Editing Bosnia and Herzegovina (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Early history of Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
[[File:NHM - Bandin Fahrzeug mit Vögeln.jpg|thumb|Iron Age cult carriage from Banjani, near [[Sokolac, Bosnia and Herzegovina|Sokolac]]]]

===Early history===
Bosnia has been inhabited since at least the [[Paleolithic|Paleolithic era]]. Notably, the [[Badanj Cave]] near [[Stolac]] features one of the oldest known cave engravings, depicting an animal figure believed to be a horse, dating back to approximately 13,000 to 12,000 BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Shpuza|2022|p=553}}; {{harvnb|Zindel|Lippert|Lahi|Kiel|2018|p=346}}; {{harvnb|Bejko|Morris|Papadopoulos|Schepartz|2015|p=4}}; {{harvnb|Hammond|Wilkes|2012|p=726}}; {{harvnb|Dausse|2015|p=28}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Palaeolithic site of Badanj |url=https://hwr.ba/culture-and-heritage/palaeolithic-site-of-badanj/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=hwr.ba |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cave art at Badanj |url=https://www.centarzakrs.ba/bh/speleologija/42-cave-art-at-badanj.html |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.centarzakrs.ba}}</ref> During the [[Neolithic|Neolithic period]], significant cultures such as the [[Butmir]] and [[Kakanj]] emerged along the [[Bosna (river)|Bosna River]]. The Butmir culture, flourishing around 5100 to 4500 BC, is renowned for its distinctive ceramics and anthropomorphic figurines. Excavations near [[Sarajevo]] have uncovered intricately decorated pottery and realistic human figurines from this culture.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Butmir near Sarajevo |url=https://zemaljskimuzej.ba/en/predmeti/lokaliteti/butmir-near-sarajevo |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=Zemaljski muzej Bosne i Hercegovine |language=en}}</ref>

From the 8th century BCE, Illyrian tribes evolved into kingdoms. The most notable Illyrian kingdoms and dynasties were those of [[Bardylis|Bardylis of the Dardani]] and of [[Agron of Illyria|Agron of the Ardiaei]] who created the last and best-known Illyrian kingdom. Agron ruled over the Ardiaei and had extended his rule to other tribes as well.

From the 7th century BCE, bronze was replaced by iron, after which only jewelry and art objects were still made out of bronze.<ref name="geography">{{cite book |last1=Gekić |first1=Haris |last2=Bidžan-Gekić |first2=Aida |last3=Drešković |first3=Nusret |last4=Mirić |first4=Ranko |last5=Reményi |first5=Péter |title=The Geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Between East and West |date=2022 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=9783030985233 |pages=138-139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BVuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA138}}</ref> Illyrian tribes, under the influence of [[Hallstatt culture]]s to the north, formed regional centers that were slightly different. Parts of Central Bosnia were inhabited by the [[Daesitiates]] tribe.<ref name="geography" /> The Iron Age [[Glasinac-Mati culture]] is associated with the [[Autariatae]] tribe.<ref name="geography" />

A very important role in their life was the cult of the dead, which is seen in their careful burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of their burial sites.<ref name="geography" /> In northern parts, there was a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the south the dead were buried in large stone or earth [[Tumulus|tumuli]] (natively called ''gromile'') that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 m wide and 5 m high.{{cn|date=May 2025}} ''Japodian tribes'' had an affinity to decoration (heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulas]], as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze foil).{{cn|date=May 2025}}

In the 4th century BCE, the first invasion of [[Celts]] is recorded. They brought the technique of the [[Potter's wheel|pottery wheel]], new types of fibulas and different bronze and iron belts. They only passed on their way to Greece, so their influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina is negligible. Celtic migrations displaced many [[List of ancient tribes in Illyria|Illyrian tribes]] from their former lands, but some Celtic and Illyrian tribes mixed. Concrete historical evidence for this period is scarce, but overall it appears the region was populated by a number of different peoples speaking distinct languages.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

[[File:Mogorjelo Villa Rustica.jpg|thumb|[[Mogorjelo]], an ancient Roman suburban Villa Rustica from the 4th century, near [[Čapljina]]]]

In the [[Neretva Delta]] in the south, there were important [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] influences of the Illyrian [[Daorson|Daors]] tribe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tomašević |first1=Nebojša |title=Treasures of Yugoslavia: An Encyclopedic Touring Guide |date=1983 |publisher=Yugoslaviapublic |pages=306-307}}</ref> Their capital was ''Daorson'' in Ošanići near [[Stolac]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aličić |first1=Ahmed S. |title=Herzegovina |date=1981 |publisher=NIRO "Privredni vjesnik" |page=194}}</ref> Daorson, in the 4th century BCE, was surrounded by [[megalith]]ic, 5 m high stonewalls (as large as those of [[Mycenae]] in Greece), composed of large trapezoid stone blocks. Daors made unique bronze coins and sculptures.

Conflict between the Illyrians and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] started in 229&nbsp;BCE, but Rome did not complete its annexation of the region until AD&nbsp;9. It was precisely in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina that Rome fought one of the most difficult battles in its history since the [[Punic Wars]], as described by the Roman historian [[Suetonius]].<ref>[[Suetonius]], Tiberius 16,17</ref> This was the Roman campaign against [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]], known as {{Lang|la|[[Bellum Batonianum]]}}.<ref>Miller, Norma. Tacitus: Annals I, 2002, {{ISBN|1-85399-358-1}}. It had originally been joined to Illyricum, but after the great Illyrian/Pannonian revolt of AD 6 it was made a separate province with its own governor</ref> The conflict arose after an attempt to recruit Illyrians, and a revolt spanned for four years (6–9 AD), after which they were subdued.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stipčević |first1=Aleksandar |title=The Illyrians: History and Culture |date=1977 |publisher=Noyes Press |isbn=9780815550525}}</ref>{{pn|date=May 2025}} In the Roman period, Latin-speaking settlers from the entire [[Roman Empire]] settled among the Illyrians, and Roman soldiers were encouraged to retire in the region.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002|p=3}}

Following the split of the Empire between 337 and 395 AD, Dalmatia and Pannonia became parts of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. The region was conquered by the [[Ostrogoths]] in 455 AD. It subsequently changed hands between the [[Alans]] and the [[Huns]]. By the 6th century, Emperor [[Justinian I]] had reconquered the area for the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Slavs overwhelmed the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries. Illyrian cultural traits were adopted by the South Slavs, as evidenced in certain customs and traditions, and placenames.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ardian, Adzanela (Axhanela)|url=https://www.academia.edu/2490281|title=Illyrian Bosnia and Herzegovina-an overview of a cultural legacy|date=2004|publisher=Centre for Balkan Studies, Online Balkan Centre|access-date=4 December 2017|archive-date=19 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819001829/https://www.academia.edu/2490281|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
{{Main|Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Hvalov zbornik1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hval's Codex]], illustrated Slavic manuscript from medieval Bosnia]]
[[File:Queen Catherine of Bosnia.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ledger stone]] to [[Queen Catherine of Bosnia]], the last queen of the [[House of Kosača]].]]

The [[Early Slavs]] raided the Western Balkans, including Bosnia, in the 6th and early 7th century (amid the [[Migration Period]]), and were composed of small tribal units drawn from a single Slavic confederation known to the Byzantines as the ''[[Sclaveni]]'' (whilst the related ''[[Antes people|Antes]]'', roughly speaking, colonized the eastern portions of the Balkans).<ref name="Columbia University Press">{{cite book|title=Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed|author= Robert J. Donia |author2=John VA Fine|publisher=Columbia University Press|date=1994|pages=14–16}}</ref><ref>Hupchick, Dennis P. ''The Balkans from Constantinople to Communism'', pp. 28–30. Palgrave Macmillan (2004)</ref>
Tribes recorded by the ethnonyms of "Serb" and "Croat" are described as a second, later, migration of different people during the second quarter of the 7th century who could not have been particularly numerous;<ref name="Columbia University Press"/>{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=53, 56}}<ref name="Heather"/> these early "Serb" and "Croat" tribes, whose exact identity is subject to scholarly debate,<ref name="Heather">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbUlnaHlHS0C&pg=PA404|title= Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe |author=Heather, Peter|date=2010 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820211955/https://books.google.com/books?id=gbUlnaHlHS0C&pg=PA404|archive-date=20 August 2016|url-status=live|pages=404–408, 424–425, 444|isbn= 9780199752720 }}</ref> came to predominate over the Slavs in the neighbouring regions. According to Noel Malcolm, the tribal Croats "settled in an area roughly corresponding to modern Croatia, and probably also including most of Bosnia proper, apart from the eastern strip of the Drina valley" while the tribal Serbs settled an area "corresponding to modern south-western Serbia (later known as [[Raška (region)|Raška]]), and gradually extended their rule into the territories of [[Duklja]] and [[Zachlumia|Hum]]".{{sfn|Malcolm|2002|p=8|ps=:The Serbs settled in an area corresponding to modern south-western Serbia (a territory which later in the middle ages became known as Raška or Rascia), and gradually extended their rule into the territories of Duklje or Dioclea (Montenegro) and Hum or Zachumlje (Herzegovina). The Croats settled in areas roughly corresponding to modern Croatia, and probably also including most of Bosnia proper, apart from the eastern strip of the Drina valley.}} [[John Van Antwerp Fine Jr.]], on the other hand, describes the settling of the tribal Croats to involve Croatia, Dalmatia and Western Bosnia, with the rest of Bosnia seemingly being a territory between early Serb and Croat rule.{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=53(I)|ps=:The Croats settled in Croatia, Dalmatia, and western Bosnia. The rest of Bosnia seems to have been territory between Serb and Croatian rule.}}

Bosnia is also believed to be first mentioned ''as a land (horion Bosona)'' in Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus' ''De Administrando Imperio'' in the mid 10th century, at the end of a chapter entitled ''Of the Serbs and the country in which they now dwell''.{{sfn|Basic|2009|p=123}} This has been scholarly interpreted in several ways and used especially by the Serb national ideologists to prove Bosnia as originally a "Serb" land.{{sfn|Basic|2009|p=123}} Other scholars have asserted the inclusion of Bosnia in the chapter to merely be the result of Serbian Grand Duke [[Časlav of Serbia|Časlav]]'s temporary rule over Bosnia at the time, while also pointing out Porphyrogenitus does not say anywhere explicitly that Bosnia is a "Serb land".{{sfn|Basic|2009|p=123–28}} In fact, the very translation of the critical sentence where the word ''Bosona'' (Bosnia) appears is subject to varying interpretation.{{sfn|Basic|2009|p=123}} In time, Bosnia formed a unit under its own [[Kulin Ban|ruler]], who called himself Bosnian.{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=53}} Bosnia, along with other territories, became part of [[Duklja]] in the 11th century, although it retained its own nobility and institutions.{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=223}}

[[File:Medieval Bosnian State Expansion-en.svg|thumb|Bosnia in the Middle Ages spanning the [[Banate of Bosnia]] and the succeeding [[Kingdom of Bosnia]]]]

In the [[High Middle Ages]], political circumstance led to the area being contested between the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] and the Byzantine Empire. Following another shift of power between the two in the early 12th century, Bosnia found itself outside the control of both and emerged as the [[Banate of Bosnia]] (under the rule of local ''[[Ban (title)|bans]]'').{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Paul Mojzes. Religion and the war in Bosnia. Oxford University Press, 2000, p 22; "Medieval Bosnia was founded as an independent state (Banate) by Ban Kulin (1180–1204).".}}</ref> The first Bosnian ban known by name was [[Ban Borić]].{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=288}} The second was [[Ban Kulin]], whose rule marked the start of a controversy involving the [[Bosnian Church]] – considered heretical by the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. In response to Hungarian attempts to use church politics regarding the issue as a way to reclaim sovereignty over Bosnia, Kulin held a council of local church leaders to renounce the heresy and embraced Catholicism in 1203. Despite this, Hungarian ambitions remained unchanged long after Kulin's death in 1204, waning only after an unsuccessful invasion in 1254. During this time, the population was called ''Dobri [[Bošnjani]]'' ("Good Bosnians").<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rIGA0rluO0C&pg=PA71|title=''Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition Betrayed''|author=Robert J. Donia, John V.A Fine|date=2005|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=9781850652120|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915082854/https://books.google.com/books?id=0rIGA0rluO0C&pg=PA71|archive-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live}}, p. 71; ''In the Middle Ages the Bosnians called themselves "Bosnians" or used even more local (county, regional) names''.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQkXAQAAIAAJ&q=called+the+bosnjani|title=''Myths and boundaries in south-eastern Europe''|first=Pål|last=Kolstø|date=2005|publisher=Hurst & Co.|isbn=9781850657675|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805011503/https://books.google.com/books?id=KQkXAQAAIAAJ&q=called+the+bosnjani|url-status=live}}, p. 120; ''..medieval Bosnia was a country of one people, of the single Bosnian people called the Bošnjani, who belonged to three confessions''.</ref> The names Serb and Croat, though occasionally appearing in peripheral areas, were not used in Bosnia proper.<ref name="lrb.co.uk">{{cite journal|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v16/n08/john-fine/what-is-a-bosnian|title=What is a Bosnian?|author=[[John Van Antwerp Fine Jr.]]|journal=London Review of Books|date=28 April 1994|volume=16|issue=8|publisher=London Review of Books; Vol.16 No.8. 28 April 1994|pages=9–10|access-date=30 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203022855/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v16/n08/john-fine/what-is-a-bosnian|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Bosnian history from then until the early 14th century was marked by a power struggle between the [[Šubić family|Šubić]] and [[Kotromanić dynasty|Kotromanić]] families. This conflict came to an end in 1322, when [[Stephen II, Ban of Bosnia|Stephen II Kotromanić]] became ''Ban''. By the time of his death in 1353, he was successful in annexing territories to the north and west, as well as Zahumlje and parts of Dalmatia. He was succeeded by his ambitious nephew [[Tvrtko I of Bosnia|Tvrtko]] who, following a prolonged struggle with nobility and inter-family strife, gained full control of the country in 1367. By the year 1377, Bosnia was elevated into a kingdom with the coronation of Tvrtko as the first [[List of rulers of Bosnia|Bosnian King]] in Mile near [[Visoko during the Middle Ages|Visoko]] in the Bosnian heartland.<ref name="Mile">{{cite web|url=http://www.aneks8komisija.com.ba/main.php?id_struct=6&lang=1&action=view&id=1341|title=Declared as national monument |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116053150/http://www.aneks8komisija.com.ba/main.php?id_struct=6&lang=1&action=view&id=1341 |archive-date=16 January 2009}}</ref><ref name=An>Anđelić Pavao, Krunidbena i grobna crkva bosanskih vladara u Milima (Arnautovićima) kod Visokog. Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja XXXIV/1979., Zemaljski muzej Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo, 1980,183–247</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Singleton |first=Frederick Bernard |title=A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1985 |isbn=0-521-27485-0 |page=496 |ref=Singleton_1985}}</ref>

Following his death in 1391, however, Bosnia fell into a long period of decline. The [[Ottoman Empire]] had started its [[Ottoman wars in Europe|conquest of Europe]] and posed a major threat to the [[Balkans]] throughout the first half of the 15th century. Finally, after decades of political and social instability, the Kingdom of Bosnia ceased to exist in 1463 after its conquest by the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bosnia and Herzegovina – Ottoman Bosnia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina|access-date=2020-09-02|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403215257/https://www.britannica.com/place/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina|url-status=live}}</ref>

There was a general awareness in medieval Bosnia, at least amongst the nobles, that they shared a joint state with Serbia and that they belonged to the same ethnic group. That awareness diminished over time, due to differences in political and social development, but it was kept in Herzegovina and parts of Bosnia which were a part of Serbian state.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Isailovović|first=Neven|date=2018|title=Pomeni srpskog imena u srednjovjekovnim bosanskim ispravama|journal=Srpsko pisano nasljeđe i istorija srednjovjekovne Bosne i Huma|pages=276}}</ref>

===Ottoman Empire===
{{Main|Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
[[File:Bosnia Eyalet, Central europe 1683.png|thumb|The [[Bosnia Eyalet]] in 1683]]

The [[Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Ottoman conquest of Bosnia]] marked a new era in the country's history and introduced drastic changes in the political and cultural landscape. The Ottomans incorporated Bosnia as an integral province of the Ottoman Empire with its historical name and territorial integrity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buzov |first1=Snježana |editor1-last=Koller |editor1-first=Markus |editor-first2=Kemal H. |editor-last2=Karpat |chapter=Ottoman Perceptions of Bosnia as Reflected in the Works of Ottoman Authors who Visited or Lived in Bosnia |date=2004 |title=Ottoman Bosnia: A History in Peril |pages=83–92 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-2992-0714-4}}</ref> Within Bosnia, the Ottomans introduced a number of key changes in the territory's socio-political administration; including a new landholding system, a reorganization of administrative units, and a complex system of social differentiation by class and religious affiliation.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}}

Following Ottoman occupation, there was a steady flow of people out of Bosnia and a large number of abandoned villages in Bosnia are mentioned in the Ottoman registers,<ref name="ReferenceA">Bosnia: A Short History , Chapter: Islamicization of Bosnia</ref> while those who stayed eventually became [[Muslims]]. Many Catholics in Bosnia fled to neighboring Catholic lands in the early Ottoman occupation.<ref>Bosnia: a short history p. 55</ref> The evidence indicates that the early Muslim conversions in Ottoman Bosnia in the 15th–16th century were among the locals who stayed rather than mass Muslim settlements from outside Bosnia.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In Herzegovina, many [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] people had also embraced Islam.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> By the late 16th and early 17th century, Muslims are considered to have become an absolute majority in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Albanian Catholic priest [[Pjetër Mazreku]] reported in 1624 that there were 450,000 Muslims, 150,000 Catholics and 75,000 Eastern Orthodox in Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

There was a lack of [[Serbian Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]] activity in Bosnia proper in the pre-Ottoman period.<ref>Bosnia: A Short History p. 71</ref> An Orthodox Christian population in Bosnia was introduced as a direct result of Ottoman policy.<ref name="Bosnia: A Short History p. 55">Bosnia: A Short History p. 55</ref> From the 15th century and onwards, Orthodox Christians (Orthodox [[Vlachs]] and non-Vlach Orthodox Serbs) from Serbia and other regions settled in Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref>Bosnia: A Short History p. 71–73, p. 79–80</ref> Favored by the Ottomans over the Catholics, many Orthodox churches were allowed to be built in Bosnia by the Ottomans.<ref>Bosnia: A Short History p. 71–73</ref><ref name="Bosnia: A Short History p. 55"/> Quite a few Vlachs also became Islamized in Bosnia, and some (mainly in Croatia) became Catholics.<ref>Bosnia: A Short History, Chapter: Serbs and Vlachs</ref>
[[File:Bosnia and Herzegovina-02166 - Počitelj (10476710854).jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Počitelj Citadel]] in [[Čapljina]], built by [[King Tvrtko I of Bosnia]] in 1383.]]
The four centuries of Ottoman rule also had a drastic impact on Bosnia's population make-up, which changed several times as a result of the empire's conquests, frequent wars with European powers, forced and economic migrations, and epidemics. A native Slavic-speaking Muslim community emerged and eventually became the largest of the ethno-religious groups due to a lack of strong Christian church organizations and continuous rivalry between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, while the indigenous [[Bosnian Church]] disappeared altogether (ostensibly by conversion of its members to Islam). The Ottomans referred to them as ''kristianlar'' while the Orthodox and Catholics were called ''gebir'' or ''kafir'', meaning "unbeliever".{{sfn|Velikonja|2003|pp=29–30}} The Bosnian [[Franciscans]] (and the Catholic population as a whole) were protected by official imperial decrees and in accordance and the full extent of Ottoman laws; however, in effect, these often merely affected arbitrary rule and behavior of powerful local elite.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}}

As the Ottoman Empire continued its rule in the Balkans ([[Rumelia]]), Bosnia was somewhat relieved of the pressures of being a frontier province and experienced a period of general welfare. A number of cities, such as [[Sarajevo]] and [[Mostar]], were established and grew into regional centers of trade and urban culture and were then visited by Ottoman traveler [[Evliya Çelebi]] in 1648. Within these cities, various Ottoman Sultans financed the construction of many works of [[Architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian architecture]] such as the country's first library in Sarajevo, [[Madrasa|madrassas]], a school of [[Sufi philosophy]], and a clock tower (''Sahat Kula''), bridges such as the [[Stari Most]], the [[Emperor's Mosque]] and the [[Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque]].<ref name="Syed Akhtar Usmani 2011 p. 473">{{cite book | last1=Syed | first1=M.H. | last2=Akhtar | first2=S.S. | last3=Usmani | first3=B.D. | title=Concise History of Islam | publisher=Vij Books India Private Limited | series=Na | year=2011 | isbn=978-93-82573-47-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eACqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA473 | access-date=2021-06-22 | page=473 | archive-date=14 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214150454/https://books.google.com/books?id=eACqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA473 | url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Stari Most 2006.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Stari Most|Mostar Bridge]] was commissioned by [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] in 1557]]
Furthermore, several Bosnian Muslims played influential roles in the Ottoman Empire's cultural and [[political history]] during this time.<ref name="Riedlmayer">Riedlmayer, Andras (1993). [http://www.kakarigi.net/manu/briefhis.htm A Brief History of Bosnia–Herzegovina] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618040332/http://www.kakarigi.net/manu/briefhis.htm |date=18 June 2006 }}. The Bosnian Manuscript Ingathering Project.</ref> Bosnian recruits formed a large component of the Ottoman ranks in the battles of [[Battle of Mohács|Mohács]] and [[Battle of Krbava Field|Krbava field]], while numerous other Bosnians rose through the ranks of the Ottoman military to occupy the highest positions of power in the Empire, including admirals such as [[Matrakçı Nasuh]]; generals such as [[Isa Bey Ishaković|Isa-Beg Ishaković]], [[Gazi Husrev Bey|Gazi Husrev-beg]], [[Telli Hasan Pasha]] and [[Sarı Süleyman Pasha]]; administrators such as [[Ferhad Pasha Sokolović]] and [[Osman Gradaščević]]; and Grand [[Vizier]]s such as the influential [[Sokollu Mehmed Pasha]] and [[Damat Ibrahim Pasha]]. Some Bosnians emerged as [[Sufism|Sufi]] mystics, scholars such as [[Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi]], [[Ali Džabić]]; and poets in the [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Arabic]], and [[Persian language]]s.<ref name="Imamović, Mustafa 1996">Imamović, Mustafa (1996). Historija Bošnjaka. Sarajevo: BZK Preporod; {{ISBN|9958-815-00-1}}</ref>

However, by the late 17th century the Empire's military misfortunes caught up with the country, and the end of the [[Great Turkish War]] with the [[treaty of Karlowitz]] in 1699 again made Bosnia the Empire's westernmost province. The 18th century was marked by further military failures, numerous revolts within Bosnia, and several outbreaks of plague.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Koller |first1=Markus |title=Bosnien an der Schwelle zur Neuzeit : eine Kulturgeschichte der Gewalt |date=2004 |publisher=Oldenbourg |location=Munich |isbn=978-3-486-57639-9}}</ref>
The Porte's efforts at modernizing the Ottoman state were met with distrust growing to hostility in Bosnia, where local aristocrats stood to lose much through the proposed [[Tanzimat]] reforms. This, combined with frustrations over territorial, political concessions in the north-east, and the plight of [[Slavs|Slavic]] [[Muslims|Muslim]] refugees arriving from the [[Sanjak of Smederevo]] into [[Bosnia Eyalet]], culminated in a partially unsuccessful revolt by [[Husein Gradaščević]], who endorsed a Bosnia Eyalet autonomous from the authoritarian rule of the Ottoman Sultan [[Mahmud II]], who persecuted, executed and abolished the [[Janissary|Janissaries]] and reduced the role of autonomous [[Pasha]]s in Rumelia. Mahmud II sent his [[Grand vizier]] to subdue Bosnia Eyalet and succeeded only with the reluctant assistance of [[Ali Pasha Rizvanbegović]].<ref name="Imamović, Mustafa 1996"/> Related rebellions were extinguished by 1850, but the situation continued to deteriorate.

New nationalist movements appeared in Bosnia by the middle of the 19th century. Shortly after Serbia's breakaway from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century, Serbian and Croatian nationalism rose up in Bosnia, and such nationalists made irredentist claims to Bosnia's territory. This trend continued to grow in the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hajdarpasic |first1=Edin |title=Whose Bosnia? Nationalism and Political Imagination in the Balkans, 1840–1914 |date=2015 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9780801453717 |pages=6–13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZACnCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212148/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZACnCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Agrarian unrest eventually sparked the [[Herzegovina uprising (1875–1877)|Herzegovinian rebellion]], a widespread peasant uprising, in 1875. The conflict rapidly spread and came to involve several Balkan states and Great Powers, a situation that led to the [[Congress of Berlin]] and the [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|Treaty of Berlin]] in 1878.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}}

===Austria-Hungary===
{{Main|Austro-Hungarian campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878|Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
[[File:Sarajevo 1878..jpg|thumb|right|Austro-Hungarian troops [[Austro-Hungarian campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878|enter Sarajevo]], 1878]]
At the Congress of [[Berlin]] in 1878, the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] Foreign Minister [[Gyula Andrássy]] obtained the occupation and administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he also obtained the right to station garrisons in the [[Sanjak of Novi Pazar]], which would remain under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] administration until 1908, when the Austro-Hungarian troops withdrew from the Sanjak.

Although Austro-Hungarian officials quickly came to an agreement with the Bosnians, tensions remained and a mass emigration of Bosnians occurred.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}} However, a state of relative stability was reached soon enough and Austro-Hungarian authorities were able to embark on a number of social and administrative reforms they intended would make Bosnia and Herzegovina into a "model" colony.

[[Habsburg Monarchy|Habsburg rule]] had several key concerns in Bosnia. It tried to dissipate the South Slav nationalism by disputing the earlier Serb and Croat claims to Bosnia and encouraging identification of Bosnian or [[Bosniaks|Bosniak]] identity.{{sfn|Hajdarpasic|2015|p=161–165}} Habsburg rule also tried to provide for modernisation by codifying laws, introducing new political institutions, establishing and expanding industries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sugar |first1=Peter |title=Industrialization of Bosnia-Hercegovina : 1878–1918 |date=1963 |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle}}</ref>
[[File:Friedrich Alois Schönn - An der lateinischen Brücke in Sarajewo - 171 - Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.jpg|thumb|People of Sarajevo in 1883]]
Austria–Hungary began to plan the annexation of Bosnia, but due to international disputes the issue was not resolved until the [[Bosnian Crisis|annexation crisis]] of 1908.{{sfn|Albertini|2005|p=94}} Several external matters affected the status of Bosnia and its relationship with Austria–Hungary. [[May Coup (Serbia)|A bloody coup]] occurred in Serbia in 1903, which brought a radical anti-Austrian government into power in [[Belgrade]].{{sfn|Albertini|2005|p=140}} Then in 1908, the revolt in the Ottoman Empire raised concerns that the [[Istanbul]] government might seek the outright return of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These factors caused the Austro-Hungarian government to seek a permanent resolution of the Bosnian question sooner, rather than later.

Taking advantage of the turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian diplomacy tried to obtain provisional Russian approval for changes over the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina and published the annexation proclamation on 6 October 1908.{{sfn|Albertini|2005|p=227}} Despite international objections to the Austro-Hungarian annexation, Russians and their client state, Serbia, were compelled to accept the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in March 1909.

In 1910, Habsburg Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]] proclaimed the first constitution in Bosnia, which led to relaxation of earlier laws, elections and formation of the [[Diet of Bosnia|Bosnian parliament]] and growth of new political life.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Keil|first1=Soeren|title=Multinational Federalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|location=London|pages=61–62}}</ref>
[[File:DC-1914-27-d-Sarajevo-cropped.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand|assassination]] of [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria]] and [[Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg]] by [[Gavrilo Princip]] in Sarajevo, 28 June 1914]]
On 28 June 1914, [[Gavrilo Princip]], a [[Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian Serb]] member of the revolutionary movement [[Young Bosnia]], [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand|assassinated]] the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]], in Sarajevo—an event that was the spark that set off [[World War I]]. At the end of the war, the Bosnian Muslims had lost more men per capita than any other ethnic group in the Habsburg Empire whilst serving in the [[Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry]] of the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]].<ref name="Schachinger">{{cite book|first=Werner|last=Schachinger|title=Die Bosniaken kommen: Elitetruppe in der k.u.k. Armee, 1879–1918|date=1989|publisher=Leopold Stocker}}</ref> Nonetheless, Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole managed to escape the conflict relatively unscathed.<ref name="Riedlmayer"/>

The Austro-Hungarian authorities established an auxiliary militia known as the [[Schutzkorps]] with a moot role in the empire's policy of [[Anti-Serb sentiment|anti-Serb]] repression.<ref name="Banac1988">{{cite book|first=Ivo|last=Banac|author-link=Ivo Banac|title=The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfqbujXqQBkC&pg=PA367|access-date=4 December 2013|date=1988|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-9493-2|page=367|quote=The role of the Schutzkorps, auxiliary militia raised by the Austro-Hungarians, in the policy of anti-Serb repression is moot|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104165337/http://books.google.com/books?id=KfqbujXqQBkC&pg=PA367|archive-date=4 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Schutzkorps, predominantly recruited among the Bosnian Muslim population, were tasked with hunting down rebel Serbs (the ''[[Chetniks]]'' and ''[[Komitadji]]''){{sfn|Velikonja|2003|p=141}} and became known for their persecution of [[Serbs]] particularly in Serb populated areas of eastern Bosnia, where they partly retaliated against Serbian Chetniks who in fall 1914 had carried out attacks against the Muslim population in the area.<ref>{{cite book|first=Ivo|last=Banac|author-link=Ivo Banac|title=The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfqbujXqQBkC&pg=PA149|access-date=4 December 2013|date=1988|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-9493-2|page=149|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105063256/http://books.google.com/books?id=KfqbujXqQBkC&pg=PA149|archive-date=5 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Tomasevich|2001|p=485}}{{blockquote|The Bosnian wartime militia (Schutzkorps), which became known for its persecution of Serbs, was overwhelmingly Muslim.}}</ref> The proceedings of the Austro-Hungarian authorities led to around 5,500 citizens of Serb ethnicity in Bosnia and Herzegovina being arrested, and between 700 and 2,200 died in prison while 460 were executed.{{sfn|Velikonja|2003|p=141}} Around 5,200 Serb families were forcibly expelled from Bosnia and Herzegovina.{{sfn|Velikonja|2003|p=141}}

===Kingdom of Yugoslavia===
{{Main|History of Bosnia and Herzegovina#Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–41)}}
[[File:Čuvajte Jugoslaviju.jpg|thumb|"Keep/Protect Yugoslavia" (Čuvajte Jugoslaviju), a variant of the alleged last words of [[Alexander I of Yugoslavia|King Alexander I]], in an illustration of Yugoslav peoples dancing the [[Kolo (dance)|kolo]]]]

Following World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the South Slav [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]] (soon renamed Yugoslavia). Political life in Bosnia and Herzegovina at this time was marked by two major trends: social and economic unrest over [[Distribution (economics)|property redistribution]] and the formation of several political parties that frequently changed coalitions and alliances with parties in other Yugoslav regions.<ref name="Riedlmayer"/>

The dominant ideological conflict of the Yugoslav state, between Croatian regionalism and Serbian centralization, was approached differently by Bosnia and Herzegovina's major [[ethnic group]]s and was dependent on the overall political atmosphere.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}} The political reforms brought about in the newly established Yugoslav kingdom saw few benefits for the Bosnian Muslims; according to the 1910 final census of land ownership and population according to religious affiliation conducted in Austria-Hungary, Muslims owned 91.1%, Orthodox Serbs owned 6.0%, Croat Catholics owned 2.6% and others, 0.3% of the property. Following the reforms, Bosnian Muslims were dispossessed of a total of 1,175,305 hectares of agricultural and forest land.<ref>{{cite web|author=Danijela Nadj|url=http://www.hic.hr/books/seeurope/010e-semiz.htm|title=An International Symposium "Southeastern Europe 1918–1995"|publisher=Hic.hr|access-date=14 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822164923/http://www.hic.hr/books/seeurope/010e-semiz.htm|archive-date=22 August 2006|url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the initial split of the country into 33 [[oblast]]s erased the presence of traditional geographic entities from the map, the efforts of Bosnian politicians, such as [[Mehmed Spaho]], ensured the six oblasts carved up from Bosnia and Herzegovina corresponded to the six sanjaks from Ottoman times and, thus, matched the country's traditional boundary as a whole.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}}

The establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929, however, brought the redrawing of administrative regions into [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia#Subdivisions|banates]] or ''[[Banovina (region)|banovinas]]'' that purposely avoided all historical and ethnic lines, removing any trace of a Bosnian entity.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}} Serbo-Croat tensions over the structuring of the Yugoslav state continued, with the concept of a separate Bosnian division receiving little or no consideration.

The [[Cvetković–Maček Agreement|Cvetković-Maček Agreement]] that created the [[Banovina of Croatia|Croatian banate]] in 1939 encouraged what was essentially a [[partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] between Croatia and Serbia.<ref name="Imamović, Mustafa 1996"/> However the rising threat of [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[Nazi Germany]] forced Yugoslav politicians to shift their attention. Following a period that saw attempts at appeasement, the signing of the [[Tripartite Pact|Tripartite Treaty]], and a [[Yugoslav coup d'état|coup d'état]], Yugoslavia was finally invaded by Germany on 6 April 1941.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}}

===World War II (1941–45)===
{{Main|History of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1941–1945)}}
[[File:Neretva most.jpg|thumb|left|The railway bridge over the [[Neretva]] River in [[Jablanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina|Jablanica]], twice destroyed during the 1943 [[Case White]] offensive]]

Once the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was conquered by German forces in [[World War II]], all of Bosnia and Herzegovina was ceded to the Nazi puppet regime, the [[Independent State of Croatia]] (NDH) led by the [[Ustaše]]. The NDH leaders embarked on a [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|campaign of extermination]] of Serbs, Jews, [[Romani people|Romani]] as well as dissident Croats, and, later, [[Josip Broz Tito]]'s [[Yugoslav Partisans|Partisans]] by setting up a number of [[Jasenovac concentration camp|death camps]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4479837.stm|title=Balkan 'Auschwitz' haunts Croatia|work=BBC News|date=25 April 2005|access-date=21 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809132401/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4479837.stm|archive-date=9 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The regime systematically and brutally massacred Serbs in villages in the countryside, using a variety of tools.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yeomans |first1=Rory |title=Visions of Annihilation: The Ustasha Regime and the Cultural Politics of Fascism, 1941–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yxv4-iqVe2wC&pg=PA17 |date=2012 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |isbn=978-0822977933 |page=17 |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414084801/https://books.google.com/books?id=Yxv4-iqVe2wC&pg=PA17 |url-status=live }}</ref> The scale of the violence meant that approximately every sixth Serb living in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the victim of a massacre and virtually every Serb had a family member that was killed in the war, mostly by the Ustaše. The experience had a profound impact in the collective memory of Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pavković |first1=Aleksandar |title=The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia: Nationalism in a Multinational State |date=1996 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-23037-567-3 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YPaADAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922184137/https://books.google.com/books?id=YPaADAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |url-status=live }}</ref> An estimated 209,000 Serbs or 16.9% of its Bosnia population were killed on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rogel |first1=Carole |title=The Breakup of Yugoslavia and the War in Bosnia |date=1998 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-3132-9918-6 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GPQKYuWisi0C&pg=PA48 |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414135938/https://books.google.com/books?id=GPQKYuWisi0C&pg=PA48 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Ustaše recognized both Catholicism and Islam as the national religions, but held the position [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], as a symbol of Serb identity, was their greatest foe.<ref name="Ramet, p. 118">Ramet (2006), pgg. 118.</ref> Although Croats were by far the largest ethnic group to constitute the Ustaše, the Vice President of the NDH and leader of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization [[Džafer Kulenović]] was a Muslim, and Muslims in total constituted nearly 12% of the Ustaše military and civil service authority.{{sfn|Velikonja|2003|p=179}}

[[File:Vječna vatra in 2019.jpg|thumb|[[Eternal flame (Sarajevo)|Eternal flame]] memorial to military and civilian [[World War II]] victims in Sarajevo]]

Many Serbs themselves took up arms and joined the Chetniks, a Serb nationalist movement with the aim of establishing an ethnically homogeneous '[[Greater Serbia]]n' state<ref>{{cite book|last=Ramet|first=Sabrina P.|date=2006|title=The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2005|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington|isbn=978-0-253-34656-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTw3lEqi2-oC|page=145|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331202813/http://books.google.com/books?id=FTw3lEqi2-oC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=31 March 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Chetniks, in turn, pursued a [[Chetnik war crimes in World War II|genocidal campaign]] against ethnic Muslims and Croats, as well as persecuting a large number of [[Communism|communist]] Serbs and other Communist sympathizers, with the Muslim populations of Bosnia, Herzegovina and [[Sandžak]] being a primary target.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tomasevich|first=Jozo|author-link=Jozo Tomasevich|date=1975|title=War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: The Chetniks|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford|isbn=978-0-8047-0857-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yoCaAAAAIAAJ|pages=256–261|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416041231/http://books.google.com/books?id=yoCaAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=16 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Once captured, Muslim villagers were systematically massacred by the Chetniks.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hoare|first=Marko Attila|author-link=Marko Attila Hoare|date=2006|title=Genocide and Resistance in Hitler's Bosnia: The Partisans and the Chetniks 1941–1943|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-726380-8|page=13}}</ref> Of the 75,000 Muslims who died in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war,<ref name="Cohen">{{cite book|author=Philip J. Cohen|date=1996|title=Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History|url=https://archive.org/details/serbiassecretwar0000cohe/page/109|url-access=registration|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|location=College Station|isbn=978-0-89096-760-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/serbiassecretwar0000cohe/page/109 109–10]}}</ref> approximately 30,000 (mostly civilians) were killed by the Chetniks.<ref name="Geiger">{{cite journal|first=Vladimir|last=Geiger|publisher=Croatian Institute of History|title=Human Losses of the Croats in World War II and the Immediate Post-War Period Caused by the Chetniks (Yugoslav Army in the Fatherand) and the Partisans (People's Liberation Army and the Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia/Yugoslav Army) and the Communist Authorities: Numerical Indicators |journal=Review of Croatian History |volume=VIII |issue=1 |date=2012 |url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/103223?lang=en|pages=85–87|access-date=25 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117064114/http://hrcak.srce.hr/103223?lang=en|archive-date=17 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Massacres against Croats were smaller in scale but similar in action.{{sfn|Tomasevich|1975|p=259}} Between 64,000 and 79,000 Bosnian Croats were killed between April 1941 to May 1945.<ref name="Cohen"/> Of these, about 18,000 were killed by the Chetniks.<ref name="Geiger"/>

A percentage of Muslims served in Nazi [[13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)|''Waffen-SS'']] units.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPZmAAAAMAAJ&q=lepre+george|title=Himmler's Bosnian Division: The Waffen-SS Handschar Division 1943–1945|last=Lepre|first=George|publisher=Schiffer Publishing|date=1997|isbn=0-7643-0134-9|ref=Lepre_1997|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805011359/https://books.google.com/books?id=rPZmAAAAMAAJ&q=lepre+george|url-status=live}}</ref> These units were responsible for massacres of Serbs in northwest and eastern Bosnia, most notably in [[Vlasenica]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burg |first1=Steven L. |last2=Shoup |first2=Paul |title=The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention |date=1999 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-1-5632-4308-0 |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SopQbK_nAxgC&pg=PA38 |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414085102/https://books.google.com/books?id=SopQbK_nAxgC&pg=PA38 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 12 October 1941, a group of 108 prominent Sarajevan Muslims signed the [[Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims]] by which they condemned the persecution of Serbs organized by the Ustaše, made distinction between Muslims who participated in such persecutions and the Muslim population as a whole, presented information about the persecutions of Muslims by Serbs, and requested security for all citizens of the country, regardless of their identity.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hadžijahić|first=Muhamed|title=Istorija Naroda Bosne i Hercegovine|date=1973|publisher=Institut za istoriju radničkog pokreta|location=Sarajevo|language=sh|page=277|chapter=Muslimanske rezolucije iz 1941 godine [Muslim resolutions of 1941]|chapter-url=https://www.scribd.com/document/47323922/Muhamed-Hadzijahic-Muslimanske-rezolucije-1941|access-date=2 January 2022|archive-date=2 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102160609/https://www.scribd.com/document/47323922/Muhamed-Hadzijahic-Muslimanske-rezolucije-1941|url-status=live}}</ref>

Starting in 1941, Yugoslav communists under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito organized their own multi-ethnic resistance group, the Partisans, who fought against both [[Axis powers|Axis]] and Chetnik forces. On 29 November 1943, the [[Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia]] (AVNOJ) with Tito at its helm held a founding conference in [[Jajce]] where Bosnia and Herzegovina was reestablished as a republic within the Yugoslav federation in its Habsburg borders.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Redžić |first1=Enver |title=Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Second World War |date=2005 |publisher=Frank Cass |location=London |pages=225–227}}</ref> During the entire course of [[World War II in Yugoslavia]], 64.1% of all Bosnian Partisans were Serbs, 23% were Muslims and 8.8% Croats.<ref name="anubih.ba-Hoare">{{cite web |author1=Marko Attila Hoare |author1-link=Marko Attila Hoare |title=The Great Serbian threat, ZAVNOBiH and Muslim Bosniak entry into the People's Liberation Movement |url=https://publications.anubih.ba/bitstream/handle/123456789/52/Zbornik%20ZAVNOBiH%20sve%2015-04-2019-4-115-130.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y |website=anubih.ba |publisher=Posebna izdanja ANUBiH |access-date=21 December 2020 |pages=123 |language=en |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201071114/https://publications.anubih.ba/bitstream/handle/123456789/52/Zbornik%20ZAVNOBiH%20sve%2015-04-2019-4-115-130.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Military success eventually prompted the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] to support the Partisans, resulting in the successful [[Maclean Mission]], but Tito declined their offer to help and relied on his own forces instead. All the major military offensives by the antifascist movement of Yugoslavia against Nazis and their local supporters were conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its peoples bore the brunt of the fighting. More than 300,000 people died in Bosnia and Herzegovina in World War II, or more than 10% of the population.<ref>{{cite book|last=Žerjavić|first=Vladimir|title=Yugoslavia manipulations with the number Second World War victims|year=1993|publisher=Croatian Information Centre|isbn=0-919817-32-7|url=http://www.hic.hr/books/manipulations/index.htm|access-date=12 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230428/http://www.hic.hr/books/manipulations/index.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> At the end of the war, the establishment of the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], with the [[1946 Yugoslav Constitution|constitution of 1946]], officially made Bosnia and Herzegovina one of six constituent republics in the new state.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}}

===Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992)===
{{Main|Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
[[File:Flag of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg|thumb|Bosnia and Herzegovina's flag while part of the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]]]

Due to its central geographic position within the Yugoslav federation, post-war Bosnia was selected as a base for the development of the military defense industry. This contributed to a large concentration of arms and military personnel in Bosnia; a significant factor in [[Bosnian War|the war that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia]] in the 1990s.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}} However, Bosnia's existence within Yugoslavia, for the large part, was relatively peaceful and very prosperous, with high employment, a strong industrial and export oriented economy, a good education system and social and medical security for every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Several international corporations operated in Bosnia—[[Volkswagen]] as part of TAS (car factory in Sarajevo, from 1972), [[Coca-Cola]] (from 1975), SKF Sweden (from 1967), [[Marlboro (cigarette)|Marlboro]] (a tobacco factory in Sarajevo), and [[Holiday Inn]] hotels. Sarajevo was the site of the [[1984 Winter Olympics]].

During the 1950s and 1960s, Bosnia was a political backwater of Yugoslavia. In the 1970s, a strong Bosnian political elite arose, fueled in part by Tito's leadership in the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] and Bosnians serving in Yugoslavia's diplomatic corps. While working within the Socialist system, politicians such as [[Džemal Bijedić]], [[Branko Mikulić]] and [[Hamdija Pozderac]] reinforced and protected the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref name="Stojic">Stojic, Mile (2005). [http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/report_format.cfm?articleid=3058&reportid=170 Branko Mikulic&nbsp;– socialist emperor manqué] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060809231734/http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/report_format.cfm?articleid=3058&reportid=170 |date=9 August 2006 }}. [[Dani (magazine)|BH Dani]]</ref> Their efforts proved key during the turbulent period following Tito's death in 1980, and are today considered some of the early steps towards [[Independence Day (Bosnia and Herzegovina)|Bosnian independence]]. However, the republic did not escape the increasingly nationalistic climate of the time. With the fall of communism and the start of the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]], doctrine of tolerance began to lose its potency, creating an opportunity for nationalist elements in the society to spread their influence.<ref name="Popovski 2017 p. 127">{{cite book | last=Popovski | first=I. | title=A Short History of South East Europe | publisher=Lulu.com | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-365-95394-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kEIkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT127 | access-date=2021-06-22 | page=127 | archive-date=14 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214150456/https://books.google.com/books?id=kEIkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT127 | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Bosnian War (1992–1995)===
{{Main|Bosnian War}}
{{See also|Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
[[File:Breakup of Yugoslavia.gif|thumb|upright=1.45|Dissolution of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]]]

On 18 November 1990, [[1990 Bosnian general election|multi-party parliamentary elections]] were held throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. A second round followed on 25 November, resulting in a [[Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina|national assembly]] where communist power was replaced by a coalition of three ethnically based parties.<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> Following [[Slovenia]] and [[Croatia]]'s declarations of independence from Yugoslavia, a significant split developed among the residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the issue of whether to remain within Yugoslavia (overwhelmingly favored by Serbs) or seek independence (overwhelmingly favored by [[Muslims (ethnic group)|Muslims]] and Croats).<ref name="The Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination 1995">{{cite web | title=Bosnia – Herzegovina | website=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination | date=1995-11-21 | url=https://pesd.princeton.edu/node/201 | access-date=2021-06-22 | archive-date=24 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203925/https://pesd.princeton.edu/node/201 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The Serb members of parliament, consisting mainly of the [[Serb Democratic Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina)|Serb Democratic Party]] members, abandoned the central parliament in Sarajevo, and formed the [[National Assembly (Republika Srpska)|Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] on 24 October 1991, which marked the end of the three-ethnic coalition that governed after the elections in 1990. This Assembly established the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 January 1992. It was renamed [[Republika Srpska (1992–1995)|Republika Srpska]] in August 1992. On 18 November 1991, the party branch in Bosnia and Herzegovina of the ruling party in the Republic of Croatia, the [[Croatian Democratic Union]] (HDZ), proclaimed the existence of the [[Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia|Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia]] in a separate part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the [[Croatian Defence Council]] (HVO) as its military branch.<ref name="ICTY: Prlić et al. (IT-04-74)">{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm|title=ICTY: Prlić et al. (IT-04-74) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802021727/http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm |archive-date=2 August 2009}}</ref> It went unrecognized by the [[Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina]], which declared it illegal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://secnet069.un.org/x/cases/prlic/ind/en/prl-ii040304e.htm|title=Prlic et al. Initial Indictment|publisher=United Nations|access-date=3 February 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228191656/http://secnet069.un.org/x/cases/prlic/ind/en/prl-ii040304e.htm|archive-date=28 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/hadzihasanovic_kubura/ind/en/had-ai020111e.pdf |title=The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Case NO: IT-01-47-PT (Amended Indictment) |date=11 January 2002 |access-date=1 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514131414/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/hadzihasanovic_kubura/ind/en/had-ai020111e.pdf |archive-date=14 May 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Norsk Sisu fra NORLOGB.jpg|thumb|[[United Nations|UN]] troops in front of the [[Greece–Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Building|Executive Council Building]], burned after being struck by tank fire during the [[siege of Sarajevo]], 1995]]

A declaration of the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 15 October 1991 was followed by a [[1992 Bosnian independence referendum|referendum for independence]] on 29 February and 1 March 1992, which was boycotted by the great majority of Serbs. The turnout in the independence referendum was 63.4 per cent and 99.7 per cent of voters voted for independence.<ref>{{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&nbsp;– March 1, 1992 |date=1992 |publisher=Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe |page=19 |access-date=28 December 2009 |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> Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence on 3 March 1992 and received international recognition the following month on 6 April 1992.<ref>{{cite book|title=Contested lands: Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka|first=Sumantra|last=Bose|page=124|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KKZcgOJPjVkC&pg=PA124|publisher=Harvard University Press|date=2009|isbn=9780674028562|access-date=11 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111175731/https://books.google.com/books?id=KKZcgOJPjVkC&pg=PA124|archive-date=11 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] was admitted as a member state of the [[United Nations]] on 22 May 1992.<ref>{{cite book|title=Admission to the United Nations: Charter Article 4 and the Rise of Universal Organization|first=Thomas|last=D. Grant|page=226|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Uuv0NLNdZQC&pg=PA226|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|date=2009|isbn=978-9004173637|access-date=11 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111175731/https://books.google.com/books?id=5Uuv0NLNdZQC&pg=PA226|archive-date=11 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Serbian leader [[Slobodan Milošević]] and Croatian leader [[Franjo Tuđman]] are believed to have agreed on a [[partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] in March 1991, with the aim of establishing [[Greater Serbia]] and [[Greater Croatia]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ramet|first=Sabrina P.|title=The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2004|date=2006|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-271-01629-9|page=379}}</ref>

Following Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of independence, Bosnian Serb militias mobilized in different parts of the country. Government forces were poorly equipped and unprepared for the war.<ref name="ICTY: Naletilić and Martinović verdict&nbsp;— A. Historical background">{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/icty/naletilic/trialc/judgement/nal-tj030331-1.htm#IIA|title=ICTY: Naletilić and Martinović verdict&nbsp;– A. Historical background |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619013724/http://www.un.org/icty/naletilic/trialc/judgement/nal-tj030331-1.htm#IIA |archive-date=19 June 2009}}</ref> International recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina increased diplomatic pressure for the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] (JNA) to withdraw from the republic's territory, which they officially did in June 1992. The Bosnian Serb members of the JNA simply changed insignia, formed the [[Army of Republika Srpska]] (VRS), and continued fighting. Armed and equipped from JNA stockpiles in Bosnia, supported by volunteers and various paramilitary forces from Serbia, and receiving extensive humanitarian, logistical and financial support from the [[Serbia and Montenegro|Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], [[Republika Srpska]]'s offensives in 1992 managed to place much of the country under its control.{{sfn|Malcolm|2002}} The Bosnian Serb advance was accompanied by the [[ethnic cleansing]] of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from VRS-controlled areas. Dozens of concentration camps were established in which inmates were subjected to violence and abuse, including rape.<ref name="ICTY: Kunarac, Kovač and Vuković judgement&nbsp;— Foča">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/icty/kunarac/trialc2/judgement/kun-tj010222e-5.htm#VC |title=ICTY: The attack against the civilian population and related requirements |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219012918/http://un.org/icty/kunarac/trialc2/judgement/kun-tj010222e-5.htm#VC |archive-date=19 February 2009}}</ref> The ethnic cleansing culminated in the [[Srebrenica massacre]] of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in July 1995, which was ruled to have been a [[genocide]] by the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY).<ref>''The Geography of Genocide'', Allan D. Cooper, p. 178, University Press of America, 2008, {{ISBN|0-7618-4097-4}}</ref> Bosniak and Bosnian Croat forces also committed war crimes against civilians from different ethnic groups, though on a smaller scale.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/icty/celebici/trialc2/judgement/index.htm |title=Judgement |publisher=UN |date=5 March 2007 |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016042438/http://www.un.org/icty/celebici/trialc2/judgement/index.htm |archive-date=16 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/p561-e.htm |title=Press Release |publisher=UN |date=5 March 2007 |access-date=7 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324044908/http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/p561-e.htm |archive-date=24 March 2009}}</ref><ref name="haverford">{{cite web |url=http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/stolac/CrimesSt.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109091102/http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/stolac/CrimesSt.pdf |archive-date=9 January 2009 |title=Crimes in Stolac Municipality}}</ref><ref name="un">{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm |title=Indictment |publisher=UN |date=5 March 2007 |access-date=7 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212165106/http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/prl-ii040304e.htm |archive-date=12 February 2005}}</ref> Most of the Bosniak and Croat atrocities were committed during the [[Croat–Bosniak War]], a sub-conflict of the Bosnian War that pitted the [[Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (ARBiH) against the HVO. The Bosniak-Croat conflict ended in March 1994, with the signing of the [[Washington Agreement (1994)|Washington Agreement]], leading to the creation of a joint Bosniak-Croat [[Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina]], which amalgamated HVO-held territory with that held by the [[Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (ARBiH).<ref name="Lumen Learning – Simple Book Production 2017">{{cite web | title=The Yugoslav War – Boundless World History | website=Lumen Learning – Simple Book Production | date=2017-05-31 | url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-yugoslav-war/ | access-date=2021-06-22 | archive-date=24 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624210903/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-yugoslav-war/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Recent history===
{{Main|2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
[[File:Bosnian social protests Tuzla.jpg|thumb|[[Tuzla]] government building burning after [[2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina|anti-government clashes]] on 7 February 2014]]

On 4 February 2014, the [[2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina|protests]] against the [[Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina]], one of the country's two entities, dubbed the Bosnian Spring, the name being taken from the [[Arab Spring]], began in the northern town of [[Tuzla]]. Workers from several factories that had been privatised and gone bankrupt assembled to demand action over jobs, unpaid salaries and pensions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26093160|title=Bosnian protests: A Balkan Spring?|date=8 February 2014|work=BBC|access-date=8 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209034452/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26093160|archive-date=9 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Soon protests spread to the rest of the Federation, with violent clashes reported in close to 20 towns, the biggest of which were [[Sarajevo]], [[Zenica]], [[Mostar]], [[Bihać]], [[Brčko]] and Tuzla.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.klix.ba/gradjanski-bunt |title=Građanski bunt u BiH |date=8 February 2014 |work=klix.ba |access-date=8 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207102210/http://www.klix.ba/gradjanski-bunt |archive-date=7 February 2014}}</ref> The Bosnian news media reported that hundreds of people had been injured during the protests, including dozens of police officers, with bursts of violence in Sarajevo, in the northern city of Tuzla, in Mostar in the south, and in Zenica in central Bosnia. The same level of unrest or activism did not occur in Republika Srpska, but hundreds of people also gathered in support of protests in the city of [[Banja Luka]] against its separate government.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/world/europe/protests-over-government-and-economy-roil-bosnia.html|title=Protests Over Government and Economy Roil Bosnia|date=8 February 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=8 February 2014|first=Dan|last=Bilefsky|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208020056/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/world/europe/protests-over-government-and-economy-roil-bosnia.html|archive-date=8 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/bosnia-demonstrations-tuzla-clashes/25256653.html|title=Bosnian Protesters Torch Government Buildings in Sarajevo, Tuzla|date=8 February 2014|work=rferl.org|access-date=8 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208020133/http://www.rferl.org/content/bosnia-demonstrations-tuzla-clashes/25256653.html|archive-date=8 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26086857|title=Bosnia–Hercegovina protests break out in violence|date=8 February 2014|work=BBC|access-date=8 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207234045/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26086857|archive-date=7 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

The protests marked the largest outbreak of public anger over high unemployment and two decades of political inertia in the country since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/bosnian-protesters-storm-government-buildings-20140208-hvbn6.html|title=Bosnian protesters storm government buildings|date=8 February 2014|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=8 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617202302/http://www.smh.com.au/world/bosnian-protesters-storm-government-buildings-20140208-hvbn6.html|archive-date=17 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a report made by [[Christian Schmidt]] of the [[High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina|Office of High Representative]] in late 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been experiencing intensified political and ethnic tensions, which could potentially break the country apart and slide it back into war once again.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-10-22|title=Bosnian Serb police drill seen as separatist 'provocation'|url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-sarajevo-90c9d5a395026947ec7383bc2a49b649|access-date=2021-11-02|website=AP NEWS|language=en|archive-date=2 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102152723/https://apnews.com/article/europe-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-sarajevo-90c9d5a395026947ec7383bc2a49b649|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-11-02|title=Bosnia is in danger of breaking up, warns top international official|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/02/bosnia-is-in-danger-of-breaking-up-warns-eus-top-official-in-the-state|access-date=2021-11-02|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=2 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102053853/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/02/bosnia-is-in-danger-of-breaking-up-warns-eus-top-official-in-the-state|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[European Union]] fears this will lead to further [[Balkanization]] in the region.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-11-03|title=Bosnian leader stokes fears of Balkan breakup|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59130945|access-date=2021-11-03|archive-date=3 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103053808/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59130945|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 15 December 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognised by the European Union as a candidate country for [[Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union|accession]] following the decision of the [[European Council]].<ref name="sarajevotimes">{{Cite web |title='Huge, historic move': EU grants Bosnia and Herzegovina Candidate Status |url= https://sarajevotimes.com/huge-historic-move-eu-grants-bosnia-and-herzegovina-candidate-status/ |access-date=2022-12-15 |work=Sarajevo Times|date=15 December 2022 }}</ref>