Herzegovina
Herzegovina ( or ; Serbo-Croatian: "Hercegovina", Херцеговина, ) is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian geographical region, it is sometimes asserted that the borders of the region are Dalmatia to the southwest, Montenegro to the east, Mount Maglić to the northeast, and Mount Ivan to the north. Measurements of the area range from , or around 22% of the total area of the present-day country, to , around 24% of the country.
Franjo Tuđman
The Bosniak leadership initially showed willingness to remain in a rump Yugoslavia, but later changed their policy and opted for independence. The Croat leadership started organizing themselves in Croat-majority areas and on 18 November 1991 established the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia as an autonomous Croat territorial unit. At a meeting in December 1991 with the HDZ BiH leadership Tuđman discussed the possibility of joining Herzeg-Bosnia to Croatia as he thought that Bosnian representatives were working to remain in Yugoslavia. There he criticized HDZ BiH president Stjepan Kljujić for siding with Izetbegović. However, in February 1992 he encouraged Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina to support the upcoming Bosnian independence referendum. Izetbegović declared the country's independence on 6 April that was immediately recognised by Croatia. At the beginning of the Bosnian war a Croat-Bosniak alliance was formed, though it was often not harmonious. The Croatian government helped arm both Croat and Bosniak forces. On 21 July 1992, the Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation was signed by Tuđman and Izetbegović, establishing a military cooperation between the two armies. In September 1992 they signed two more agreements on cooperation and further negotiations regarding the internal organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina, though Izetbegović rejected a military pact. In January 1993 Tuđman said that Bosnia and Herzegovina can survive only as a confederal union of three nations.