Mass KillingsWhen the Bosnian Serbs began "ethnically cleansing" Bosnia it wasn't considered a genocide yet. This is because a genocide is the complete annihilation of a specific group. Ethnic cleansing is the expulsion of a group of people from a specific area. The Bosnian Serbs used murder, rape, torture and forcible displacement to remove the Bosnian Muslims from the area. In 1933 The United Nations set up safe havens for Muslims to flee too. The actual genocide started in 1995 and it was when the Serbs attacked a safe haven called Srebrenica. Women were raped and Children were sent back to Bosnian territory, but the Men were murdered, slaughtered, or sent to camps similar to those used by Nazis in World War Two. 8,000 men were killed at Srebrenica and a lot more were killed at the camps. Word spread about this attack and Bosnian Muslims and Croations fought back with the help of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO]. They bombed Serbian supply camps and lead a ground offensive that lasted three years. Serbian forces surrendered and a treaty was signed called the Dayton Accords in 1995. NATO also placed 60,000 armed forces in Bosnia to keep the peace.
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Historical BackgroundAfter the Second World War, nationalism began to spread throughout the Yugoslav republics. With the death of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980, tensions began to rise between the republics. In the mid 1980's the rise of serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic lead to intense hate between the states. In 1991, Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia declared their independence and in the war that followed, the Yugoslav army supported Serbian separatists. This action lead to Bosnia declaring their independence. Bosnian Serbs wanted the opposite of independence and with the help of Serbian separatists and the Yugoslav army, they began to "ethnically cleanse" Bosnia. This was the spark that lit the horrible fire of the Bosnian genocide.
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Aftermath
After the signing of the peace treaty, Civilians were allowed to return to their homes but many still won't return to Srebrenica. NATO has placed armed guards in Bosnia and even more people to help regocnize the genocides victims. 30,000 people are recorded as missing and nothing will ever be the same in Bosnia. The Bosnian Genocide greatly affected many people and Bosnian citizens hope that this will never happen again.
"It looks to me as though these politics mean Serbs, Croats and Muslims. But they are all people. They are all the same. They all look like people, there's no difference. They all have arms, legs and heads, they walk and talk, but now there's "something" that wants to make them different.”
- Zlata Filipović
Above is a quote from a diary written by a girl during the Bosnian Genocide. In this quote she talks about how everyone is equal and that she doesn't understand why they are fighting. She says "They all have arms, legs and heads, they walk and talk" and this means that everyone fighting in the war are just people and that they should stop because they are the same. Zlata feels that they aren't fighting over anything important and that they should stop fighting because they aren't enemies.