The CroatβBosniak War was a conflict between the internationally recognized Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the so-called Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia , supported by Croatia , that lasted from 18 October to 23 February By the end of , however, tensions between the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council increased.
The first armed incidents between them occurred in October in central Bosnia. The military alliance continued until early , when it mostly fell apart and the two former allies engaged in open conflict. The CroatβBosniak War escalated in central Bosnia and soon spread to Herzegovina , with most of the fighting taking place in those two regions.
The war generally consisted of sporadic conflicts with numerous short ceasefires. Several peace plans were proposed by the international community during the war, but each of them failed.
On 23 February , a lasting ceasefire was agreed, and an agreement ending the hostilities was signed in Washington on 18 March , by which time the Croatian Defence Council had significant territorial losses. The agreement led to the establishment of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the resumption of joint operations against Serb forces, which helped alter the military balance and bring the Bosnian War to an end. In November , the first free elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina , putting nationalist parties into power.
In and , Serbs in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina had proclaimed a number of " Serbian Autonomous Regions " with the intent of later unifying them to create a Greater Serbia. In early , the leaders of the six republics began a series of meetings to solve the crisis in Yugoslavia. The Serbian leadership favoured a federal solution, whereas the Croatian and Slovenian leadership favoured an alliance of sovereign states.
