Yugoslav Wars of Succession Social Conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina Great variety between urban and rural areas Overall among the less-developed republics in Yugoslavia 1981 – only 34% of population urban, up from 20% in 1970 (23% of female population and 5.5% of male population illiterate)

Yugoslav Wars of Succession Social Relations between major ethnic groups Mixed picture 1991 social survey – 12% of population considered nationality to be important But for some groups nationality was more important in determining a potential marriage partner (Bosnian Muslims-43%, Bosnian Croats – 39%, Bosnian Serbs – 25%; ‘Yugoslavs’- 8%) Mixed marriages – 15% of all in 1981 (95% of Bosnian Muslim women and 93% of Bosnian Muslim men entered into homogenous marriages; intermarriage higher among Serbs and still higher among Croats Identity Yugoslavs – 8% of republic population, highest in Yugoslavia, and 75% of those individuals were resident in urban areas Social distance Attitudes on living in ethnically mixed environment (38% of Croats believe a person is more secure if living in an area, where own group constitutes majority and 37% disagreed; Serbs, 36% agreed and 41% disagreed; Bosnian Muslims – 31% agreed and 40% disagreed) Still a great deal of social distance in 1990 between ethnic groups

Yugoslav Wars of Succession The Role of Political Elites and Institutions January 1990 LCY collapsed, Bosnian party leadership allowed establishment of opposition parties, but not based on ethnicity Constitutional Court of the republic declared this law unconstitutional 3 explicitly ethnic parties dominated the first electoral campaign and seats in parliament PDA – Party of Democratic Action - Alija Izetbegovic associated with the identity based on Islam and interested in securing dominant role for Bosnian Muslims (sympathetic to Croatian and Slovenian positions); divisions within the party – Adil Zulfikarpasic SDS – Serbian Democratic Party – Radovan Karadzic-national, cultural, spiritual unification of Serbs in BiH and supported the preservation of Yugoslavia, opposed to any Bosnian independence from Serbia, or any changes in BiH that might subject Serb minority to rule by hostile majority Croatian Democratic Union – Stjepan Kljuevc –branch of the ruling party in Croatia, position same as those of the party in Croatia June 1990 – survey indicated that 69% of population supported the preservation of the Yugoslav federation

Yugoslav Wars of Succession The Reformed Communist Party – supported continuation of Yugoslav federation, strictly anti-nationalist, but politically weakest Alliance of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia – federal prime minister Ante Markovic Leadership of all three parties and political elites in general contributed to intensifying the salience of ethnicity in politics