1. What led to the Bosnian War in 1992 – 1995?

‘Bosnia won’t stay in a Yugoslavia run by Serbia’

‘Alija Izetbegovic – 1990.

'While the attention of the media was focused on Sarajevo, [Karadzic and Mladic] pursued a relentless policy of 'ethnic cleansing' all over Bosnia that, by the end of 1992, had cost 100,000 Bosnian lives and had driven two million people - almost half the population of Bosnia - from their homes'.

Stoessinger, Why Nations go to War, pg 193

Starter:

What does this map indicate about the problems of Bosnia and Herzegovina following the path of Croatia and Slovenia in declaring independence from Serbia?

Bosnia-Herzegovina was a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state; Sarajevo had the highest proportion of mixed marriages in the whole of Yugoslavia.  However, it was made vulnerable by the nationalism of the new Croatian and Serbian leaderships.  Indeed, both Milošević and Tuđman had ambitions to divide the state between them.  In March 1992, Bosnia-Herzogovina held a referendum on independence which was boycotted by the Serbian minority (one third of the population) who wanted to remain in Yugoslavia. President, and Muslim leader, Alija Izetbegović subsequently declared Bosnia- Herzegovina independent in March 1992 hoping for international recognition and support, and he called for unity between the Serb, Croat and Muslim communities in Croatia.  However, as Tony Judt writes, 'once Bosnia declared itself independent, its fate was sealed.' (Postwar, pg 675)

Following the referendum, Bosnian Serb leaders declared the Republika Srpska and, although Milosevic would not send in the Yugoslav military, he transferred Bosnian Serb units from the federal units to Bosnia and sent in paramilitaries that specialized in terror.  This gave Karadzic a standing army of 80,000.

After taking the strategically important city of Bijeljina, the Bosnian Serbs targeted the town of Zvornik as it was a crossing point for road and rail links between Serbia and Bosnia.  The Muslim ‘Green Berets’ defenders were overwhelmed within a day.  A UN official witnessed trucks of dead bodies being transported away.  Thousands were sent to camps and  2,000 people were ‘unaccounted’ for.  There had been 49,000 Muslims living there and their removal was ‘ethnic cleansing’. 

Bosnian Serb artillery and troops now massed around the capital Sarajevo.  The Bosnian foreign minister stated that he had no choice but to appeal for a military foreign intervention.  In response the international community sent Lord Carrington as a peace envoy on 23^rd April 1992.  His proposal was that Bosnia would be partitioned into ethnic provinces.  Izetbegovic said that he would not except the partition of his state, and thus had to fight.  On 2nd May 1992 the Bosnian Serbs launched an attack on Sarajevo.

Task One

ATL: Thinking and communication skills

Karadžić had aimed for independence for all Serb territories in Bosnia and to pursue this he had ethnically cleansed areas by killing the population or forced removals.  Nevertheless, Karadžić was concerned that foreign intervention could tip the scales in the war.  ‘I knew that if the West put in 10,000 troops to cut supply corridors, we Serbs would be finished’

Europe’s peace negotiator, Lord Owen arrived in Sarajevo on 18th December 1992 and made it clear that the Europeans were not going to intervene to resolve the conflict.   A peace plan proposal by Owen which recognised the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb ‘Republic of Srpska’ was rejected by the Bosnian Serbs, despite Milosevic’s backing, as it would have meant the loss of significant amounts of territory gained in the war thus far.  

Izetbegović had allied with the Bosnian Croats against the Serbs; however by the end of 1992 this cooperation broke down.

Task Two
ATL: Thinking skills

 2. What brought about the end to the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton_Agreement#/media/File:Bih_dayton_en.png

The Dayton Accords
The Dayton accords, the General Framework for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was signed in Paris on 14 December 1995.   The US had facilitated a peace agreement between Croatian Bosnian forces and the Bosnian Muslim forces in the Washington agreement.  Combined attacks by Croatian and Bosnian Muslim forces in Operation Mistral in September 1995 along with NATO air strikes pushed the Bosnian Serbs to negotiate.  
The core elements of this agreement were proposed in 1992; when fighting continued the US and Russia and other major powers applied pressure to the three leaders to enter into talks at Dayton, Ohio.  The conference was led by chief negotiator US Richard Holbrooke and US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and had two co-Chairs the Russian deputy Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and EU special representative Carl Bildt.  The conference had a time limit of 3 weeks, 21 days, to reach a conclusion and Milošević, Tuđman and Izetbegović were pressed to reach an agreement.  The location was chosen to:

o    Remove the three leaders from their own environment
o    Remove the possibility of each leader negotiating through the media and prevent leaks to the press

The agreement established a single state comprised of two elements – the Republika Srpska and the Croat-Bosniak Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Task One

ATL: Thinking and communication skills

Task Two

Thinking and communication skills

3. What led to the outbreak of the war in Kosovo in 1998-1999?

Task One

ATL: Thinking and self-managment skills

Task Two

ATL: Thinking and self-mangement skills