Bosnian Genocide Research Paper

Discuss and Analyze the similarities and differences between the genocide committed in Rwanda and Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

A genocide is a horrible kind of war. It is a mass killing and torturing of innocent people who do not deserve any of it. There are many stages of genocides, which may or may not go in the same order. The Holocaust, being the largest genocide and a horrible point in history, is similar and different to the Bosnian/Croatian genocide. Although many aspects lead up to these genocides and other similar wars, there are possible measures that could have been taken to prevent all of this. No human should have to endure the pain of a genocide, especially as horrible as the Holocaust, or Croatian/Bosnian war. The Holocaust and the Bosnian genocide both consisted of many stages that led to a variety of horrible events, both similar and different, which could have been prevented if certain actions were taken into consideration.

In 1992 when Bosnia declared its independence from the Yugoslav, Orthodox-Christian Serbians were losing power to the Muslim Bosniaks. The Bosnian-Serb forces did not want to be outnumbered by Bosniaks at all. Especially when it came to things like politics. The Serbs that lived in Bosnia & Herzegovina felt threatened by the numerous amount of Muslim power, so they decided to exterminate them. This resulted in a genocide. A genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people. This genocide is known as the Bosnia and Herzegovina Genocide.

Genocide is the systematic annihilation of a group (“Bosnia”). Many have lost their entire families, including children, belongings, and opportunities. The Bosnian genocide is a tragic event that led to the death of 8,000 men and boys. Bosnia's current population is 3.8 million with a 48 percent of Bosnian muslims, 14 percent of Croats, and a 37 percent of Serbs. Those responsible for the genocide focused on what they deemed as “ethnic cleansing”. It is important to share this horrific event with the world, so it does not happen again, as it has occured in so many other nations.

They occur and we neglect to notice the unearned inequity. Even though genocide is difficult encounter as actuality it is. The Bosnian genocide was a heartbreaking event that caused misery and loss of lives to 100,000 with 80,000 being of the Bosnian culture (Bosnia-Herzegovina). March 1, 1992-December 14, 1995 35 dreadful months for the Bosnians. If you think of all the terrifying things done to them they would sometimes rather be dead than alive. Could imagine being in so much agony you would wish you were dead. The perpetrators, the Serbians were making an effort to exterminate the Bosnians. They were stopped by the Bosnians who fought for their lives. This would be recognized as genocide because it shares several characteristics with

The Bosnian Genocide is a genocide that began in April 1992 with the goal to “ethnically cleanse” Bosnian territory. Serbians targeted Bosniaks (Muslim Bosnians) and Croatians civilians and aimed to eliminate them through the use of former Yugoslavian military equipment. Before the genocide began, many different ethnic and religious groups lived under Yugoslavia’s communist regime. Although there was tension, President Josip Broz Tito was able to keep the country together through dictatorship. Tito was considered a “benevolent dictator” and his regime ensured that the country stayed unified. However, when Tito died in 1980, the tension between different ethnic and religious groups increased and eventually led to the Bosnian genocide. Slobodan Milosevic rose to power seven years leader by using nationalism to his advantage. Milosevic favored the Serbs and and made changes to the constitution to show this. Milosevic also formed a military that was 90% Serbian. When Yugoslavia began to collapse in 1991 because of Slovenia and

The Armenian Genocide started in April of 1915 and extended on for three years, ending when the Ottoman Empire surrendered in 1918. This was the first genocide of the twentieth century. During World War I when they saw a decline in the Ottoman Empire authority and witness the military loses increase. They blamed the Armenian people for these problems (used them as scapegoats”) and the genocide had started (EDB UTEXAS).

However, starting in 1994, NATO led air strikes (“GENOCIDE – BOSNIA”), thereby deterring the Serbian movement. Even so, Srebrenica became bombarded with shells by Serb troops led by Ratko Mladic in July 1995, a date that has since been associated with the name “Bosnian genocide ” (“GENOCIDE – BOSNIA”). Many have drawn parallels between the brutal actions of this genocide with the Nazi actions of the Holocaust: shootings killing thousands, forcibly relocating residents, concentration camps, and for females—rape (“Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992-1995”). Men and men were separated in this torture process and while men were sent to concentration camps, women were sent to rape camps (Krkljes). The genocide violated many UN Declaration of Human Rights articles including Articles 3, 7, 5, 13, and 15. Article 3 was violated because non-Serbs were deprived of the right to life; Article 5 violated since genocide is an example of inhumane treatment; Article 7 violated because non-Serbs were discriminated against; Article 13 violated since Bosnian Serbs drove out Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks; and Article 15 violated since “ethnic cleansing” stripped non-Serbs of their home in

A French historian, Ernest Renan, once remarked, “In the creating of nations, the act of forgetting is as important as remembering” (qtd. in Anderson 2). For Turkey, this meant “obliterating the memory of a group that inhabited their country before they did” (Anderson 2). Due to hardships inside the Turkish government after its losses of many European provinces, a transnationalist ideology was created, and the war against the Armenians started. From 1915 to 1917, almost one and a half million Armenian men, women, and children were deported to the south from the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey and sent to their deaths. Mass murders and widespread deportations of the Armenian

A genocide is a intended killing upon a large group of people, especially upon a certain ethnic group. The genocide in Bosnia, also known as The Bosnian War started in 1992 after Bosnian government declared independence from Yugoslavia. Bosnian Serbs did not like the idea of a free nation with majority of the citizens being Muslim. Serbs killed approximately 100,000 croats and muslims. The Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina is similar to the Holocaust because both involved the murders of certain cultures. This was the largest massacre in Europe since the Holocaust (Bosnia-Herzegovina).

It is clear that the events that occurred in Bosnia distinguish it as a genocide, making it vital that the UN and the world takes steps to avoid catastrophes like this one in the future. World nations did not get involved soon enough and did very little to mitigate the events that were ensuing in Bosnia, so the genocide had lasted much longer than it had to (“(International Reaction)”). If one looks in the picture presented on the screen, one can see a family from Ilidza in Bosnia and Herzegovina that are scavenging through a box of supplies that were provided by the Germans on March 20, 1996, in the Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR (“Bosnians”). This family is receiving the supplies they need to survive and this is a crucial element of hope that was provided by Germany (“Bosnians”).

Raphael Lemkin coined the word genocide and lobbied for his entire life to have the world prevent as well as punish genocide. Eventually, in 1948, the United Nations adopted Lemkin’s work and promised to prevent genocide from happening again, but they failed on several occasions, most notably in 1992, when a genocide was carried out in Bosnia. This genocide was orchestrated by Radovan Karadžić. Robert Donia’s book, Radovan Karadžić: Architect of the Bosnian Genocide, goes into chronicling the life of Radovan Karadžić and seeks to understand how he went from a “man of great ability and immense promise,” to eventually transform “himself into the architect of the worst atrocities in Europe since the Second World War by unequivocally embracing

The Bosnian War was an international arms conflict that involved 2 main sides, the Republika Srpska, and Herzeg-Bosnia. The Republika Srpska would show very little sympathy towards the Non-Serb population of cities they would occupy. 1995 of the Bosnian War reached its most violent climax, Bosnian Serb Forces in occupied Srebrenica began an ethnic cleansing of the Non-Serb population, and massacred more than 8000 people. Many generals and other people of high class within the Republika Srpska were tried for their actions, but none confessed and denied everything, this is what makes the following person so significant. Dragan Obrenovic, who was the only person who admit guilt for the Genocide and it taking place. The accused, Dragan

In 1992 Bosnia and Herzegovina had one the biggest genocide to come after WWII, in turn killing over 800,000 civilians. The war consisted of two factions, the Croats and Serbs, both wanting territory in Bosnia. Soon Radovan Karadžić, former Bosnian Serb president, created a special army to support the Serbs, soon the Serbs started the new policy for “ethnic cleansing” many areas of non-Serb. For it was later that it was to be decided that is was complete and utter genocide towards the innocent.

    By the war's end, the Bosnian Conflict claimed the lives of 100,000 civilians and soldiers, and forced another 2 million from their homes. The war began over ethnic and political conflicts within Yugoslavia, especially the republics of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. Bosnians faced many challenges coming from all sides with the help and manipulation of Serbia’s president, Slobodan Milosevic who wanted to gain control of Bosnia. In the face of all the attempts to stop Bosnia from becoming independent, the Bosnians stood their ground, protected themselves and their land, and gained their freedom in March 1992. Nevertheless over the next 4 years, Bosnian civilians were ravaged by Serbian militaries and their use of “ethnic cleansing” that killed masses and caused millions to become refugees.