Mary Kaldor-New and Old Wars

Bosnia-Herzegovina: A Case Study of a New War

(6 April 1992-12 October 1995)Conflict Resolution and Negotiation

Smaranda Cioban- Rise English Line,year 3

8th December,2009

Structure

Recent Historical Background Why the war was fought-Political Goals Ethnic cleansing How was the war possible Economic transition and the development of nationalism New Nationalism Types of nationalism and their goals The outburst of conflict How the war was fought-Military Means Conclusions References

Recent Historical background• 1941:Germany invaded Yugoslavia, Bosnia –Herzegovina becoming a part of the Nazi-

controlled Croatia• The Bosnian resistance led a guerilla war against the Ustachi, the Croatian fascist troops• At the end of World War II: Bosnia-Herzegovina becomes one of the six republics of the

Communist Yugoslavia under Marshall Tito• 1980:death of Tito• 1980-1990 the administration of Yugoslavia conducted by the Constitution of 1974, the

chairmanship to the collective presidency rotating on an annual basis:held by Cvijetin Mijatovic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) 1980-1981, Sergej Kraigher (Slovenia) 1981-1982, Petar Stambolic (Serbia) 1982-1983, Mika Spiljak (Croatia) 1983-1984, Veselin Djuranovic (Montenegro) 1984-1985, Radovan Vlajkovic (Vojvodina) 1985-1986, Sinan Hasani (Kosovo) 1986-1987, Lazar Mojsov (Macedonia) 1987-1988, Raif Dizdarevic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) 1988-1989, Janez Drnovsek (Slovenia) 1989-1990, Borisav Jovic (Serbia) 1990-1991. 

• February 1988:Slobodan Milosevic becomes the President of Yugoslavia,after the dismissal of Stambolic

• Milosevic cancelled the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina• December 1991:Bosnia-Herzegovina declares its independence from the former

Yugoslavia and asked for recognition from the European Union• March 1992:Referendum-Bosnians voted independence-President Alija Izetbecovic declares Bosnia-Herzegovina independent• August 1992:Bosnian Serbs conquered over 60 % of Bosnia• August and September 1995:Nato bombed Serb positions

Why the war was fought –Political Goals

1. Ethnic structure:• Bosnia-Herzegovina:most ethnically mixed republic of the former Yugoslavia• According to 1991 census,there were: 43,7 % Muslims31,4 % Serbs17,3% Croats+Yugoslavs, Jews, Roma + other people (called giraffes ,lampshades)2.Religious configuration:Serbs: Orthodox Croats: Catholic +Muslims

3.Political parties• Despite the existence of a secular pluralistic culture in the

region ,the parties which represented different ethnic groups gained 70 % of the votes in the first democratic elections that took place in November 1990

• The most influential parties : SDA (Party of Democratic Action)-Muslim Nationalist Party SDS (Serbian Democratic Party) HDZ (Croatian Democratic Party)• Serbs and Croats wanted to impose in the region• establish homogenous ethnically territories that would eventually

become part of Serbia and Croatia• Instrument: language of self-determination, term used before in the

national wars that took place in African countries • Main political goal of Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats backed by

Serbia and Croatia: ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing Main political goal: ethnic cleansing UN Commission of Experts: ethnic cleansing =area technically homogenous by using force or intimidation to remove from a given area persons from another ethnic or religious group First time used relating to the expulsion of Greeks and Armenians

from Turkey in the early 1920’s economic and legal discrimination , even violence Milder: Croatia, after the elections of 1990 : Serbs lose their job and

Serb policemen are replaced Violent : type of war in Bosnia-Herzegovina Initiated by the Serbs in Croatia ,together with the JNA (Yugoslav

National Army )and later taken by the Bosnian Serbs and by the Croats both in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Croatia

How was the war possible?I. Nationalism ,deriving from organically developed ethnies• Balkanization(tribalism)-Balkans, historical zone of conflicts• “ancient hatreds”-observed both by authors and political leaders• Ivo Andrić- A Letter from 1920 : • a young man decides to leave Bosnia and never turn back

because it is a country of fear and hate• Karadžić (the leader of Bosnian Serbs) : Serbs , Croats and

Muslims were like cats and dogs• Tudjman (the Croatian president) :Serbs and Croats could not

live together because Croats were Europeans while Serbs were Easterners,like Turks or Albanians

• Fails to explain the periods of coexistence and the alternative conceptions of Bosnian and Yugoslav society as a unified culture in contrast to multiculturalism

II. Nationalism, reconstructed for political purposes• nationalist movements: versions of history and memory to

construct new cultural forms that can be used for political mobilization

• emergence of nationalism : struggle of the elites to control the remnants of the state

• The rupture of the state :political identity of the Yugoslav regime and its legitimacy

• World War II:the partisans were considered legitimate- the capacity to provide leaving standards for the population and a bridge between East and West

• Economic and social problems: legitimacy put in question• “Brotherhood and Unity”-new socialist man or woman• the ethnic differentiation institutionalized• To counterbalance numerical dominance: 6 republics with a

dominant majority, except Bosnia-Herzegovina: Serbia , Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia , Macedonia +2 autonomous provinces (Kosovo,Vojvodina)

• Until 1980’s :growing support for Yugoslavism1974 constitution: devolved power to republics and autonomous provinces + mechanism for elite rotation based on ethnic arithmetic

• National political discourse:the only form of legitimate debate• National communitarian identities ,a replacement to the Yugoslav

identity

Economic transition and the development of nationalism

Economic History• 1950’s-1960’s:fast economic growth-rapid defence-oriented

heavy industrialization• 1970’s:Western aid replaced by commercial loans-slowdown in

growth• 1979:debt in 20 billion $ • 1982: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Recovery Plan:

liberalisation +austerity• December 1989: inflation,rate 2500%; unemployment 14% urban midddle classes , industrial workers ;corruption scandals in 1980’sExample:Agromerc-revealed the activity of Fikret Abdić• 1990: programme of shock therapy to reimpose control at a

federal level-resentment at the level of republics• November 1990: unilateral economic actions:Great Bank

Robbery+ Slovene refusal to contribute to the Fund for Underdeveloped Region + unilateral Croatian abolition of excise tax on cars

A New Nationalism •the media nationalised: a basis for the nationalist propaganda•1990: federal legitimacy challenged - disregard for constitutional decisions taken at a republican level among the Serbs in Croatia who wanted to declare a “Serbian Autonomous Region”• a new nationalism: lacked a modernizing ideology; made use of new terms of mobilization and forms of organization •Example:extensive use of the electronic media to propagate the nationalist message-populist political appeal •Victim mentality:tales of genocide in Kosovo,first by the Turks in 1389 ,by the Albanians ,and of holocaust in Croatia and Bosnia –Herzegovina, clips of the Second World War mixed with current developments virtual war long before the real war• war - continuum•David Rieff: soldiers were not shooting at their private friends,but at Turks –”we will have driven the Turkish army out of the city ,just as they drove us from the field of Kosovo in 1389”•Tudjman: the horizontal transnational form of organization;mobilizing support among the Croatian diaspora in North America;•Bougarel:Bosnia-Herzegovina ,both a country of tolerance and a country of fear and hate•Zivanović(independent-minded liberal):war had to be so bloody because the ties between us were so strong

1. Bosnian Serb nationalists:main agressors,ethnic cleansing2. Croat nationalists:ethnic cleansing,but on a lesser scale3. Muslim Nationalist Party(SDA):unified multicultural Bosnia-

Herzegovina-multiculturalism as political organization along communitarian

lines(eg. Izetbegovic attempt to organize ‘acceptable ‘ ethnic groupings,such as the Serb Civic Council,Croat Peasants’ Party)

-rigid political control over all institutions+ the use of the media to generate a virtual war against other communities (eg. SDA magazine, Dragon of Bosnia

• War of Serbian and Croatian aggression,but a new nationalist war as well

Types of nationalism and their goals

The outburst of conflict

• August 1991:Yutel rally in Sarajevo• September 1991:human chain linking the Mosque,the

Orthodox Church ,the Catholic Church and the Sinagogue in Sarajevo

• 5 March 1992:peace activists succeed in pulling down barricades erected by Muslim and Serb nationalists

• 5 April:march to Sarajevo(50-100000 demonstrators) to ask for the resignation of the Government and an international protectorate

• Serb snipers fired on the demonstrators from the Holiday Inn: beginning of the war

• Bosnia-Herzegovina- recognized by European States and the Serbs left the Bosnian Assembly

• war of exclusivist nationalists against a secular multicultural pluralistic society

How the war was Fought-Military Means

• Yugoslavia: most militarized European country outside the Soviet Union• JNA (Yugoslav National Army): Yugoslav entity up to 1991(70,000 regular officers

and staff+ 15,000 conscripts)• After 1991:disintegrated because of economic crisis• 1993:Vance-Owen Plan-Croats and Muslims started to fight each other• Washington Agreement: official cooperation between the two parts• Regular forces :Bosnian Serb Army (BSA), the Croatian Defence Council (HVO-

Militia attached to the HDZ) , Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina (ABiH-dependent on Croatia supply routes

• Irregular forces: paramilitary organizations(83-under the control of individuals) , foreign mercenary groups,local police

• Serb: Arkan’s Tigers ,Sešelj’s Chetniks (“White Eagles”)-under the command of JNA

• Croatian: HOS( wing of the Croatian Party of Rights-together with HVO until 1993),Wolves (“Juka”-together with the ABiH up to 1992,HVO since then)

• Other : Black Swans, Yellow Ants ,Mečet’s Babies ,Mosque Pigeons , Knights ,Serbians Falcons

• Mercenaries:Mujahidiin-veterans from the Afghan war,Russians+ from Denmark ,Finland ,Sweden,Britain,the United States

• Local militia:organized by municipalities (Tuzla) or by big enterprises (Velika Klusa, Agromerc,Zenica)

Conclusions

• Ethnic conflict between Serbs, Croats and Muslims, cooperating each-other throughout the war

• Emergence of nationalism: both a rooted practice and a political propaganda

• Virtual war: inability to see the real war• War of Bosnia-Herzegovina: new type of

war, war against the civilian population and against civil society

References

• Mary Kaldor-New and Old Wars ,Bosnia-Herzegovina:A Case Study of a New War,Standford University Press,pp 31-68

• http://www.friendsofbosnia.org/edu_bos.html

• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107349.html

• http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/bosnia.htm