History of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Primary Documents

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EuroDocs > History of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Primary Documents


Antiquity through 1899

Greek traveler Strabo’s encyclopedia on the ancient world as he knew it. Section focusing specifically on the “war-mad” people of Illyria and Pannonia (parts of modern day Albania, Montenegro, Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Compiled by Lacus Curtius
(7 BC; English translations)
The Illyrian wars, an appendix to the book on the Macedonian wars, belong to the better preserved parts. They are a valuable source for the history of Illyricum, i.e., the northwestern Balkan peninsula.
From Livius
(2nd century AD; English translation)
The predominant aspects of the chronicle are Marcellinus' treatment of events in his native area of Illyricum and of Constantinople itself [including the reigns of Anastasius, Justin and Justinian]...The chronicle is an important source of information for the successive invasions of the Huns (422, 441, 442, 447, 452), Ostrogoths (478, 480) and Bulgars (499, 502, 517)."
(378-534; Latin with English translation; ebook)
”It is a manual about how to be a Byzantine emperor… It includes a survey of the neighboring peoples, which would be of use for conducting the foreign policy of the Byzantine Empire"
HaithiTrust
(948; facsimile; English transcription)
Page includes the Charter of Ban Kulin, the earliest known document in Croatian.
(August 29, 1189; Croatian with English translation)
Collection of primary documents on foreign struggles in Bosnia
(1450-present; English transcriptions)
Treaty ending the Austro-Ottoman War. Established Bosnia as frontier of Ottoman Empire.
(January 26, 1699; English translation)
Searchable book-length travel reports digitized at the University of Michigan.
(19th to 20th century; hundreds of facsimiles in many languages)
Georgina Mary Muir (Mackenzie) Sebright's travel account describing late 19th century Serbia and the Balkan Peninsula, including Bosnia.
From University of Michigan Library Digital Collections.
(1877; English transcription)
Ended Russian-Ottoman war of 1877-8.
Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro receive independence from the Ottoman Empire (previously had autonomous status).
Bulgaria, Bosnia, and Herzegovina gained autonomy.
Turkish troops withdraw from Bulgaria and Russia.
English translation available here.
(19 February (3 March) 1878; modern Russian translation)
Treaty following the Russo-Turkish war. This excerpt establishes Austro-Hungarian control of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(July 13, 1878; English)

Kingdom of Yugoslavia and WWII (1900-1945)

Collection of historical documents on recent Yugoslav history, especially in relation to Russia.
(Russian)
By Mary Edith Durham. A book of her travels including Montenegro, Serbia, and other lands, during the time of Austrian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(1904; English)
M. Edith Durham's account of travel describing early 20th century Balkan Peninsula.
From University of Michigan Library Digital Collections.
(1905; English transcription)
Treaty in which the Bosnian Crisis was resolved.
(February 26, 1909; English)
Documenting events from before Sarajevo until after Versailles.
(pre-1914 to post-1918; translations and transcriptions)
A collection of primary documents from the Internet Modern History Sourcebook.
(1914-1918; transcriptions and translations)
Interactive map, browse cases geographically.
The cases
Includes selected transcriptions and court decision documents.
List of judgements, case outcomes
(1918-1992; English transcriptions, documents)
Map of the Balkans as they were organized at the end of World War I, after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
(1918; zoomable map)
By M. EDITH DURHAM. "The tale of the plots and counterplots through which I lived in my many years of Balkan travel, seems worth the telling. Events which were incomprehensible at the time have since been illumined by later developments." Includes Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania.
(1920; English transcription)
Maps of concentration camps, division, and invasion routes in Yugoslavia.
(1933-1943; English facsimiles)
Photos from WWII Yugoslavia.
(1939-1945; Serbian facsimiles, English maps)
Chronicle of crimes committed during the Holocaust in Croatia
Provided courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
(1941-1945; images, videos, transcriptions, and commentaries)
Website includes over 94,000 pages of digitized German microfilm documents, such as war record books, from National Archive Washington.
Also includes photos from WWII in Yugoslavia.
(1941-1946; photos, German facsimiles, Bosnian interface)
Resolution of Muslim conference condemning persecutions against Muslims.
(August 14, 1941; Bosnian)
(1945; Bosnian facsimiles)
(1945; Bosnian facsimiles)
Photos of people killed by communists in Kragujevac.
(1945; images, Bosnian captions)

Socialist Yugoslavia (1945–1992)

  • Foreign relations between the Bosnia and the US
Documents from US State Department and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952-1954
1955-1957
1958-1960
1961-1963
1964-1968
1969-1972
1973-1976
(1945-1976; English transcriptions)
Declassified CIA documents from Cold War Era Hard Target Analysis.
(3 November 1958; PDF facsimiles)
Collection of documents on the short lived republic liberated by anti-fascist resistance in Bosnia and Croatia. Existed from November 1942 to January 1943.
(1965; transcriptions)
Photographs from the JDC Archives.
(1980s, 1990s; images, English interface)
Includes records from National Security Council meetings on the conflict in Bosnia. Also includes Bosnia-related intelligence reports.
(1990-1995; English facsimiles)
  • UN Resolutions Concerning Yugoslavia
Resolutions concerning breakup of Yugoslavia.
Report of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
(February 29, 1992, English)

Independence and Bosnian War (1992–1995)

Videos include war, refugees, grave exhumation attempts and the collapse of the Geneva Peace Plan
Compiled by AP Archives
(1990's; English interface with videos in various languages)
42 accounts of the Srebrenica massacre
From Remembering Srebrenica
(1992-1995; English transcriptions)
Peace agreement calling a ceasefire in Bosnian war.
(March 1, 1994; English)
The constitution of one of the political entities in Bosnia Herzegovina.
(June  24,  1994; English translation)
Archive courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Includes videos of eyewitness testimonies.
(Transcriptions, videos)
Documents from 1993-1995 detail circumstances surrounding genocide in Srebrenica, including exchanges between UN headquarters and UN forces regarding safe zones.
Click on the document name (e.g. "Document 1") to view the document facsimile.
(1993-1995; English transcriptions)
This report documents the August 5, 1993 proceedings of the first in a series of RAND seminars entitled "Lesser Regional Crises/Peace Enforcement."
(1993; English)
From the DeGreorio Collection of Antiquities come photographs especially of the devastations of war
(1993- ; photos)
Photographs from the Bosnian genocide.
(1994-1995; photos, English captions)
From the project, A Day That Shook the World, which "recalls the days of the 20th century that proved to be era-defining and pivotal in the course of modern history."
Coproduction of British Pathe and BBC
(1994; English; videos)
"Information and documents are from Helsinki Human Rights Watch, International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, United Nations Special Committees for War Crimes in former Yugoslavia, and other international organizations and sources including referenced articles from newspapers."
(1995-2000; English; photographs and transcriptions)
Speech and letter calling upon the United Nations to act following the Tuzla massacre.
(25 May 1995; transcription)
(25 May 1995; transcription)
Film including footage and firsthand account of the "worst case of genocide in Europe since World War II."
Made by Thirteen: Media with Impact
(1995; film; English)
Article written a mere 2 weeks after 320 UN troops were taken captive by Bosnian Serbs
From the archives of The New York Times
(June 1995; English)
Agreement for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(21 November to 14 December 1995; PDF transcription)
U.S. Diplomacy and the Bosnia Peace Process 1995
(1995; English; PDFs)

Modern Day Bosnia & Herzegovina (1995-present)

Congressional hearing on the decision to ship arms from Iran to Bosnia.
(30 May 1996; transcription)
Congressional hearing on the progress of the NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(1 August 1996; transcription)
An inside account of Operation Joint Endeavor
(1996; English facsimile)
Forensic reports on violence and humanitarian response in Bosnia Herzegovina.
Includes findings (1997-1998) and follow-up consultation reports (1999) from exhumations at over 500 sites and sub-sites across the country.
(1997-1999; English, with some Bosnian translations)
Cooperation agreement meant to improve relations between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Republika Srpska.
(28 February 1997; transcription)
(3 June 1999; English transcription)
National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(Serbo-Croat with English translation; 1999)
Agreement preparing the way for Bosnian inclusion in the EU.
(June 16, 2008; English)
Interview. "Bosnian President Haris Silajdzic says the arrest of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic obscures a more important issue - that his "ethnic cleansing" project is still 'thriving.'"
BBC News
(28 July 2008; English transcription)
Documents from the trial of Prlić and other Croatian leaders for war crimes.
(May 29, 2013; English)
News report on the trial of former Bosnian Serb leader, who was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment
(2016; footage; English)

Legal Documents & Constitutions

Collection of Bosnian Laws.
Statutes, criminal and civil codes, and other legal materials.
A portal of the BYU Law School.
Library of Congress guide to constitutional, legal, and government documents.
Constitutions of the Yugoslavs
(German)
Includes Constitution of Republika Srpska with amendments (28 February 1992).
(Serbian)

Maps, Newspapers, and Other Collections

Bosnian page of the World Documents Library.
(photos; facsimiles)
Collection of peace agreements entered into by Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(English)
Basic texts, communiques, press releases, and other documents.
(Transcriptions, video, and audio)
Database of interviews with Jewish people from Bosnia.
Includes facsimiles of official documents.
Browse by family name, city.
Advanced search here.
(photos, English translations, Bosnian facsimiles)
Collection of historical maps of Europe.
(facsimiles; Hungarian)
Bosnia and Herzegovina government population data and statistics.
(Bosnian)
Database of 20 newspapers out of Bosnia as well as the Balkan region
(Sarajevo, English)
Dozens of country, city, and historical maps of Bosnia and Herzegovina
From the University of Texas Libraries
Collection of historical maps of Bosnia.
(facsimiles)
Websites published by political parties, NGOs and activist groups, cultural collectives, artists, historians, etc.
Collected by the Ivy-Plus Libraries Confederation.
(2018 to the present; archived websites in Bosnian)



EuroDocs > History of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Primary Documents



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Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
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