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Drvar (Дрвар, ) is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Drvar in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the road between Bosansko Grahovo and Bosanski Petrovac, and also near Glamoč.
Drvar lies in a vast valley, the southeastern part of Bosanska Krajina, between the Osječanica, Klekovača, Vijenca and Šator mountains of the Dinaric Alps. The southeastern side of the boundary extends from the Šator over the Jadovnik, the Ujilica and descends to the Lipovo and the Una River.
This extremely hilly region, comprising the town of Drvar and the numerous outlying villages, covers approximately 1,030 square kilometres (400 square miles). The town is mainly situated on the left side of the River Unac, and its elevation is approximately 480 meters (1,574 feet).
Eventually, poor labor conditions led to the first organized strikes in Drvar in 1906. These strikes continued until 1911 when the Austro-Hungarian Empire banned such activities.
From 1929 to 1941, Drvar was part of the Vrbas Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1932, an economic crisis resulted in the layoff of 2,000 workers.
In June 1941 Ustaše arrested a large group of prominent Drvar citizens, and took them to Risovac near Bosanski Petrovac, where they were tortured, killed and thrown into a pit. After the Ustaše imprisoned all Serb men from Drvar during June and July 1941, they began with the preparation to imprison and kill all Serbs from Drvar, regardless of their age and sex, including all women and children.:"Posle odvođenja Srba muškaraca iz Drvara u toku juna i jula 1941 god počele su ustaške vlasti vršiti pripreme za odvođenje i ubistvo svih Srba iz Drvara bez razlike u pogledu pola i starosti: bilo je predviđeno da se imaju pobiti i sve žene i sva deca."
The genocidal activities of the Ustaše forced the targeted Serb population to organize an uprising known as Drvar uprising, beginning on 27 July 1941. The rebels were organized into the Kamenički, Javorje, Crljivičko-zaglavički, Boboljusko-cvjetnički, Trubarski, Mokronog and Tičevski and Grahovsko-resanovski guerrilla detachments (from the Bosansko Grahovo area).
In more recent history, Drvar is perhaps most famous as the location of a daring airdrop raid on Drvar, codenamed "Operation Rösselsprung", on 25 May 1944, by Nazi German invaders, in an attempt to assassinate Tito. Tito, the main Partisan commander, was sheltered in the Partisan General Staff headquarters in what is now called "Tito's Cave" in the hills near Drvar at the time.
During the 4 years and 1 month of the war, Drvar was under occupation for just 390 days. 767 Drvar civilians were killed and only 13 pre-war houses still stood. Approximately 93% of the infrastructure of the town was destroyed, and the livestock population had been reduced by more than 80%.
Drvar was first occupied by the German army in April 1941, followed shortly thereafter by the Italians. Drvar continued to experience fierce fighting through mid-1942 when the last of the German and Italian forces were expelled. The Germans re-entered Drvar in 1943 and left it a burned ruin when they departed.
During the summer of 1941, the Chetniks expelled and killed the Croats (mostly Catholic Church) civilians in the Drvar area. The most significant event was the Trubar massacre, a civilian massacre committed by the Chetniks on 27 July 1941.
On 3 August 1995, the Croatian Armed Forces with the help of Bosnian Croats began shelling Drvar, from the mountain of Šator. Two Drvar citizens were killed and older men and women began to evacuate to Petrovac. One day later, the Croatian Government armed forces began "Operation Storm", called by European Union Special Envoy to the Former Yugoslavia Carl Bildt, "the most efficient ethnic cleansing we've seen in the Balkans", Pearl, Daniel (2002), At Home in the World: Collected Writings from The Wall Street Journal, Simon and Schuster, p. 224 in the "Dalmatinska zagora" region of Croatia, and columns of hundreds of thousands of refugees in cars, on tractors, wagons and on foot began to pass through Drvar as they fled their homes in Croatia. The shelling of the outlying areas of Drvar by the Croatian Government forces had reoccurred and continued for days.
In 1996, small numbers of Serbs attempted to return to their homes but faced harassment and discrimination by Croats. Nonetheless, they continued to return despite the ongoing looting and burning of their homes from 1996 to 1998.International Crisis Group, House Burnings: Obstruction of the Right to Return to Drvar , 16 June 1997, accessed April 2011
In 1998, Croat opposition to the return of displaced Bosnian Serb citizens culminated in riots and murders. Buildings and houses were torched, United Nations International Police Task Force personnel, SFOR personnel and Mayor, Mile Marceta (elected with Serb refugee votes) were attacked, and two displaced elderly Serbs who had recently returned to Drvar were murdered.UNHCR, Drvar: Bosnia's Don Quixote , Refugees vol 1, 1999, p 114, accessed April 2011
Much of the damage done to the town of Drvar was done not during the war, but during its subsequent occupation by Croat civilians and military personnel as the homes and businesses of displaced Bosnian Serbs attempting to return to Drvar were looted and burned. The local government and companies, the few that exist, are dominated by the Croats, and Serbs have difficulty finding employment.
In September 2019, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić made an official visit to Drvar, along with the Serb Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik.
Drvar is a member of the Alliance of Serb Municipalities.
| 2013. | 1991. | 1981. | 1971. | 1961. | |
| Total | 3,730 (100,0%) | 8,053 (100,0%) | 7,063 (100,0%) | 6,417 (100,0%) | 3,646 (100,0%) |
| Serbs | 3,160 (84,72%) | 7,693 (95,53%) | 6,006 (85,03%) | 6,056 (94,37%) | 3,645 (99,972%) |
| Croats | 527 (14,13%) | 24 (0,298%) | 42 (0,595%) | 98 (1,527%) | 95 (2,606%) |
| Others | 33 (0,885%) | 48 (0,596%) | 18 (0,255%) | 50 (0,779%) | 35 (0,960%) |
| Muslims/Bosniaks | 10 (0,268%) | 29 (0,360%) | 22 (0,311%) | 115 (1,792%) | 33 (0,905%) |
| Yugoslavs | 259 (3,216%) | 961 (13,61%) | 66 (1,029%) | 18 (0,494%) | |
| Albanians | 11 (0,156%) | 16 (0,249%) | |||
| Slovenes | 3 (0,042%) | 7 (0,109%) | |||
| Montenegrins | 9 (0,140%) |
Famous landmarks include "Tito's Cave" and the so-called "Citadel". At the latter mentioned location one can find an Austro-Hungarian cemetery (in a very poor state) which may contain an unknown number of German soldiers buried after the attack of 1944. There is also a Roman road sign (~100 AD). Another one can be found on the way to Bosanski Petrovac near Zaglavica.
Drvar is also renowned for its local rakia, a type of plum or cranberry brandy, originating in Serbia but popular all over the Balkans.
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