A chronology of key events:
1908 – Bosnia-Herzegovina annexed to Austria-Hungary.
1914 – A Bosnian Serb student, Gavrilo Princip, assassinates the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. This precipitates World War I.
1918 – Austria-Hungary collapses at the end of the war. Bosnia-Herzegovina becomes part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
1941 – Bosnia-Herzegovina annexed by pro-Hitler Croatian puppet state. Thousands of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies are sent to the death camps.
1945 – Bosnia-Herzegovina liberated following campaign by partisans under Tito.
1945-1991– Bosnia is part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
1991 – Following collapse of communism, nationalists win first multi-party elections and form coalition government despite having conflicting goals: Muslim nationalists want centralised independent Bosnia, Serb nationalists want to stay in Belgrade-dominated rump Yugoslavia, Croats want to join independent Croatian state.
1992 – Croat and Muslim nationalists form tactical alliance and outvote Serbs at independence referendum. Serb nationalists are incensed as constitution stipulates that all major decisions must be reached through consensus. War breaks out and Serbs quickly assume control of over half the republic. Ethnic cleansing is rampant in the newly proclaimed Serb Republic but also widespread in Muslim and Croat-controlled areas. The Bosnian Serbs, under Radovan Karadzic, lay siege to Sarajevo. The city is controlled by Muslims but they are unable to break out through lines set up to defend surrounding Serb villages. There is bitter fighting as well as many atrocities.
1993 – As tensions rise, conflict breaks out between Muslims and Croats, culminating in the destruction of much of Mostar, including its Old Bridge. The bridge had graced the city since it was built by the Ottomans in the 16th century and was a symbol of Bosnia’s cultural diversity.
The conflict is extremely complex. Muslims and Serbs form an alliance against Croats in Herzegovina, rival Muslim forces fight each other in north-west Bosnia, Croats and Serbs fight against Muslims in central Bosnia.
UN safe havens for Bosnian Muslim civilians are created, to include Sarajevo, Gorazde and Srebrenica.
1995 – Safe haven of Srebrenica is overrun by Bosnian Serb forces under General Ratko Mladic. Thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys are separated from their families and massacred, despite the presence of Dutch UN troops. Nato air strikes against Serb positions help Muslim and Croat forces make big territorial gains, expelling thousands of Serb civilians on the way.
Dayton peace accord signed in Paris. It creates two entities of roughly equal size, one for Bosnian Muslims and Croats, the other for Serbs. An international peacekeeping force is deployed.
1996 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia begins work in the Hague. Drazen Erdemovic, a Croat who fought for the Serbs and took part in the Srebrenica massacres, is the first person to be convicted. He is sentenced to five years in prison.
1997 – International conference in Bonn extends powers of High Representative. Mostar’s 16th century bridge was damaged in the 1990’s war but reopened in 2004
1998 – Elections see nationalist politicians do well. The first Bosnian Muslims and Croats are convicted of war crimes in the Hague.
Bosnian Genocide 