Essay/Term paper: Bosnia - herzegovina

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities Essays

Bosnia-Herzegovina is a country

located in southeastern Europe. Bosnia- Herzegovina

declared its independence in March of 1992. Usually, this

country is referred to as Bosnia, but is officially named

Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1918, Bosnia-Herzegovina became

part of the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes,

which later became known as the country of Yugoslavia. In

1946, Yugoslavia became a federal state consisting of six

republics, one of which was Bosnia-Herzegovina. Slavic

people make up most of the counties population. The largest

groups are the Bosnia Muslims, the Serbs, and the Croats.

Much of the Serbian population opposed to Bosnia's

independence and a civil war erupted in the Spring of 1992.

Serbian forces soon occupied about two-thirds of the

country. About one-fifth was soon held by Bosnian

Croatians. The remainder of the country was held by

Bosnian government troops, mainly Bosnian Muslims. From

1945, till 1990, communists held a monopoly on powers in

all of Yugoslavia, including Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1990,

non-communists gained a majority of seats in Bosnia's first

multi-party election. Bosnia-Herzegovina's capitol city is

Sarajevo, which can be found in the center of the country.

Although many languages are spoke there, the main language

is Serbo-Croatian. In a 1991 census, there was a reported

4,365,639 people living in the borders of

Bosnia-Herzegovina which has an area of 19,741 square

miles, and in 1995 there was an estimated 4,454,000 people

in the country (Twenty-two people per square mile.)

Sixty-six percent of those people live in rural areas, leaving

only thirty-four percent living in urban areas. Bosnia-

Herzegovina's money system is based on the Dinar. Their

main agricultural exports are cattle, cherries, corn, grapes,

hogs, peaches, pears, plums, potatoes, sheep, soybeans,

tobacco, walnuts, and wheat. As a developing country, their

industrial production is slightly limited, producing mainly

electrical appliances and textiles. There is also a lot of mining

of coal and iron ore which also contributes to the countries

economy. Bosnia's government is headed by a seven

member collective presidency. The presidency consists of

two Croats, two Bosnian Muslims, two Serbs, and one

individual who is not affiliated with a specific ethnic group.

Voters elect members to a four year term. The members

then elect a president who serves a one year term, but then

may be later reelected. The Bosnia-Herzegovina government

also consists of a two-house legislature. The chamber of

citizens has 130 members and the Chamber of municipalities

has 110 members. All are elected for a four year term.

There are, as in the United States, different political parties in

Bosnia-Herzegovina. These parties are recognized as the

Party of Democratic Action, the Serbian Democratic party,

and the Croatian Democratic Union. About forty-four

percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina's population are Bosnian

Muslims. Serbs make up about thirty-two percent, and

Croats account for roughly seventeen percent. The remaining

seven percent include Albanians, Gypsies, and Ukrainians.

Since the civil war began, large numbers of people have fled

the county. Most of Bosnia-Herzegovina's people speak a

language called Serbo- Croatian. In writing though, Serbs

traditionally use the Cyrillic alphabet. On the other hand,

Bosnian Muslims, Croats and the majority of others living in

Bosnia use the Roman alphabet. The main religions of

Bosnia are Islamic, practiced by the Bosnian Muslims,

Roman Catholic, practiced by the Croats, and the main

religion of the Serbs is Serbian Orthodoxy. Another aspect

of the Bosnian people's culture is their food. Bosnian

cooking reflects Turkish and Muslim influences. Musaka,

roasted meat and eggplant, and kapama, mutton with

spinach and green onions, are just two of the dishes

commonly found there. An excellent white wine is also

produced in Mostar. School life in Bosnia is different then

that of the United States. Children of Bosnia are required to

take eight years of elementary school. Some students will

then attend universities, but most will stay and take over the

family property. Bosnia-Herzegovina consists of two-land

regions. (Refer to map below.) Bosnia, the northern section,

is a mountainous region covered with thick forests.

Herzegovina, the southern section of the country, is

composed largely of rocky hills, and flat farmland. The major

rivers or Bosnia-Herzegovina are the Bosna, Neretra, and

Vrbas. The winters of Bosnia-Herzegovina are exceptionally

cold and snowy. Contrasting, the summers are warm in the

mountain valleys, but milder in the higher elevations. In

Sarajevo, the average climate in January in 30§ F, and in

July 68§ F. Prior to the war, Bosnia's mountains were full of

visitors taking advantage of the vast range of ski slopes.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is rich in natural resources. It has vast

forests, large iron ore reserves, and plentiful sources of coal

and hydroelectric power. As stated before

Bosnia-Herzegovina's main exports were a sum of their

industrial and agricultural products. Bosnia's chief trading

partners have been Austria, Germany, and Italy, but has also

traded with Muslim nations of the Middle East such as Syria

and Turkey. Before the war, Bosnia-Herzegovina had a well

developed system of roads linking it to bordering nations of

Croatia and Serbia. However, these roads were destroyed

by attacking Serbian armies. Bosnia-Herzegovina also has a

large system of railways. These railroads connect cities such

as Sarajevo to other large cities and neighboring countries.

Although small, Bosnia does contain airports, which can be

found in the capitol Sarajevo and other main cities like

Monstar. These airports do not have any departing or

arriving commercial flights, and in fact, the airports were

reopened by the United Nations in 1992, after being shut

down due to the violent conflicts. Planes now containing

food and supplies are now able to bring the food and

medicine that is greatly needed by the people of the country.

Bosnia has a long history of heart-aches and changes in

power. People called the Illynans lived in what is now called

Bosnia-Herzegovina beginning about 3000 years ago. The

region became part of a Roman province in about 11 B.C.

From the 900's to the 1100's rule shifted between the

Byzantine Empire, the Croats, and the Serbs. Hungary's king

claimed control over most of Bosnia from the 1100's to

about 1400, but local nobles called Bans, were able to act

independently most of the time. Hum, now known as

Herzegovina, was under Serbian or Hungarian rule from the

1100's until 1326. Bosnia controlled it from 1326 until 1463,

when its local rulers declared its independence, and adopted

the title herzeg which means duke. The Ottoman Empire

gained control of most of Bosnia in 1463, and seized

Herzegovina in the 1480's. After the invasion, some Slavs in

the region converted to Islam. The Ottomans made Bosnia

and Herzegovina one political unit in the mid-1800's.

Bosnia-Herzegovina remained part of the Ottoman Empire

until the Congress of Berlin, a meeting of major European

leaders in 1879 that gave temporary control of the region to

Austria- Hungary. In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally took

over the region. In June of 1914, Archduke Francis

Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Sarajevo

by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian from Bosnia-Herzegovina. The

assassination led to the outbreak of World War I. After the

war ended in 1918, Bosnia-Herzegovina became part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the kingdom was

later renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. During World War II

(1939-1945), the axis powers led by Germany and Italy

occupied Yugoslavia. In that time, Croatia briefly became an

independent state, but was actually still controlled at that

time by Germany. Bosnia-Herzegovina was placed under

Croatia's control. After the war ended, communists came to

power in Yugoslavia. Under a constitution passed in 1946,

Yugoslavia was organized as a federal state, which is, one in

which the powers of government are shared between a

central government and republics. Bosnia-Herzegovina

became one of the six republics of Yugoslavia, as did

Croatia and Serbia. During the communist rule of

Yugoslavia, the republic of Bosnia- Herzegovina was

sometimes classified as a less-developed region. This

classification led to the receiving of federal funds for

economic development. Bosnia-Herzegovina has always

been a potential site for conflict, because of its cultural and

religious differences between its ethnic groups. In the late

1980's the relations between the groups worsened,

especially between the Serbs and non-Serbs. In 1990, the

Communist party gave up its monopoly on power in

Yugoslavia, and political parties began to form. That year,

for the first time, Bosnia-Herzegovina held free elections.

Non-communists won control of the legislature. Alija

Lzetbegovic, a Muslim, was elected president. In1991,

Yugoslavia began to break apart after Croatia and Slovenia

declared their own independence. In February of 1992, a

referendum on independence was held in Bosnia. Most

Serbs boycotted the referendum, but most of the republic's

Croats and Muslims voted for independence.

Bosnia-Herzegovina then declared their independence.

Many Serbs living in Bosnia-Herzegovina opposed the

declaration of independence and began the war against the

non-Serbs. About two-thirds of the republic fell to Serbian

forces within two months. The Serbs sought to remove all

non-Serbs from the Bosnian territory they claimed. This

policy was called ethnic cleansing. In April 1992, Serbia and

Montenegro formed a new, smaller Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia

provided the Serbs fighting in Bosnia- Herzegovina with

troops, guns, food, and equipment. That May, the United

Nations imposed an oil and trade embargo against

Yugoslavia in an attempt to stop the war. Troops fighting

against the Serbs in Bosnia included Bosnian Muslims and

Bosnian Croats. As the war continued, Bosnian Croat

forces, supported by Croatia, gained control over one-fifth

of the country. In July 1992, some Bosnian Croats began to

call for independence for the Croatian areas. In October,

fighting broke out between Bosnian Croats and Bosnian

Muslims. In June 1992, UN peacekeeping forces began

arriving in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They secured the country's

airport and protected shipments of food and medicine to the

people of Bosnia. In October 1992, the United States and

other UN members began reporting incidents of human

rights abuse in Bosnia. The reports indicated that Bosnian

Serbs had tortured and killed Bosnian Muslims and Croats

in detention camps. As the civil war continued, there were

many international efforts to end all hostilities. Bosnian

officials signed a cease fire agreement with the national Croat

leaders on February 23, 1994 called the Croat Agreement.

In March, both sides met in Washington DC and agreed to

form a Croat-Muslim federation with a main objective of

two ruling groups sharing the responsibilities of national

defense, foreign affairs, and commerce. Unfortunately, the

Serb occupation of Bosnian territory made it impossible to

proceed with plans. The Bosnian Serbs agreed in February

1994 to hand over heavy weapons to UN troops and begin

withdraw their forces from Sarajevo. Under the threat of an

air strike by NATO, Serb troops withdrew beyond a twelve

mile exclusion zone around Sarajevo. As months passed,

Serbs violated their agreement. The heavy weapons hidden

in this "zone" were used to strike Sarajevo and other cities

including Gorozde, Tuzla, and Prijedor with great force. In

September, Serb forces cut off Sarajevo's water, gas, and

power for ten days, provoking a retaliation by Bosnian

forces. Bosnian Serbs also carried out on their policy of

ethnic cleansing in 1994 by forcing Muslims from their

homes to the Serb controlled areas of Bosnian while the

Muslims that got away fled to the remote mountainous areas

of surrounding Bosnia. Between July and September of

1994, ten-thousand Muslims left their homes. Bosnia clashed

with the UN many times, interrupting UN efforts to bring

relief to civilians. In March of 1995, the Serb forces

high-jacked ten UN trucks carrying food and medicine to

Muslims. Also in March, the UN security council imposed

sanctums. The final decision was made on November 28,

1995 to send American troops to Bosnia. (see poll below)

President Clinton gave the orders in a televised address, that

we were going to change the happenings in Bosnia. [---

WMF Graphic Goes Here ---] In my belief, I feel that the

issue in Bosnia is an important issue that only the people of

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia should have concern

about. The Muslims of Bosnia should not have to change

their beliefs, customs, traditions or religion because a

supposed influential government and their tyrants told them

to do so. You should not have to change because people

want you to. As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated in his essay

Self-Reliance, " The virtue in most request is conformity.

Self-reliance is its aversion" and " Nothing is at last sacred

but the integrity of your own mind." He is saying that

conformity is wanted. People want you to be as everybody

else. I also do believe, that UN and American troops should

not be involved in anyway with the situation in

Bosnia-Herzegovina. Our own innocent loved ones will be

killed, and for what gain of the American citizen or country

as a whole? None. The Muslims, Serbs, and Croats should

fight for what the believe in, and the strongest will eventually

prevail. Bibliography: 1. The Christian Science Monitor

11-16-94 Title: Opening the Docket: Trials of a War

Tribunal 2. USA Today 12-5-94 Title: Serb Defiance has its

Roots in Balkan History 3. USA Today 2-14-95 Title: UN

Tribunal Accuses 21 Serbs of War Atrocities 4. USA

Today 10-16-95 Title: Mass Graves Yield Horror in Bosnia

5. USA Today 10-11-95 Title: Clear Messages to Bosnian

War Criminals...No Deal 6. Pittsburgh Post Gazette

10-8-95 Title: War Crime Trails may be Thwarted by Peace

Bid 7. US News & World Report 4-10-95 Title: A Hunt for

the Killers of Bosnia 8. Macleans 8-15-94 Title: Serbian

Death Camp 9. War Criminals, War Victims by Random

House Inc. 1971 10. World Book Encyclopedia Volume B

& Y, 1990 11. US News & World Report 11-27-94 Title:

Jumping the Gun in Bosnia 12. US News & World Report

9-18-95 Title: The US Risk in Bosnia 13. US News &

World Report 11-6-95 Title: Keepers of the Peace 14.

Merit Students Encyclopedia Volume 3. 1988 15.

Newsweek 8-17-95 Title: Ethnic Cleansing 16. Pittsburgh

Post Gazette 11-14-95 Title: Tribunal Changes: Bosnian

Croats