It's 1991 and the Soviet Union is fracturing. And down here, another communist party is failing. Yugoslavia, a federation of six countries is ripping itself apart. Their economy is in ruin and they are replacing communism with nationalism. The kind that thrives on focusing on ethnic and religious differences. By the end of 1991, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia have all declared independence. Macedonia is allowed to leave peacefully, but Slovenia and Croatia fight wars to be independent from Yugoslavia. And then you have Serbia, populated primarily by Christian Serbs and they were not going to let Yugoslavia fully fall apart. Together with Montenegro, they attempt to become the successor state to Yugoslavia. After all, it was they who held the most power in Yugoslavia and who comprised the majority of the Yugoslav army. They didn't want independent states. They wanted to hold on to their majority, to their power. Another country in this crumbling federation was the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Almost half of this country were Bosnian Muslims called Bosniaks and about a third were Christian Serbs, similar to the Christian Serbs living up here but living in Bosnia. The other 17% were Croats. For a long time, these groups had lived side by side in relative peace. They had a common ideology, communism, the idea of Yugoslavia. But as all these new countries were being created, no one wanted to end up in a new nation controlled by the other side. So it's late 1991 and a largely Croat region declares itself an independent state from Bosnia. It wasn't recognized internationally. While some Croat leaders want to secede from the country entirely, they first agree to cooperate with the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, acting like a state within a state. The next year, Bosnia holds an independence vote. 63% of the population turns out and the results are that 99% of the voters say yes, they want to be independent from Yugoslavia. These numbers imply that it was mostly Bosniaks that voted with the Bosnian Serbs boycotting the vote, as most were against becoming a minority in a new Bosnia. So after the independence vote passed, the Bosnian Serbs declared their own state within the borders of Bosnia. It was called Republika Srpska. No one recognized this new self-declared country besides one, and it was the one that mattered. Serbia and Montenegro now had this leader, an important part of this story. His name was Slobodan Milosevic. He recognizes the new Serb state within Bosnia and this marks the start of the Bosnian War. Hey, before I dive into this, I just need to tell you that we don't have a sponsor for today because it's sort of hard to find sponsors for videos like this. Luckily, the subscribers over at Nebula help make these videos possible. We publish our videos there every week, a week early. So our next week's video about Antarctica, one of my favorite videos we've ever made ever, it's freaking beautiful, is up now on Nebula. You can go watch it. It's $2.50 a month and it helps support us making videos like this. I'll give more detail on that at the end of the video. For now, let's dive into this. Now, before we go on, we have to look back up here at Serbia, this leader, Milosevic. This guy was a hyper nationalist. He made his career stirring up ethnic tensions between Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks. So he's seen all of this as a good thing, as an opportunity to further his vision of creating a new greater Serbian nation across the former Yugoslavia. And remember, Serbia is where the capital of the former Yugoslavia was. The Yugoslav army is dominated by Serbs. So Milosevic is able to direct this professional army to launch an offensive to help the Serbians in Bosnia secure their new claimed territory. To fight back, the Bosniaks and Croats form an alliance to protect their own chances of independence. But Serbs have this large professional army on their side. It's much more powerful and it quickly surrounds the Bosnian capital city, positioning tanks, artillery and snipers on the hills around the city, blocking roads and supply routes. Their goal is to take the capital as fast as possible and to end this war quickly. They start firing indiscriminately, attacking civilian populations with tanks, artillery and sniper fire, killing thousands in a siege that would last for years. And while this city was majority Bosniak, Croats and Serbs lived there too, but the Serbs pummeled it anyway. The UN quickly attempts to negotiate with Milosevic and Serb forces and they reach a quick agreement to withdraw the Yugoslav army. But what really happens is the Yugoslav army just gives up control of around 100,000 Serb troops who mostly continue fighting for the Serbs in Bosnia. As Yugoslav forces withdraw from Sarajevo as part of this agreement, the retreating forces are attacked by Bosniak troops. An unknown number of Yugoslav army personnel are killed. Bosniak commanders would later be charged with war crimes for this attack. As the war rages on, Serbs escalate the brutality all over the country, routinely identifying Bosniak homes, ransacking and burning them down, rounding up civilians, separating the men from the women and sending the men to concentration camps or executing them. Women are sent to prisons where they suffer abuses and human rights violations that I'm not going to describe here for how atrocious they are. You can go to the sources for details. The point here is that what the Serbs are doing is starting to look like an ethnic cleansing of the land they claimed. Meanwhile, the international community is hesitant to get too involved beyond cutting off the Yugoslav economy with sanctions. And the UN sends food, medicine and peacekeeping soldiers. They also cut off the flow of weapons from the outside, but the UN mostly sticks to its peacekeeping principles, not interfering in the conflict, not stopping the advance of the Serbs or the ongoing ethnic cleansing that has begun. But the situation in Bosnia is getting worse. The alliance between Bosniaks and Croats is falling apart. They start fighting each other. So now Bosniak forces are fighting the Serbs on one side and their former allies, the Croats on the other, a war within a war. As this new complicated stage of the conflict starts, Croat forces surround and begin an attack in the city of Mostar, a city that the two had once defended together back in 1992 against the Serbs. Croat forces capture large portions of the city. They blow up Bosniak mosques and murder Bosniak civilians in their wake. Things are getting bad and in response to these worsening conditions in Bosnia, the UN gets NATO forces to come to Bosnia to enforce a no-fly zone, basically committing them to shoot down any planes flying over the country. But this does nothing to stop the ethnic cleansing that continues to escalate on the ground. So the next year, the UN establishes safe zones across the country to protect civilians fleeing the war, particularly Bosniaks who are fleeing ethnic cleansing by the Serb armies. But the UN is only as powerful as its member nations are willing to let them be. And it turns out member nations are not willing to commit enough troops to actually fortify these safe zones. Serb forces regularly show up and attack the civilians in these safe zones. The United States, who is still trying to stay out of this war, helps negotiate peace between the Croats and the Bosniaks, thus ending the war within the war. They sign an agreement in March of 1994, re-establishing the Federal Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And most importantly, they renew their alliance to fight against the Serbs. Things slowly start to change in 1994. Bosnian Serbs decline a peace deal offered by the UN. In response, Milosevic, who's now feeling the consequences of being cut off from the global economy, now cuts ties with the Bosnian Serbs, refusing to send them more weapons and money. He wants to remain in power controlling his new Yugoslavia and hopes that cutting ties with the Bosnian Serbs who are doing all these terrible things will convince the West to begin trading with him again. So Milosevic's support is now gone, but even still, the Bosnian Serbs continue their campaign of horror, committing atrocities all over the country. But it's not just the Serbs. Bosniaks and Croats have also devolved into committing terrible violent human rights abuses against civilians. As the war rages on, NATO continues to enforce their no-fly zone, shooting down a Serb jet and getting more and more pulled into this conflict as Serb forces get bolder. Former President Jimmy Carter travels to Bosnia and negotiates a four-month ceasefire. It mostly holds with a few exceptions, but the ceasefire expires. They can't agree on a new one and the fighting starts again. Serb forces are able to steal heavy weapons from the UN and then use them to kill civilians. NATO continues to ramp up air strikes. Serb forces respond by taking UN peacekeepers hostage and shooting down a US F-16. Serb forces are feeling emboldened at this point. They have consistently held around 70% of the land in Bosnia and even pushed back UN peacekeepers without major consequences. And they see an opportunity for one last big offensive to end the war and secure all of this land. They just need to take over the UN safe zones, kick the UN out and then take Sarajevo with overwhelming force. So they target the town of Srebrenica, a UN safe zone where nearly 10,000 Bosniaks are seeking refuge. The UN had taken away their weapons. They were totally unarmed but protected by UN forces. On July 11th, 1995, 2,000 Serb soldiers march into the town. They meet no resistance from the UN soldiers who decided to maintain their neutrality and defend supplies and food for their refugees instead of the people themselves. But these UN soldiers were really just 370 Dutch soldiers. They were outmatched anyway. So some retreat, others are captured. The Serb forces then round up 8,000 Bosniak men and boys and then they systematically execute them, comprising the deadliest genocide on European soil since World War II. The surviving refugees, abandoned by the international community, flee the violence in Srebrenica. They fled to other areas, telling the stories of this mass murder. The UN would later report that all sides violated the Geneva Conventions, but described the Serb offensive as, quote, systematic ethnic cleansing. And at this point, the United States can no longer stand by and watch this happen. So in late 1995, the Clinton administration pursues a new strategy. They plan for the UN to eventually pull out of Bosnia. The US and NATO would keep them safe. The plan also ensured that the US would be allowed to send weapons to the Bosnian government. The US then proposed a peace plan, one that divided Bosnia into two entities, one for Serbs and one for Bosniaks. These regions would have some autonomy and Bosniaks would control 51% of the country. Both sides considered the US's plan, but the fighting continued. But now with the international community squarely on their side, the Croats conduct a successful offensive in 1995 that takes back significant land from the Serbs, and the Bosniaks gain momentum in the war. The balance of power is shifting, which forces the Serbs back to the negotiating table to cut their losses. After many rounds of negotiation and with the Serb forces seeing the tide of the war turn against them, the Dayton Accords are signed in December 1995 by the presidents of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. On behalf of all of us who would come to see this peace take hold. You have seen what war has wrought. You know what peace can bring. It was this agreement that eventually gave us these modern borders that divide the country into two. You have the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is composed mostly of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats. And over here, the Republika Srpska, composed mostly of Bosnian Serbs, which is somewhat independent with its own political system and its own judiciary, but it's still a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. So the war is over. Around 100,000 people died during this violence and many more millions were forced to flee from their homes, the majority of which were Bosnian Muslims. A United Nations criminal tribunal eventually tried 161 people for various war crimes committed during this war. Slobodan Milosevic went to jail for the rest of his life because of his crimes against humanity, his war crimes and genocide. He died before the end of his trial. The war reshaped this country, solidifying the ethnic divides that had been at the root of the conflict. Today, Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats live in relative peace, though the country faces new threats to that peace, threats that are facing lots of parts of the world, rising nationalism, a reverence for former Serb war criminals and more calls for Serb independence. The memory of the atrocities committed during this conflict still haunts this place, both in the physical scars on the land, but most powerfully in the bodies and minds of its people. This is a complicated story and there are lots of feelings about it. People watching this probably disagree with the way that I framed certain things, but we did our best to be fair and factual and to give the best overview we could. As I said earlier, finding sponsors for videos like this is difficult. Um, and I really value those who subscribe to Nebula. Nebula is a place where I put all of my videos ad-free and a week early. So next week's video is up now. It's $2.50 a month. When you subscribe, it directly goes to help us make more videos like this. And you don't just get access to all of my videos a week early, you also get access to a huge repository of amazing content, all of it ad-free, knowing that you are supporting these creators. Nebula is the platform that I watch. It's like all of my favorite YouTubers, but then they go into Nebula and they make stuff that is only on Nebula. Like Real Life Lore has this really awesome series called Modern Conflicts. Super deep dive into how war works in our day and age. Wendover Productions has some originals that you can't see anywhere else. It's only on Nebula. Polymatter has this series on China that's an original and these are really premium high quality series that you can only see on Nebula. It's incredibly affordable, $2.50 a month when you do the yearly thing, slightly more if you do the monthly thing. And and again, a portion of that subscription goes directly to us creators to allow us to continue to do this. I got to tell you about next week's video. It's about mapping Antarctica and it truly is one of the most ambitious videos I have ever made in my entire career. We tried all this new mapping techniques with this like paper globe that is then georeferenced with like Captain Cook's like journeys throughout the south. Like it truly is an amazing piece of work that we have been working on for a long time and it's live right now. You can go watch it right now on Nebula. So, more than ever, clicking the link in my description that goes to Nebula and signing up really helps to support this channel. I appreciate you all watching. I hope you enjoyed this map video. We're wanting to do more of these. I used to do these a lot back in the old days when I was at Vox and I sort of moved away from it and I want to get back to it. So, leave me a note here in the comments if this is a format that you like, what conflicts you think I should take on, what complex issues would benefit from being mapped in this way. So that's it. Lots going on around here. We're making lots of really, really interesting stories right now that you will be seeing in coming weeks or you'll be seeing a week early if you subscribe to Nebula. Okay, bye everyone.
An animated map of Europe shows the USSR fracturing into multiple countries. The USSR flag icon is replaced by the Russian flag icon, and flags of newly independent nations pop up along the western and southern borders.
"It's 1991 and the Soviet Union is fracturing."
Setting: Animated map of Europe and Asia — Bright, even lighting on the animation.
Text: "USSR", "1991 | JAN | FALL OF SOVIET UNION", "RUSSIA"
The map zooms into the Balkan region. The country of Yugoslavia is highlighted, and then an animation shows it breaking into six constituent republics, each with its flag and name labeled.
"And down here, another communist party is failing. Yugoslavia, a federation of six countries is ripping itself apart."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1991 | JAN | YUGOSLAVIA IS FALLING APART", "SR SLOVENIA", "SR CROATIA", "SR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA", "SR MONTENEGRO", "SR SERBIA", "SR MACEDONIA"
A montage of grainy, archival war footage is shown through a circular, scope-like frame. A soldier walks through a destroyed city street, tanks fire in a town, a line of tanks and soldiers is shown, and a building is on fire.
"Their economy is in ruin and they are replacing communism with nationalism. The kind that thrives on focusing on ethnic and religious differences."
Setting: War-torn city streets — Natural, daylight, but appears dim and grainy.
People (1):
• walking through rubble, wearing brown military jacket and military trousers, dark, medium length hair — bearded, serious expression
The animated map of Yugoslavia returns. The regions of Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia are colored in orange, green, and yellow respectively, separating them from the rest of the country.
"By the end of 1991, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia have all declared independence."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1991 | JAN | INDEPENDENCE WARS", "SR SLOVENIA", "SR CROATIA", "SR MACEDONIA"
On the map, the Macedonia flag icon moves away peacefully. Then, red explosive markers appear along the borders of Slovenia and Croatia, indicating conflict.
"Macedonia is allowed to leave peacefully, but Slovenia and Croatia fight wars to be independent from Yugoslavia."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1991 | JAN | INDEPENDENCE WARS"
The map highlights Serbia in red. Christian cross icons appear over the territory of Serbia to indicate the dominant religion.
"And then you have Serbia, populated primarily by Christian Serbs and they were not going to let Yugoslavia fully fall apart."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "SR SERBIA"
Montenegro is highlighted in yellow, and then an animated glowing line connects Serbia and Montenegro, indicating an alliance. Their combined territory remains red.
"Together with Montenegro, they attempt to become the successor state to Yugoslavia."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "SR SERBIA", "SR MONTENEGRO"
Animated lines radiate from Serbia to all other former Yugoslav republics. An icon for the Yugoslav People's Army appears and is linked to Serbia.
"After all, it was they who held the most power in Yugoslavia and who comprised the majority of the Yugoslav army."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "YUGOSLAV PEOPLE'S ARMY"
The animated lines on the map continue to pulse, showing Serbia's connection and influence over the region. The focus remains on the Yugoslav People's Army icon linked to Serbia.
"They didn't want independent states. They wanted to hold on to their majority, to their power."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "INDEPENDENCE WARS"
The map zooms in on Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is highlighted in blue. Its flag and name appear in the center.
"Another country in this crumbling federation was the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "SR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA"
On the map of Bosnia, icons appear representing the different ethnic and religious groups. A mosque icon for 'Bosniaks Muslims' and a cross icon for 'Serbs Christians' are shown with lines connecting them to different parts of the country.
"Almost half of this country were Bosnian Muslims called Bosniaks and about a third were Christian Serbs, similar to the Christian Serbs living up here but living in Bosnia."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "BOSNIAKS MUSLIMS", "SERBS CHRISTIANS"
A third icon, a checkered shield, appears on the map representing 'Croats'. The map then fragments into a mosaic of red, blue, and green areas, representing the intermingled populations of Serbs, Bosniaks, and Croats.
"The other 17% were Croats. For a long time, these groups had lived side by side in relative peace."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "CROATS", "BOSNIAKS", "SERBS", "CROATS"
The multi-colored map of Bosnia turns solid red, and a communist star icon with the word 'COMMUNISM' appears in the center. Similar icons then appear over the other Yugoslav republics.
"They had a common ideology, communism, the idea of Yugoslavia."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "COMMUNISM"
The communist star icons over Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia fade to grey, indicating the decline of communism in those regions, while the ones over Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia remain.
"But as all these new countries were being created, no one wanted to end up in a new nation controlled by the other side."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
The map of Bosnia is shown. A green area representing the Croat region highlights, and the flag of the 'Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia' appears, linked to this region.
"So it's late 1991 and a largely Croat region declares itself an independent state from Bosnia."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1991 | JAN | CROATIAN STATE DECLARES INDEPENDENCE", "REPUBLIC OF HERZEG-BOSNIA"
The map of Bosnia, with the Croat state of Herzeg-Bosnia still highlighted, is shown. The view then darkens and zooms in slightly, with a spotlight effect on the map.
"The next year Bosnia holds an independence vote."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Spotlight effect on the map.
Text: "1992 | FEB | BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM"
Text appears on the dark screen next to the map, showing the referendum results: '63% TURNOUT', '99.71%' for independence (green dot), and '0.29%' against (red dot). The map of Bosnia then turns fully blue, indicating the vote for independence.
"63% of the population turns out and the results are that 99% of the voters say yes, they want to be independent from Yugoslavia."
Setting: Animated graphic — Spotlight on map and text.
Text: "1992", "BOSNIAN INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM", "63% TURNOUT", "99.71%"
The map shows Bosnia as a newly independent state. Icons representing Bosniaks appear, indicating they were the primary voters. Archival footage shows people casting votes at a polling station.
"These numbers imply that it was mostly Bosniaks that voted with the Bosnian Serbs boycotting the vote, as most were against becoming a minority in a new Bosnia."
Setting: Animated map / Polling station — Even lighting on map, indoor fluorescent lighting for footage.
People (1):
• standing and sitting at a table, wearing dark clothing, various hair — focused on voting
Text: "1992 | MAR | BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA OFFICIALLY DECLARES INDEPENDENCE"
The map of Bosnia is shown. A large red area overlays the blue, representing the territory claimed by the Bosnian Serbs. The flag and name 'Republika Srpska' appear on this new red territory.
"So after the independence vote passed, the Bosnian Serbs declared their own state within the borders of Bosnia."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1992 | MAR | SERBS CREATE REPUBLIKA SRPSKA", "REPUBLIKA SRPSKA"
The map shows the newly formed Republika Srpska within Bosnia. The camera pans slightly to show Serbia and Montenegro to the east.
"No one recognized this new self-declared country besides one, and it was the one that mattered."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
The map highlights Serbia and Montenegro. A photo of Slobodan Milosevic appears in an octagonal frame over Serbia.
"Serbia and Montenegro now had this leader, an important part of this story. His name was Slobodan Milosevic."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
People (1):
• portrait photo, wearing dark suit, white shirt, dark tie, grey, short hair — stern, serious expression
Text: "SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC"
Animated lines connect Milosevic's portrait to Republika Srpska and Montenegro, showing his influence. The scene then cuts to a montage of intense war footage seen through a scope, including a soldier firing a rifle in a forest.
"He recognizes the new Serb state within Bosnia and this marks the start of the Bosnian War."
Setting: Animated map / Forest — Bright on map, overcast and dim in the forest.
People (1):
• crouched behind a tree, wearing military fatigues, not visible hair — obscured
A fast-paced montage of archival war footage. A blue and white armored vehicle drives through a crowd, a man holds up a framed picture, and the words 'BOSNIAN WAR' appear in a black box.
Setting: Urban area during conflict — Natural, overcast.
People (1):
• standing in a crowd, driving vehicle, wearing civilian and military attire, various hair — shouting, cheering, serious
Text: "BOSNIAN WAR"
The narrator, Johnny Harris, speaks directly to the camera. He is standing in a room that looks like a home studio, with lighting equipment and shelves in the background.
"Hey, before I dive into this, I just need to tell you that we don't have a sponsor for today because it's sort of hard to find sponsors for videos like this."
Setting: Home studio — Studio lighting, with a key light on the narrator.
People (1):
• standing, wearing light grey long-sleeved shirt and not visible, brown, short hair — bearded, serious but friendly expression, looking at camera
A screen capture of the Nebula streaming service website is shown, displaying thumbnails of various Johnny Harris videos. The narrator continues to speak in voiceover.
"Luckily, the subscribers over at Nebula help make these videos possible. We publish our videos there every week, a week early."
Setting: Nebula website — Digital screen glow.
Text: "Johnny Harris", "NEBULA.TV/JOHNNYHARRIS"
A montage of clips from another video about Antarctica is shown, including an animated globe, a 3D map of the continent, a historical photo of Ernest Shackleton, and an old hand-drawn map.
"So our next week's video about Antarctica, one of my favorite videos we've ever made ever, it's freaking beautiful, is up now on Nebula."
Setting: Antarctica (in video clips) — Varies with each clip.
People (1):
• portrait photo, wearing dark suit, dark, short hair — serious, looking at camera
Text: "NEBULA.TV/JOHNNYHARRIS", "Ernest Shackleton"
The narrator returns on screen, with a graphic overlay showing the Nebula subscription price. He gestures with his hands as he speaks.
"It's $2.50 a month and it helps support us making videos like this. I'll give more detail on that at the end of the video. For now, let's dive into this."
Setting: Home studio — Studio lighting.
People (1):
• standing, wearing light grey long-sleeved shirt and not visible, brown, short hair — earnest expression
Text: "$2.50/month", "NEBULA.TV/JOHNNYHARRIS"
The animated map returns, showing the different factions in Bosnia (Republika Srpska, Herzeg-Bosnia, Bosniaks) and the surrounding countries. The focus is on Slobodan Milosevic's portrait over Serbia.
"Now, before we go on, we have to look back up here at Serbia, this leader, Milosevic."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
People (1):
• portrait photo, wearing dark suit, grey hair — stern expression
Text: "SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC"
A montage of archival photos and clips of Slobodan Milosevic, seen through the scope-like frame. He is shown speaking at a rally and in a crowd, looking determined.
"This guy was a hyper nationalist. He made his career stirring up ethnic tensions between Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks."
Setting: Political rallies and meetings — Harsh, flash photography and indoor lighting.
People (1):
• speaking at a podium, wearing dark coat, grey, short hair — speaking intensely, mouth open
The animated map shows Milosevic's portrait with lines radiating to the Serb-controlled areas in Bosnia and Croatia. The map then highlights a large area encompassing Serbia, Montenegro, and Serb-held territories, representing the 'Greater Serbia' concept.
"So he's seen all of this as a good thing, as an opportunity to further his vision of creating a new greater Serbian nation across the former Yugoslavia."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
On the map, the icon for the Yugoslav People's Army is highlighted, and animated arrows show forces moving from Serbia into the Serb-controlled areas of Bosnia (Republika Srpska).
"The Yugoslav army is dominated by Serbs. So Milosevic is able to direct this professional army to launch an offensive to help the Serbians in Bosnia secure their new claimed territory."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1992 | APR | THE SIEGE OF SARAJEVO BEGINS", "YUGOSLAV PEOPLE'S ARMY"
A montage of archival footage shows armed civilians and soldiers in various settings, viewed through a scope. A group of men with rifles walk in a courtyard, another group pushes an armored vehicle up a grassy hill.
Setting: Various locations in Bosnia — Natural daylight.
People (1):
• walking, pushing a vehicle, wearing jackets, military-style shirts and jeans, trousers, various hair — serious, determined
The map shows the icons for the Bosniak army and the Croat HVO forces. A glowing line connects them, indicating an alliance against the red Serb-controlled territory.
"To fight back, the Bosniaks and Croats form an alliance to protect their own chances of independence."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "HERZEG-BOSNIA", "BOSNIAKS"
The map zooms into Sarajevo. Red dots representing Serb forces appear on the hills surrounding the city, and lines show the encirclement, cutting off roads.
"it quickly surrounds the Bosnian capital city, positioning tanks, artillery and snipers on the hills around the city, blocking roads and supply routes."
Setting: Animated map of Sarajevo — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "SARAJEVO"
A montage of archival footage shows the Siege of Sarajevo. Soldiers fire rifles in a forest. A view through a broken window shows destroyed buildings. An artillery piece fires. A sniper in a white snowsuit takes aim.
"Their goal is to take the capital as fast as possible and to end this war quickly. They start firing indiscriminately, attacking civilian populations with tanks, artillery and sniper fire,"
Setting: Sarajevo and surrounding areas — Overcast, natural light.
People (1):
• crouched in a snowy forest, wearing white snow camouflage suit, not visible hair — focused, aiming
More archival footage of the siege. A shell explodes on a hillside village. The view is through a scope.
"killing thousands in a siege that would last for years."
Setting: Hillside village near Sarajevo — Daylight, slightly hazy.
The animated map shows the UN icon appearing and lines connecting it to Milosevic's portrait and the Yugoslav Army icon, indicating negotiations.
"The UN quickly attempts to negotiate with Milosevic and Serb forces and they reach a quick agreement to withdraw the Yugoslav army."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1992 | APR | UN NEGOTIATES WITH YUGOSLAV FORCES", "UN"
On the map, the Yugoslav Army icon moves away, but its forces (represented by red dots) are transferred to the control of Republika Srpska.
"But what really happens is the Yugoslav army just gives up control of around 100,000 Serb troops who mostly continue fighting for the Serbs in Bosnia."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
The map animates the 'Yugoslav Army Column Incident', showing the Bosniak forces (blue dots) attacking the withdrawing Yugoslav forces (red dots) near Sarajevo.
"As Yugoslav forces withdraw from Sarajevo as part of this agreement, the retreating forces are attacked by Bosniak troops."
Setting: Animated map near Sarajevo — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1992 | APR | YUGOSLAV ARMY COLUMN INCIDENT"
The map shows the war continuing. The narrator's tone is grim.
"As the war rages on, Serbs escalate the brutality all over the country."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
A montage of harrowing archival footage: a line of men being marched, a high-angle shot of a destroyed town, a military truck driving past, women and children being loaded onto a bus, and a woman crying in anguish.
"routinely identifying Bosniak homes, ransacking and burning them down, rounding up civilians, separating the men from the women and sending the men to concentration camps or executing them."
Setting: Various locations in Bosnia — Natural daylight.
People (1):
• walking in a line, boarding a bus, wearing various civilian clothes and skirts, trousers, various hair — distressed, crying, fearful
A close-up archival shot of a military general, Ratko Mladić, speaking to a crowd of distraught-looking women and elderly men.
"The point here is that what the Serbs are doing is starting to look like an ethnic cleansing of the land they claimed."
Setting: Srebrenica area — Natural daylight.
People (2):
• standing, addressing a crowd, wearing camouflage military uniform, grey, short hair — speaking, stern expression
• standing in a crowd, wearing civilian clothes, various hair — fearful, listening intently
The animated map shows the UN icon present, but not directly intervening in the conflict between the factions. The borders of Serbia and Montenegro (Yugoslavia) flash, indicating sanctions.
"Meanwhile, the international community is hesitant to get too involved beyond cutting off the Yugoslav economy with sanctions."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
On the map, icons for food, medicine, and a dove appear under the UN symbol, showing humanitarian aid. The map of Bosnia is then covered by a black overlay with a 'no weapons' symbol, indicating an arms embargo.
"And the UN sends food, medicine and peacekeeping soldiers. They also cut off the flow of weapons from the outside, but the UN mostly sticks to its peacekeeping principles,"
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1992 | JUL | THE UN INTERVENES"
The map shows the red Serb territory expanding slightly, pushing against the blue and green areas, while the UN icon remains static, not stopping the advance.
"not interfering in the conflict, not stopping the advance of the Serbs or the ongoing ethnic cleansing that has begun."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
The glowing line of alliance between the Bosniak and Croat forces on the map breaks. The green Croat territory begins to clash with the blue Bosniak territory, with animated conflict markers appearing between them.
"But the situation in Bosnia is getting worse. The alliance between Bosniaks and Croats is falling apart. They start fighting each other."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1992 | OCT | THE CROAT-BOSNIAK WAR BEGINS"
The map zooms in on the city of Mostar. Green dots (Croat forces) surround the city, which is shown as a yellow dot. Archival footage shows explosions in a city and a building on fire.
"As this new complicated stage of the conflict starts, Croat forces surround and begin an attack in the city of Mostar, a city that the two had once defended together back in 1992 against the Serbs."
Setting: Animated map / Mostar — Bright daylight.
Text: "MOSTAR"
The map shows the NATO icon appearing alongside the UN icon. The entire territory of Bosnia is then covered in a black overlay.
"Things are getting bad and in response to these worsening conditions in Bosnia, the UN gets NATO forces to come to Bosnia to enforce a no-fly zone,"
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1993 | APR | NATO ENFORCES NO FLY ZONE", "NATO"
The black no-fly zone overlay remains, but underneath, the red Serb territory continues to show conflict and pressure on the other areas, indicating the ground war is unaffected.
"But this does nothing to stop the ethnic cleansing that continues to escalate on the ground."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
White circles appear on the map over several cities (Bihac, Tuzla, Srebrenica, Zepa, Sarajevo, Gorazde), designating them as UN Safe Zones.
"So the next year, the UN establishes safe zones across the country to protect civilians fleeing the war, particularly Bosniaks who are fleeing ethnic cleansing by the Serb armies."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1993 | JUN | UN ESTABLISHES SAFE ZONES", "SREBRENICA"
Archival footage shows a UN peacekeeper in a blue helmet speaking to the camera, followed by shots of a snowy graveyard with many coffins and a somber-looking soldier.
"But the UN is only as powerful as its member nations are willing to let them be. And it turns out member nations are not willing to commit enough troops to actually fortify these safe zones."
Setting: Bosnia — Natural, overcast light.
People (1):
• being interviewed, wearing camouflage jacket, blond, short hair — speaking, serious
Archival footage shows soldiers in trenches firing rifles, and another group of soldiers behind a makeshift stone wall.
"Serb forces regularly show up and attack the civilians in these safe zones."
Setting: Combat zone in Bosnia — Natural daylight.
People (1):
• crouched, in firing positions, wearing camouflage uniforms and military trousers, short, dark hair — focused, aiming
An animated map of the United States appears. Icons for the Croat (HVO) and Bosniak forces appear on the map, along with a portrait of Bill Clinton, indicating US-led negotiations.
"The United States, who is still trying to stay out of this war, helps negotiate peace between the Croats and the Bosniaks, thus ending the war within the war."
Setting: Animated map of the USA — Bright, even lighting.
People (1):
• portrait photo, wearing dark suit, white shirt, red tie, grey, short hair — smiling slightly
Text: "1994 | MAR | CROAT-BOSNIAK WAR ENDS", "BILL CLINTON"
The map returns to Bosnia. The green Croat areas and blue Bosniak areas merge into a single blue entity, the 'Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina'. A glowing line of alliance reappears between them, now directed at the red Serb territory.
"They sign an agreement in March of 1994, re-establishing the Federal Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And most importantly, they renew their alliance to fight against the Serbs."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "FEDERATION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA"
On the map, the UN offers a peace deal to Republika Srpska, which is rejected. In response, Milosevic's icon over Serbia animates to show him cutting the support lines to the Bosnian Serbs.
"Bosnian Serbs decline a peace deal offered by the UN. In response, Milosevic, who's now feeling the consequences of being cut off from the global economy, now cuts ties with the Bosnian Serbs,"
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1994 | MAR | SERBS DECLINE PEACE DEAL", "MILOSEVIC CUTS OFF BOSNIAN SERBS"
The map shows Republika Srpska isolated from Serbia's direct support. The narrator's tone is grave, emphasizing the continued violence despite the political shift.
"So Milosevic's support is now gone, but even still, the Bosnian Serbs continue their campaign of horror, committing atrocities all over the country."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
The map shows the three main factions (Republika Srpska, Herzeg-Bosnia, Bosniaks) with green dots appearing over the Bosniak and Croat icons, indicating their involvement in atrocities as well.
"But it's not just the Serbs. Bosniaks and Croats have also devolved into committing terrible violent human rights abuses against civilians."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
On the blacked-out no-fly zone map, a plane icon from Republika Srpska is shown being shot down by a NATO plane icon. The animation suggests increasing NATO involvement.
"As the war rages on, NATO continues to enforce their no-fly zone, shooting down a Serb jet and getting more and more pulled into this conflict as Serb forces get bolder."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Digital animation lighting.
The map turns white, representing a ceasefire. A portrait of Jimmy Carter appears in the center, indicating his role as a negotiator.
"Former President Jimmy Carter travels to Bosnia and negotiates a four-month ceasefire. It mostly holds with a few exceptions,"
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
People (1):
• portrait photo, wearing dark suit, white, short hair — smiling, older
Text: "1994 | NOV | JIMMY CARTER NEGOTIATES CEASEFIRE"
The white ceasefire map cracks and shatters, revealing the colored conflict map underneath. The fighting animations resume.
"but the ceasefire expires. They can't agree on a new one and the fighting starts again."
Setting: Animated map of the Balkans — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "1995 | FEB | SERB OFFENSIVE ESCALATES"
On the map, an animation shows weapons being taken from a UN base by Republika Srpska forces.
"Serb forces are able to steal heavy weapons from the UN and then use them to kill civilians."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
The map shows NATO planes striking Serb positions. In response, the Serb icon 'captures' the UN icon. A US F-16 icon is shown being shot down.
"NATO continues to ramp up air strikes. Serb forces respond by taking UN peacekeepers hostage and shooting down a US F-16."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "US F-16"
The map shows the large red area of Republika Srpska, dominating the territory of Bosnia. The narrator explains their confidence.
"Serb forces are feeling emboldened at this point. They have consistently held around 70% of the land in Bosnia and even pushed back UN peacekeepers without major consequences."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
The map highlights the UN safe zones as targets for the Serb forces. Animated arrows show their planned offensive.
"And they see an opportunity for one last big offensive to end the war and secure all of this land. They just need to take over the UN safe zones, kick the UN out and then take Sarajevo with overwhelming force."
Setting: Animated map of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bright, even lighting.
A montage of archival footage shows the humanitarian crisis. UN vehicles are present among civilians. Medical personnel rush a wounded person on a stretcher into an ambulance. An explosion occurs in a city street.
Setting: A UN safe zone, likely Sarajevo — Natural daylight.
People (1):
• running, moving urgently, wearing white medical coats, civilian clothes, various hair — panicked, urgent
The map zooms in on the UN safe zone of Srebrenica, highlighting it as the target.
"So they target the town of Srebrenica, a UN safe zone where nearly 10,000 Bosniaks are seeking refuge."
Setting: Animated map of Srebrenica — Bright, even lighting.
Text: "SREBRENICA"
Archival footage shows Serb soldiers marching into a town. UN soldiers in blue helmets are seen standing by, not intervening, as civilians crowd the streets.
"On July 11th, 1995, 2,000 Serb soldiers march into the town. They meet no resistance from the UN soldiers who decided to maintain their neutrality"
Setting: Srebrenica — Bright, harsh daylight.
People (1):
• standing guard, wearing camouflage vests and military trousers, short hair — watching, passive
Text: "1995 | JUL | SERBS MARCH ON SREBRENICA"
A horrifying montage of archival footage: Serb soldiers laughing, crowds of refugees at a base, civilians being herded, and buses driving away. The footage implies the separation of men and the subsequent massacre.
"The Serb forces then round up 8,000 Bosniak men and boys and then they systematically execute them, comprising the deadliest genocide on European soil since World War II."
Setting: Srebrenica — Natural daylight.
People (1):
• standing, interacting, wearing military uniforms, short hair — laughing, talking
A close-up shot of Ratko Mladić speaking to a crowd of terrified civilians, attempting to reassure them falsely. Subtitles translate his words.
"Don't be afraid. Nobody will harm you"
Setting: Srebrenica — Natural, dappled light.
People (1):
• addressing crowd, wearing camouflage military uniform, grey, short hair — speaking with a false sense of calm
Text: "Don't be afraid. Nobody will harm you"