The Bosnian War

In 1992, conflict erupted in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The war was primarily a territorial conflict between Bosniaks and Croats living in Bosnia, supported by Croatia, and Serbs in Bosnia supported by the JNA and Serbia. Opposed to the Bosnian government's plan for independence, the Serb controlled JNA and other armed nationalist Serb militant forces tried to prevent Bosnian citizens from voting in the 1992 referendum (a general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision) on independence. Even after an intimidating atomosphere was created by the opposing forces and a Serb boycott, the vote resulted in 99% vote in support for independence.

  A Croatian military tank in Bosnia. The army was granted the use of the range for first time in 18 months to train their troops on the proper use of the tank, its 100mm main gun and 12.7mm machine gun. They used this to defend the Bosnian aim of independence.

On 19 June 1992, war broke out, though fighting had already broken out after Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared independence. Bosnia's Serb faction (group) was led by the "ultra nationalist" Radon Karadzic. He promised independence for all Serb areas of Bosnia from the Bosniak government.

To connect the disconnected parts of territories populated by Serbs and areas that were claimed by Serbs, Karadzic followed a plan of organized ethnic cleansing. This was mainly against Bosnians through massacre and forced removals. This was part of a strategic plan by the Serb leaders who aimed at linking Serb populated areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina together, to gain control over these areas and create a separate Serb state. The Serbs were aware of the fact that this could only be achieved through the use of force and fear, consequently by the use of war crimes.

 The war rape that took place in this Yugoslav war can be characterized as genocide. The rape carried out by Serb forces looked to destroy cultural and social connections of the victims and their communities. This was aimed at creating homogenous nation states, due to nationalist ideas of purity.  Serbian soldiers were urged to and hoped to force Bosnian women to carry Serbian children through repeated rape, hence work towards an ethnic cleansing. This most obviously and definitely caused irrevocable damage between the republics and divided them even further. The wars had moved away from territorial disputes and had become about bettering one's own nation at the detriment of the others.

Croats stood for an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.The Bosnian Croat forces were supported by the Croat Army. They fought violently against the Bosnian Serbs and the JNA.

Pressure was put on all sides to stick to a ceasefire and negotiate an end to the war. On the 14th of December 1995, the Dayton Agreement was signed.