Bosnia and Herzegovina

CultureGramsTM World Edition 2018 Bosnia and Herzegovina tenth century. An independent Kingdom of Bosnia emerged BACKGROUND around 1200 and endured for more than 260 years in a tolerant religious environment that included three Christian Land and Climate churches: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Bosnian Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Balkan Peninsula, is the same Bogomil. In 1463, Bosnia was conquered by the Ottoman size as Costa Rica and slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Turks, who introduced Islam and ruled for four centuries. West Virginia. It is divided into two entities: the Federation World War I and Yugoslavia of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation), which is mostly After the Ottoman demise, the Berlin Congress of 1878 gave populated by Bosnian Croats and Muslims, covers the Austria-Hungary a mandate to occupy Bosnia. Annexation western portion of the country, and the Republika Srpska followed in 1908. In 1914, a young Serb nationalist from (Serb Republic, or RS), which is home mostly to Bosnian Mlada Bosna (“Young Bosnia,” a multiethnic group in favor Serbs, covers the north and east. Herzegovina (“Land of joining the occupied Slavic lands to independent Serbia) Governed by a Duke”) is the historical name for an arid assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the southwestern region contiguous with Croatia. Austro-Hungarian throne, who was visiting Sarajevo. The Bosnia's central and southern regions are dominated by the assassination sparked World War I. dense forests of the Dinaric Alps, whose highest peak is After the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina was included in the Mount Maglic, at 7,828 feet (2,386 meters). Fertile plains lie newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes—later in the north, and there is a short Adriatic Sea coastline in the named the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (“Southern Slavs”). southeast. The Drina River forms part of the eastern border. During this period, Bosnia's Muslim population, the Other major rivers are the Una, Vrbas, Neretva, and Bosna. Bosniaks, was pressured to register as either Serb or Croat, The continental climate features long, hot summers and cold and the group's political strength was undermined by winters. Areas of high elevation have short, cool summers nationalist leaders. and long winters. Coastal winters are mild and rainy. World War II and the Communist Era In 1941, during World War II, the Axis powers invaded History Yugoslavia. During the war against the German and Italian Kingdom of Bosnia occupiers, various nationalist movements also battled one Illyrian and Celtic tribes may have been the earliest another. Bosnia became a killing ground as Serbian Chetniks inhabitants of Bosnia, followed by Romans and Greeks in the (royalists), Croatian Ustashe(fascists), local militia, German second century BC, Goths in the third century AD, and Slavs and Italian troops, and (to a lesser extent) the multiethnic (including the Croat and Serb tribes) in the sixth century. The communist troops all terrorized various segments of the Bosnian state was first mentioned in Byzantine sources in the civilian population. 1 TM CultureGrams Bosnia and Herzegovina At the end of the war, the communist faction gained prime minister, Bosnian Croat Vjekoslav Bevanda, in January control, and the new Socialist Republic of Bosnia and 2012. Denis Zvizdić became prime minister in 2014. Herzegovina became one of eight federal units in communist Recent Events and Trends Yugoslavia. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled Yugoslavia • Anti-government protests: In February 2014, thousands of from 1945 until his death in 1980. Under Tito, Bosnian protesters, frustrated by widespread unemployment, strained Muslims (Bosniaks) were officially recognized in 1974 as ethnic ties, and a corrupt central government, took to the having a separate identity. However, overt manifestations of streets and set government buildings on fire in the four largest nationalism were forbidden and religious devotion was cities. These protests marked some of the worst civil unrest discouraged. In essence, Tito tried to unite people under since the Bosnian War. communism by suppressing those elements of culture that • National elections: In October 2014, 54 percent of 3.3 historically divided them. million eligible voters participated in elections for the War and the Dayton Peace Accords three-member presidency and parliament. Most Bosnians When Tito died in 1980, Yugoslavia's federal system voted along ethnic party lines, with nationalist parties unraveled. Dormant nationalist feelings surged as receiving most of the votes. communism crumbled. After multiparty elections in 1990 and • EU application: In February 2016, Bosnia and Herzegovina a referendum in 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared filed its formal application to join the EU. Though the country independence within its historical borders. The UN Security does not meet all the requirements, it plans to implement Council recognized the nation's sovereignty in May 1992. The reforms that would bring it up to needed standards in order to new republic was immediately threatened by its neighbors, be granted candidate status by 2017. Integration into the EU whose ambitions were to create a Greater Serbia and a will help increase economic development in Bosnia and Greater Croatia. During the ensuing war from 1992 to 1995, Herzegovina. Neighboring countries such as Serbia and brutal ethnic cleansing and fighting left more than 250,000 Montenegro are also vying for EU membership. Bosnians dead and 1.8 million people displaced. The 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, which were negotiated in the United States and signed in Paris, stopped the fighting THE PEOPLE by dividing the country into a Bosniak-Croat federation and the Serb Republic, loosely joined by a central government. A Population strong military presence led by the European Union (EU) has In 1991, Bosnia had very few areas where only one ethnicity ensured a secure environment, while an international monitor was present. Today, Bosnian Serbs (31 percent of the total (the Office of the High Representative) coordinates Dayton's population) live mainly in the Republika Srpska. Bosniaks civil implementation. In the 1998 national election, voters (also called Bosnian Muslims, 50 percent of the population) chose Bosnian Croat, Bosnian Serb, and Bosniak members of and Bosnian Croats (15 percent) live mostly in the parliament. A rotating presidency was created to allow all Federation. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city. three groups to share in national leadership. Although During the war, many Bosniaks came to Bosnia from democratic transformation is under way, some refugees and Serbia and Croatia, while some Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian displaced persons have not yet returned to their original Croats, and Bosniaks fled to other nations. Small numbers of homes. Albanians, Roma (Gypsies), and others also live in the Postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina country. At birth, all citizens receive a government-issued ID War crimes trials are in progress for atrocities committed number that indicates where they are from, which further during the war. The EU proposed talks on a Stabilization and highlights ethnic divisions in the country. Association Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2005 to exchange commitments to economic, political, and Language human-rights reforms within the country, with access to EU Bosnians speak a Slavic language that linguists classify as markets and potential membership. The prospect of talks Serbo-Croatian. Its 30 distinctive sounds each have their own increased pressure to capture Bosnians accused of war crimes. letter. Serbo-Croatian uses two alphabets: Latin and Cyrillic. Several suspects were captured, and eventually six former Schoolchildren in the Federation learn the Latin script, and Bosnian Croat leaders were found guilty of war crimes schoolchildren in the Republika Srpska learn the Cyrillic against Bosniaks; in 2006, they were each sentenced to script. between 10 and 25 years of jail. A main suspect, Radovan Some ultranationalists are attempting to accentuate or even Karadžić, was arrested in July 2008, and Bosnian Serb create differences among the Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian military chief Ratko Mladić was apprehended by Serbian variants of the language. Roma (Gypsies) speak Romany, and authorities in May 2011. Karadžić was convicted of genocide smaller groups speak Hungarian, Albanian, and Slovene. and war crimes and sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2016. Ethnic tensions in the region remain high and are the Religion reason that a government was not immediately formed after Religion is a highly politicized subject in Bosnia and the 2010 general elections. After 14 months of political Herzegovina. Medieval Bosnia was almost entirely Christian, deadlock, Bosniak, Bosnian Croat, and Bosnian Serb political but the benefits provided to Muslims by the Turkish Ottoman leaders finally reached an agreement and were able to form a Empire and a weak organization in the Christian churches government in December 2011. The parliament elected a new prompted many people to adopt Islam. In the 20th century, 2 TM CultureGrams Bosnia and Herzegovina despite the historical mixing of peoples, Bosnians whose clothing with Western attire. For example, one might wear ancestors were Catholic came to be identified as Bosnian dimije (long, wide Turkish pants ideal for working in the Croats, while those of Eastern Orthodox background were fields) with a T-shirt. Many Bosniak men wear traditional considered

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