The bridge, which has since been reconstructed, is located
in Mostar, a city in the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Like most regions in Bosnia, the history
of the violence in Mostar is far too detailed for a short blog post, so please
forgive me for the quick summary that is necessarily brief and simplified.
Violence in Mostar began with shelling from the Yugoslav
army (controlled by Serbia) in April 1992. The army managed to take over much of the city, and Bosnian
armed forces as well as the Croatian forces joined together to defend the
city. While it was once ethnically
integrated, Mostar was quickly divided into a western part dominated by Croat
forces and an eastern part dominated by Bosnian forces.
Though Croats and Bosniaks initially worked together to
defend Mostar against Yugoslav forces, in May 1993, Croat forces
abandoned their earlier bilateral cooperation and attacked the city. In essence, Mostar was part of a
plan for a Greater Croatia (much like Greater Serbia). “Ethnic cleansing” of Bosniaks began,
including concentration camps similar to the ones in Prijedor. And, many cultural monuments, including
the bridge, were destroyed.
Today, several Croat leaders are on trial at the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for their actions in
Mostar and the surrounding region.
The remnants of the violence remain strong, however. While the bridge has been rebuilt, many
areas of the city are riddled with bullet holes or completely in ruins.
Beyond the buildings, Mostar also remains a divided
city. Even today, there is clearly
a Bosniak side and a Croatian side.
As a resident of Mostar told me, there are two of everything—two
universities, two school systems, two bus systems, etc. In short, Mostar remains ethnically divided, and,
in a sense, is a manifestation of successful ethnic cleansing.
A government building in Mostar. The signs are listed in both Bosnian and Croatian, which are essentially the same language.