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