The rise and fall of Radovan Karadzic
The revival of Serb nationalism under the leadership of President Slobodan Milosevic offered new chances for Radovan Karadzic. The son of a Montenegrin shoemaker, Karadzic studied medicine at the University of Sarajevo and worked as a psychologist at a city hospital. He also wrote poetry and children's books. In the 1970s he came under the influence of Serbian nationalism and the belief in a greater Serbia. In 1985 he was sentenced to three years in prison for embezzlement and fraud but served only a short time.
Rise to political power
With the fall of communism, and shortly before the war in Bosnia, he embarked on a political career. He played an important role in the establishment of the Serbian Democratic Party whose goal was to stem the rise of Croatian and Muslim influence in Bosnia. Nearly two years later he declared himself leader of the new Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina, which triggered the start of a bloody civil war.
With the support of Serb President Slobodan Milosevic, Karadzic embarked on a campaign of ethnic cleansing. He helped to fuel ethnic strife and would often warn 'his Serbs' that the Bosnian Muslims were preparing a jihad. In the Bosnian parliament he would threaten the Muslims with annihilation.
Siege of Sarajevo
With the aid of the Yugoslav army he made plans for the siege of Sarajevo. The declaration of Bosnian independence in 1992 by Muslim president Alia Izetbegovic was - according to Karadzic - the signal for the start of the jihad, and also the signal for the start of the Serb 'defence'.
The siege of Sarajevo lasted for several years. Elsewhere, Bosnian Serb militias carried out ethnic cleansings. The goal of the Bosnian Serb republic was to take control of as much connecting territory as possible, inhabited only by Serbs. Croatian and Muslim citizens were killed or expelled. However, Radovan Karadzic denies his militias used violence against civilians:
"God forbid. Our regular army never carried out a massacre. They are very disciplined and they have a very old-fashioned Communist general. We are teaching them to be Serbs, not Communists, and have been very successful. They are very strict as far as morality is concerned and would never allow a massacre or harm civilians."
Tens of thousands of people died in the Bosnian war, and a million fled their homes. Muslims and Croats also carried out atrocities, but less often than the Serbs.
The UN gets involved
During the Bosnian war the Western countries attempt to negotiate a solution. They wanted to end the war but were afraid to intervene militarily because they were afraid of the high losses this would entail. None of the peace plans were successful. At the start of the war the United Nations stationed peacekeepers in Bosnia and Croatia. In 1993, the UN created a number of ‘safe areas' in Bosnia, including the so-called safe areas in Srebrenica.
The shelling of a market in Sarajevo in February 1994 made a lasting impression on public opinion in Western countries. There was growing pressure to intervene. Karadzic, however, said the Muslims were behind the attack.
"My first reaction is that this is exactly what the Muslim leadership wanted to happen. I am positive that the Muslim leadership will carry out more massacres in order to gain international sympathy and bring about an international military intervention."
Diplomatic pressure
Under diplomatic pressure the Bosnian Muslims and Croats formed a federation. The Western countries helped Croatia to strengthen its army. In May 1995 the Croats launched a counter-offensive and retook West Slavonia, a rebellious Serb area in Croatia. In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces under the command of General Ratko Mladic carried out a bloodbath in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, which had been declared a ‘safe area' by the UN. Eight-thousand Muslim men and boys were killed. The 400 Dutch UN peacekeepers did not intervene.
A Dutch government report concluded that it was impossible for the soldiers to protect the Muslim population; the report was later labelled controversial. The Dutch government accepted partial responsibility for the massacre and the second cabinet of Wim Kok stepped down in 2002.
Western military intervention
The second attack on a market of Sarajevo, in August 1995, led to Western military intervention. On 30 August 1995, NATO troops bombed Bosnian Serb military positions. At the same time Croatian troops occupied the remaining Serb-populated regions in the western Croatian region of Krajina, forcing 200,000 Serbs to flee their homes. The Bosnian Serbs found themselves in a hopeless position. On 5 October 1995, US President Bill Clinton made the following announcement:
"I am pleased to announce that the parties in Bosnia have agreed to a cease-fire, to terminate all hostile military activities."
On 21 November, the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed, formally ending the Bosnia war. The Bosnian Serbs were represented by Serb President Slobodan Milosevic.
The final chapter
During the negotiations, the Yugoslavian tribunal charged Radovan Karadzic with genocide and crimes against humanity. After the signing of the accord, he disappeared from the political scene and travelled through Bosnia accompanied by bodyguards. The 20,000 soldiers of the international peacekeeping force, SFOR, did not attempt to capture him. Following the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic in the summer of 2001, the Yugoslavia tribunal's chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte began to pressure Belgrade to arrest Karadzic. He was finally arrested nearly seven months after she stepped down at the end of 2007.