In the summer of 1995 the war was reaching a climax. The Dutch Blue Helmets were then stationed in the enclave of Srebrenica, which was besieged by Serbian militias. The Dutch were unable to prevent the Bosnian Serbs led by their general Ratko Mladic from taking Srebrenica. Women and girls were evacuated, but 8,000 men and boys were taken to an unknown destination. Afterwards it turned out that they had been murdered by the Serbs.
The drama made a great impression on the Dutch military, who had not been given the means nor the mandate from the UN and their own government and army top to prevent such a massacre. It also brought an end to the UN operation: NATO now took the lead and bombed the Bosnian Serbs to retreat. A few months later, the Dayton Agreements were concluded, which ended the war and gave rise to present-day Bosnia: a shaky state consisting of a Bosnian Serb republic and a state of Muslims and Croats. †Read more below the photo).
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