A first-person account of Bosnia’s road to independence and the outbreak of war
What the Work Is
Memoirs is a first-person, autobiographical work by Alija Izetbegović, the Bosnian politician, Islamic philosopher, and author who served as president of the presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1990 to 1996, and later as the first chairman of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1996 to 1998 and briefly in 2000. He was also the founder and first president of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA). The work belongs to the genre of political memoir, recounting the events its author lived through and shaped from his position at the head of the Bosnian government.
What the Book Is About
The book concerns the political crisis that led Bosnia and Herzegovina from a multi-ethnic republic within socialist Yugoslavia to independent statehood and into war. Its central subject is the period of escalating confrontation between 1991 and 1992, when the Yugoslav federation was breaking apart and the leaders of its republics negotiated, competed, and ultimately failed to hold the country together. Izetbegović writes from the vantage point of the Bosniak leadership, which was determined to pursue independence and was supported in that aim by Europe and the United States, while the Bosnian Serb leadership under Radovan Karadžić made clear that if independence were declared, Serbs would secede, claiming the right of self-determination.
Key Ideas and Themes
A recurring theme is the collapse of a shared Yugoslav framework and the difficulty of holding a multi-ethnic state together once its constituent nations began to pursue separate futures. The book traces how, in the first multi-party election in Bosnia and Herzegovina in November 1990, votes were cast largely along ethnic lines, bringing to power the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action, the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH), and how power was then divided along ethnic lines, with a Bosniak as president of the presidency, a Serb as president of the parliament, and a Croat as prime minister.
The memoir also follows the search for a political settlement. In early 1991, Izetbegović proposed an asymmetrical federation in which Slovenia and Croatia would maintain loose ties with the four remaining republics, before changing his position to favour a sovereign Bosnia as a prerequisite for such a federation. In June 1991, he and Macedonian president Kiro Gligorov proposed a weak confederation between Croatia, Slovenia, and a federation of the other four republics, which the Milošević administration rejected. Later, in March 1992, all three sides signed the Lisbon Agreement — Izetbegović for the Bosniaks, Karadžić for the Serbs, and Mate Boban for the Croats — but Izetbegović withdrew his signature and declared his opposition to any ethnic division of Bosnia. The book also addresses the Cutileiro Plan, which proposed dividing Bosnia into ethnic cantons, and Izetbegović’s withdrawal from that previously signed plan.
Another strand concerns the slide from political dispute to armed conflict. The book covers the referendum on independence held on 29 February and 1 March 1992, which the Bosnian Serb assembly members advised Serbs to boycott; turnout was reported at 64 percent, with 93 percent voting in favour of independence. Independence was formally declared by the Bosnian parliament on 3 March 1992. The memoir also deals with the unrest in Sarajevo around the referendum, including the shooting at a Serbian wedding on 1 March, in which Nikola Gardović, the bridegroom’s father, was killed and a Serbian Orthodox priest was wounded, and the barricades that appeared the following morning at key transit points across the city, manned by armed and masked SDS supporters.
The book further recounts the outbreak of fighting after the declaration of independence, including the first significant battle in Bijeljina on 31 March, the shelling of Sarajevo that began on 6 April, and the sieges of Zvornik, Višegrad, and Foča. It also describes Izetbegović’s own experience of the war, including his kidnapping at the Sarajevo airport on 3 May 1992 by JNA officers, who used him to gain safe passage for JNA troops from downtown Sarajevo.
Structure and Approach
The work is written as a personal narrative, following events in roughly chronological order from the political crisis of 1991 through the early months of the war in 1992. Its approach is that of a participant recounting decisions, negotiations, and confrontations as he experienced them, rather than a detached historical study. The account is anchored in the author’s own role in the events — his proposals, his signatures and withdrawals, and his dealings with other leaders such as Karadžić, Milošević, and Tuđman.
Significance and Influence
The memoir stands as a first-hand record of the political decisions and failures that preceded the Bosnian War, a conflict that came about as a result of the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and that was accompanied by ethnic cleansing. It documents the perspective of the Bosniak leadership at a moment when the country’s future was being contested both internally and internationally, and it preserves the author’s account of the negotiations, agreements, and ruptures that shaped Bosnia and Herzegovina’s path to independence and war.
The final political crisis unfolded against the backdrop of the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation. At the 14th Extraordinary Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia on 20 January 1990, the delegations of the republics could not agree on the main issues facing the federation, and the Slovene and Croatian delegates left the Congress. The Slovene delegation, headed by Milan Kučan, demanded democratic changes and a looser federation, while the Serbian delegation, headed by Milošević, opposed it. In March 1989, the crisis had deepened after amendments to the Serbian Constitution allowed the government of Serbia to dominate Kosovo and Vojvodina, giving Serbia, under Milošević, control over three out of eight votes in the Yugoslav presidency; with additional votes from Montenegro, Serbia was able to heavily influence federal decisions, leading to objections from other republics and calls for reform.
Meetings were held in early 1991 between the leaders of the six Yugoslav republics and the two autonomous regions. The Serbian leadership favoured a federal solution, whereas the Croatian and Slovenian leadership favoured an alliance of sovereign states. On 25 March 1991, Franjo Tuđman and Milošević held a meeting in Karađorđevo, which was controversial due to claims by some Yugoslav politicians that the two presidents agreed to the partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 25 June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared independence; armed conflict in Slovenia ensued, while clashes in Croat areas with substantial ethnic Serb populations escalated into full-scale war. The JNA abandoned efforts to reassert control over Slovenia in July, fighting in Croatia intensified until a ceasefire was agreed in January 1992, and the JNA also attacked Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In July 1991, representatives of the SDS, including its president Radovan Karadžić, along with Muhamed Filipović and Adil Zulfikarpašić of the Muslim Bosniak Organisation, drafted the Zulfikarpašić–Karadžić agreement, which would have left Bosnia and Herzegovina in a state union with Serbia and Montenegro. The agreement was denounced by Croat political parties, and although the Izetbegović administration initially welcomed the initiative, it later dismissed the agreement. Between September and November 1991, the SDS organised the creation of six “Serb Autonomous Regions” in response to Bosniak steps toward secession, and similar steps were taken by the Bosnian Croats.
In August 1991, the European Economic Community hosted a conference in an attempt to prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina from sliding into war. On 25 September 1991, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 713, imposing an arms embargo on all former Yugoslav territories. The embargo had little effect on the JNA and Serb forces, while Croatian forces had seized weaponry from the JNA during the Battle of the Barracks; it had a significant impact in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the start of the war, as Serb forces inherited JNA armaments and equipment while Croat and Bosniak forces obtained arms through Croatia in violation of the embargo.
On 19 September 1991, the JNA moved extra troops to the area around Mostar, which was protested by the local government. On 20 September 1991, the JNA transferred troops to the front at Vukovar via the Višegrad region of northeastern Bosnia; in response, local Croats and Bosniaks set up barricades and machine-gun posts and halted a column of 60 JNA tanks, but were dispersed by force the following day, with more than 1,000 people fleeing the area. This action, nearly seven months before the start of the Bosnian War, caused the first casualties of the Yugoslav Wars in Bosnia. In the first days of October, the JNA attacked and levelled the Croat village of Ravno in eastern Herzegovina on their way to attack Dubrovnik.
On 6 October 1991, Izetbegović gave a televised proclamation of neutrality that included the statement “it is not our war.” Before the Bosnian parliament on 14 October, he stated with regard to the JNA: “Do not do anything against the Army. (…) the presence of the Army is a stabilizing factor to us, and we need that Army… Until now, we did not have problems with the Army, and we will not have problems later.” He also had a testy exchange that day with Karadžić, who wagered that the Bosniak Muslims could not defend themselves if a state of war developed; Izetbegović observed that he found Karadžić’s manner and speech offensive, that it explained why the Bosniaks felt unwelcome, that his tone might explain why the others federated by Yugoslavia felt repelled, and that Karadžić’s threats were unworthy of the Serbian people.
Throughout 1990, the RAM Plan was developed by the SDB and a group of selected Serb officers of the JNA with the purpose of organizing Serbs outside Serbia, consolidating control of the fledgling SDS parties, and positioning arms and ammunition, preparing the framework for a third Yugoslavia in which all Serbs with their territories would live together in the same state. Its existence was leaked by Ante Marković, the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia, an ethnic Croat from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and alarmed the Bosnian government. Journalist Giuseppe Zaccaria summarised a meeting of Serb army officers in Belgrade in 1992, reporting they had adopted an explicit policy to target women and children as the vulnerable portion of the Muslim social structure.
On 15 October 1991, the parliament of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo passed a “Memorandum on the Sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina” by a simple majority. The Memorandum was hotly contested by Bosnian Serb members of parliament, who argued the Constitution required procedural safeguards and a two-thirds majority for such issues; it was debated anyway, leading to a boycott of the parliament by the Bosnian Serbs, and the legislation was passed. The Serb political representatives proclaimed the Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 24 October 1991, declaring that the Serb people wished to remain in Yugoslavia.
The HDZ BiH was established as a branch of the ruling party in Croatia, the Croatian Democratic Union. While it called for the independence of the country, there was a split in the party with some advocating secession of Croat-majority areas. In November 1991, the Croat leadership organised autonomous communities in areas with a Croat majority: on 12 November 1991, the Croatian Community of Bosnian Posavina was established in Bosanski Brod, covering 8 municipalities in northern Bosnia, and on 18 November 1991, the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia was established in Mostar, with Mate Boban chosen as its president. Its founding document said: “The Community will respect the democratically elected government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina for as long as exists the state independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina in relation to the former, or any other, Yugoslavia”.
Borisav Jović’s memoirs show that on 5 December 1991 Milošević ordered the JNA troops in BiH to be reorganised and its non-Bosnian personnel to be withdrawn, in case recognition would result in the perception of the JNA as a foreign force, with Bosnian Serbs remaining to form the nucleus of a Bosnian Serb army. By the end of the month only 10–15% of the personnel in the JNA in BiH were from outside the republic. Silber and Little note that Milošević secretly ordered all Bosnian-born JNA soldiers to be transferred to BiH, and Jović’s memoirs suggest that Milošević planned for an attack on Bosnia well in advance.
On 9 January 1992, the Bosnian Serbs proclaimed the “Republic of the Serbian People in Bosnia-Herzegovina” (later Republika Srpska) but did not officially declare independence. The Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia in its 11 January 1992 Opinion No. 4 on Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina should not be recognised because the country had not yet held a referendum on independence. On 25 January 1992, an hour after the session of parliament was adjourned, the parliament called for a referendum on independence on 29 February and 1 March. The debate had ended after Serb deputies withdrew after the majority Bosniak–Croat delegates turned down a motion that the referendum question be placed before the not yet established Council of National Equality. The referendum proposal was adopted in the form proposed by Muslim deputies, in the absence of SDS members. As Burg and Shoup note, “the decision placed the Bosnian government and the Serbs on a collision course.” The upcoming referendum caused international concern in February.
The Croatian War would result in United Nations Security Council Resolution 743 on 21 February 1992, which created the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). During talks in Lisbon on 21–22 February, a peace plan was presented by EC mediator José Cutileiro, which proposed the independent state of Bosnia to be divided into three constituent units; the agreement was denounced by the Bosniak leadership on 25 February. On 28 February 1992, the Constitution of the SR BiH declared that the territory of that Republic included “the territories of the Serbian Autonomous Regions and Districts and of other Serbian ethnic entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the regions in which the Serbian people remained in the minority due to the genocide conducted against it in World War II”, and it was declared to be a part of Yugoslavia.
The Referendum and the Unrest in Sarajevo
During the referendum on 1 March, Sarajevo was quiet except for a Serbian wedding being fired upon. The brandishing of Serbian flags in the Baščaršija was seen by Muslims as a deliberate provocation on the day of the referendum. Witnesses identified the killer as Ramiz Delalić, a gangster who had become a brazen criminal since the fall of communism and was stated to have been a member of the Bosniak paramilitary group the “Green Berets.” Arrest warrants were issued against him and another suspected assailant. The SDS denounced the killing and claimed the failure to arrest him was due to SDA or Bosnian government complicity. An SDS spokesman stated it was evidence that Serbs were in mortal danger and would be further so in an independent Bosnia, which was rejected by Sefer Halilović, founder of the Patriotic League, who stated it was not a wedding but a provocation and accused the wedding guests of being SDS activists.
Following the declaration of independence on 3 March 1992, sporadic fighting broke out between Serbs and government forces all across the territory. On 18 March 1992, all three sides signed the Lisbon Agreement. However, on 28 March 1992, Izetbegović, after meeting with the US ambassador to Yugoslavia Warren Zimmermann in Sarajevo, withdrew his signature and declared his opposition to any type of ethnic division of Bosnia. What was said and by whom remains unclear; Zimmermann denies that he told Izetbegović that if he withdrew his signature, the United States would grant recognition to Bosnia as an independent state. What is indisputable is that Izetbegović, that same day, withdrew his signature and renounced the agreement.
In late March 1992, there was fighting between Serbs and combined Croat and Bosniak forces in and near Bosanski Brod, resulting in the killing of Serbs in Sijekovac. Serb paramilitaries committed the Bijeljina massacre, most of the victims being Bosniaks, on 1–2 April 1992.
The Course of the War in 1992
The first significant battle broke out in Bijeljina on 31 March between Bosniaks and Serbs, lasting until 3 April, when Arkan and his tigers destroyed the rebel Bosnian soldiers and committed a massacre on civilians. The war in Bosnia escalated in April. On 3 April, the Battle of Kupres began between the JNA and a combined HV-HVO force that ended in a JNA victory. On 15 April the JNA took full control of Višegrad in Operation Višegrad, and on 17 April it took full control of Foča. After the capture of Zvornik, Bosnian Serb troops killed several hundred Muslims and forced tens of thousands to flee. All of Bosnia was engulfed in war by mid-April.
On 23 April, the JNA evacuated its personnel by helicopter from the barracks in Čapljina, which had been blockaded since 4 March. On 27 April, the Bosnian government ordered the JNA to be put under civilian control or expelled, which was followed by conflicts in early May between the two. On 22 April Bosniaks and Croats attacked Ilidža but that attack failed. Prijedor was taken over by Serbs on 30 April. On 2 May, the Green Berets and local gang members fought back a disorganised Serb attack aimed at cutting Sarajevo in two. However, Bosnian forces attacked the departing JNA convoy, which embittered all sides. ARBiH and HVO attacked Ilidža again on May 14, but that attack failed and the JNA destroyed them. On 15 May there was a column incident in Tuzla: what started off as a peaceful retreat by agreement with local authorities ended in an ambush, when the Patriotic League, Green Berets and Bosniaks from local police attacked the column. A ceasefire and agreement on evacuation of the JNA was signed on 18 May, and on 20 May the Bosnian presidency declared the JNA an occupation force.
Aftermath
The Army of Republika Srpska was newly established and put under the command of General Ratko Mladić, in a new phase of the war. The JNA campaign in April and May paid off as very useful for the VRS side. After the Yugoslav People’s Army left Bosnia, they played a role in military aid. Only the Serb Volunteer Guard and other Serb volunteer groups from Serbia stayed in Bosnia, having clashes with Bosniaks in Hrasnica near Sarajevo and other big operations made by the Army of Republika Srpska. The JNA officially withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 1992, and on 20 May 1992 the JNA was formally dissolved, the remnants of which reformed into the military of the newly founded Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
