On 9 January 1992 , the Bosnian Serb Assembly proclaimed the Republic of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Република српског народа Босне и Херцеговине/Republika srpskog naroda Bosne i Hercegovine ) . On 28 February 1992 , the constitution of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was adopted . It declared that the state 's territory included Serb autonomous regions , municipalities , and other Serbian ethnic entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina , as well as " all regions in which the Serbian people represent a minority due to the Second World War genocide " ( although how this was established was never specified ) , and that it was to be a part of the federal Yugoslav state . On 29 February and 1 March 1992 a referendum on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Yugoslavia was held . Many Serbs boycotted the referendum and pro-independence Bosniaks ( Bosnian Muslims ) and Croats turned out
Second World War genocide
Persecution of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia
Radovan Karadžić