Bosnia-Herzegovina
Historie
Bosnia has been inhabited by humans since at least the Paleolithic, as one of the oldest cave paintings was found in
Badanj cave near Stolac in Herzegovina (dating between 12.000 and 16.000 BC). Major Neolithic cultures such as the
Butmir and Kakanj were present along the river Bosna dated from 6230-4900 BC.
The bronze culture of the Illyrians, an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form, started to organize itself
in the western Balkan Peninsula. From 8th century BC, Illyrian tribes evolved into kingdoms. The earliest recorded kingdom
was the Enchele in the 8th century BC. The most notable Illyrian kingdoms and dynasties were those of Bardylis of
the Dardani (393–358 BC) and of Agron of the Ardiaei (250–231 BC).
Conflict between the Illyrians and ancient Romans started in 229 BC. In the year 168 BC, the land of Illyrians
became the Roman province of Illyricum. Rome completed its annexation of the region in 9 AD, ending a three-year rebellion
of Illyrians against Romans. Following the split of the Empire between 337 and 395 AD, the Illyrian region became parts
of the Western Roman Empire.
The region was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 455 AD. It subsequently changed hands between the Alans and
the Huns. By the 6th century, Emperor Justinian I had reconquered the area for the Byzantine Empire.
In the 11th century political circumstance led to the area being contested between the Kingdom of Hungary and the
Byzantine Empire. Following another shift of power between the two in the early 12th century, Bosnia found itself
outside the control of both and emerged as the Banate of Bosnia (1154–1377). By the year 1377, Bosnia was elevated
into a kingdom with the coronation of Tvrtko as the first Bosnian King. Following his death in 1391 however,
Bosnia fell into a long period of decline. The Ottoman Empire had started its conquest of Europe and posed a major threat
to the Balkans throughout the first half of the 15th century. Finally, after decades of political and social instability,
the Kingdom of Bosnia ceased to exist in 1463 after its conquest by the Ottoman Empire. A significant number of Bosnians
converted to Islam after the conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the 15th century, giving it a unique
character within the Balkan region.
The Ottoman rule lasted for over four hundred years, until 1878 when, in the aftermath of the Russian victory against the
Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, the Great Powers, eventually forced the Ottomans to cede
administration of the country to Austria-Hungary through the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.
On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb member of the revolutionary movement Young Bosnia, assassinated the
heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo—an event that was the spark that set
off World War I.
Following World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the South Slav Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The official
name of the state was changed to "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" by King Alexander I on 3 October 1929.
Once the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was conquered by German forces in World War II, all of Bosnia and Herzegovina was
ceded to the Nazi puppet regime, the Independent State of Croatia led by the Ustaše (a Croatian fascist and
ultranationalist organization).
Many Serbs themselves took up arms and joined the Chetniks, a Serb nationalist movement with the aim of establishing
an ethnically homogeneous 'Greater Serbian' state within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Chetniks, in turn,
pursued a genocidal campaign against ethnic Muslims and Croats, as well as persecuting a large number of communist Serbs
and other Communist sympathizers, with the Muslim populations of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Sandžak being a primary target.
Starting in 1941, Yugoslav communists under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito organized their own multi-ethnic
resistance group, the Partisans, who fought against Axis, Ustaše, and Chetnik forces.
At the end of the war, the establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with the constitution of
1946, officially made Bosnia and Herzegovina one of six constituent republics in the new state.
Following the death of Tito on 4 May 1980, the Yugoslav economy started to collapse, which increased unemployment and inflation.
The economic crisis led to rising ethnic nationalism and political dissidence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With the fall
of communism in Eastern Europe, efforts to transition into a confederation failed; the two wealthiest republics, Croatia
and Slovenia, seceded and gained international recognition in 1991.
Following Slovenia and Croatia's declarations of independence from Yugoslavia, a significant split developed among the
residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the issue of whether to remain within Yugoslavia (overwhelmingly favored by Serbs)
or seek independence (overwhelmingly favored by Bosniaks and Croats). A declaration of sovereignty on 15 October 1991 was
followed by a referendum for independence from Yugoslavia on 29 February and 1 March 1992. The referendum was boycotted by
the great majority of Bosnian Serbs, so with a voter turnout of 64%, 98% of which voted in favor of the proposal. Bosnia
and Herzegovina became an independent state on 3 March 1992.
Following Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of independence, the Bosnian Serbs, led by Radovan Karadžić and
supported by the Serbian regime of Slobodan Milošević and the Yugoslav People's Army, mobilised their forces
inside Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to secure ethnic Serb territory. Then war soon spread across the country. The conflict
was initially between Yugoslav Army units in Bosnia which later transformed into the Army of Republika Srpska on
the one side, and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, largely composed of Bosniaks, and the
Croat forces in the Croatian Defence Council on the other side. Tensions between Croats and Bosniaks increased
throughout late 1992, resulting in the escalation of the Croat–Bosniak War in early 1993.
In March 1994, the signing of the Washington accords between the Bosniak and ethnic-Croatian leaders led to the
creation of a joint Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The signing of the Dayton Agreement
in Paris by the presidents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Yugoslavia brought a halt to the fighting, roughly
establishing the basic structure of the present-day state.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a federation of two Entities - the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
Republika Srpska, as well as the district of Brčko. Each of the Entities has its own Constitution and
extensive legislative powers.
According to a report made by Christian Schmidt of the Office of High Representative in late 2021, Bosnia
and Herzegovina has been experiencing intensified political and ethnic tensions, which could potentially break the country
apart and slide it back into war once again. The European Union fears this will lead to further Balkanization in the
region.