Editing Siege of Sarajevo (section)

==Background==
From its establishment after [[World War II in Yugoslavia|World War II]] until its [[Breakup of Yugoslavia|breakup]] in 1991 and 1992, the government of the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] suppressed the [[nationalism|nationalist]] sentiments which existed among the many ethnic and religious groups which comprised the population of the country, a policy which prevented the occurrence of chaos and the breakup of the state. When Yugoslavia's longtime leader Marshal [[Josip Broz Tito]] died in 1980, this policy of containment underwent a dramatic reversal. Nationalism experienced a renaissance in the following decade after violence erupted in [[Kosovo]].<ref name=Pavkovic>{{cite book |last= Pavkovic |first= Aleksandar |title= The fragmentation of Yugoslavia: nationalism and war in the Balkans |publisher= MacMillan Press |year= 1997 |page=85 |isbn= 0-312-23084-2}}</ref> While the goal of [[Serbian nationalist]]s was the centralization of a [[Serb]]-dominated Yugoslavia, other nationalities in Yugoslavia aspired to federalization and the decentralization of the state.<ref>{{cite book|last=Krieger| first=Joel|title=The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World 2nd ed.|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2001|page=476}}</ref><ref name=Crnobanja>{{cite book |last= Crnobrnja |first= Mihailo |title= The Yugoslav drama |publisher= I. B. Tauris & Co |year= 1994 |page= 107 |isbn=1-86064-126-1}}</ref>

On 18 November 1990, the first multi-party parliamentary elections were held in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (with a second round on 25 November). They resulted in a [[National Assembly|national assembly]] dominated by three ethnically based parties, which had formed a loose coalition to oust the [[communist]]s from power.<ref name="phron1">{{cite web |url=http://phron.org/Reference/Books/Balkans%20-%20post%20communist%20history.pdf |title=The Balkans: A post-Communist History |access-date=14 June 2006 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701210204/http://phron.org/Reference/Books/Balkans%20-%20post%20communist%20history.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2014}}</ref> [[Croatia]] and [[Slovenia]]'s subsequent declarations of independence and the warfare that ensued placed Bosnia and Herzegovina and its three constituent peoples in an awkward position. A significant split soon developed on the issue of whether to stay with the Yugoslav federation (overwhelmingly favoured among Serbs) or to seek independence (overwhelmingly favoured among [[Bosniaks]] and [[Croats]]).

Throughout 1990, the [[RAM Plan]] was developed by the [[State Security Administration]] (SDB or SDS) and a group of selected Serb officers of the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] (JNA) with the purpose of organizing Serbs outside [[Serbia]], consolidating control of the fledgling SDP, and the prepositioning of arms and ammunition.<ref name="Judah1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KxQaCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT273| title= The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia|first=Tim |last=Judah|publisher=Yale University Press|year= 2008|isbn= 9780300147841|page=273}}</ref> The plan was meant to prepare the framework for a third Yugoslavia in which all Serbs with their territories would live together in the same state. Alarmed, the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia on 15 October 1991, shortly followed by the establishment of the [[National Assembly (Republika Srpska)|Serbian National Assembly]] by Bosnian Serbs.<ref name=Reneo>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WPhhLfp8huIC&pg=PA204| title= Europe from the Balkans to the Urals: The Disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union|first1=Reneo |last1=Lukic|first2=Allen |last2=Lynch|publisher=SIPRI, Oxford University Press|year= 1996|isbn= 9780198292005|page=204}}</ref>

The Serb members of parliament, consisting mainly of [[Serbian Democratic Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina)|Serb Democratic Party]] (SDP) members, abandoned the central parliament in Sarajevo, and formed the [[National Assembly of the Republika Srpska|Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] on 24 October 1991, which marked the end of the tri-ethnic coalition that had governed after the 1990 elections. This Assembly established the [[Republika Srpska (1992–1995)|Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] on 9 January 1992, which became the Republika Srpska in August 1992.

The declaration of Bosnian sovereignty was followed by a [[Bosnian independence referendum, 1992|referendum for independence]] on 29 February and 1 March 1992, which was boycotted by the vast majority of Serbs. The turnout in the [[referendum]] was 63.4% with 99.7% of voters choosing independence.<ref name=CSCE>{{cite web|url=http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=UserGroups.Home&ContentRecord_id=250&ContentType=G&ContentRecordType=G&UserGroup_id=5&Subaction=ByDate|title=The Referendum on Independence in Bosnia-Herzegovina: February 29 – March 1, 1992|year=1992|publisher=Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe|page=19|access-date=2009-12-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522132353/http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=UserGroups.Home&ContentRecord_id=250&ContentType=G&ContentRecordType=G&UserGroup_id=5&Subaction=ByDate|archive-date=22 May 2011}}</ref>