Role of domestic actors in the development of the Bosnian war

Question 1

Role of conflicting nationalisms between domestic actors led to the development of the Bosnian War and the War within a War

Answer 1

Republic of Srpska
- unite the Serbs under autonomous territories they had formed since 1990 and separate them from the Bosniak and Croats
- leading to armed conflict against Bosnia and Herzeg-Bosnia
- One of the aims was to also divide the city of Sarajevo into Serb and Bosniak parts and establish effective state authorities in both parts

Herzeg-Bosnia
- Fought with Bosnia against Srpska with a common goal of liberating Bosnia through the 1992 Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia
→ However, relations soured
- 1993 Armed conflict between HVO and the HOS (croatian-muslim militia) occurred because HVO wanted separatism which entailed the partition of Bosnia along ethnic lines while the HOS wanted the general territorial integrity of Bosnia
- 1993 Herzeg Bosnia and the Bosnia govt engaged in open conflict leading to the war within a war

Question 2

Domestic actors were most significant in prolonging the war insofar as they could not resolve conflicts over territorial concerns within negotiations

Answer 2

1992 ICFY
- principles of cessation of fighting and end to the use of force were disregarded by the Serbs who continued shelling Sarajevo

2. 1993 Vance-Owen Plan
   - National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska rejected the plan
   - war efforts continued and drastically altered the landscape of Bosnia, altering territorial division, fragmentation and ethnic cleansing which rendered the plan obsolete in terms of territorial allocations
3. 1993 Owen-Stoltenberg Plan
   - It divided Bosnia into 53% Serbian territory, 30% Bosniak territory and 17% Croat territory
   - Bosniaks rejected the plan as they demanded Bosniak territory in eastern and western Bosnia given to Serbs + access to the Adriatic Sea from the Croats
   - In the face of rejection, war efforts continued and drastically altered the landscape of Bosnia, altering territorial division, fragmentation and ethnic cleansing which rendered the plan obsolete in terms of territorial allocations

Question 3

Domestic actors were most significant in increasing the intensity of the war via recurring cycles of retaliation in the LR (ethnic cleansing)

Answer 3

Serb forces
- Initiated ethnic cleansing as part of their 6 strategic goals in Eastern Bosnia in order to claim Bosniak-majority territories
- Forced eviction, deportations to concentration camps, looting
- 1M Bosniaks were expelled from their homes

Croat forces
- Took it to another level with the burning of Serb houses in May 1992 in Bosanska Posavina

• against the Bosniaks in 1993, Croat forces used artillery, eviction, violence, rape, robbery and extortion in the attack on Mostar leading to 25K expelled Bosniaks

Bosniak forces
- Bosniak leaders abducted and killed Serbs living in and around Sarajevo in 1992