Chapter 1 - Introduction

Summary

The purpose of this chapter is fourfold: first, to describe the history of Mostar until recent times; secondly, to describe the events of the wartime; third, to describe the physical damage; and finally, to describe the origins and purpose of the European Union Administration. The author is not an expert on the history and politics of the area, and this account is cursory. Many books are available which treat these matters in depth, but it is probably helpful nonetheless for the general reader to have a short introduction.

Mostar Before the War

Roman remains abound in west Hercegovina, and Christianisation was given impetus by the Council of Salona (now Solin, near Split) in 533, when the diocese of Sarsentium (perhaps at Cim, a suburb of Mostar) was founded. The leadership of the Church was taken by the Franciscans in the Middle Ages. Their position as defenders of the Christians was strengthened as a result of their persecution by the Ottomans in the sixteenth century. By this point, many local people had converted to the faith of the conquerors, and they naturally became a resented elite. This sort of long past conflict is once again much discussed, and now appropriated by politicians to define the identity of the group over which they wish to claim leadership. I was told by some people that the Bishopric was only revived in the early nineteenth century, and strengthened by the Austrians; the Franciscans had been closer to the people than the supposedly Hapsburg bishops, functioning as parish priests for centuries.