Sreten Dan nezavisnosti! Happy Independence Day for Bosnia!

Sreten Dan nezavisnosti! Happy Independence Day for Bosnia!

I lifted this from aglobalworld.com

Independence Day: March 1

Independence Day is a public holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Every first day of March, Bosnia and Herzegovina marks the yearly celebration of their independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. It is locally known as ‘Dan nezavisnosti’.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is an almost landlocked European country located in the South-East region of the continent on the sharing the Balkan Peninsula with other countries such as Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, continental Greece, Serbia, Romania, among others.

History of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Independence Day

Bosnia and Herzegovina are identified politically as Bosnians regardless of local ethnic origin. There are three ethnic groups which now exist in the country: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats. The first ethnic group to mention occupies the largest percentage of ethnic group in the country. It enjoys a decentralized form of government and being government by two large political entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and ‘Republika Srpska’.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until its separation from the communist republic on March 1, 1992 after the Yugoslav Wars between 1991 and 2001.
After World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina managed itself to remain stable until it joined the ranks of kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes which was later known as Yugoslavia. This proved to be a mistake from the part of the country as it suffered tumultuous socio-economic downturn over issues on property redistribution and unstable politics, among others. The Bosnians were later denied of nationhood amidst efforts from famous Bosnian politicians of that time such as Mehmed Spaho.
Among the political agenda that was made during that time, Cvetković-Maček Agreement was made to the best most controversial where Bosnia and Herzegovina was planned to be divided or partitioned between the state of Croatia and Serbia. The agreement did not materialized due to the threat brought by the Nazi Germany before the onset of World War II.
The battle that ensued forced Yugoslavia to surrender to the Nazis. This event led Yugoslavia to give Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia or the then Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during the Second World War. The resistance to the occupation among the Bosnians resulted to cruelties among the ethnics especially among Bosnian Jews and Serbs. Later in the Cold War the Communist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was re-established and Bosnia was once again made a separate and Independent republic.
In the event that follows, countries which were part of the communist Yugoslavia started to declare independence. Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence in June of 1991. The same year was marked by a call of independence of Bosnia from Yugoslavia but encouraged the creation of an autonomous region for Bosnian Serbs – Serb Autonomous Regions (SAO). The Serbs wanted to stay with the remaining Yugoslavia, so this made Bosnia and Herzegovina establish its own independence on its own May 22, 1992 as recognized by the United States and majority of the European countries at that time.
Two years later, in March 1994, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was created to ease up tensions between the Bosnians and the Muslims and the Croats in the region. In spite of that, atrocities continued with thousands of Muslim members of the federation killed. The civil war ended only with the signing of Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 in Paris, France.
Bosnia’s dark times led to the existence of a republic consisting of three large ethnic entities: Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs and each are recognized as legitimate and constituent people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is generally lauded and accepted by the majority of the people in the country.
Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina is beginning a new phase of economic transformation, changing its current economy to a market-oriented type where prices of food and services are determined by the government under the influence of supply and demand (free market system).

Bosnia and Herzegovina Independence Day: Traditions, Customs and Activities

The independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina is celebrated with street parade, public speeches from Bosnian political party leaders and state-sponsored cultural shows. Since this is a public holiday in the country, most Bosnians spend the holiday with their families or visit the Local Park and malls. Float parade, concerts, and grand fireworks await spectators at night during the celebration of Independence Day.