Baljci, Tomislavgrad

The village was populated mainly by ethnic Serbs, with a Croat minority. The Serb population included Cvetić, Mišković, Velimir and Ćevap families. The Croat families were surnamed Križanac, Marković, Krstanović and Nevistić.[1] Until 1945, the village was administratively part of the Kotar of Livno. It belonged to the local community seated in Šujica, which also used to be part of Livno.[2]

During World War II, the local Serb population generally didn't suffer from major persecutions, thanks to their good standings with Croats from Šujica.[3] In June 1941, some villagers were arrested and tortured by the Ustaše.[4] During that year, three villagers were shot dead in individual cases by the Ustaše or the Italian occupying forces.[5] Baljci were among the first villages in the region between Livno and Tomislavgrad that joined the Yugoslav Partisans. Those villages had a Serb majority.[6] In total, 13 Serb villagers were killed as Partisans,[7] 5 Croats were killed as members of the Ustaše, 3 as members of the Croatian Home Guard (7 of them during the Bleiburg repatriations in 1945).[8] In total 20 Serb[7] and 2 Croat civilians were killed during the war.[8] After the war, Baljci were among 9 other villages of the Municipality of Duvno without the basic organization of the local League of Communists of Yugoslavia. The reason for that is that the farmers seldom joined the Communist Party.[9]

After World War II, the population started to leave the village for economic reasons.[10] In the summer of 1945, the preparations for the colonisation of Vojvodina started.[11] Twenty-one Serb villager left for Tovariševo and one for Obrovac in the Municipality of Bačka Palanka.[12] The Croat Krstanović and Nevistić families left the village in economic emigration between 1955 and 1960.[1] According to the 1991 census, there were 40 Serbs and 3 Croats in the village.[13] Most of the population left the village prior to the Bosnian War in 1992,[14] including the Croat Križanac family, an elderly couple.[1] Only seven Serbs remained in the village.[14]

After the Battle of Kupres in April 1992, the retreating Croat forces entered the village and arrested four Serb men and murdered two elderly women.[14] The remaining male civilian managed to escape, however, he died while retreating towards Serb-held Kupres. All remaining buildings were burned down.[15] According to the 2013 census, the village is uninhabited.[16]

In 2015, two Serbs returnees came back to the village to work as cattlemen. They were welcomed by the municipal and cantonal officials, as well as the local Serbian Orthodox Church.[17]

In Baljci, there are 33 stećci.[18] In one of the Eastern Orthodox cemeteries there are several old crosses without any inscription. The local populace had a tradition that the graves belonged to the Bujas family that arrived in Baljci from Baljci, Bileća in Eastern Herzegovina. Another Eastern Orthodox cemetery has several carved wooden crosses.[19]

Baljci is located on the slopes of the mountain Ljubuša, south of the Kupres polje and north of the Šujica polje, high in altitude – 1,300 metres. The village is located on a mountainous barren that serves as pasture. Due to the high altitude, the winters are long. The nearby Želivodić mountain is covered with forest.[10] The village had two hamlets, Cvetići and Velimiri, distanced from 500 to 1,000 metres.[20]

The main economic activity in the village used to be husbandry, while the milk products were mostly sold on the Dalmatian coast.[10] Currently, there is one sheep farm.[21] One of the widespread economic activities was also foresting from the nearby Želivodić mountain.[10]

In January 2020, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved the construction of a wind farm in Baljci.[22]

According to the 2013 census, the village had no inhabitants.[16]