In an effort to prevent a single strongman from emerging in Yugoslavia, Tito suggested a rotational system whereby the presidents of each region would take turns as the central government president. This idea was placed in the constitution in 1974, but was never implemented. Tito died in 1980.
By 1987, Slobodan Milosevic had become leader of the League of Communists of Serbia. He quickly exploited the growing discontent among Serbs who regarded nationalist sentiment in other ethnic groups, unleashed by the more liberal political climate, as a threat to their dominant position in the federation.
In 1990, the first multi-party elections were held in the former Yugoslavia. Six leaders emerged: Milan Kucan (Slovenia), Franjo Tudjman (Croatia), Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia), Alija Izetbegovic (Bosnia), Momir Bulatovic (Montenegro) and Kiro Gligorov (Macedonia).
In Croatia and Slovenia, the election of nationalists intensified the trend towards secession from the federation. By 25 June 1991, both Croatia and Slovenia had announced their intention to seek independence.
In response, the former People's Yugoslav Army (JNA), with the tacit approval of the federal government and the strong backing of the Serbian government led by Milosevic, tried to isolate Slovenia by forcibly seizing all border crossings with neighbouring countries. The JNA was humiliated following its failure to defeat the much smaller and poorly equipped Slovenian territorial forces. The JNA was forced to agree to leave Slovenia, but without its heavy weapons. That withdrawal was completed by October 1991.
In the meantime, Milosevic and the JNA's leadership decided to use a large minority of Serbs in Croatia to seize as large a part as possible of Croatia and, eventually, to overthrow the democratically elected regime in Zagreb. By late July, the JNA had become heavily engaged in supporting local Serb irregulars in Slavonia, Baranja, Banija and Krajina. By the end of December 1991, Serbs controlled about 30 per cent of Croatia's territory. The cease-fire signed in Sarajevo on 3 January 1992 formally ended the hostilities in Croatia.
The Serbian-dominated federal government in Belgrade and the JNA's leaders encouraged and supported the Bosnian Serbs to secede and establish their own autonomous region, the `Serbian Republic' (Republika Srpska). The JNA's troops deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina also secretly armed Bosnian Serbs. Hostilities broke out in the first week of April, shortly after the European Community (EC, now commonly referred to as the EU) recognised the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian Serbs, with the active participation of JNA forces, seized about 70 per cent of the republic in the first few weeks of fighting. The federal presidency in Belgrade formally declared all federal troops had to leave the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, except for those born in that republic. However, some 60,000 JNA officers and men remained in Bosnia and were formally transferred to the control of the Serbian Republic.
On 31 March 1993, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 816 authorising enforcement of the no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina and extending the ban to cover flights by all fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft except those authorised by UNPROFOR. In the event of further violations, it authorised UN member states to take all necessary measures to ensure compliance. An enforcement operation, called "Deny Flight", began on 12 April 1993. It initially involved some 50 fighter and reconnaissance aircraft (later increased to over 100) from various Alliance nations, flying from airbases in Italy and from aircraft carriers in the Adriatic.
This proved effective at keeping the Bosnian Serb Air Force on the ground, but the army was still moving freely reeking havoc on the civilian population. The thing that made NATO intervene and attack the Serbs on the ground was the continuing siege of Sarajevo. A mortar attack on August 28 1995, killed 38 civilians. NATO aircraft would soon enter into action with the objective of stopping the fighting. Also in August Croatia entered the war siding with UN/NATO and Bosnia while trying to regain the 30% of its territory lost in their previous war with Serbia.Contents:
I.Backround
II.Serb Forces
III.UN/NATO Forces
IV.Serb Losses
V.UN/NATO Losses
VI.Conclusion
VII.Pictures
I.Backround
II.Serb Forces
Croatian Serb Commander: Gen. Milan Martic
| Country | Troops | Tanks | Armored Personnel Carriers |
Artillery Pieces |
Aircraft | Bosnian Serbs | 60,000 | 512 | 506 | 2,500 | 90 | Croatian Serbs | 37,000 | 350 | -- | 250 | 60 |
|---|
When Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence, Serbia was left with all the weapons. Because of this advantage Croatia lost 35% of its territory in its struggle for independence, Bosnia would lose some 70% in the early stages. The Bosnian Serbs got their weapons from Serbia who had an interest in seeing their fellow Serbs win some territory from the Muslims and Croats.
The Croatian Serbs held 35% of Croatian land before Croatia entered the war in May of 1995.
III.UN/NATO Forces |
UN Commander: Gen. Sir M. Rose
Bosnian Muslim Commander: Gen. Rasim Delic
Croatian Commander: Gen. Anton Tus
| Country | Troops | Tanks | Artillery | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NATO | -- | -- | -- | 350 |
| UN | 15,000 | -- | -- | 100 | Croatia | 100,000 | 253 | 2,000 | 51 | Bosnian Muslims | 260,000 | 40 | 45 | 5 | Mujahideen | 2,000 | -- | -- | -- |
For the first time in its history the NATO alliance dropped a bomb in anger. NATO aircraft went after Serb units on the ground. The U.S. provided the bulk of the aircraft and did most of the work.
The 15,000 UN troops were stationed in Croatia and the its aircraft was used to patrol Bosnia's airspace to prevent the Bosnian Serb Air Force attacking ground targets.
When there is a war and Muslims are involved the Mujahideen from Afghanistan call it a "Jihad" meaning Holy War or Crusade and a call is made to all Muslims to come and fight in that place. An estimated 2,000 Mujahideen fought in Bosnia against the Serbs. When the conflict was over some stayed and set up training bases for a next "Jihad." The current war in Chechnya is said to be fought by some men trained in Bosnian camps.
The Croatian army was without a doubt very impressive in this war. Earlier in its fight for independence, the Serb army paid a high price to conquer some 35% of the Croatian territory. Croatia began producing its own weapons and arming for a new war. In May of 1995, Operation Flash was launched followed by the August 4 1995, Operation "Oluja." "Oluja" means "Storm", and it was so one sided that it looked like Desert Storm. In 4 days Croatia recovered all the territory lost and drove out the 37,000 Serbs defending it along with some 200,000 civilians.
IV.Serb Losses |
| Country | Killed | Wounded | Tanks Lost |
Aircraft Lost |
Bosnian Serbs | 100,000 | ?? | ?? | 4 | Croatian Serbs | 5,000 | ?? | ?? | 2 |
|---|
The numbers on the casualty and material losses suffered by the Serbs is hard to estimate. We know that during Operation Oluja two Croatian Serb aircraft were lost. We also know that US F-16's shot down 4 G-2 Galebs from the Bosnian Serbs. Serbs in Croatia lost hundreds of tanks and other equipment during the blitzkrieg of Operation Oluja, these were displayed in the Croatian military parade. More tragically forgotten are the Serb civilians who had to flee their homes as the Croatian-Muslim armies re-conquered lost land. Some 200,000 Serbs were thrown out of Croatia.
V.UN/NATO Losses |
| Country | Killed | Wounded | Tanks Lost |
Aircraft Lost |
NATO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | UN | 80 | 140 | - | 2 | Croatia | 294 | 2,100 | ?? | 5 | Bosnian Muslims | 150,000 | ?? | ?? | ?? |
|---|
The only UN aircraft downed while patrolling the No-Fly zone was an F-16 piloted by Scott O'Grady, he was rescued in Serb territory after a 5 day ordeal. Also the Serbs attacked UN helicopters carrying high ranking official hoping to blame the Croats and turn public opinion against them. One was downed but another managed to escape and reveal that the Serbs were behind this. He was downed by an SA-6 missile. NATO lost two aircraft, a French Mirage-200 and a British Harrier, both to shoulder launched SA-7's fired by Serbs. UN ground troops found themselves in the middle of a war and many paid with their lives. The Bosnian Serbs also took some 360 UN troops hostage and tied them to military instalation as human shield to prevent airstrikes by NATO. They were eventually released.
The Croats suffered light casualties, some 118 killed and 650 wounded in Operation Flash, and 176 killed and 1,450 wounded in Operation Storm. They gained a lot of Serb equipment from the surrendering Serbs and took thousands of prisoners. The Serbs suffered an estimated 5,000 dead in the Croat offensive.
The Bosnian Muslims suffered the most throughout the war. They were attacked by both Serbs and Croats until with the help of the U.S. they forged an alliance against the Serbs. The siege of Sarajevo is now the longest siege in history with well over 1,000 days, an estimated 10,000 people died.
VI.Conclusion |
On November 21 1995, the Datton peace accord was agreed in Ohio by presidents Franjo Tudman (Croatia), Alija Izetbegovic (Bosnia), and Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia, on behalf of the Bosnian Serbs). Compliance with the accord is to be assured by a 63,000-strong force under UN command, which began arriving in the area at the end of 1995 and has maintained the peace ever since.
Many people felt that President Milosevich deserted his fellow Serbs. He allowed the transfer of weapons to Bosnia and gave his support for the crackdown on the Muslim population. But once the West got involved and the Serbs were on the run he instead urged the Bosnian Serbs to accept peace.
The Bosnian War devastated the once beautiful scenery and left many scars that remain to this day. World War II was the last time that the Balkans saw such hatred stirred and crimes committed. After the war the Hague moved to indict those guilty of genocide from all sides. They came up with a list of 51 Bosnian Serbs, 18 Croats, 3 Bosnian Muslims and 3 Serbs.
NATO and UN airpower proved to be very successful. Before the No Fly zones both sides sent aircraft up and bombed civilians on the other side. Once the NO Fly zones were put in effect there was only one attempt to do this and it resulted in the downing on 4 Bosnian Serb aircraft. NATO also had some success in targeting and destroying Serb units on the ground. A small number of artillery pieces as well as tanks were hit. Air strikes were conducted on eleven days during the period 29 August through 14 September 1995. Of the total of 3,515 sorties flown, 2,470 were penetrating sorties, which included attacks on 48 target complexes [consisting of 338 individual targets within target complexes]. Of the 1,026 bombs dropped, precision munitions numbered 708 and non-precision munitions 318.
In the view of the US Defense Department, Operation Deliberate Force proved that airpower can have a decisive role when serving achievable, clear policy objectives. Airpower's efforts in helping to lift the siege of Sarajevo saved lives and helped pave the way for a negotiated settlement. Deliberate Force was the crucial step in bringing the warring parties to the negotiating table at Dayton, leading to the peace agreement.
VII.Pictures |
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Map of Bosnia
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Map of Croatia (yellow) before Operation Storm, Croat Serb areas are red
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Map of Croatia (yellow) after Operation Storm
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French soldiers viewing NATO strikes on Serbs
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British Artillery blasting Serbs around Sarajevo
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British APC firing at Serbs near Sarajevo
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F-16 patroling Bosnian airspace
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US Army scouts in Bosnia
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US patrol in Bosnia
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Aerial Picture of a Mass Grave in Bosnia
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