History of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina are in essence the same country. This country was first known as only Bosnia; the addition of Herzegovina did not occur until the late nineteenth century during the Austro-Hungarian occupation of the area. Bosnia and Herzegovina are in southern Europe, located on the Balkan Peninsula.

Ancient Bosnia

Bosnia had a peaceful indigenous people that inhabited the land in the neolithic age. During the Bronze age, this more peaceful people were replaced by the war-like Indo-Europeans called the Illyrians. Then, during the third and fourth centuries Celtic tribes moved through the area and mixed with the Illyrians. The mixed Celtic and Illyrian peoples battled the Romans and prevented Rome from annexing the area until the 9th century CE. Christianity arrived in Bosnia in the 1st century and had a sporadic following from then on.

Bosnia changing hands

The Bosnian area was conquered and reconquered many times in its history. Between the years 337 and 395, the empire split and the areas of Dalmatia and Pannonia became a part of the Western Roman Empire. In 455 the Ostrogoths conquered the area. In the following years, they were passed back and forth between the Alans and Huns. In approximately the 6th century, Emperor Justinian conquered the area and made it a part of the Byzantine Empire. Then the Slavs, a migratory people, invaded the Eastern Roman Empire and settled in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The power struggles in the area did not end with its early inhabitants, but continued through Medieval era and up through modern history. Bosnia and Herzegovina have only settled into a more peaceful history since achieving independence in 1992. In 1995 they laid the Constitutional framework of the Dayton Agreement and, since then, they have embarked upon state building efforts and progress within their own countries.