Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
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The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia was an unrecognised geopolitical entity and proto-state in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was proclaimed on 18 November 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosniaas a "political, cultural, economic and territorial whole" in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In its proclaimed borders Herzeg-Bosnia encompassed about 30% of the country, but did not have effective control over the entire territory as parts of it were lost to the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) at the beginning of the Bosnian War. The armed forces of Herzeg-Bosnia, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), initially fought in an alliance with the Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), but their relations deteriorated throughout late 1992. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared Herzeg-Bosnia unconstitutional on 14 September 1992. In early 1993 the Croat–Bosniak War escalated in central Bosnia and spread to Herzegovina.
On 28 August 1993 Herzeg-Bosnia was declared a republic following the proposal of the Owen-Stoltenberg Plan, envisioning Bosnia and Herzegovina as a union of three republics. Its capital city was Mostar, which was then a war zone, and the effective control centre was in Grude. In March 1994, the Washington Agreement was signed that ended the conflict between Croats and Bosniaks. Under the agreement, Herzeg-Bosnia was to be joined into the Croat–Bosniak federation, but it continued to exist until it was formally abolished in 1996.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicated in a 2001 judgement that Herzeg-Bosnia was founded with the intention to secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina and unite with Croatia.
