This genocide was characterized by concentration camps, mass murders, and a Serb policy of raping Muslim women. "The vast majority of casualties were civilian. An out flow of refugees resulted with approximately 800,000 Bosnians displaced to other countries and more than 200,000 coming to the United States,"(Rohde). The roots of the conflict lie in the past history of the areas, in religious differences, and in nationalism. The Bosnian population has traditionally been more mixed than other Balkan countries, with the capital, Sarajevo, seeming at one time to be a model of religious and ethnic tolerance. Most Serbs are Greek Orthodox, most Croats are Catholic, and most Bosnians are Muslim; with Bosnians tending to be more diverse with respect to religion than Serbs or Croats.
In Northern Ireland, it would seem that Protestants and Catholics had a civil war about religions, when in fact it was about British rule in Ireland. Ireland, originally a distinct and independent country, was invaded by Britain and forced to become part of the then small, but growing, British Empire. Fighting between the two sides erupted through the mid to late 20th Century. "The death toll reached above 3,600 deaths between the two sides over the past 30 years. In the 1980's there were two hunger strikes. The first began in October 1980 and ended in December 1980 without loss of life. There were ten prisoners on hunger strike, seven in the H-Blocks and three women in Armagh jail. The second hunger strike began in March 1981, five years after the British government withdrew political status from the prisoners,"(Adams). The second hunger strike claimed the lives of ten republican prisoners: Bobby Sands, Francis Hughes, Raymond McCreesh, Patsy O'Hara, Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Tom McElwee, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty and Michael Devine. Some progress has been made in the form of a ceasefire and an independent status for the country.