Bosna a Hercegovina

The settlement of the territory of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina dates back to the Neolithic period. The original population was replaced at the end of the Bronze Age by Indo-European tribes called Illyrians. From 229 BC onwards, Roman colonisation of the territory began, coupled with military actions against the Illyrian tribes, which was only completed around 9 AD. During this period, but especially after the complete conquest of the territory, colonists resettled from all parts of the empire, as well as legionaries who had been released, and the indigenous population was also Romanized.
After the division of the Roman Empire, the territory fell to the West Roman Empire, but by 455 it was already occupied by the Ostrogoths, who were gradually replaced by the Alans and the Huns. In the 6th century, Bosnia and Herzegovina¹⁾ was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire by the Emperor Justinian, and Slavic populations gradually began to penetrate the territory (in several waves).

By the end of the 10th century, the influence of the Byzantine Empire on the territory had ended, and it was gradually replaced by Croatian influence. Bosnia gradually became part of the Kingdom of Croatia (except for the eastern part of the territory, which was under the control of the Serbian state of Raška), which controlled the territory of Bosnia until 1074. Subsequently, the territory of Bosnia came under the influence of the Diocletian principality (later kingdom), which occupied the territory militarily in 1082. After the death of King Bodin in 1101, there was an uprising in Bosnia which led to the complete abolition of Byzantine influence in Bosnia.
Attempts by local rulers to unite Bosnia with Serbia failed, and in 1102 much of Bosnia came back under the control of the Kingdom of Croatia, and thus of Hungary, with which the Kingdom of Croatia had been united by a personal union. Around 1166 the territory temporarily became part of the Byzantine Empire again, but by 1183 the Byzantine Empire had definitively lost Bosnia. Within the territory of Bosnia, the Hungary created the Bosnian Banovina, in which a bán appointed by the king from among the local nobility ruled in the name of the Hungarian king. During the reign of Ban Tvrtek I, on October 26, 1377, the Bosnian Banovina became independent from Hungary and the Kingdom of Bosnia was established. The new kingdom soon conquered parts of neighbouring territories as well - by 1390, the Bosnian Kingdom had expanded to include parts of the Dalmatian and Croatian kingdoms. The expansion of the Bosnian Kingdom came to a halt after the unexpected death of Tvrtko I. March 10, 1391. In the following period, the kingdom came under pressure from a new player on the Balkan geopolitical scene - the Ottoman Emirate.
In 1463, during the reign of King Stefan Tomašević (Stjepan Tomašević), the Bosnian army was defeated by the Ottoman army at the town of Bobovac. The fleeing king was captured by Ottoman troops in the town of Ključ and subsequently 05.06.1464 executed by beheading near the town of Jajce. In 1482, Herzegovina was officially incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, with the capture of the last resisting fortress of Herceg Novi (some areas resisted Ottoman influence even longer, e.g.
Under Ottoman rule, the gradual Islamisation of the population, coupled with benefits for converts (Muslims), began under Ottoman rule.) This situation lasted until the 19th century.

A part of the territory in northeastern Bosnia near the Serbian border is 06.09.1689-10.09.09.1691 and 22.08.1717-04.09.1739 occupied by Austria (along with Serbian territory).

The military defeats of the Ottoman Empire on the European continent, coupled with the ongoing Industrial Revolution, brought about a slight decline in the Muslim population and a migration of Christians to the cities, which was coupled with the gradual equalization of followers of other faiths with Muslims. At the same time, events in neighbouring countries - for the Catholic population, events in Austria (Hungary) and for the Orthodox population, the uprising in Serbia with the subsequent establishment of an independent Serbian state - were having an impact in Bosnia. From 14.10.1831 to 04.06.1832 the country gains autonomy within the Ottoman Empire, but subsequently Bosnia and Herzegovina gradually descends into political chaos, culminating in the 1875 uprising centered in Herzegovina. The Ottoman Empire was unable to secure the territorial integrity of its territory, and therefore the decision to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina and establish a protectorate under the administration of Austria-Hungary was made at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. The main task of the protectorate administration was to restore peace and order in the country, while formally the country remained part of the Ottoman Empire, and after the mandate was fulfilled, the territory was to return to the Ottoman administration. However, this did not happen, as in 1908 Austria-Hungary formally annexed the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite protests from Serbia, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. In 1910, the Bosnian constitution was established, followed by a parliament, albeit with limited powers.

After the end of World War I, the Bosnian constitution was adopted. War, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( The State of Slovenians, Croats and Serbs 29.10.1918-01.12.1918) and subsequently Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ( 01.12.1918-03.10.1929). In 1929, the state was renamed Yugoslav Kingdom ( 03.10.1929-17.04.1941), and at the same time the territorial division was changed. Bosnia as a historical country within the state ceased to exist and its territory was divided between several administrative units (banovinas) that did not respect national boundaries - these were the banovinas of Vrbasska, Drina and Primorska (later annexed to the Croatian banovina). After the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the Independent State of Croatia (10.04.1941-08.05.1945), with the Muslim population enjoying a privileged status along with the Croats, unlike the Serbs (and Jews) who were labeled inferior and subjected to genocide. A partisan movement began to form in the country immediately after the break-up of Yugoslavia. Partisans united in the anti-fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia declared a new, Democratic Federative Yugoslavia in the town of Jajce on November 25, 1943 ( 29.11.1943-29.11.1945) and, within it, a restored Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-by-play of the Osmanic Empire. After the end of the war, in 1945, the state was renamed the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia ( 29.11.1945-07.04.1963) and Bosnia and Herzegovina was the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 02.12.1945 until 07.07.1963. In 1963 Yugoslavia was renamed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( 07.04.1963-28.04.1992) and also from Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 20.12.1990 the adjective socialist dropped from the name of the republic.
In 1991, after the withdrawal of Slovenia and Croatia from the federation, Bosnia becomes the area from where the Yugoslav National Army units are fighting on the territory of Croatia. The changed political situation in the country causes the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina to approve the sovereignty of the republic as well. This act also makes it impossible for the federal authorities, including the Yugoslav army, to continue to operate officially on the territory of the Republic. However, the Serbian part of the population disagrees with this state of affairs and, in September 1991, begins to create Serbian autonomous regions. At the same time, a referendum is held in the Serb areas, which on 21.12.1991 creates the Republika Srpska as part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and also part of the federative Yugoslavia. This referendum is condemned and unrecognised by the central government in Sarajevo, but the Croatian minority reacts in a similar way, forming the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna (Hrvatska Zajednica Herceg-Bosna) on 18.11.1991. On 09.01.1992 the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (later changed to the Republika Srpska) was established, and on 27.01.1992 the Croatian Community of Central Bosnia was established. Both entities, existing within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, begin to form their own paramilitary units and at the same time the gradual disintegration of the Republic's armed forces - the Territorial Defence units - begins. On 29.02.1992 and 01.03.1992 a referendum on independence was held in the Republic. The overwhelming majority of voting Croats and Muslims supported independence from Yugoslavia, Serbian areas voted against. Despite this, on 03.03.1992 the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina was declared and the new independent state was recognized by the international community in the following days.

The declaration of independence was one of the last impulses to unleash an open ethnic conflict between the three sides - Serbs, Muslims and Croats, with Croats and Muslims fighting as allies against Serbs for the first year. The split occurs on August 28, 1993, when the Croats declare the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna (Hrvatska Republika Herceg-Bosna) On the Serbian side, members of the Yugoslav National Army are also deployed (on the Croatian side, paramilitary troops from the Croatian Republic), and international UN troops head into the country. The conflict is brought to an end in 1995, after cowboy events and ethnic cleansing, when all sides sign a peace agreement in the American city of Dayton, which is officially confirmed in Paris on 14 December 1995. On the basis of this agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes a confederation of three nation states and one federal district of Brcko. In 1998, the republic adopts new state symbols based on historical traditions.


¹⁾The name Herzegovina did not come into use for the southern part of the territory until the 15th century

Source:
https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Bosnia.html en.wikipedia.org