Their forces were a mixture of nationalists, mercenaries and ordinary unemployed people. Many Serbian officers and Bosnian Serb soldiers serving in JNA (Yugoslavian National Army) had also been incorporated in the Bosnian Serb army. The Bosnian Serbs were assisted by independent militias set up by Serbs originating from Serbia or Croatia. Many of these irregular forces had previously been active in the conflict between the Republic of Croatia and Croatian Serbs. At times, the Bosnian Serbs and the Serb militias carried out operations together, but occasional clashes between these local Serbs and non-local Serbs also took place. On many occasions, it was unclear what force controlled the other. Thus, the distinction between JNA, the Bosnian Serb army and Serbian irregulars was often hard to make.
Already by March 1992, violent clashes between different armed formations in Bosnia became increasingly frequent. On 3 March, fighting between Serbian militia and Bosnian police in the northern Bosnia-Herzegovina town of Bosanski Brod resulted in several deaths. The violence escalated by April-May, with killings occurring regularly in Sarajevo and in other parts of Bosnia.
The Serb offensives in eastern Bosnia marked the beginning of a full-scale armed conflict. The hills around Sarajevo were seized in April, marking the beginning of a long siege of the city. The Serb forces were superior in number and had access to the JNA weapons. When the conflict broke out, the Bosnian government did not have an organized army. The defense was largely based on a Bosnian territorial defense force. The Bosnian fighters managed to hold off the Serbian forces from taking over Sarajevo, but in the rest of the country, the Serbs made steady progress. In December 1992, they had taken most of the east and south of Bosnia, with the exception of four enclaves: Sarajevo itself, Zepa, Gorazde and Srebrenica. Serb efforts in 1993 focused on conquering the remaining enclaves under Bosnian control in eastern Bosnia. The killing of civilians based on their ethnic affiliation was undertaken on a large scale. This so-called ‘ethnic cleansing’ strategy claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Secondary support and third party involvement
The Yugoslavian government, under the effective leadership of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, was a secondary warring party to the conflict during its first two years. At the outset, the JNA fought side by side with Serb militias and Bosnian Serbs forces throughout Bosnia. In May 1992, after a new constitution had established, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (the FRY; including the Serbian and the Montenegrian republics), the JNA formally withdrew from Bosnia. 1993 was the last year that Yugoslavia and Milosevic officially supported the Serbian troops in Bosnia. Despite the Yugoslavian government’s official withdrawal and denial of involvement in the fighting, there were reports of continuous presence of the JNA in Bosnia. The Yugoslav leadership was also accused of manipulating Serbian militias, fanning nationalism and distributing weapons.
The international community became involved in the Bosnian conflict early on. Initially, sanctions and arms embargos were imposed by UN and EU. UN also sent peacekeeping troops to Bosnia. A permanent forum for talks, the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia/the Geneva Peace Conference was set up in 1992. Cyrus Vance (EU representative) and Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg (UN representatives), presented a number of peace plans on Bosnian territorial division in the forum. The warring parties met in Geneva to discuss these plans, with mediation by UN and EU. In 1993, UNSC declared certain regions in Bosnia to be ‘safe areas’ and permitted NATO to use force in response to attacks against these ‘safe areas.’
Intense fighting despite cease fire agreement and safe areas
A high level fighting continued throughout 1994. Ceasefires were agreed upon only to quickly be broken. The Bosnian Serbs shelled the safe areas on repeated occasions. In response, UN-sanctioned air strikes were launched on Serb ground positions by NATO aircraft. Additional UN troops as well as Russian peacekeepers were deployed. The negotiation efforts continued throughout the year: a forum called the Contact group (which was composed of representatives from the US, the UK, Germany, France, Russia) held separate meetings with the parties, and peace talks also continued in Geneva. In December, the Bosnian government and the Bosnian Serbs signed a four-month ceasefire agreement. Both sides expressed their readiness to resume peace negotiations based on a revised Contact Group plan.
In 1995, heavy fighting continued near Brcko and in Sarajevo. The Bosnian army, which had been built up over the years, regained territory. The Bosnian Serbs violated the UN safe areas repeatedly throughout the year, which led to intense fighting between the Bosnian Serbs and UN. A UN ultimatum was delivered to the Bosnian Serbs: continued attacks on safe areas would lead to extensive air strikes. On 28 August, NATO began intense air strikes on Bosnian Serb military targets (Operation Deliberate Force).
Peace negotiations and the signing of a peace agreement
Around the same time as Operation Deliberate Force was initiated, the US government, through Richard Holbrooke, launched a new peace initiative based on earlier proposals from the Contact group. On 8 September 1995, the foreign ministers of Bosnia and Yugoslavia (the latter representing the Bosnian Serbs), together with Croatia, signed an agreement determining basic principles for a peace accord. These principles provided for the continued existence of Bosnia with its original borders. Yet, the country was to comprise two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (51% of the territory) and the Serb Republic (49% of the territory). Each entity was to retain its existing constitution. On 26 September, an agreement on further basic principles for a peace accord was reached in New York. This provided, among other things, for a collective presidency organized according to a one-third Serb to two-thirds Bosniak-Croat proportional division, with all decisions to be taken by majority vote.
Comprehensive peace negotiations started on 1 November 1995 in Dayton, USA. The peace talks led up to the signing of a peace agreement on 14 December. The Dayton Agreement was based on the accords reached in Geneva and in New York in September. According to the agreement, UN peacekeeping troops were replaced by an international, NATO commanded, 60 000-strong Implementation Force (IFOR). The peace agreement provided IFOR with the mandate to oversee the withdrawal of the warring parties from zones of separation and to monitor agreed exchanges of territory. Carl Bildt was appointed High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with responsibility for the implementation of civilian aspects of the Dayton Agreement.
