Sarajevo, Siege of

Bosnia and Herzegovina today comprises three different populations—Muslim Bosniacs (individuals are identified along religious or national lines as Bosniacs or Bosnians, respectively), Orthodox Serbs, and Catholic Croats—as the result of centuries of confrontations between Austria-Hungarians, Ottomans, and Serbs. Sarajevo, the capital, which is surrounded by mountains, hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1984. In 1991, after Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, splitting Yugoslavia, Bosnian Croats wanted to join Croatia, Bosnian Serbs wanted to stay within the Yugoslavian Federation, and Bosniacs were on their own. Independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina was internationally recognized on April 6, 1992. After the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) officially left Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 12, 1992, the autodeclared Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (later Republika Srpska) tried to capture ...