Essay - Bosnia-herzegovina is a New Country with a Complex History, About...

Bosnia-Herzegovina is a new country with a complex history, about half the size of Kentucky. It is located on ***** Balkan peninsula ***** southern central Europe. ***** is named after its two main regions - the mountainous Bosnia area to ***** north, and the flatter Herzegovina to the south (FEN, 2003). Its name is an indication of ***** way this country and the areas around it have been divided up politically multiple times since the Roman Empire. ***** current mix of cultures and religions reflect the many rulers it has had. After ***** Romans, the area was claimed by the Goths, ***** Byzantine Empire, Hungary, a period of over 250 ye*****rs of independence, the Turks, which introduced Islam to ***** region, Austria-Hungary, Nazi Germany, and Communist Yugoslavia (FEN, 2003). ***** and Herzegovina were annexed to Serbia as part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes on Oct. 26, 1918 (*****, 2003), with ***** name changed to Yugoslavia in 1929.

Some ***** these changes have had profound effects on the region and on ***** world. The ***** was given to ***** to keep Russia from dominating the area in the 19th century. In the 20th century the Serbs of the region were so resentful of Austria-Hungary's influence that it resulted in a Serb national assassinating ***** Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, which triggered the beginning of World War I (FEN, 2003).

***** ***** has a long his*****ry, *****nd during the years of Ottoman rule, many Christians became Muslim, and moved into the ruling class working for the Turks. O*****r residents of the areas viewed ***** as collaboration, especially when the pattern was repeated during World War ********** and the same group ***** people collaborated with ***** Nazis. This has caused tremendous resentment against Bosnian Muslims by Catholics and Orthodox (Orthodox *****n Church) (Internet, *****).

***** ***** War II, Bosnia and Herzegovina were joined ***** one state of six making up communist *****, governed by the dictator Marshall Tito. Until he died in 1980, he was able to use authoritarian rule ***** keep ***** various ethnic groups under control (FEN, 2003). Following his death the "Iron Curtain" fell, The Berlin Wall came down, and the U.S.S.R. began to unravel - and so did Yugoslavia (FEN, 2003).

***** and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, throwing the area into civil unrest (Fogelquist, 1995). In Dec. 1991, Bosnia ***** Herzegovina declared independence ***** Yugoslavia and asked for recognition by the ********** Union (EU) (*****, 1995).

Most ***** the other former states of Yugoslavia tended to have one major ethnic group, but Bosnia-Herzegovina ***** a broad ***** of groups ***** were interspersed ***** each other throughout the countries. ***** made up 44%; Serbs 31%; and Croatians 17% (FEN, *****). Both the Croatian and Serbian leadership had intended to repartition the country once it was free of Yugoslav rule. A campaign of "***** cleansing" began, targeting ***** Muslims (FEN, 2003). The fighting and atrocities were brutal, ***** ***** 1992, the Bosnian Serbs controlled