After Tito died in 1980, Yugoslavia, a country formed in 1918 out of the Slav peoples, experienced internal conflict between its more than 17 ethnic groups, some historically hostile to each other. The first republics to declare independence were Slovenia and Croatia in June 1991 and were formally recognized as new countries in January 1992. Bosnia itself declared independence in February of 1992 and was recognized as a country in April, 1992.
During late 1991 the Serbs fought for territory in Croatia, bombing the cities of Vukovar and Dubrovnik. The war then moved into Bosnia where the three major ethnic groups; the Croats, the Serbs and the Muslims fought for possession of this historically multiethnic region.
Before the war began in Bosnia the population was 33% Serb, 44% Muslim and 17% Croats and occupied these territories*.
All three groups, but particularly the Serbs, were inspired by irredentism to protect their ethnic groups in Bosnia through "ethnic cleansing" and territorial control. Many people, most of whom are Bosnian Croats and Muslims, have fled Bosnia as refugees.
Currently*, the Serbs control 70% of the territory, and the Croats and Muslims 30%. Several plans have been considered to partition Bosnia according to ethnic dominance. Late in the summer of 1995 Croatian forces re-occupied large parts of a region known as the Krajina. The Austro-Hungarians had populated this region, which means "border" or "frontier", with Serbs to provide a buffer with its enemies in the Ottoman empire.
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