The Intervention in Bosnia

Abstract

The civil war in the Balkans started in 1991, when the six republics that comprised Yugoslavia began seceding as a result of Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic’s pro-Serbian rhetoric. The republic of Slovenia seceded after a ten-day war. Because of its Serb minority and its important coastline, President Milosevic wasn’t going to let go of Croatia that easily. A seven-month war followed its declaration of independence. Bosnia was one of the most ethnically divided of the Yugoslavian republics: 43 percent of the population was Muslim, 35 percent was Orthodox Serb, and 18 percent was Roman Catholic Croat. Muslims and Catholics rightfully feared to be marginalized under President Milosevic. Muslims, however, had no ally in the region to rely on in case of war. The Bosnian presidency, comprised of two Serbs, two Croats, two Muslims, and one Yugoslav, following Europe’s and the US advice, organized an independence referendum: 99 percent of the voters opted for independence. As a result, the two Serbs in the presidency resigned and proclaimed an independent Bosnian Serb state with the support of Belgrade. When the Bosnian Serbs and the Yugoslav National Army joined forces to form an eighty-thousand army, the Muslims were constrained by the United Nations 1991 arms embargo. An “ethnic cleansing” campaign begun. After three and half years of war, more than 100,000 Bosnians were killed and 2 million were displaced. Because the conflict was taking place in Europe, Western media had extensive coverage of the war, including the concentration camps and other atrocities while the UN peacekeepers stood by.