Essay/Term paper: Bosnia - herzegovina
Essay, term paper, research paper: Humanities Essays
Free essays available online are good but they will not follow the guidelines of your particular writing assignment. If you need a custom term paper on Humanities Essays: Bosnia - Herzegovina, you can hire a professional writer here to write you a high quality authentic essay. While free essays can be traced by Turnitin (plagiarism detection program), our custom written essays will pass any plagiarism test. Our writing service will save you time and grade.
Bosnia-Herzegovina is a country
located in southeastern Europe. Bosnia- Herzegovina
declared its independence in March of 1992. Usually, this
country is referred to as Bosnia, but is officially named
Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1918, Bosnia-Herzegovina became
part of the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes,
which later became known as the country of Yugoslavia. In
1946, Yugoslavia became a federal state consisting of six
republics, one of which was Bosnia-Herzegovina. Slavic
people make up most of the counties population. The largest
groups are the Bosnia Muslims, the Serbs, and the Croats.
Much of the Serbian population opposed to Bosnia's
independence and a civil war erupted in the Spring of 1992.
Serbian forces soon occupied about two-thirds of the
country. About one-fifth was soon held by Bosnian
Croatians. The remainder of the country was held by
Bosnian government troops, mainly Bosnian Muslims. From
1945, till 1990, communists held a monopoly on powers in
all of Yugoslavia, including Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1990,
non-communists gained a majority of seats in Bosnia's first
multi-party election. Bosnia-Herzegovina's capitol city is
Sarajevo, which can be found in the center of the country.
Although many languages are spoke there, the main language
is Serbo-Croatian. In a 1991 census, there was a reported
4,365,639 people living in the borders of
Bosnia-Herzegovina which has an area of 19,741 square
miles, and in 1995 there was an estimated 4,454,000 people
in the country (Twenty-two people per square mile.)
Sixty-six percent of those people live in rural areas, leaving
only thirty-four percent living in urban areas. Bosnia-
Herzegovina's money system is based on the Dinar. Their
main agricultural exports are cattle, cherries, corn, grapes,
hogs, peaches, pears, plums, potatoes, sheep, soybeans,
tobacco, walnuts, and wheat. As a developing country, their
industrial production is slightly limited, producing mainly
electrical appliances and textiles. There is also a lot of mining
of coal and iron ore which also contributes to the countries
economy. Bosnia's government is headed by a seven
member collective presidency. The presidency consists of
two Croats, two Bosnian Muslims, two Serbs, and one
individual who is not affiliated with a specific ethnic group.
Voters elect members to a four year term. The members
then elect a president who serves a one year term, but then
may be later reelected. The Bosnia-Herzegovina government
also consists of a two-house legislature. The chamber of
citizens has 130 members and the Chamber of municipalities
has 110 members. All are elected for a four year term.
There are, as in the United States, different political parties in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. These parties are recognized as the
Party of Democratic Action, the Serbian Democratic party,
and the Croatian Democratic Union. About forty-four
percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina's population are Bosnian
Muslims. Serbs make up about thirty-two percent, and
Croats account for roughly seventeen percent. The remaining
seven percent include Albanians, Gypsies, and Ukrainians.
Since the civil war began, large numbers of people have fled
the county. Most of Bosnia-Herzegovina's people speak a
language called Serbo- Croatian. In writing though, Serbs
traditionally use the Cyrillic alphabet. On the other hand,
Bosnian Muslims, Croats and the majority of others living in
Bosnia use the Roman alphabet. The main religions of
Bosnia are Islamic, practiced by the Bosnian Muslims,
Roman Catholic, practiced by the Croats, and the main
religion of the Serbs is Serbian Orthodoxy. Another aspect
of the Bosnian people's culture is their food. Bosnian
cooking reflects Turkish and Muslim influences. Musaka,
roasted meat and eggplant, and kapama, mutton with
spinach and green onions, are just two of the dishes
commonly found there. An excellent white wine is also
produced in Mostar. School life in Bosnia is different then
that of the United States. Children of Bosnia are required to
take eight years of elementary school. Some students will
then attend universities, but most will stay and take over the
family property. Bosnia-Herzegovina consists of two-land
regions. (Refer to map below.) Bosnia, the northern section,
is a mountainous region covered with thick forests.
Herzegovina, the southern section of the country, is
composed largely of rocky hills, and flat farmland. The major
rivers or Bosnia-Herzegovina are the Bosna, Neretra, and
Vrbas. The winters of Bosnia-Herzegovina are exceptionally
cold and snowy. Contrasting, the summers are warm in the
mountain valleys, but milder in the higher elevations. In
Sarajevo, the average climate in January in 30§ F, and in
July 68§ F. Prior to the war, Bosnia's mountains were full of
visitors taking advantage of the vast range of ski slopes.
Bosnia-Herzegovina is rich in natural resources. It has vast
forests, large iron ore reserves, and plentiful sources of coal
and hydroelectric power. As stated before
Bosnia-Herzegovina's main exports were a sum of their
industrial and agricultural products. Bosnia's chief trading
partners have been Austria, Germany, and Italy, but has also
traded with Muslim nations of the Middle East such as Syria
and Turkey. Before the war, Bosnia-Herzegovina had a well
developed system of roads linking it to bordering nations of
Croatia and Serbia. However, these roads were destroyed
by attacking Serbian armies. Bosnia-Herzegovina also has a
large system of railways. These railroads connect cities such
as Sarajevo to other large cities and neighboring countries.
Although small, Bosnia does contain airports, which can be
found in the capitol Sarajevo and other main cities like
Monstar. These airports do not have any departing or
arriving commercial flights, and in fact, the airports were
reopened by the United Nations in 1992, after being shut
down due to the violent conflicts. Planes now containing
food and supplies are now able to bring the food and
medicine that is greatly needed by the people of the country.
Bosnia has a long history of heart-aches and changes in
power. People called the Illynans lived in what is now called
Bosnia-Herzegovina beginning about 3000 years ago. The
region became part of a Roman province in about 11 B.C.
From the 900's to the 1100's rule shifted between the
Byzantine Empire, the Croats, and the Serbs. Hungary's king
claimed control over most of Bosnia from the 1100's to
about 1400, but local nobles called Bans, were able to act
independently most of the time. Hum, now known as
Herzegovina, was under Serbian or Hungarian rule from the
1100's until 1326. Bosnia controlled it from 1326 until 1463,
when its local rulers declared its independence, and adopted
the title herzeg which means duke. The Ottoman Empire
gained control of most of Bosnia in 1463, and seized
Herzegovina in the 1480's. After the invasion, some Slavs in
the region converted to Islam. The Ottomans made Bosnia
and Herzegovina one political unit in the mid-1800's.
Bosnia-Herzegovina remained part of the Ottoman Empire
until the Congress of Berlin, a meeting of major European
leaders in 1879 that gave temporary control of the region to
Austria- Hungary. In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally took
over the region. In June of 1914, Archduke Francis
Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Sarajevo
by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian from Bosnia-Herzegovina. The
assassination led to the outbreak of World War I. After the
war ended in 1918, Bosnia-Herzegovina became part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the kingdom was
later renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. During World War II
(1939-1945), the axis powers led by Germany and Italy
occupied Yugoslavia. In that time, Croatia briefly became an
independent state, but was actually still controlled at that
time by Germany. Bosnia-Herzegovina was placed under
Croatia's control. After the war ended, communists came to
power in Yugoslavia. Under a constitution passed in 1946,
Yugoslavia was organized as a federal state, which is, one in
which the powers of government are shared between a
central government and republics. Bosnia-Herzegovina
became one of the six republics of Yugoslavia, as did
Croatia and Serbia. During the communist rule of
Yugoslavia, the republic of Bosnia- Herzegovina was
sometimes classified as a less-developed region. This
classification led to the receiving of federal funds for
economic development. Bosnia-Herzegovina has always
been a potential site for conflict, because of its cultural and
religious differences between its ethnic groups. In the late
1980's the relations between the groups worsened,
especially between the Serbs and non-Serbs. In 1990, the
Communist party gave up its monopoly on power in
Yugoslavia, and political parties began to form. That year,
for the first time, Bosnia-Herzegovina held free elections.
Non-communists won control of the legislature. Alija
Lzetbegovic, a Muslim, was elected president. In1991,
Yugoslavia began to break apart after Croatia and Slovenia
declared their own independence. In February of 1992, a
referendum on independence was held in Bosnia. Most
Serbs boycotted the referendum, but most of the republic's
Croats and Muslims voted for independence.
Bosnia-Herzegovina then declared their independence.
Many Serbs living in Bosnia-Herzegovina opposed the
declaration of independence and began the war against the
non-Serbs. About two-thirds of the republic fell to Serbian
forces within two months. The Serbs sought to remove all
non-Serbs from the Bosnian territory they claimed. This
policy was called ethnic cleansing. In April 1992, Serbia and
Montenegro formed a new, smaller Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia
provided the Serbs fighting in Bosnia- Herzegovina with
troops, guns, food, and equipment. That May, the United
Nations imposed an oil and trade embargo against
Yugoslavia in an attempt to stop the war. Troops fighting
against the Serbs in Bosnia included Bosnian Muslims and
Bosnian Croats. As the war continued, Bosnian Croat
forces, supported by Croatia, gained control over one-fifth
of the country. In July 1992, some Bosnian Croats began to
call for independence for the Croatian areas. In October,
fighting broke out between Bosnian Croats and Bosnian
Muslims. In June 1992, UN peacekeeping forces began
arriving in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They secured the country's
airport and protected shipments of food and medicine to the
people of Bosnia. In October 1992, the United States and
other UN members began reporting incidents of human
rights abuse in Bosnia. The reports indicated that Bosnian
Serbs had tortured and killed Bosnian Muslims and Croats
in detention camps. As the civil war continued, there were
many international efforts to end all hostilities. Bosnian
officials signed a cease fire agreement with the national Croat
leaders on February 23, 1994 called the Croat Agreement.
In March, both sides met in Washington DC and agreed to
form a Croat-Muslim federation with a main objective of
two ruling groups sharing the responsibilities of national
defense, foreign affairs, and commerce. Unfortunately, the
Serb occupation of Bosnian territory made it impossible to
proceed with plans. The Bosnian Serbs agreed in February
1994 to hand over heavy weapons to UN troops and begin
withdraw their forces from Sarajevo. Under the threat of an
air strike by NATO, Serb troops withdrew beyond a twelve
mile exclusion zone around Sarajevo. As months passed,
Serbs violated their agreement. The heavy weapons hidden
in this "zone" were used to strike Sarajevo and other cities
including Gorozde, Tuzla, and Prijedor with great force. In
September, Serb forces cut off Sarajevo's water, gas, and
power for ten days, provoking a retaliation by Bosnian
forces. Bosnian Serbs also carried out on their policy of
ethnic cleansing in 1994 by forcing Muslims from their
homes to the Serb controlled areas of Bosnian while the
Muslims that got away fled to the remote mountainous areas
of surrounding Bosnia. Between July and September of
1994, ten-thousand Muslims left their homes. Bosnia clashed
with the UN many times, interrupting UN efforts to bring
relief to civilians. In March of 1995, the Serb forces
high-jacked ten UN trucks carrying food and medicine to
Muslims. Also in March, the UN security council imposed
sanctums. The final decision was made on November 28,
1995 to send American troops to Bosnia. (see poll below)
President Clinton gave the orders in a televised address, that
we were going to change the happenings in Bosnia. [---
WMF Graphic Goes Here ---] In my belief, I feel that the
issue in Bosnia is an important issue that only the people of
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia should have concern
about. The Muslims of Bosnia should not have to change
their beliefs, customs, traditions or religion because a
supposed influential government and their tyrants told them
to do so. You should not have to change because people
want you to. As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated in his essay
Self-Reliance, " The virtue in most request is conformity.
Self-reliance is its aversion" and " Nothing is at last sacred
but the integrity of your own mind." He is saying that
conformity is wanted. People want you to be as everybody
else. I also do believe, that UN and American troops should
not be involved in anyway with the situation in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Our own innocent loved ones will be
killed, and for what gain of the American citizen or country
as a whole? None. The Muslims, Serbs, and Croats should
fight for what the believe in, and the strongest will eventually
prevail. Bibliography: 1. The Christian Science Monitor
11-16-94 Title: Opening the Docket: Trials of a War
Tribunal 2. USA Today 12-5-94 Title: Serb Defiance has its
Roots in Balkan History 3. USA Today 2-14-95 Title: UN
Tribunal Accuses 21 Serbs of War Atrocities 4. USA
Today 10-16-95 Title: Mass Graves Yield Horror in Bosnia
5. USA Today 10-11-95 Title: Clear Messages to Bosnian
War Criminals...No Deal 6. Pittsburgh Post Gazette
10-8-95 Title: War Crime Trails may be Thwarted by Peace
Bid 7. US News & World Report 4-10-95 Title: A Hunt for
the Killers of Bosnia 8. Macleans 8-15-94 Title: Serbian
Death Camp 9. War Criminals, War Victims by Random
House Inc. 1971 10. World Book Encyclopedia Volume B
& Y, 1990 11. US News & World Report 11-27-94 Title:
Jumping the Gun in Bosnia 12. US News & World Report
9-18-95 Title: The US Risk in Bosnia 13. US News &
World Report 11-6-95 Title: Keepers of the Peace 14.
Merit Students Encyclopedia Volume 3. 1988 15.
Newsweek 8-17-95 Title: Ethnic Cleansing 16. Pittsburgh
Post Gazette 11-14-95 Title: Tribunal Changes: Bosnian
Croats