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Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH)
File:Armija BiH.svg
Crest of Army of The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
FoundedApril 15, 1992
Disbanded1995
HeadquartersSarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Leadership
Commander-in-ChiefAlija Izetbegović (The Supreme Commander of the Bosnian Armed Forces)
Chief of DefenceSefer Halilovic and then Rasim Delić
Personnel
Active personnel1992-1995
Related articles
HistoryBosnian War
RanksMilitary ranks and insignia of Bosnia

The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH; Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine) was a military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina established by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 following the outbreak of the Bosnian War. Following the end of the war, and the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, it was transformed into Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under the State Defense Reform Law the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified in to a single structure OSBiH making entity armies defunct.

Creation and Composition

Main article: History of the Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was formed on April 15, 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War. Before the ARBiH was officially created, a number of paramilitary and civil defense groups. The Patriotic League (PL) and the local Territorial Defence Force of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina (TORBIH) were the official army while groups such as the Zelene Beretke (Green Berets) and Crni Labudovi (Black Swans) units has been founded. Other irregular groups included criminal groups, as well as collections of police and former Yugoslav People's Army soldiers.

The army was formed in poor circumstances, and suffered from a very limited supply of arms. Critical deficiencies included tanks and other heavy weaponry. The first commander of the army was Sefer Halilović.

Corps and Generals

The army was divided into Corps, each stationed in a particular territory. In 1993, most brigades were renamed as Mountain troops given that the lack of heavy weapons made it organizationally pointless to list them as infantry or motorized. In addition, Bosnian terrain favored light infantry over armored and mechanized formations.

Corps

Bosnian General Staff

Corps commanders

Bosnian War

Main article: Bosnian War

1992

In 1992, 70% of Bosnia was under JNA (Yugoslav People's Army), and then later VRS (Bosnian Serb Army), control. Sarajevo was under siege. The ARBiH had defended Sarajevo with light weaponry. The army was surrounded and the transfer of supplies was hard, if not impossible.

1993

1993 saw no major changes in the front lines against Serbs. Instead, this year marked the start of the Croat-Bosniak war in Central Bosnia and in Herzegovina, notably the Mostar region. Pressured and contained by heavily armed Serb forces in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia, Croat forces - HVO (Croatian Defence Council) shifted their focus from defending their parts of Bosnia from Serbs to trying to capture remaining territory held by Bosnian Army. It is widely believed that this was due to the Karađorđevo agreement reached between presidents Slobodan Miloševi and Franjo Tuđman to split Bosnia between Croatia and Serbia. In order to accomplish this Croatian forces would have to defeat the Bosnian Army, since the territory that they wanted was under Bosnian government control. HVO with great engagement from the Military of Republic of Croatia and material support from Serbs, attacked Bosniak civilian population in Herzegovina and in central Bosnia starting an ethnic cleansing of Bosniak populated territories (e.g. Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing). Vastly underequipped Bosnian forces, fighting on two fronts, were able to repel Croats and gain territory against them on every front. At this time, due to its geographic position, Bosnia was surrounded by Croat and Serb forces from all sides. There was no way to Import weapons or food. What saved Bosnia at this time was its vast Industrial complex (Steel and Heavy Industries) that was able to switch to military hardware production. After a short but bloody war and once Croats realized that their partnership with Serbs will not bring them any territorial gains they agreed to the US leadership's "Washington treaty" peace agreement. From that point on, Croat and Bosnian government forces continued to fight as allies against Serbs.

1994

A renewed alliance between HVO and ARBiH was agreed, with the objective of forming a strong force that could fight the much stronger and better equipped VRS. This was the time of frequent peace negotiations.

1995

Despite the loss of several enclaves, notably Srebrenica, 1995 was marked by HVO and ARBiH offensives and later by NATO intervention. The Croatian army, with cooperation from ARBiH and HVO, launched a series of operations: Flash, Summer '95, Storm and Mistral. In conjunction, Bosnian forces launched operations Sana and Una '95. Bosnian and Croat armies were on the offensive in this phase, captured entire western Bosnia, and the Serb capital Banja Luka was seriously threatened, until peace negotiations stopped further bloodshed.

In the period of August-December 1995, Serb forces were defeated and driven out of the majority of Croatia and western Bosnia, and the ethnic Serb population fled from these parts {{citation}}: Empty citation (help).

Following the second Markale massacre, NATO intervention was launched, which destroyed much of the VRS infrastructure in just a few days (Operation Deliberate Force). The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Accord.

Further reading

  • Hoare, Marko Attila, How Bosnia Armed, London: Saqi, 2004
  • Magas, Branka and Ivo Zanic, The War in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1991-1995, London: Frank Cass, 2001
  • Divjak, Jovan, Sarajevo, Mon Amour, Paris: Buchet Chastel, 2004
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