The siege of Sarajevo, lasting from 1992 to 1996 during the Bosnian War, remains the longest siege of a capital city in modern warfare. For nearly four years, residents of the cosmopolitan Yugoslav city found themselves trapped in a hellish landscape of destruction and deprivation as Bosnian Serb forces pummeled the city with artillery and sniper fire. The siege exemplifies both the worst of human cruelty and the incredible resilience of civilians enduring unimaginable hardship.
Origins of a Tragedy
The seeds of the Bosnian War and the siege of Sarajevo were planted long before the first shots were fired. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, formed after World War II, unified six republics under the slogan "Brotherhood and Unity." Yet historical tensions simmered beneath the surface, particularly between Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats, and Bosnian Muslims.
As communism crumbled across Eastern Europe in the late 1980s, long-suppressed nationalist sentiments reemerged in Yugoslavia. In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia both declared independence, leading to brief conflicts with Yugoslav forces. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the most diverse Yugoslav republic, Bosnian Serb leaders opposed a referendum for independence supported by Bosniaks and Croats. When the referendum passed and Bosnia declared independence in March 1992, Bosnian Serbs, backed by neighboring Serbia, took up arms to secure Serb-majority territories.
Encircling the City
As war erupted across Bosnia, Serb forces set their sights on the republic‘s capital Sarajevo, a city of 525,000 people known for its diverse mix of East and West. Once host to the 1984 Winter Olympics, Sarajevo found itself transformed into a battlefield overnight.
In April 1992, the Bosnian Serb army, under the command of General Ratko Mladic, took positions in the hills surrounding Sarajevo. Their goal was to seize control of the city from the newly formed but outgunned Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. An estimated 13,000 – 18,000 Bosnian Serb troops, armed with hundreds of artillery pieces, tanks, mortars and heavy machine guns, encircled the city in a stranglehold.
On May 2, 1992, Serb forces blockaded the city, cutting off all utilities and humanitarian aid. Food, medicine and other basic necessities quickly began to run out for the 350,000 – 450,000 civilians still inside Sarajevo. "The siege of Sarajevo began like a nightmare," recalled one survivor. "We woke up and everything had changed. There was no way out."
A Rain of Terror
Over the next 44 months, Serb forces subjected Sarajevo to a constant barrage of shelling and sniper fire in a campaign of terror against the civilian population. An estimated 329 shell impacts struck the city per day in 1992, though on some days shelling exceeded 3,000 impacts. Snipers took positions in the surrounding hills and high-rises, turning streets and bridges into deadly shooting galleries.
"It was a deliberate strategy to terrorize the population," explained Paul Williams, a legal scholar at American University who advised the Bosnian government. "The targets were not military, but civilian objects – homes, hospitals, schools, marketplaces. It was designed to make the city unlivable."
Everyday activities became a game of Russian roulette. Collecting spring water or UN aid packages meant dashing through "Sniper Alley." Going to work or school required navigating a maze of debris and shell craters. There was no electricity, heat, or running water. People chopped up furniture, books and even shoes to burn for warmth and cooking. By December 1993, average daily caloric intake had fallen below 1,000 calories, leading to severe malnutrition.
Two massacres at the Markale marketplace exemplified the brutality of the siege. On February 5, 1994, a mortar shell struck the crowded open-air market, killing 68 civilians and wounding over 140 others waiting to buy scarce food. On August 28, 1995, another shell hit the same market, killing 37 and injuring 90.
Survival and Resistance
Despite the constant onslaught, Sarajevans displayed remarkable resilience and ingenuity. Civilians grew rooftop gardens to supplement meager humanitarian aid. An underground tunnel dug beneath the UN-controlled airport allowed for arms and limited supplies to reach the city. Makeshift schools operated in basements, theaters held performances by candlelight, and residents found small ways to maintain a shred of normalcy.
"The cafes are full and the children know how to sing songs about the war," observed visitor Susan Sontag in 1993. "There is, among the citizens of Sarajevo, an impressive will to carry on with life, or at least to carry on the simulacrum of life."
Humor served as another form of defiance. Residents joked about the "Sarajevo diet" and "Bosnian fast food" – whatever could be scraped together. Satire mocked the absurdities of war, like the "Sarajevo Survival Guide" with tips like "Drink only bottled water (since it does not exist, you won‘t have a problem)" and "Do not go to the toilet (if you eventually find a toilet, do not pull the chain. Water is more precious than gold)."
Aftermath and Lessons
After repeated failed negotiations, 1995 finally brought a turning point in the siege. A Bosnian Serb shell striking a marketplace in Tuzla in May, followed by the second Markale massacre in August, spurred NATO airstrikes against Serb positions. Coupled with ground offensives by Bosnian and Croatian forces, the intervention brought the warring parties to the negotiating table. The resulting Dayton Peace Agreement in December 1995 finally ended the war.
The official lifting of the siege came on February 29, 1996, though a NATO-led peacekeeping force remained to oversee the ceasefire and begin the rebuilding process. In total, the siege had lasted 1,425 days. An estimated 13,952 people had been killed, including 5,434 civilians. 35,000 had been wounded. Nearly every building in Sarajevo incurred damage, with 35,000 completely destroyed.
Wartime destruction was only part of the toll. Sarajevo and Bosnia as a whole experienced drastic demographic shifts due to ethnic cleansing and displacement during the war. The prewar 1991 census counted Sarajevo as 50% Bosniak, 25% Serb, and 6% Croat. By 2002, the city was 79.6% Bosniak, 11.2% Serb, and 6.7% Croat. Schools and hospitals remain largely segregated. An estimated 40-60% of residents suffer from symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Yet there are also signs of hope and recovery. Sarajevo‘s famous cultural institutions like the National Theater and City Hall have been painstakingly restored. Grassroots initiatives work to build cross-community ties, especially among youth with no memory of the war. Each new glass skyscraper, reopened tram line, and lively cafe scene displays the enduring spirit of a city that refused to die.
A series of war crimes trials, including that of General Ratko Mladic, have attempted to deliver some measure of justice for the siege‘s victims. In 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia found Mladic guilty of war crimes and genocide for his role in the siege and other atrocities like the Srebrenica massacre. He was sentenced to life in prison.
As a historian, I believe the siege of Sarajevo offers vital lessons for understanding not only the dissolution of Yugoslavia but the cruelty of modern warfare. It demonstrates the savagery that can arise when virulent nationalism, historic grievances, and territorial ambitions combust. The failure of UN peacekeepers and the international community to stop the strangulation of a city for 44 months remains a black mark and a warning for the future.
At the same time, the siege is a testament to human endurance and the unbreakable spirit of a community under unimaginable duress. "Sarajevo has been the exception; people valued being a citizen of Sarajevo more than being a Bosniak, Croat, or Serb," observed lawyer Paul Williams. "Sarajevo shows it is possible for communities to resist the poison of ethnic politics and nationalism even in very difficult circumstances."
Today, Sarajevo still bears scars of the siege, both visible and psychological. But it also embodies the potential for healing and reconciliation after unfathomable trauma. As the world faces the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine and other conflicts, the lessons of Sarajevo‘s siege are as urgent as ever – a cautionary tale about the human cost of war and a timeless tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit.
Sources:
- Andreas, Peter. Blue Helmets and Black Markets: The Business of Survival in the Siege of Sarajevo. Cornell University Press, 2008.
- Demick, Barbara. Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood. Spiegel & Grau, 2012.
- Donia, Robert J. Sarajevo: A Biography. University of Michigan Press, 2006.
- Reid, Jullie A. "The Bosnian War." Oxford Bibliographies, 2021. Link
- "Sarajevo 1992-1995: Looking Back after 20 Years." BBC, 9 Apr. 2012. Link
- "Siege of Sarajevo." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Link
Data:
| Pre-siege (1991 census) | Siege aftermath (1998) |
|————–|———–|
| Sarajevo population: 527,049 | Sarajevo population: ~349,000 |
| Bosniak: 50.4% | Bosniak: 79.6% |
| Serb: 25.5% | Serb: 11.2% |
| Croat: 6.5% | Croat: 6.7% |
| Yugoslav: 13% | – |
| Other: 4.6% | Other: 2.5% |
| Siege statistics | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1,425 days (April 5, 1992 – February 29, 1996) |
| Besieging forces | ~13,000-18,000 Bosnian Serb troops |
| Bosnian gov‘t defenders | ~70,000 soldiers |
| Civilians killed | 5,434 |
| Military deaths | 6,137 ARBiH soldiers, 2,241 Serb soldiers |
| Total killed | 13,952 (estimate) |
| Injured | ~35,000 |
| Buildings damaged/destroyed | ~100,000 |
| Daily shell impacts | Average ~329 (in 1992), peak of 3,777 on July 22, 1993 |
