How Did a Small Country Become the Place Where Empires Met?

A stone bridge built for an Ottoman sultan. A street corner where two shots helped start a world war. Medieval tombstones left by a kingdom that vanished. Rome, Byzantium, Hungary, the Ottomans and the Habsburgs all ruled Bosnia and Herzegovina or fought over it. How did a small, mountainous country in the western Balkans end up where empires met? We follow four clues: a kingdom of its own, four centuries under the sultans, a spark in Sarajevo, and a peace built for three peoples. Along the way we cover: the land, the Illyrians and Rome's hardest war since the Punic Wars; the medieval banate, the Bosnian Church, King Tvrtko I and the stećci tombstones; Ottoman Bosnia: conversion, Sarajevo and Mostar, the Old Bridge, and Bosnians at the top of the empire; Austria-Hungary's "model colony", the 1908 annexation and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in 1914; Yugoslavia, the Second World War and its victims, Tito's Partisans and the 1984 Winter Olympics; independence and the 1992–1995 war, including the Srebrenica genocide as ruled by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; the Dayton Agreement, the two entities and a state shared by Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, and the many views of it; the layers every empire left: food, coffee, sevdalinka, literature and wild rivers. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:17 The question 0:42 The Crossroads 1:27 The Kingdom 2:23 The Sultans 3:15 The Habsburgs 4:03 Yugoslavia 5:07 War and Peace 6:19 Three Peoples 7:29 The answer The Long Answer: one question, eight minutes, the whole story. History, science, technology and strange events, explained clearly for curious people. Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons) Ramirez (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Mostar and the Old Bridge over the Neretva (also used for the thumbnail) BáthoryPéter (CC BY-SA 3.0) – The Old Bridge, Mostar, at night Berthold Werner (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Stari Most, the Old Bridge, Mostar Bernard Gagnon (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Stari Most from the north, Mostar; Vijećnica, Sarajevo City Hall Litany (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Carved stećci, Radimlja; Carved stećak, Radimlja Croq (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Radimlja necropolis Julian Nyča (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Jajce and the Pliva waterfall; Štrbački buk on the Una; Žitomislić Orthodox monastery; The Vijećnica at night; Old Jewish Cemetery Miha Peče (CC BY-SA 4.0) – The Una near Bihać Darko Gavric (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Perućica forest, Sutjeska National Park MilanK Kralj (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Sutjeska National Park xinem (CC BY 2.0) – Sutjeska National Park, 1987 Yukof (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Baščaršija and the Sebilj, Sarajevo Unknown (CC BY 2.5) – Vrelo Bosne, the source of the Bosna Tarik Alimanović (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Mogorjelo Roman villa, Čapljina; Mogorjelo Roman villa AnToni (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Bobovac, medieval royal fortress; Bobovac BiHVolim (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Coat of arms of the Bosnian kings; Opening ceremony, 1984 CJ (CC BY 2.0) – Blagaj tekke at the Buna spring Octopus at Slovenian Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Blagaj tekke Aleksandra Đuričić (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, Sarajevo; Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque courtyard Pudelek (Marcin Szala) (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge, Višegrad; Počitelj Bern Bartsch (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Stone Flower memorial, Jasenovac Dingoa (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Parliament building, Sarajevo Niegodzisie (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Presidency building, Sarajevo Skrewt25 (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Srebrenica–Potočari Memorial Michael Büker (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Wall of names, Potočari Jennifer Boyer (CC BY 2.0) – A Sarajevo Rose amanderson2 (CC BY 2.0) – Ćevapi Matěj Baťha (CC BY-SA 2.5) – Kravica waterfalls Adam Jones Adam63 (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Hajji Alija Mosque, Počitelj Kisanova (CC BY-SA 4.0) – AVNOJ hall, Jajce Boki... (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Tjentište memorial, Sutjeska lienyuan lee (CC BY 3.0) – Sahat kula and Baščaršija, Sarajevo Adam Harangozó (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Bosnian coffee, Jajce Stevan Kragujević (CC BY-SA 3.0) – Ivo Andrić, 1961 Stevan Kragujević (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Nada Mamula singing, 1962 Julian Nyča (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Sarajevo panorama CIRISORG (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Sarajevo by night Mister No (CC BY 3.0) – Skenderija crv (CC BY-SA 4.0) – Town sign in Latin and Cyrillic, Mostar CC0: Boris Maric, Radimlja stećak necropolis near Stolac; Dudva, The Latin Bridge, Sarajevo; YxMb, Pliva waterfall, Jajce; Unknown, Charter of King Tvrtko I; ArhistefoBL, Kastel fortress and the Vrbas, Banja Luka Public domain: Anton von Werner, The Congress of Berlin; Leaders of the Herzegovina uprising, 1875; Graves by the Olympic complex, Sarajevo, 1995; Srebrenica–Potočari Memorial; Charter of Ban Kulin; De Administrando Imperio, Paris manuscript; Guillaume Delisle, map after Constantine VII; Josip Broz Tito, 1942; The Archduke in Sarajevo, 1914; Gavrilo Princip; Sarajevo, c. 1900; Tram at City Hall; Sarajevo, 1930s; Peace agreement signing, 1995; Gentile Bellini, Mehmed II