Essay On Bosnia And Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina has been called the most complicated country in the world and rightfully so. Over the years, it has been the center of conflict for many different wars of several different nations, which have left the country scarred and bitter. To understand the complex country of Bosnia fully, one must study its basic history, culture, and government.

The history of modern Bosnia began with the country of Yugoslavia in the 1900s. At the beginning of World War I, the Baltic region was controlled by Austria-Hungary. The trigger for WWI actually took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia, when a group of insubordinate Serbs assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand (heir to Austria-Hungary). In the ashes of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, the Baltic countries formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in 1918. The Kingdom united as the country of Yugoslavia in 1929, of which Bosnia was a constituent republic until Nazi Germany invaded in 1941. After Nazi Germany fell, President Marshall Tito took over the country and controlled it. Although President Tito was a Communist, he did do some good in the country, especially by keeping the Soviet Union at arm’s length, which planted unity in his country against a common enemy. When Yugoslavia was under Tito, it had some of the best times in Slavic

history: citizens had jobs, the quality of life was high, and Tito’s influence bought the country much-needed respect. This prosperity lasted even after Tito’s death in 1980, and continued into the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Bosnia in 1984.
Everything changed in 1989, when Slobodan Milosevic became president of Serbia. Finally, in 1990, when the first free Yugoslav election took place, the people voted out the Communist government, which in turn, led to President Milosevic to declare heavily Serb- populated areas for Serbia. Because they had already become violent against other ethnic groups due to the nationalism of Milosevic’s presidency, the Serbs were glad to be involved in the chaos. No one was safe from Milosevic’s makeshift Serbian army. They even raided non-Serbian communities and took them over, especially in Croatia. Thousands of innocent people died because of the ethnic groups battling in every republic (Phillips 41). In late 1991, the formerly functional Yugoslavia fell, dividing into the countries of: Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia officially declared independence from Yugoslavia on March 1, 1992, causing uproar within the ethnicities. Since Serbs and Croats were frightened of the new country having a Muslim president (Alija Izetbegovic, elected in1992), a group of Serbs fired upon a peace rally in Sarajevo on April 6, 1992, starting a raid on the city that lasted until 1995. Sarajevo was not the only city that suffered; every city experienced some ethnic oppression caused by decades of tensions. Tens of thousands of people died in the horrendous ensuing war while many others fled the country of their birth to escape the persecution and violence (Nardelli, Dzidic, and Jukic). In 1995, the United States intervened, holding the Dayton peace talks in Dayton, Ohio. Finally, on December 14, 1995, the Bosnian, Croat, and Serb presidents signed the Dayton Agreement, ending the short but destructive war.
Although the actual war ended in 1995, tensions are still occasionally high in the beautiful country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

These tensions, only highlighted by the war, are an unfortunate but large part of Bosnian culture as a whole. The three main ethnic groups of Bosnia are Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, with 48.4%, 32.7%, and 14.6% populations respectively (CIA World Factbook). Their intense nationalistic attitudes and vastly different religious heritages cause animosities between the groups that go back beyond the times of nations. Bosniaks are generally Muslim while Croats are Roman Catholic and Serbs are Christian

Orthodox.
Although they will not admit it, all Bosnians (whether Serb, Bosniak, or Croat) are very similar. They all have the same south Slav heritage and the same language called Serbo-Croatian. Although this is true, any Bosniak, Croat, or Serb will tell you that their languages are vastly different and exclusively their own. The pronunciations are slightly different depending on what ethnic group you are speaking to, and alphabets differ from the Cyrillic (generally used by Serbs) to the Latin (generally used by Bosniaks and Croats); thus all groups learn both.
The Bosnian economy did suffer due to the wars and ethnic tensions, but it is slowly healing. The unemployment rate is improving, at only 43.9% and declining (CIA World Factbook). Bosnia relies heavily on exports, especially of their metals, textiles, and energy; but their industries account for much of Bosnia’s internal economy (CIA World Factbook). Traditional industries include steel, iron, iron ore, and motor vehicles (CIA World Factbook). Bosnia’s current economy has some government involvement, but it is slowly transitioning to a market economy.
Bosnia’s Government is divided into two main districts, the Republica Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have two and five inner districts respectively. Bosnia has a federal democratic republic, which, under the Dayton Agreement, has a tripartite presidency of one Croat, Serb, and Bosniak member that rotates every eight months. At the legislative level, there is a bicameral parliamentary assembly containing a House of Peoples and a House of Representatives. The judicial branch contains several courts, the highest being the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitutional Court and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
National diplomacy is the only thing that benefits from the severely divided peoples of Bosnia. Because of the ancestry of the ethnic groups, Bosnia as a whole benefits from that ethnic group’s relationship with any given country. For instance, since Bosnia contains Serbs that have a good relationship with Serbia, it benefits from the relationship Serbs provide even though Croats do not have a good relationship with Serbia.
Ultimately, Bosnia is an exceptionally complex but functional country. It is better understood when looking at its basic history, culture, and government. Bosnia has come from many diverse roots, only to become the richly cultural, economically stable, and diplomatic country it is today.