The Travellist Issue 2 March 2015 | Page 51

Daniel Joseph Pye • Bosnia & Herzegovina While many revel in the awe-inspiring islands, beaches and historic towns and cities dotting the Dalmatian coastline in neighbouring Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina is just a simple bus or train ride away. Sleep appears as an afterthought as you traverse through serene villages, rolling hills, imposing mountains, ancient forests and untainted, calm flowing rivers. The tranquillity and enchantment of the land is apparent instantaneously. Yet beyond all the beauty, the scars of the past are evident. Landmine warnings, destroyed infrastructure and an uncountable proportion of bullet holes and mortar shells remind all, local and visitor, of the calamities previously inflicted. The political, religious and ethnic structure of the nation presents a fascinating, yet complex composition of societal and economic structure. Enduring rule by the Romans, settlement by the Slavic tribes, and eventual conquest by the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, the country then merged with Yugoslavia to form one of six constituent federal units integrated in a socialist structure. For much of the Cold War, Yugoslavia retained non-aligned status supporting neither the Soviet Union nor the western military alliance NATO. With the death of national leader Josip Tito in 1980 and the subsequent rise of nationalism, the move to recognition of full independence consequently incited debate among all of the main ethnic groups calling the nation home. The Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs, and Catholic Croats had their own allegiances, positions and goals concerning the future. Following the passing of a referendum in February 1992 that called for Bosnia’s independence, the region exploded