Mastilović D. Sarajevo in 1992. The Path to War

Mastilović Draga
PhD, University of East Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, Istočno Sarajevo)
ORCID: 0009-0005-7542-032X
E-mail: draga.mastilovic@iin.ues.rs.ba

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UDC 94(497.6)”1992″
DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2025-4-2-84-99

ABSTRACT. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the early 1990s became the most complex node of ethnoreligious contradictions that accompanied the disintegration of the federal Yugoslavia. The desire of the Serbian community of BiH and its political parties to preserve the republic as part of a reformed federation, and then to defend the right of the Serbian people to their identity in the constituent state of BiH clashed with the provocative policy of extremist leaders of the Croatian and Muslim communities aimed at usurping power in BiH and depriving the Serbs of the right to constitutional status. After the votes of Serbian political representatives in the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina turned out to be in the minority following the first multi-party elections in 1990, and then as a result of unconstitutional actions and the imposition of decisions by the Muslim-Croat coalition, which insisted on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina without the prior consent of the political representatives of all three peoples, a political crisis erupted. It was expressed in the growing disintegration of the former union structures (including, first of all, the army and security forces) and the forced creation of separate paramilitary formations of Croats and Muslims. This crisis, which was brewing with the active assistance of Western countries, primarily Germany and the United States of America, soon escalated into open clashes and war with the fragmentation of the territory of the republics into separate zones of control. During this period, Sarajevo inevitably became the center of escalation of political events, and in April and May 1992, an open military conflict broke out here.

KEYWORDS: ethnic conflicts, Balkan Peninsula, Yugoslavia, Sarajevo, 1992, war in Bosnia and Herzegovina

For citation: Mastilović D. [Sarajevo in 1992. The Path to War]. Istoriko-geograficheskiy zhurnal [Historical Geography Journal], 2025, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 84–99. DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2024-4-1-84-99 (In Russian).

Received 15 April 2025
Accepted 1 July 2025

© 2025 The Author

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