The Civil War in Bosnia Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1929

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created out of the peace process that ended the First World War. With a vast variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups, tensions were evident from the very beginning and it wasn't until the late 1920s that a royal dictatorship under King Alexander asserted some degree of stability.

Answer: Croatia

600,000 Yugoslavs died during the occupation by German and Italian troops. It was practically a civil war between the various ethnic groups and political interests, with the occupation army barely in control.

Answer: Communist republic

Josip Broz (aka 'Tito') was of Croat-Slovenian parentage. He adopted the name 'Tito' as a codename when he lived in exile in Vienna during the mid-1930s. As leader of the Communist partisans in Yugoslavia during WWII, he asserted control over the newly liberated country with the deportation of certain ethnic minorities, the suppression of anti-Communist influences, and the establishment of a secret police force (UBDA).

He won the elections of November 1945, stood up to Stalin and successfully resisted the absorption of Yugoslavia into the Eastern Bloc and was President of Yugoslavia until his death in 1980.

He maintained stability through a relatively centralised form of political control.

Answer: Croatia and Slovenia

The status of Croatia and Slovenia as independent nations was quickly consolidated by being recognized by the newly unified Germany in late 1991. The rest of the European Union followed suit on 15 January, 1992. The USA also recognized the independence of these two states in April 1992.

Answer: Bosnian Muslims

Generally, the Bosnian Muslims and Croatian populations backed secession from Yugoslavia, while the Bosnian Serbs (the second largest ethnic group) wanted to stay part of the Serbian-dominated Yugoslav Federation.

Answer: To secede from Yugoslavia

63% of Bosnians, mainly Muslims and Croats, voted in favour of secession. It was this that finally triggered the conflict. The Bosnian Serbs, in the form of local troops and militias supported in part by the Yugoslav army, reacted violently and besieged several Bosnian cities while 'ethnically cleansing' 70% of Bosnian territory.

Answer: Alija Izetbegovic

Alija Izetbegovic was born in Basanki Samac in northern Bosnia in 1925. A graduate of Sarajevo University, he had been gaoled for three years in the late 1940s for being a member of the Young Muslims, a dissident nationalist group. He was president of Bosnia-Herzegovina until his retirement in 2000 and died in 2003. Milosevic was the president of Yugoslavia who gave material and moral support to the Bosnian Serbs led by Mladic and Karadzic.

As a result, Yugoslavia had economic sanctions placed upon it from 1992, monitored by NATO-led forces stationed in Bosnia.

Answer: Deliberate Force

Srebenica and Zepa were two 'safe havens' that suffered particularly in the summer of 1995. Over 8,000 civilians in Srebenica were killed during an 11-day period in July 1995.

Answer: Scott O'Grady

Over 100 aircraft were employed in the search for O'Grady. He was plucked from under the noses of Bosnian Serb forces in broad daylight.

Answer: False

This was in March 1999 over Kosovo, allegedly by SAM missiles although other sources claim it was a lucky anti-aircraft fire hit. the Bosnian war had been over for more than three years by the time the USAF suffered its first F-117 casualty. Like O'Grady, the F-117 pilot was also safely rescued by US special forces.

Answer: Sarajevo

The siege of Sarajevo began on 2 May, 1992. It suffered 10,000 civilian casualties through indiscriminate bombing, shelling and sniper fire from 1992-1995. It was at that time the longest siege since that of Leningrad during the Second World War. The siege officially ended on 29 February, 1996.

Answer: Dayton, Ohio

In November 1995, President Clinton met with Presidents Milosevic (Yugoslavia), Izetbegovic (Bosnia) and Tudjman (Croatia) at AFB Wright-Patterson just outside Dayton, Ohio. The 'Dayton Accords' set in place the terms for the formal peace treaty in Paris a month later and how the peace would be monitored.

Answer: Implementation Force

The Implementation Force consisted of troops from 24 countries under NATO control, incuding the USA (20,000), Britain (13,000), France (8,000) and Russia (2,000). Its aim was to maintain the fragile peace between the various groups and to help establish an independent multi-ethnic Bosnian republic.

Answer: International Stabilization Force

The International Stabilization Force was formed from halving I-For to 30,000 troops. This was deemed necessary in December 1996 - the original deadline for withdrawal of NATO-led forces - because the political situation was still volatile.

Answer: The Hague

The former president of Yugoslavia was arrested in Belgrade on 1 April 2001. His trial opened on 12 February 2002 but he died on 11 March 2006 before a verdict was reached.