The Bosnian
Genocide
200,000 Killed
“Ethnic cleansing” and “The failure of
the West”
Present Day Bosnia:
Yugoslavia’s new leader
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By the late 1980s a new leader emerged in Yugoslavia
Slobodan Milosevic, a former communist, rose to power
using nationalism and religious hatred to gain power
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Milosevic, a Serb, wanted to take control of all areas
where ethnic Serbs lived
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Inflamed tensions between Serbs and Muslims
Sought to protect interests of Serbs
Violence ensued when Croatia and Slovenia declared
independence in 1991
Slobodan Milosevic 1941-2006
World response
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Despite the camps, rapes, and killings the UN and others did little
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UN imposed economic sanctions and sent troops to distribute food
UN troops were prohibited from taking military actions
The arms embargo imposed by Western nations only hurt Bosnians
because Serbians were already most armed group in the area
Throughout 1993 the Serbs, confident that there would be no
military intervention from the West, freely committed genocide
Bill Clinton campaigned in 1992 to intervene in Bosnia to
assist ethnic minorities
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President Bush held the same view
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Was not until 1994 that Clinton and NATO demanded Serbs withdraw
from Sarajevo following the bombing of a marketplace
Srebrenica so called safe haven
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Srebrenica was one of the safe havens set up by the UN
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1995 Serbian troops attack and shell Srebrenica
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Food and water supplies begin to dwindle
The Dutch soldiers guarding the city could do little against Serbians
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The French and Dutch governments were responsible for this haven
Poorly equipped with little backup
All men were transported out of the city and killed
Women and children transported then raped and killed after
men
After the massacre of Srebrenica NATO finally responds and on
August 30th 1995 they begin a massive bombing campaign
US and NATO take action
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The heavy bombing and ground losses force Milosevic to seek
peace
November 1st 1995 the warring factions travel to Ohio for peace
talks
After three weeks a peace was reached
60,000 NATO soldiers were deployed to keep the peace
Over 200,000 are dead and there are over 2,000,000 refugees from
Bosnia
November 21, 1995: Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic, left, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic,
center, and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, right,
initial the peace agreement after 21 days of talks at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
Kosovo
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Kosovo was an autonomous
region located in Serbia before the
rise of Slobodan Milosevic
When Milosevic took power he
began to take away the autonomy
of Kosovo
This was the beginning of another
“ethnic cleansing” campaign
Some Kosovar Albanians formed
the Kosovo Liberation Army to
fight back against the aggression
of Milosevic and the Serbian Army
NATO actions
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NATO is continuing to bomb strategic targets in Serbia through
1999
However, these bombings did not deter Milosevic in Kosovo and
the killing and relocation continued
NATO refused to send in ground troops which would have easily
put a stop to the killings in Kosovo
NATO originally had a goal to simply secure Kosovo and have
the refugees return
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This was unacceptable because the refugees would simply return
to a land still controlled by Milosevic