Bosnia

Bosnia: the Muslims and Croats Erical Lane SOC/120 October 30, 2011 Bosnia: the Muslims and Croats Discrimination Discrimination is the act of mistreating or being prejudice toward people who are of a different culture, belief or religion from the beliefs of your own. Ethnic groups are used to classify people of the same belief, heritage, language or culture. The Muslims and Croats face many barriers when it comes to discrimination and ethnicity. Muslims and Croats are considered or classified as minority groups. More than 95% of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of three groups: Bosnians, Serbs and Croats. Religion South Slavs practiced Christianity in the 9th century. The Croats and Muslims are both members of the Slavic ethnic group, and their religious beliefs are predominantly Muslim, Orthodox Christians, and Catholic. The territory consisted of three religious denominations being that of Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and a growing and productive church that was named the Bosnian Church. Because the Slavs could not provide historical evidence to scholars, Roman Catholics and Orthodox officials declared the church to be a lie and denied them. Members of the Bosnian Church were killed off or converted to Islam. The Bosnian Church soon vanished and led to the development of the Ottoman Empire. Bosnia remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire until 1878. In 1878, the Berlin Congress transferred administrative control of Bosnia to Austria-Hungary. In June of 1914, World War I was declared when the Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke France Ferdinand in Sarajevo. After the Great War, Bosnia was given over to Croatia in World War II. After the change of hands, any outside groups that resisted the cause, such as the Jews and Serbs, suffered much hardship and troubles. In 1991, Yugoslavia broke apart and Bosnia declared independence one year later. Serbs wanted Bosnia to remain part of the Serbian-controlled Yugoslavia, and as a result, a bloody civil war broke out. The war which took place was so violent and brutal until it became known as “ethnic cleansing”, because of the mass murder and deporting of Bosnian Muslims. Dream Can you imagine being forced to leave your home without notice just for being different' Just for being of a different religion or nationality from someone else' Can you picture being sent to a detention camp where you are tortured regularly or even killed' Imagine being banished from your home, and never being able to return without the threat of being killed on the spot. In 1995, President Clinton sent troops, along with the NATO troops to help negotiate the peace in Bosnia. Three years later, Serbs attacked ethnic Albanians, and were forced to back down in 1999. Many people have lost their lives in this land for reason that shouldn’t even matter. Today, there is still a huge struggle to keep the peace in this very land. . References Business Source Complete (2011). People and historical highlights. Ipswich, MA: Business Source Complete. Amnesty international. (2011 November). Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR63 ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/delivery. (2011 November). Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/delivery'sid=0e48e6d2-aece-4d01-a4cl-cf077be76ad3%40