February 23, 1994 – Bosnian War: Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats form a unified government

In early 1994, with another Bosnian Serb general offensivelooming, Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats found common ground.  With the urging of the United States, on February 23, 1994, Bosniaksand Bosnian Croats formed a unified government under the “Federation of Bosniaand Herzegovina”.  The Bosnian War shifted to fighting betweenthe combined Bosniak-Bosnian Croat forces against the Bosnian Serb Army.

In early 1994, Bosnian Serb forces laid siege to Sarajevo, Bosnia’scapital, relentlessly pounding the city with heavy artillery and inflictingheavy civilian casualties.  The siege ofthe capital drew international condemnation, with the United Nations (UN) andthe North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) becoming increasingly involved inthe war.  NATO declaredBosnia-Herzegovina a no-fly zone.  OnFebruary 28, 1994, NATO warplanes downed four Serbian aircraft over Banja Luka.

Under a UN threat of a NATO airstrike, Bosnian Serbs wereforced to lift the siege on Maglaj; supply convoys thus were able to reach thecity by land, the first time in nearly ten months.  In April 1994, NATO warplanes attackedBosnian Serb forces that were threatening a UN-protected area in Gorazde.  Later that month, a Danish contingent of theUN forces engaged Bosnian Serb Army units in the village of Kalesija.  The NATO air strikes, which greatlycontributed to ending the war, were conducted in coordination with the UNhumanitarian and peacekeeping forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Yugoslavia comprised six republics, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, and Macedonia, and two autonomous provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina.

(Taken from Bosnian War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1)

Bosnia-Herzegovina has three main ethnic groups: Bosniaks(Bosnian Muslims), comprising 44% of the population, Bosnian Serbs, with 32%,and Bosnian Croats, with 17%.  Slovenia and Croatia declared theirindependences in June 1991.  On October15, 1991, the Bosnian parliament declared the independence ofBosnia-Herzegovina, with Bosnian Serb delegates boycotting the session inprotest.  Then acting on a request fromboth the Bosnian parliament and the Bosnian Serb leadership, a EuropeanEconomic Community arbitration commission gave its opinion, on January 11,1992, that Bosnia-Herzegovina’s independence cannot be recognized, since noreferendum on independence had taken place.

Bosnian Serbs formed a majority in Bosnia’snorthern regions.  On January 5, 1992,Bosnian Serbs seceded from Bosnia-Herzegovina and established their owncountry.  Bosnian Croats, who also compriseda sizable minority, had earlier (on November 18, 1991) seceded fromBosnia-Herzegovina by declaring their own independence.  Bosnia-Herzegovina, therefore, fragmentedinto three republics, formed along ethnic lines.

Furthermore, in March 1991, Serbia and Croatia, two Yugoslavconstituent republics located on either side of Bosnia-Herzegovina, secretlyagreed to annex portions of Bosnia-Herzegovina that contained a majoritypopulation of ethnic Serbians and ethnic Croatians.  This agreement, later re-affirmed by Serbiansand Croatians in a second meeting in May 1992, was intended to avoid armedconflict between them.  By this time,heightened tensions among the three ethnic groups were leading to openhostilities.

Mediators from Britainand Portugalmade a final attempt to avert war, eventually succeeding in convincingBosniaks, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats to agree to share political powerin a decentralized government.  Just tendays later, however, the Bosnian government reversed its decision and rejectedthe agreement after taking issue with some of its provisions.