Sarajevo 101

Prior to this weekend, the only things I knew about Sarajevo were from reading Zlata’s Diary courtesy of the Kerr Elementary School book fair and watching archival footage of the 1984 Olympics on NBC.

I cannot imagine anyone knowing less about the history of Sarajevo than I did as of last Friday, but just in case, here is a quick primer.

Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (one country, two “states”). Before gaining independence, BiH was one of the six federations, along with Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia, comprising the former Yugoslavia. The most ethnically diverse state, Sarajevo was home to Bosniaks (Muslim), Serbs (Orthodox), and Croats (Catholic).


Following the fall of communism, Slobodan Milošević consolidated power within Serbia and its capital, Belgrade. This contributed to Slovenia, the wealthiest state, declaring independence in 1991. Croatia did the same later that year.

Although Milošević and the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) waged war on Croatia, BiH thought it would be safe given its large Serbian population and proclaimed independence on March 3, 1992.

BiH fatally underestimated Milošević’s desire to keep Yugoslavia united and, by April, the JNA had completely surrounded and blockaded Sarajevo, located in a valley. Thus began the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.


The Sarajevo makeshift “army” had no weapons and was no match for the JNA. However, as our tour guide Ellie explained, Sarajevoans believed they would be killed if they surrendered so continued to defend the city out of desperation. Throughout the three year siege, more than two million artillery shells hit the city, and 11,500 civilians died. UNICEF estimates that 40% of the 80,000 children in the city were directly shot at by snipers and 39% saw at least one family member killed.

The Holiday Inn, built for the Olympics and located along Sniper Alley, was the one relatively secure hotel during the war.


Not wanting to get involved in what they incorrectly believed was a civil war, the United Nations finally issued an ultimatum for Serb force to withdraw from Sarajevo in late 1995. Shortly thereafter, Bill Clinton helped negotiate the Dayton Agreement, effectively ending the warfare. It is estimated 200,000 people (out of an initial population of 4 million) died in BiH as a direct result of the war.


TBC (I promise I did more than wander around Sarajevo paraphrasing Wikipedia).