An Overview over the Bosnian War

My graphic novel class will be looking into Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde, which depicts Sacco's experience with interviews he conducts with people about the Bosnian War. The war is considered one of the most brutal civil wars in European history, with this post giving a summary on what led to the conflict.

The country where Safe Area Gorazde takes place, Bosnia, was part of six republics and two autonomous regions comprising former Yugoslavia. Bosnia, Crotia, Slovenia and Macedonia are independent nations, with Serbia and Montenegro being the "rump" of Yugoslavia.

Bosnia was rich ethnically, with Muslims and Croats desiring independence rejected by Serbia. When the European Union recognized Bosnia as an independent country, Serbian forces, led by Radovan Karadzic, assaulted Sarajevo and committing genocide on the Muslims and Croats to create a Serbian republic. United Nations sanctions were placed on Serbia for the attacks but a Bosnian peace meeting that took place failed. This resulted in a civil conflict between the Muslims and Croats were were formely allied against the Serbians.

On April of 1993, Srebrenica, Zepa and Gorazde were considered three of the six "safe areas" in eastern Bosnia. A U.S. brokered agreement stopped the Muslim-Croat war and created a Muslim-Croat federation. The safe area of Srebrenica was captured by the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS), who murdered more than 8,000 Muslim males. A month later, N.A.T.O led bombings were directed at Bosnian Serb troops. After the bombings, Bosnian Muslim President Alija Izetbegovic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic agreed to a peace contract in Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton accords were signed in Paris, allowing the N.A.T.O. peacekeeping Implementation Force (IFOR) with 66,000 personnel to arrive and establish a permanent watch.

In 2006, Slobodan Milosevic, who was arrested and charged with 66 accounts of planned genocide in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo, was found dead in his cell at the Hague where he was tried for his war crimes. As of 2008, Radovan Karadzic was captured for planning and committing genocides in Bosnia.

For more background information, click this link to find out more on the Center for Balkan Development. You can also find more information on this article by Reuters.


- Kristopher