View source for Croatian War of Independence

{{Short description|1991–95 war during the Yugoslav Wars}}
{{pp-move-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| confl=Croatian War of Independence
| partof            = the [[Yugoslav Wars]] 
| image             = {{multiple image|border=infobox|perrow=2/2/2|total_width=300
| image1=Dubrovnik Wartime Stradun (cropped).jpg
| alt1=
| image2=Vukovar_water_tank.jpg
| alt2=
| image3=Serb_T-55_Battle_of_the_Barracks.JPG
| alt3=
| image4=Memorijalno groblje Vukovar.jpg
| alt4=
| image5=Destruction of a tank.jpg
| alt5=
| image6=Destroyed tank on the road to Drnis 1.jpg
| alt6=}}
'''Clockwise from top left:'''<br>The central street of [[Dubrovnik]], the ''[[Stradun (street)|Stradun]]'', in ruins during the [[Siege of Dubrovnik]]; the damaged [[Vukovar water tower]], a symbol of the early conflict, flying the [[Flag of Croatia]]; the [[Vukovar]] Memorial Cemetery; a Serbian [[T-55]] tank destroyed on the road to [[Drniš]]; soldiers of the [[Croatian Army]] preparing to destroy a [[Republic of Serbian Krajina|Serb]] tank; A destroyed [[Yugoslav People's Army]] tank
| image_size        = 
| date              = [[Pakrac clash|1 March 1991]]&nbsp;– [[Erdut agreement|12 November 1995]]{{efn-ua|There was no formal declaration of war. The first armed clash of the war was the [[Pakrac clash]] on 1 March 1991,<ref name="NYTimes-Pakrac-3Mar1991"/> followed by the [[Plitvice Lakes incident]] on 31 March  1991, when the first fatalities occurred.<ref name="NYTimes-Plitvice-31Mar1991"/> The last major combat operation was [[Operation Storm]], from 5–8 August 1995.<ref name="LATimes-Storm-Complete"/> Formally, hostilities ceased when the [[Erdut Agreement]] was signed on 12 November 1995.<ref name="NYTimes-ErdutAgr-12Nov95"/>}}<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=03|day1=31|year=1991|month2=11|day2=12|year2=1995}})
| place             = Croatia, with some spillover into [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]]{{efn-ua|There were also some conflicts in [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]], particularly in late 1994 and early 1995. Among those, the most significant to the course of the war were Cincar,<ref name="NYT-Cincar-4Nov1994"/> and [[Operation Winter '94]].<ref name="NYT-Winter94-12Jan1995"/><ref name="Burg and Shoup331"/>}}
| territory         = The Croatian government gains control over the vast majority of territory previously held by rebel Serbs, with the remainder coming under [[UNTAES]] control.{{efn-ua|Three months after the military defeat of the [[Republic of Serbian Krajina|RSK]] in Operation Storm,<ref name="LATimes-Storm-Complete"/> the UN-sponsored Erdut Agreement between the Croatian and RSK authorities was signed on 12 November 1995.<ref name="NYTimes-ErdutAgr-12Nov95"/> The agreement provided for a two-year transitional period, later extended by a year, during which the remaining occupied territory of Croatia was to be transferred to control of the Croatian government. The agreement was implemented by UNTAES and successfully completed by 1998.<ref name="NYTimes-UNTAES-16Jan98"/>}}
| result            = Croatian victory
* Yugoslav army formally withdrew from Croatia from January 1992 under the [[Sarajevo Agreement]]
* Croatian forces regained control over most of [[Republic of Serbian Krajina]]-held territory
* Croatian forces advanced into [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]] to assist the united Bosnian and Croatian side, which led to the eventual end of the [[Bosnian War]] in December 1995
| combatant1        = {{plainlist|'''1991–94:'''
*{{Flagdeco|Croatia}} [[Croatia]]{{efn-ua|As determined by the [[Badinter Arbitration Committee]], SFR Yugoslavia dissolved during the war.<ref name="pellet"/> On 25 June 1991, the Croatian parliament declared the independence of Croatia, following a referendum held in May.<ref name="NYTimes-Declaration-26June1991"/> The decision was suspended for three months;<ref name="NYTimes-Suspension-29June1991"/> the declaration became effective on 8 October 1991, and Croatia was no longer part of Yugoslavia.<ref name="Sabor-Independence-8Oct1991"/>|name="Croatia-Yugoslavia"}}}}
| combatant1a       = {{plainlist|'''1994–95:'''
*{{Flagdeco|Croatia}} [[Croatia]]
*{{Flagdeco|Bosnia and Herzegovina|1992}} [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]]{{efn-ua|Bosnia and Herzegovina was particularly significant for the war in late 1994 and in 1995. Pursuant to the [[Washington Agreement]], the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed as a subunit of the [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (RBiH) representing both [[Bosnian Croats|Bosnian Croat]] and [[Bosniaks|Bosniak]] (Bosnian Muslim) ethnic groups. Most significantly, the Washington Agreement specifically permitted Croatian Army to enter Bosnia and Herzegovina, thereby allowing operations Cincar and Winter '94 against the army of Republika Srpska, outflanking the RSK capital at [[Knin]] and creating a new strategic situation before the decisive battles of the war.<ref name="NYT-WashingtonAgreement-19Mar1994"/>|name="bosnia-1994–1995"}}}}
| combatant2        = {{plainlist|'''1991–92:'''
*{{flagicon|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia}} [[SFR Yugoslavia]]{{efn-ua|After all former Yugoslav federal republics except Serbia and Montenegro declared independence, the two declared the creation of a new country – the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – on 27 April 1992, disbanding the JNA soon afterwards.<ref name="LATimes-FRY-Created">{{cite news|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-28-mn-977-story.html|title=Two Republics Transform Selves Into a New, Smaller Yugoslavia|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=28 April 1992|access-date=7 January 2011|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305212312/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-28/news/mn-977_1_yugoslavia-republic-transform|url-status=live}}</ref> Serb-controlled units of the JNA participated in combat operations throughout 1991 and up to May 1992 in support of the Republic of Serbian Krajina.<ref name="NYTimes-Jan3-Ceasefire"/>|name="SFR-Yugoslavia"}}
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} [[SAO Krajina]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} [[SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} [[SAO Western Slavonia]]}}
| combatant2a       = {{plainlist|'''1992–95:'''
*{{Flagicon image|State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} [[Republic of Serbian Krajina|Serbian Krajina]]{{efn-ua|Initially, [[SAO Krajina]], [[SAO Western Slavonia]], and [[SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia]] were separate entities and fought individually against the Croatian government. As of December 19, 1991, the SAOs became part of the RSK.|name="sao2rsk"}}
*{{Flagdeco|Republika Srpska}} [[Republika Srpska (1991–95)|Republika Srpska]]{{efn-ua|In 1992–94, Republika Srpska was intermittently involved in Croatian military operations, mostly through provision of military and other aid to the RSK, occasional air raids launched from Mahovljani airbase near Banja Luka, and most significantly through artillery attacks against a number of cities in Croatia, especially Slavonski Brod, Županja, and Dubrovnik.<ref name="SeattleTimes-SB-Artillery">{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]]|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920716/1502415/serb-artillery-hits-refugees|title=Serb Artillery Hits Refugees – At Least 8 Die As Shells Hit Packed Stadium|date=16 July 1992|access-date=23 December 2010|author=Peter Maass|author-link=Peter Maass|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105053441/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920716&slug=1502415|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Dubrovnik-Artillery-17Aug95"/> |name="bosnia-1992–1994"}}}}
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Franjo Tuđman]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Gojko Šušak]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Anton Tus]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Janko Bobetko]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Zvonimir Červenko]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Petar Stipetić]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Martin Špegelj]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Ante Gotovina]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Mladen Markač]]
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} [[Tomislav Merčep]]
}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon|Socialist Republic of Serbia}} [[Slobodan Milošević]]
*{{flagicon|Yugoslavia}} [[Borisav Jović]]
*{{Flagicon|Yugoslavia}} [[Veljko Kadijević]]
*{{Flagicon|Yugoslavia}} [[Blagoje Adžić]]
*{{Flagicon|Yugoslavia}} [[Života Panić]]
*{{Flagicon image|State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} [[Milan Martić]]
*{{Flagicon image|State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} [[Milan Babić]]
*{{Flagicon image|State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} [[Goran Hadžić]]
*{{Flagicon image|Flag of Serbia (1992–2004).svg}} [[Jovica Stanišić]]
*{{Flagicon image|Flag of Serbia (1992–2004).svg}} [[Franko Simatović]]
*{{Flagicon|Republika Srpska}} [[Radovan Karadžić]]
*{{Flagicon|Republika Srpska}} [[Ratko Mladić]]
*{{Flagicon image|Flag of Serbia (1992–2004).svg}} {{flagicon image|White_eagles.svg}} [[Vojislav Šešelj]]}}
| strength1         = {{plainlist|
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} 70,000 (1991)<ref>[http://www.domovinskirat.hr/novosti/tus-u-listopadu-91.-hv-je-imao-70.000-vojnika.html?Itemid=984 Tus: U listopadu '91. HV je imao 70.000 vojnika]{{dead link|date=March 2016}} Domovinski rat.hr</ref>
*{{Flagicon|Croatia}} 200,000 (1995)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.centardomovinskograta.hr/1995.html |title=Centar domovinskog rata - 1995. |access-date=July 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119005157/http://www.centardomovinskograta.hr/1995.html |archive-date=November 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>}}
| strength2         = {{plainlist|
*{{Flagicon|Yugoslavia}} 145,000 (1991)
*{{Flagicon image|State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} 50,000 (1995)}}
| casualties1       = {{Flagicon|Croatia}} 15,007 dead or missing (8,685 soldiers and 6,322 civilians)<ref name="Enis Zebic">{{cite news| author=Zebić, Enis| title=Ljudski gubici u ratu u Hrvatskoj: 22.211 osoba| work=Radio Free Europe| url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/hrvatska-ljutski-gubici/28976312.html| language=hr| trans-title=Human Casualties in the Croatian War: 22,211 Persons| date=15 January 2018| access-date=17 December 2019| archive-date=December 17, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217143036/https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/hrvatska-ljutski-gubici/28976312.html| url-status=live}}</ref>
----
300,000 displaced{{sfn|Phuong|2005|p=157}}
| casualties2       = {{Flagicon image|State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}} 7,134 dead or missing (4,484 soldiers and 2,650 civilians)<ref name="veritas"/><br>
{{Flagicon|Yugoslavia}} 1,279 soldiers killed<ref name="Meštrović77"/>
----
{{Flagicon image|State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}}{{Flagicon|Yugoslavia}} 7,204 dead or missing (3,486 soldiers, 2,677 civilians and 864 unidentified)<ref name="Enis Zebic"/>
----
{{Flagicon image|State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg}}{{Flagicon|Yugoslavia}} 7,204–8,413 dead or missing in total
----
300,000 displaced<ref name="Zanotti111"/>
| units1            = {{plainlist|
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Croatian Army.svg}} [[Croatian Army]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Croatian National Guard.svg}} [[Croatian National Guard]]
*{{flagicon image|Naval Ensign of Croatia.svg}} [[Croatian Navy]]
*{{Air force|Croatia}}
*{{flagicon image|Flag of Croatian Police.svg}} [[Law enforcement in Croatia|Croatian Police]]
*{{flagicon image|HOS flag.svg}} [[Croatian Defence Forces]]}}
| units2            = {{plainlist|
** [[File:Emblem of the Yugoslav People's Army (1991-1992).svg|22px]] [[Yugoslav People's Army]]
** {{flagicon image|Flag of the Yugoslav Ground Forces.svg}} [[Yugoslav Ground Forces]]
** {{flagicon image|Naval Ensign of Yugoslavia (1949-1993).svg}} [[Yugoslav Navy]]
** {{flagicon image|Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg}} [[Yugoslav Air Force]]
** {{flagicon image|Flag of the Socialist Republic of Serbia.svg}} [[Territorial Defense (Yugoslavia)|Republic of Serbia Territorial Defense]]
** {{flagicon|SR Montenegro}} [[Territorial Defense (Yugoslavia)|Republic of Montenegro Territorial Defense]]
*{{flagicon image|War Flag of Serbian Krajina.svg}} [[Serbian Army of Krajina|Army of Serbian Krajina]]
*{{Flagicon image|Flag of Serbia (1992–2004).svg}} [[Serbian paramilitary#Yugoslav Wars|Serbian paramilitary units]]
*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Chetniks (variant).svg}} [[Chetniks#Legacy|Serbian Chetnik Movement]]}}
}}

{{Campaignbox Yugoslav Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Croatian War of Independence}}

The '''Croatian War of Independence''' was an [[armed conflict]] fought from 1991 to 1995 between [[Croats|Croat]] forces loyal to the [[Government of Croatia]] — which had declared [[Independence of Croatia|independence]] from the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] (SFRY) — and the [[Serbs|Serb]]-controlled [[Yugoslav People's Army]] (JNA) and [[Serbs of Croatia|local Serb]] forces, with the JNA ending its combat operations in [[Croatia]] by 1992.{{efn-ua|In Croatia, the war is primarily referred to as the "Homeland War" ({{langx|hr|Domovinski rat}}) and also as the "[[Greater Serbia|Greater-Serbian]] Aggression" ({{langx|hr|Velikosrpska agresija}}).<ref name="Darko Zubrinic"/><ref name="HRV-name-VSA-Bilandžija"/> In Serbian sources, "War in Croatia" ({{lang-sr-Cyrl-Latn|Рат у Хрватској|Rat u Hrvatskoj}}) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ({{lang-sr-Cyrl-Latn|Рат у Крајини|Rat u Krajini}}) are used.<ref name="B92-RUH">{{cite web|title=Srbija-Hrvatska, temelj stabilnosti |trans-title=Serbia-Croatia, foundation of stability |language=sr |url=http://www.b92.net/info/emisije/kaziprst.php?yyyy=2010&mm=11&nav_id=470273 |publisher=[[B92]] |date=4 November 2010 |access-date=22 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108200243/http://www.b92.net/info/emisije/kaziprst.php?yyyy=2010&mm=11&nav_id=470273 |archive-date=November 8, 2010 }}</ref>}}

A majority of Croats supported Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia, while many [[ethnic Serbs]] living in Croatia, supported by [[Republic of Serbia (1992–2006)|Serbia]],<ref>[[#Martić Verdict|Martić verdict]], pp.&nbsp;122–123<br />"The Trial Chamber found that the evidence showed that the [[President of Serbia|President]] of Serbia, [[Slobodan Milošević]], openly supported the preservation of Yugoslavia as a federation of which the SAO Krajina would form a part. However, the evidence established that Milošević covertly intended to create a Serb state. This state was to be created through the establishment of paramilitary forces and the provocation of incidents in order to create a situation where the JNA could intervene. Initially, the JNA would intervene to separate the parties but subsequently the JNA would intervene to secure the territories envisaged to be part of a future Serb state."</ref><ref name="Annex IV">{{cite web | work = Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780 (1992) | title = Annex IV – The policy of ethnic cleansing | editor-first = M. Cherif | editor-last = Bassiouni | editor-link = M. Cherif Bassiouni | publisher = United Nations Security Council | via = [[School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences (UWE)]] |date=28 December 1994 |url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/anx/IV.htm |access-date=19 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504142243/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/IV.htm |archive-date=May 4, 2012 }}</ref> opposed the secession and advocated Serb-claimed lands to be in a common state with Serbia. Most Serbs sought a new Serb state within a Yugoslav federation, including areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with ethnic Serb majorities or significant minorities,<ref>[[#Babić Verdict|Babić verdict]], p. 6<br />"In the period of the Indictment, from circa 1 August 1991 to 15 February 1992, Serb forces consisting of JNA units, local Serb TO units, TO units from Serbia and Montenegro, local MUP police units, MUP police units from Serbia, and paramilitary units attacked and took control of towns, villages, and settlements&nbsp;... These acts were intended to permanently and forcibly remove the majority of the Croat and other non-Serb populations from approximately one-third of Croatia in order to transform that territory into a Serb-dominated state."</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Borders-Redraw">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/05/world/serbs-refuse-to-negotiate-in-croatia.html|title=Serbs Refuse to Negotiate in Croatia|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=5 August 1991|access-date=24 January 2011|archive-date=November 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111194558/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/05/world/serbs-refuse-to-negotiate-in-croatia.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and attempted to conquer as much of Croatia as possible.<ref name="NYTimes-Iceland"/><ref name="NYTimes-Presidency-RumpYugPlan"/><ref>[[#Brown & Karim|Brown & Karim (1995)]], p. 120</ref> Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, but agreed to postpone it with the [[Brioni Agreement]] and cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia on 8 October 1991.

The JNA initially tried to keep Croatia within Yugoslavia by occupying all of Croatia.<ref name="Kadijević134-135">[[#Kadijević|Kadijević (1993)]], pp. 134–135</ref>{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|p=241}} After this failed, Serb forces established the self-proclaimed [[proto-state]] [[Republic of Serbian Krajina]] (RSK) within Croatia which began with the [[Log Revolution]]. After the [[Sarajevo Agreement|ceasefire of January 1992]] and international recognition of the Republic of Croatia as a sovereign state,<ref name="NYTimes-Germany-23Dec91"/><ref name="NYT-UN-membership"/> the front lines were entrenched, the [[United Nations Protection Force]] (UNPROFOR) was deployed,<ref name="UN_SRES7431992"/> and combat became largely intermittent in the following three years. During that time, the RSK encompassed {{convert|13913|km2|sp=us}}, more than a quarter of Croatia.<ref name="Profil-RSK-Dokumenti"/> In 1995, Croatia launched two major offensives known as [[Operation Flash]] and [[Operation Storm]];<ref name="LATimes-Storm-Complete"/><ref name="NYTimes-Flash-May2"/> these offensives effectively ended the war in its favor. The remaining [[United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium]] (UNTAES) zone was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia by 1998.<ref name="NYTimes-ErdutAgr-12Nov95"/><ref name="NYTimes-UNTAES-16Jan98"/>

The war ended with Croatian victory, as it achieved the goals it had declared at the beginning of the war: independence and preservation of its borders.<ref name="LATimes-Storm-Complete"/><ref name="NYTimes-ErdutAgr-12Nov95"/> Approximately 21–25% of Croatia's economy was ruined, with an estimated US$37&nbsp;billion in damaged infrastructure, lost [[Output (economics)|output]], and refugee-related costs.<ref name="Europe-Review-2003"/> Over 20,000 people were killed in the war,<ref name="autogenerated3"/> and refugees were displaced on both sides. The Serbian and Croatian governments began to progressively cooperate with each other, but tensions remain, in part due to verdicts by the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY) and [[Croatia–Serbia genocide case|lawsuits filed by each country against the other]].<ref name="UNHCR-Croatia-Serbia-Refugees2010"/><ref name="BBC-Josipović-Belgrade-2010"/>

In 2007, the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY) returned a guilty verdict against [[Milan Martić]], one of the Serb leaders in Croatia, for having colluded with [[Slobodan Milošević]] and others to create a "unified Serbian state".<ref name="icty martic">{{cite web|title=Milan Martić sentenced to 35 years for crimes against humanity and war crimes|url=http://www.icty.org/sid/8870|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|date=12 June 2007|access-date=24 August 2010|archive-date=August 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804004127/http://icty.org/sid/8870|url-status=live}}</ref> Between 2008 and 2012, the ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals [[Ante Gotovina]], [[Mladen Markač]] and [[Ivan Čermak]] for alleged involvement in the crimes related to [[Operation Storm]]. Čermak was acquitted outright, and the convictions of Gotovina and Markač were later overturned by an ICTY Appeals Panel.<ref name="gotovina judgement">{{cite web|title=Judgement Summary for Gotovina et al.|location=The Hague|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/gotovina/tjug/en/110415_summary.pdf|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|date=15 April 2011|access-date=15 April 2011|archive-date=August 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804014603/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/gotovina/tjug/en/110415_summary.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBC-2012-11-16">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20352187|work=BBC News|title=Hague war court acquits Croat Generals Gotovina and Markac|date=16 November 2012|access-date=16 November 2012|archive-date=November 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116131955/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20352187|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[International Court of Justice]] dismissed [[Croatia–Serbia genocide case|mutual claims of genocide by Croatia and Serbia]] in 2015. The Court reaffirmed that, to an extent, crimes against civilians had taken place, but it ruled that specific [[genocidal intent]] was not present.<ref>{{harvnb|ICJ|3 February 2015}}</ref>

==Background==
{{See also|Breakup of Yugoslavia|Independence of Croatia}}

===Political changes in Yugoslavia===
[[File:Stevan_Kragujevic,_Slobodan_Milosevic,_portret.jpg|thumb|Serbian President [[Slobodan Milošević]] advodated the incorporation of Serb-claimed lands in Croatia within a common state with Serbia.]]

In the 1970s, Yugoslavia's [[socialist state|socialist regime]] became severely splintered into a liberal-decentralist nationalist faction led by Croatia and Slovenia that supported a decentralized federation to give greater autonomy to Croatia and Slovenia, versus a conservative-centralist nationalist faction led by Serbia that supported a centralized federation to secure Serbia's and the Serbs' interests across Yugoslavia—as they were the largest ethnic group in the country as a whole.<ref>Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: Europe. Gale Group, 2001. Pp. 73.</ref> From [[Croatian Spring|1967 to 1972 in Croatia]] and [[1968 protests in Kosovo|1968]] and [[1981 protests in Kosovo]], nationalist doctrines and actions caused ethnic tensions that destabilized Yugoslavia.{{sfn|Jović|2009|p=19}} The suppression by the state of nationalists is believed to have had the effect of identifying [[Croat nationalism]] as the primary alternative to [[communism]] itself and made it a strong underground movement.{{sfn|Jović|2009|p=21}}

A crisis emerged in Yugoslavia with the [[Revolutions of 1989|weakening]] of the [[Eastern Bloc|communist states in Eastern Europe]] towards the end of the [[Cold War]], as symbolized by the [[Fall of the Berlin Wall|fall]] of the [[Berlin Wall]] in 1989. In Croatia, the regional branch of the [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia]], the [[League of Communists of Croatia]], had lost its ideological potency.{{sfn|Pešić|1996|p=12}}<ref name="NYTimes-Kosovo-Repression">{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/serbia/kosovo/index.html|title=Kosovo|date=23 July 2010|access-date=10 December 2010|archive-date=October 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023074115/http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/serbia/kosovo/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia|Slovenia]] and [[Socialist Republic of Croatia|Croatia]] advocated [[decentralization]].<ref name="NYT-Croatia-Prosperity-1985">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/world/yugoslav-republic-jealously-guards-its-gains.html?ref=croatia|title=Yugoslav republic jealously guards its gains|author=Henry Kamm|author-link=Henry Kamm|date=8 December 1985|access-date=10 December 2010|archive-date=May 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515063701/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/world/yugoslav-republic-jealously-guards-its-gains.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> [[SR Serbia]], headed by [[Slobodan Milošević]], adhered to centralism and single-party rule, and in turn effectively ended the autonomy of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and [[SAP Vojvodina|Vojvodina]] by March 1989, taking command of their votes in the [[Yugoslav Presidency|Yugoslav federal presidency]].<ref name="Annex IV"/><ref name="NYTimes-Kosovo-Repression"/><ref name="RFERL-Vojvodina-Autonomy">{{cite web|publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/Serbias_Vojvodina_Regains_Autonomy/1904999.html|title=Serbia's Vojvodina Regains Autonomy|date=15 December 2009|access-date=10 December 2010|archive-date=December 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214112729/http://www.rferl.org/content/Serbias_Vojvodina_Regains_Autonomy/1904999.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A Country Study: Yugoslavia (Former): Political Innovation and the 1974 Constitution (chapter 4)|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/yutoc.html#yu0130|publisher=The Library of Congress|access-date=27 January 2011|archive-date=June 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630054202/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/yutoc.html#yu0130|url-status=live}}</ref> Nationalist ideas started to gain influence within the ranks of the still-ruling League of Communists, while Milošević's speeches, notably the 1989 [[Gazimestan speech]] in which he talked of "battles and quarrels", favored continuation of a unified Yugoslav state — one in which all power would continue to be centralized in [[Belgrade]].<ref name="Annex IV"/><ref name="Brown116">[[#Brown & Karim|Brown & Karim (1995)]], p. 116</ref><ref name="Guardian-Gazimestan">{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/01/balkans.warcrimes|title=Tyrant's defeat marks Serbs' day of destiny|author=Tim Judah|author-link=Tim Judah|date=1 July 2001|access-date=19 December 2010|archive-date=June 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609221136/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/01/balkans.warcrimes|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the autumn of 1989, the Serbian government pressured the Croatian government to allow a series of Serb nationalist rallies in the country, and the Serbian media and various Serbian intellectuals had already begun to refer to the Croatian leadership as "[[Ustaše]]", and began to make reference to [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|genocide and other crimes committed by the Ustaše]] between 1941 and 1945. The Serbian political leadership approved of the rhetoric and accused the Croatian leadership of being "blindly nationalistic" when it objected.<ref>[[#Glaurdic|Glaurdic (2011)]], pp. 52-53</ref>

Having completed the [[anti-bureaucratic revolution]] in [[Vojvodina]], Kosovo, and Montenegro, Serbia secured four out of eight federal presidency votes in 1991,<ref name="Brown116"/> which rendered the governing body ineffective as other republics objected and called for reform of the Federation.<ref name="Frucht433">[[#Frucht|Frucht (2005)]], p. 433</ref> In 1989, political parties were allowed and a number of them had been founded, including the [[Croatian Democratic Union]] ({{langx|hr|Hrvatska demokratska zajednica}}) (HDZ), led by [[Franjo Tuđman]], who later became the first [[president of Croatia]].<ref name="Independent-Tuđman-Obituary">{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-franjo-tudjman-1132142.html |title=Obituary: Franjo Tudjman |author=Branka Magas |date=13 December 1999 |access-date=17 October 2011 |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110024351/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-franjo-tudjman-1132142.html |df=mdy }}</ref> Tuđman ran on a nationalist platform<ref>{{cite book |last1=Glover |first1=Jonathan |title=Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century |date=2001 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-30008-715-4 |page=125 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ui7wi85JHAC&pg=PA125 |access-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028142429/https://books.google.com/books?id=8ui7wi85JHAC&pg=PA125 |url-status=live }}</ref> with a program of "national reconciliation" between Croatian communists and former Ustašes (fascists) being a key component of his party's political program.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hockenos |first1=Paul |title=Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism and the Balkan Wars |date=2018 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-50172-565-4 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IaJhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |access-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028142500/https://books.google.com/books?id=IaJhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Accordingly, he also integrated former Ustaše members into the party and state's apparatus.{{sfn|Fisher|2006|p=70}}

[[File:Franjotudjman.jpg|left|thumb|upright=.8|Croatian President [[Franjo Tuđman]] advocated Croatia to become independent from Yugoslavia.]]

In January 1990, the League of Communists broke up on ethnic lines, with the Croatian and Slovene factions demanding a looser federation at the 14th Extraordinary Congress. At the congress, Serbian delegates accused the Croatian and Slovene delegates of "supporting separatism, terrorism and genocide in Kosovo".<ref>[[#Glaurdic|Glaurdic (2011)]], p. 71</ref> The Croatian and Slovene delegations, including most of their ethnic Serb members, eventually left in protest, after Serbian delegates rejected every proposed amendment.<ref name="Brown116"/><ref name="LondonTimes-Račan-Obituary">{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Times]]|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1722946.ece|title=Račan obituary|date=30 April 2007|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=October 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028142432/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

January 1990 also marked the beginning of court cases being brought to Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court on the matter of secession.<ref name="Igor Primoratz 2006. p158">Igor Primoratz, Aleksandar Pavković. ''Identity, Self-determination and Secession''. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006. p158.</ref> The first was the Slovenian Constitutional Amendments case after Slovenia claimed the right to unilateral secession pursuant to the right of self-determination.<ref>Igor Primoratz, Aleksandar Pavković. ''Identity, Self-determination and Secession''. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006. p158</ref> The Constitutional Court ruled that secession from the federation was only permitted if there was the unanimous agreement of Yugoslavia's republics and autonomous provinces.<ref name="Igor Primoratz 2006. p158"/> The Constitutional Court noted that 1974 Constitution's Section I of the Basic Principles of the Constitution identified that self-determination including secession "belonged to the peoples of Yugoslavia and their socialist republics".<ref name="Igor Primoratz 2006. p158"/> The matter of Kosovo secession was addressed in May 1991 with the court claiming that "only the peoples of Yugoslavia" had the right to secession, Albanians were considered a minority and not a people of Yugoslavia.<ref name="Igor Primoratz 2006. p158"/>

The 1990 survey conducted among Yugoslav citizens showed that ethnic animosity existed on a small scale.<ref name="Perunovic 2015">{{harvnb|Perunovic|2015}}</ref> Compared to the results from 25 years before, Croatia was the republic with the highest increase in ethnic distance. Furthermore, there was significant increase of ethnic distance among Serbs and Montenegrins toward Croats and Slovenes and vice versa.<ref name="Perunovic 2015"/> Of all respondents, 48% of Croats said that their affiliation with Yugoslavia is very important to them.<ref name="Perunovic 2015"/>

In February 1990, [[Jovan Rašković]] founded the [[Serb Democratic Party (Croatia)|Serb Democratic Party]] (SDS) in [[Knin]], whose program aimed to change the regional division of Croatia to be aligned with ethnic Serb interests.<ref name="g214">[[#Goldstein|Goldstein (1999)]], p. 214</ref> Prominent members of the RSK government, including [[Milan Babić]] and [[Milan Martić]], later testified that Belgrade directed a propaganda campaign portraying the Serbs in Croatia as being threatened with genocide by the Croat majority.<ref>[[#Babić Verdict|Babić verdict]], p. 9</ref> On 4 March 1990, 50,000 Serbs rallied at [[Petrova Gora]] and shouted negative remarks aimed at Tuđman,<ref name="g214"/> chanted "This is Serbia",<ref name="g214"/> and expressed support for Milošević.<ref>[[#Ramet|Ramet 2006]], p. 382</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[UNCHR]]|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,QUERYRESPONSE,HRV,4562d8b62,3ae6ab78c,0.html|title=Yugoslavia: Demonstrations in Croatia and Vojvodina|date=1 May 1990|access-date=11 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324161438/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,QUERYRESPONSE,HRV,4562d8b62,3ae6ab78c,0.html|archive-date=March 24, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The [[1990 Croatian parliamentary election|first free elections in Croatia]] and Slovenia were scheduled for a few months later.<ref name="NYTimes-Elections1-HRV1990">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/23/world/evolution-in-europe-yugoslavia-hopes-for-free-vote-in-90.html?ref=croatia|title=Evolution in Europe; Yugoslavia Hopes for Free Vote in '90|date=23 April 1990|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518213634/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/23/world/evolution-in-europe-yugoslavia-hopes-for-free-vote-in-90.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> The first round of elections in Croatia was held on 22 April, and the second round on 6 May.<ref name="NYTimes-Elections2-HRV1990">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/09/world/evolution-in-europe-conservatives-win-in-croatia.html?ref=croatia|title=Evolution in Europe; Conservatives Win in Croatia|date=9 May 1990|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=November 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110142411/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/09/world/evolution-in-europe-conservatives-win-in-croatia.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> The HDZ based its campaign on greater sovereignty (eventually outright independence) for Croatia, fueling a sentiment among Croats that "only the HDZ could protect Croatia from the aspirations of Milošević towards a Greater Serbia". It topped the poll in the elections (followed by [[Ivica Račan]]'s reformed communists, [[Social Democratic Party of Croatia]]) and was set to form a new [[Croatian Government]].<ref name="NYTimes-Elections2-HRV1990"/>

A tense atmosphere prevailed on  May 13, 1990, when a [[Dinamo Zagreb-Red Star Belgrade riot|football game was held at Zagreb]] in [[Maksimir Stadium]] between [[Zagreb]]'s [[Dinamo Zagreb|Dinamo]] team and Belgrade's [[Red Star Belgrade|Red Star]]. The game erupted into violence between the Croatian and Serbian fans and with the police.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dalje.com/en-sports/video--day-when-maksimir-stadium-went-up-in-flames/257791|title=The Day When Maksimir Stadium Went up in Flames|publisher=Dalje.com|date=13 May 2009|access-date=19 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110508154538/http://dalje.com/en-sports/video--day-when-maksimir-stadium-went-up-in-flames/257791|archive-date=May 8, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On 30 May 1990, the new [[Croatian Parliament]] held its first session. President Tuđman announced his manifesto for a new Constitution (ratified at the end of the year) and a multitude of political, economic, and social changes, notably to what extent minority rights (mainly for Serbs) would be guaranteed. Local Serb politicians opposed the new constitution. In 1991, Croats represented 78.1% and Serbs 12.2% of the total population of Croatia,<ref>[[#Milošević Indictment|Milošević indictment]], p. 29</ref> but the latter held a disproportionate number of official posts: 17.7% of appointed officials in Croatia, including police, were Serbs. An even greater proportion of those posts had been held by Serbs in Croatia earlier, which created a perception that the Serbs were guardians of the communist regime.{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|p=239}} Serbian politician and sociologist [[Vesna Pešić]] states that this caused discontent among the Croats but that it never actually undermined their own dominance in SR Croatia.{{sfn|Pešić|1996|p=12}} After the HDZ came to power, many Serbs employed in the public sector, especially the police, were fired and replaced by Croats.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/143561/Croatia/223957/Croatia-in-Yugoslavia-1945-91?anchor=ref476690|title=Croatia in Yugoslavia, 1945–91|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date=18 November 2010|archive-date=March 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315085313/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/143561/Croatia/223957/Croatia-in-Yugoslavia-1945-91?anchor=ref476690|url-status=live}}</ref> This, combined with Tuđman's remarks, i.e. "Thank God my wife is not a Jew or a Serb",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,MRGI,,HRV,,4954ce1ec,0.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416024543/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,MRGI,,HRV,,4954ce1ec,0.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2013|title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Croatia: Overview|work=[[Minority Rights Group International]]|publisher=[[UNCHR]]|year=2008|access-date=29 June 2012}}</ref> were distorted by Milošević's media to spark fear that any form of an independent Croatia would be a new "[[Ustashe]] state". In one instance, TV Belgrade showed Tuđman shaking hands with German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] (who would be the first government leader in the world to recognise independent Croatia and Slovenia) accusing the two of plotting "a Fourth Reich".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/01/magazine/carving-out-a-greater-serbia.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=Carving out a Greater Serbia|author=Stephen Engelberg|work=The New York Times|date=1 September 1991|access-date=29 June 2012|archive-date=February 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212125825/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/01/magazine/carving-out-a-greater-serbia.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[#Brown & Karim|Brown & Karim (1995)]], p. 119</ref> Aside from the firing of many Serbs from public sector positions, another concern among Serbs living in Croatia was the HDZ's public display of the ''[[Croatian checkerboard|šahovnica]]'' (Croatian checkerboard) in the [[Croatian coat of arms]], which was associated with the fascist Ustaše regime.{{sfn|Fisher|2006|p=57}} This was a misconception as the checkerboard had a history going back to the fifteenth century and was not identical to the one that was used in the WW2-era [[Independent State of Croatia]].<ref name="Ramet2010">{{cite book |last1=Ramet |first1=Sabrina P. |title=Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989 |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-13948-750-4 |pages=261–262 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oFXdiS25N78C&pg=PA261 |access-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028142425/https://books.google.com/books?id=oFXdiS25N78C&pg=PA261#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Tuđman's xenophobic rhetoric and attitude towards Croatian Serbs as well as his support for former Ustaše leaders did little to ease Serb fears.<ref name="Macdonald">{{cite book |last1=Macdonald |first1=David Bruce |title=Balkan Holocausts?: Serbian and Croatian Victim Centered Propaganda and the War in Yugoslavia |date=2002 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-71906-467-8 |pages=262–263 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kBjrJyen4FEC&pg=PA262 |access-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028142423/https://books.google.com/books?id=kBjrJyen4FEC&pg=PA262#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Saideman |first1=Stephen M. |last2=Ayres |first2=R. William |title=For Kin or Country: Xenophobia, Nationalism, and War |date=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-23151-449-1 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WAOxl4-HS1wC&pg=PA74 |access-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028142426/https://books.google.com/books?id=WAOxl4-HS1wC&pg=PA74#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ciment |first1=James |last2=Hill |first2=Kenneth |title=Encyclopedia of Conflicts since World War II |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-13659-621-6 |page=492 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtvlVCB3rPwC&pg=PA492 |access-date=June 15, 2020 |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028142425/https://books.google.com/books?id=qtvlVCB3rPwC&pg=PA492#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Civil unrest and demands for autonomy===
{{See also|Log Revolution}}
Immediately after the [[1990 Slovenian parliamentary election|Slovenian parliamentary election]] and the [[1990 Croatian parliamentary election|Croatian parliamentary election]] in April and May 1990, the JNA announced that the [[Josip Broz Tito|Tito]]-era doctrine of "general people's defense", in which each republic maintained a [[Territorial Defense Forces (Yugoslavia)|Territorial defense force]] ({{langx|sh|Teritorijalna obrana}}) (TO), would henceforth be replaced by a centrally directed system of defense. The republics would lose their role in defense matters, and their TOs would be disarmed and subordinated to JNA headquarters in Belgrade, but the new Slovenian government acted quickly to retain control over their TO.<ref name="Slovenian-Army-TO1990">{{cite web|publisher=[[Slovenian Armed Forces]]|url=http://www.slovenskavojska.si/en/about-the-slovenian-armed-forces/history|title=History—Territorial Defence|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=April 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414203818/http://www.slovenskavojska.si/en/about-the-slovenian-armed-forces/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 14 May 1990, the weapons of the TO of Croatia, in Croat-majority regions, were taken away by the JNA,{{sfn|Kreš|2010|p=54}} preventing the possibility of Croatia having its own weapons as was done in Slovenia.{{sfn|Kreš|2010|p=6}}{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|pp=237, 240}} [[Borisav Jović]], Serbia's representative in the Federal Presidency and a close ally of Slobodan Milošević, claimed that this action came at the behest of Serbia.<ref>[[#Glaurdic|Glaurdic (2011)]], p. 57</ref>

According to Jović, on 27 June 1990 he and [[Veljko Kadijević]], the Yugoslav Defence Minister, met and agreed that they should, regarding Croatia and Slovenia, "expel them forcibly from Yugoslavia, by simply drawing borders and declaring that they have brought this upon themselves through their decisions". According to Jović, the next day he obtained the agreement of Milošević.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jović|first=Borisav|title=Poslednji dani SFRJ|year=1995|publisher=Politika|location=Belgrade|pages=160–161}}</ref> However, Kadijević, of mixed Serb-Croat heritage and a [[Yugoslav Partisan]] in [[World War II]], was loyal to Yugoslavia and not a Greater Serbia; Kadijević believed that if Slovenia left Yugoslavia the state would collapse and thus he discussed with Jović about possibly using the JNA to impose [[martial law]] in Slovenia to prevent this potential collapse and was willing to wage war with the secessionist republics to prevent their secession.<ref>Adam LeBor. Milosevic: A Biography. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2003{{page needed|date=December 2016}}</ref> Kadijević considered the political crisis and ethnic conflict to have been caused by the actions of foreign governments, particularly Germany, which he accused of seeking to break up Yugoslavia to allow Germany to exercise a sphere of influence in the Balkans.<ref name="Sabrina P. Ramet 2005. P117">Sabrina P. Ramet. Thinking about Yugoslavia: Scholarly Debates about the Yugoslav Breakup and the Wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. Cambridge University Press, 2005. P117.</ref> Kadijević regarded the Croatian government of Tuđman to be a fascist-inspired and that Serbs had the right to be protected from Croatian "armed formations".<ref name="Sabrina P. Ramet 2005. P117"/>

After the election of Tuđman and the HDZ, a Serb Assembly was established in [[Srb]], north of Knin, on 25 July 1990 as the political representation of the Serb people in Croatia. The Serb Assembly declared "sovereignty and autonomy of the Serb people in Croatia".<ref name="icty babic2">[[#Martić Verdict|Martić verdict]], pp&nbsp;44–49.</ref>

The new Croatian government implemented policies that were seen as openly nationalistic and anti-Serbian in nature, such as the removal of the [[Serbian Cyrillic script]] from correspondence in public offices.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guskova |first=Elena |title=History of the Yugoslavian crisis (1990-2000) |year=2001 |isbn=5941910037 |pages=147}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Yugoslavia in the 20th century: Sketches of Political History |year=2011 |isbn=9785916741216 |pages=780–781 |last1=Nikiforov |first1=К. |publisher=Indrik}}</ref>

{{Quote box|width=33%|align=right|quote=Greater Serbian circles have no interest in protecting the Serbian people living in either Croatia or Bosnia or anywhere else. If that were the case, then we could look and see what it is in the [[Constitution of Croatia|Croatian constitution]], see what is in the declaration on minorities, on the Serbs in Croatia and on minorities, because the Serbs are treated separately there. Let us see if the Serbs have less [[civil rights|rights]] than the Croats in Croatia. That would be protecting the Serbs in Croatia. But that is not what is sought. Gentlemen, what they want is territory.|source= —  [[Stjepan Mesić]] on Belgrade's intentions in the war<ref>{{cite web|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/trans/en/021001IT.htm|title=Milosevic Transcripts|page=10528|date=1 October 2002|access-date=5 March 2011|archive-date=March 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305041433/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/trans/en/021001IT.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

In August 1990, an unrecognized [[mono-ethnic]] referendum was held in regions with a substantial Serb population which would later become known as the [[Republic of Serbian Krajina]] (RSK) (bordering western [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]) on the question of Serb "sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia.<ref name="NYTimes-Minority-AUG1990">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/07/world/serb-minority-seek-role-in-a-separate-croatia.html?ref=croatia|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|title=Serb Minority Seek Role in a Separate Croatia|date=7 August 1990|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518213717/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/07/world/serb-minority-seek-role-in-a-separate-croatia.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> This was an attempt to counter changes made to the constitution. The Croatian government sent police forces to police stations in Serb-populated areas to seize their weapons. Among other incidents, local Serbs from the southern hinterlands of Croatia, mostly around the city of [[Knin]], blocked roads to tourist destinations in Dalmatia. This incident is known as the "[[Log Revolution]]".<ref name="NYTimes-Log-19AUG1990">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/world/roads-sealed-as-yugoslav-unrest-mounts.html?ref=croatia|agency=[[Reuters]]|title=Roads Sealed as Yugoslav Unrest Mounts|date=19 August 1990|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518201429/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/world/roads-sealed-as-yugoslav-unrest-mounts.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Log-20AUG1990">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/20/world/armed-serbs-guard-highways-in-croatia-during-referendum.html?ref=croatia|title=Armed Serbs Guard Highways in Croatia During Referendum|date=20 August 1990|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=January 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103201452/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/20/world/armed-serbs-guard-highways-in-croatia-during-referendum.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Years later, during Martić's trial, Babić claimed he was tricked by Martić into agreeing to the Log Revolution, and that it and the entire war in Croatia was Martić's responsibility, and had been orchestrated by Belgrade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=259675&apc_state=henftri259753|title=IWPR news report: Martic "Provoked" Croatian Conflict|work=iwpr.net|publisher=[[Institute for War and Peace Reporting]]|date=17 February 2006|access-date=7 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103034/http://www.iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=259675&apc_state=henftri259753|archive-date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref> The statement was corroborated by Martić in an interview published in 1991.<ref name="NYTimes-MarticInterview-19AUG1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/20/world/truce-in-croatia-on-edge-of-collapse.html?ref=croatia|title=Truce in Croatia on Edge of Collapse|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=19 August 1991|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-date=May 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503133121/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/20/world/truce-in-croatia-on-edge-of-collapse.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Babić confirmed that by July 1991 Milošević had taken over control of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).<ref name="Babic transcript">{{cite web|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/trans/en/060217IT.htm|title=Milan Babić Transcript|publisher=[[ICTY]]|date=17 February 2006|access-date=10 January 2011|pages=1504–1510|archive-date=January 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113135032/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/trans/en/060217IT.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The Croatian government responded to the blockade of roads by sending special police teams in helicopters to the scene, but were intercepted by [[SFR Yugoslav Air Force]] fighter jets and forced to turn back to [[Zagreb]]. The Serbs felled pine trees or used bulldozers to block roads to seal off towns like Knin and [[Benkovac]] near the [[Adriatic coast]]. On 18 August 1990, the Serbian newspaper ''[[Večernje novosti]]'' claimed "almost two million Serbs were ready to go to Croatia to fight".<ref name="NYTimes-Log-19AUG1990"/>

On 21 December 1990, the [[SAO Krajina]] was proclaimed by the municipalities of the regions of Northern [[Dalmatia]] and [[Lika]], in south-western Croatia. Article 1 of the Statute of the SAO Krajina defined the SAO Krajina as "a form of territorial autonomy within the Republic of Croatia" in which the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, state laws, and the Statute of the SAO Krajina were applied.<ref name="icty babic2"/><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/02/world/croatia-s-serbs-declare-their-autonomy.html |author=Chuck Sudetic |title=Croatia's Serbs Declare Their Autonomy |date=2 October 1990 |access-date=11 December 2010 |archive-date=November 12, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112065457/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/02/world/croatia-s-serbs-declare-their-autonomy.html |df=mdy }}</ref>

On 22 December 1990, the Parliament of Croatia ratified the new constitution,<ref name="NYTimes-Constitution-HRV1990"/> which was seen by Serbs as taking away rights that had been granted by the Socialist constitution.{{sfn|Pešić|1996|p=10&ndash;11|ps=[The nations'] rights to be "constitutive" were recognized not only within their respective states, but also among co-nationals inhabiting the territory of other Yugoslav republics. In some cases, these ethnic diaspora communities viewed the constitutive nature of Yugoslav nationhood as giving them the right to extend the sovereignty of their national "homeland" to the territories they inhabited. Such was the case with Serbs in Croatia, who constituted 12% of the population in 1991. Later, this status would produce enormous problems, giving Croatian Serbs the "right" to secede from Croatia, and giving Croatia the right to deny them this status by designating them as a "minority" in its new constitution.}} The constitution did define Croatia as "the national state of the Croatian nation and a state of members of other nations and minorities who are its citizens: Serbs&nbsp;... who are guaranteed [[Social equality|equality]] with citizens of Croatian nationality&nbsp;..."<ref name="icty babic2"/>

Following Tuđman's election and the perceived threat from the new constitution,<ref name="NYTimes-Constitution-HRV1990">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/22/world/crisis-in-the-kremlin-croatia-takes-right-to-secede.html?ref=croatia|agency=[[Associated Press]]|title=Crisis in the Kremlin; Croatia Takes Right to Secede|date=22 December 1990|access-date=10 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518195650/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/22/world/crisis-in-the-kremlin-croatia-takes-right-to-secede.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Serb nationalists in the [[Kninska Krajina]] region began taking armed action against Croatian government officials. Croatian government property throughout the region was increasingly controlled by local Serb municipalities or the newly established "Serbian National Council". This would later become the government of the breakaway [[Republic of Serbian Krajina]] (RSK).<ref name="icty babic2"/>

After it was discovered that [[Martin Špegelj]] had pursued a campaign to acquire arms through the black market in January 1991 an ultimatum was issued requesting disarming and disbanding of Croatian military forces considered illegal by the Yugoslav authorities.<ref name="NYTimes-Disarming-TO1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/20/world/defiant-yugoslav-republics-brace-for-assault.html?ref=croatia|title=Defiant Yugoslav Republics Brace for Assault|agency=Associated Press|date=20 January 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504043316/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/20/world/defiant-yugoslav-republics-brace-for-assault.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Clarification-TO1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/22/world/yugoslavia-warns-croatia-to-disarm-its-forces.html?ref=croatia|author=Chuck Sudetic|title=Yugoslavia Warns Croatia to Disarm Its Forces|date=22 January 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503133117/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/22/world/yugoslavia-warns-croatia-to-disarm-its-forces.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Croatian authorities refused to comply, and the Yugoslav army withdrew the ultimatum six days after it was issued.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/25/world/defiant-croatian-republic-refuses-to-disarm-paramilitary-police.html?ref=croatia|author=Chuck Sudetic|title=Defiant Croatian Republic Refuses to Disarm Paramilitary Police|date=25 January 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504101423/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/25/world/defiant-croatian-republic-refuses-to-disarm-paramilitary-police.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/27/world/confrontation-in-yugoslavia-headed-off.html?ref=croatia|title=Confrontation in Yugoslavia Headed Off|author=Chuck Sudetic|date=27 January 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504080816/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/27/world/confrontation-in-yugoslavia-headed-off.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 12 March 1991, the leadership of the Army met with the [[Presidency of the SFRY]] in an attempt to convince them to declare a [[state of emergency]] which would allow for the army to take control of the country. Yugoslav army chief [[Veljko Kadijević]] declared that there was a conspiracy to destroy the country, saying:
{{Blockquote|An insidious plan has been drawn up to destroy Yugoslavia. Stage one is civil war. Stage two is foreign intervention. Then puppet regimes will be set up throughout Yugoslavia.|Veljko Kadijević, 12 March 1991.<ref name="Yugoslavia. British Broadcasting Corporation 1995">The Death of Yugoslavia. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 1995.</ref>}}

Jović claims that Kadijević and the Army in March 1991 supported a [[coup d'état]] as a way out of the crisis but then changed their minds four days later.<ref name="youtube.com">{{YouTube|KfHdTbTkTiY|RTS interview with Veljko Kadijević, November 2007}}</ref> Kadijević's response to this was that "Jović is lying".<ref name="youtube.com"/> Kadijević claims he was invited to a meeting in March 1991 in Jović's office, two days after [[March 9, 1991 protest|huge protests organized by Vuk Drašković]] on the streets of Belgrade, where Milošević, according to Kadijević, requested that the army take control of the country through a military coup.<ref name="youtube.com"/> Kadijević's apparent response was to inform Milošević that he could not make such a decision by himself, and that he'd discuss the request with army leaders and later inform Jović's office about their decision.<ref name="youtube.com"/> Kadijević then said that their decision was against the putsch and that he informed Jović's office in written form about it.<ref name="youtube.com"/> Jović claims that such document doesn't exist.<ref name="youtube.com"/>

[[Ante Marković]] has described that after the Presidency meeting failed to achieve the results the Army wanted that Kadijević met with him with the proposed coup d'état against the secessionist republics.<ref name="Lenard J. Cohen 2008. P323">Lenard J. Cohen, Jasna Dragović-Soso. ''State Collapse in South-Eastern Europe: New Perspectives on Yugoslavia's Disintegration''. Purdue University Press, 2008. P323.</ref> During the meeting Marković responded to Kadijević by saying that the plan failed to arrest Milošević.<ref name="Lenard J. Cohen 2008. P323"/> Kadijević replied "He is only one fighting for Yugoslavia. Without him, we could not be proposing this." Marković rejected the plan and afterwards communication between Kadijević and Marković broke down.<ref name="Lenard J. Cohen 2008. P323"/>

==Military forces==

===Serb and Yugoslav People's Army forces===
{{See also|Yugoslav People's Army|Military of Serbian Krajina}}
[[File:JNA offensive plan 1991.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of the strategic offensive plan of the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] (JNA) in 1991 as interpreted by the US [[Central Intelligence Agency]]]]

The JNA was initially formed during [[World War II]] to carry out [[guerrilla warfare]] against occupying [[Axis powers|Axis forces]]. The success of the [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|Partisan movement]] led to the JNA basing much of its operational strategy on guerrilla warfare, as its plans normally entailed defending against [[NATO]] or [[Warsaw Pact]] attacks, where other types of warfare would put the JNA in a comparatively poor position. That approach led to maintenance of a [[Military doctrine#Territorial Defense Forces|Territorial Defense system]].<ref>{{cite web | work = Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780 (1992) | title = The military structure, strategy and tactics of the warring factions |url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/anx/iii.htm#III | editor-first = M. Cherif | editor-last = Bassiouni | editor-link = M. Cherif Bassiouni | publisher = United Nations Security Council | via = [[School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences (UWE)]] |date=28 December 1994 |access-date=20 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207162340/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/anx/iii.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2011 }}</ref>

On paper, the JNA seemed a powerful force, with 2,000 [[tank]]s and 300 [[jet aircraft]] (mainly [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] or locally produced). However, by 1991, the majority of this equipment was 30 years old, as the force consisted primarily of [[T-54/55]] tanks and [[MiG-21]] aircraft.<ref name="Western European Union107">[[#Western European Union|Western European Union (1986)]], p. 107</ref> Still, the JNA operated around 300 [[M-84]] tanks (a Yugoslav version of the Soviet [[T-72]]) and a sizable fleet of [[ground-attack aircraft]], such as the [[Soko G-4 Super Galeb]] and the [[Soko J-22 Orao]], whose armament included [[AGM-65 Maverick]] guided missiles.<ref name="Finlan20-21">[[#Finlan|Finlan (2004)]], pp. 20–21</ref> By contrast, more modern cheap anti-tank missiles (like the [[9M113 Konkurs|AT-5]]) and anti-aircraft missiles (like the [[SA-14]]) were abundant and were designed to destroy much more advanced weaponry. Before the war the JNA had 169,000 regular troops, including 70,000 professional [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]]s. The fighting in [[Ten-Day War|Slovenia]] brought about a great number of desertions, and the army responded by mobilizing Serbian reserve troops. Approximately 100,000 evaded the [[Conscription|draft]], and the new conscripts proved an ineffective fighting force. The JNA resorted to reliance on [[Paramilitary|irregular militias]].<ref name="NYTimes-Troop-Shortages">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/23/world/brutal-impasse-yugoslav-war-special-report-yugoslav-ethnic-hatreds-raise-fears.html?ref=croatia|title=Yugoslav Ethnic Hatreds Raise Fears of a War Without an End|author=Stephen Engelberg|date=23 December 1991|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518212558/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/23/world/brutal-impasse-yugoslav-war-special-report-yugoslav-ethnic-hatreds-raise-fears.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Paramilitary units like the [[White Eagles (paramilitary)|White Eagles]], [[Serbian Guard (paramilitary)|Serbian Guard]], Dušan Silni, and [[Serb Volunteer Guard]], which committed a number of massacres against Croat and other non-Serbs civilians, were increasingly used by the Yugoslav and Serb forces.<ref name="B92-Lovas">{{cite web|title=69 hrvatskih civila ubijeno u Lovasu u oktobru 1991|trans-title=69 Croatian civilians killed in Lovas in October 1991|language=sr|url=http://www.b92.net/info/dokumenti/index.php?nav_id=466651|publisher=B92|date=20 October 2010|access-date=22 December 2010|archive-date=November 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104134015/http://www.b92.net/info/dokumenti/index.php?nav_id=466651|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="un"/> There were also foreign fighters supporting the RSK, mostly from [[Russia]].<ref name="UN-Foreign-fighters">{{cite web|publisher=United Nations|url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/50/plenary/a50-390add1.htm|title=Use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination – Note by the Secretary-General|date=29 August 1995|access-date=23 January 2011|archive-date=January 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117063439/https://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/50/plenary/a50-390add1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> With the retreat of the JNA forces in 1992, JNA units were reorganized as the [[Army of Serb Krajina]], which was a direct heir to the JNA organization, with little improvement.<ref name="NYTimes-Jan3-Ceasefire">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/03/world/yugoslav-factions-agree-to-un-plan-to-halt-civil-war.html?ref=croatia|title=Yugoslav Factions Agree to U.N. Plan to Halt Civil War|author=Chuck Sudetic|date=3 January 1992|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518210925/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/03/world/yugoslav-factions-agree-to-un-plan-to-halt-civil-war.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="hrw1"/> During the [[Yugoslav Wars]], many Serb paramilitaries styled themselves as [[Chetniks#Legacy|Chetniks]].{{sfn|Totten|Bartrop|2008|p=68}} The SRS's military wing was known as "Chetniks" and received weaponry from the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] (JNA) and Serbian police.{{sfn|Lukic|Lynch|1996|p=190}} [[Vojislav Šešelj]] personally helped arm Serbs in Croatia{{sfn|Lukic|Lynch|1996|p=190}} and recruited volunteers in Serbia and Montenegro, sending 5,000 men to Croatia and up to 30,000 to Bosnia and Herzegovina.{{sfn|Ron|2003|p=48}}

By 1991, the JNA officer corps was dominated by Serbs and [[Montenegrins (ethnic group)|Montenegrins]]; they were overrepresented in Yugoslav federal institutions, especially the army. 57.1% of JNA officers were [[Serbs]], while Serbs formed 36.3% of the population of Yugoslavia.{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|p=239}} A similar structure was observed as early as 1981.<ref name="Mann363">[[#Mann|Mann (1996)]], p. 363</ref> Even though the two peoples combined comprised 38.8% of the population of Yugoslavia, 70% of all JNA officers and [[non-commissioned officer]]s were either Serbs or Montenegrins.<ref>{{cite web | work = Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780 (1992) | title = The military structure, strategy and tactics of the warring factions |url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/anx/iii.htm#IV.C |editor-first = M. Cherif | editor-last = Bassiouni | editor-link = M. Cherif Bassiouni | publisher = United Nations Security Council | via = [[School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences (UWE)]] |date=28 December 1994 |access-date=20 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207162340/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/anx/iii.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2011 }}</ref> In July 1991, the JNA was instructed to "completely eliminate Croats and Slovenes from the army", most of whom had already begun to desert en masse.{{why|date=April 2016}}<ref name="Jović-icty-statement"/>

===Croatian forces===
{{See also|Croatian National Guard|Military of Croatia}}
[[File:Serb T-55 Battle of the Barracks.JPG|thumb|The Croatian military eased their equipment shortage by seizing the JNA barracks in the [[Battle of the Barracks]].]]

The [[Military of Croatia|Croatian military]] was in a much worse state than that of the Serbs. In the early stages of the war, lack of military units meant that the [[Croatian Police]] force would take the brunt of the fighting. The [[Croatian National Guard]] ({{langx|hr|Zbor narodne garde}}), the new Croatian military, was formed on 11 April 1991, and gradually developed into the [[Croatian Army]] ({{langx|hr|Hrvatska vojska}}) by 1993. Weaponry was in short supply, and many units were either unarmed or were equipped with obsolete World War II-era rifles. The Croatian Army had only a handful of tanks, including World War II-surplus vehicles such as the [[T-34]], and its Air Force was in an even worse state, consisting of only a few Antonov [[An-2]] [[biplane]] [[Agricultural aircraft|crop-dusters]] that had been converted to drop makeshift bombs.<ref name="An2-Mader">{{cite journal|author= Georg Mader|publisher=Aerospace Publishing|location=London, UK|title=Croatia's embargoed air force|year=2006|journal= World Air Power Journal|volume=24|issue=Spring|page=145|isbn=1-874023-66-2}}</ref><ref name="Frucht562">[[#Frucht|Frucht (2005)]], p. 562</ref> Several paramilitaries formations participated in the war, the largest of which were the [[Croatian Defence Forces]] (HOS), the military wing of the far-right [[Croatian Party of Rights]], with [[Dobroslav Paraga]] serving as supreme commander.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tasić |first1=Dmitar |title=Paramilitarism in the Balkans: Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Albania, 1917-1924 |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191899218 |page=227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFXwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA227}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Milekic |first1=Sven |title=Croatia’s 1990s Paramilitaries: From Government Critics to Collaborator |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2020/05/06/croatians-1990s-paramilitaries-from-government-critics-to-collaborators/ |work=Balkan Insight |date=6 May 2020}}</ref> At the outset of the war, [[Tomislav Merčep]] organized the first 2,000 volunteers on the Croatian side; units under his command were responsible for atrocities against Serb civilians.<ref>{{cite web |title=Croatia: Tomislav Mercep's Role in Atrocities |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/1995-10-19A.pdf |website=cia.gov |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |date=19 October 1995}}</ref>

In August 1991, the Croatian Army had fewer than 20 [[brigade]]s. After general [[mobilization]] was instituted in October, the size of the army grew to 60 brigades and 37 independent battalions by the end of the year.<ref name="NigelThomas-YugoslavWars"/><ref name="NYTimes-Mobilization-6Oct1991"/> In 1991 and 1992, Croatia was also supported by 456 foreign fighters, including British (139), French (69), and German (55).<!-- These would have to be ethnic Croats; shouldn't it be specified?? --><ref>{{cite web |work=[[Nacional (weekly)|Nacional]] |url=http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/72091/zivot-nakon-rata-za-tudu-domovinu |publisher=NCL Media Grupa d.o.o. |title=Život nakon rata za tuđu domovinu |trans-title=Life after a war for a foreign homeland |language=hr |author=Berislav Jelinić |date=24 November 2009 |access-date=23 January 2011 |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527134931/http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/72091/zivot-nakon-rata-za-tudu-domovinu |df=mdy }}</ref> The [[Battle of the barracks|seizure of the JNA's barracks]] between September and December helped to alleviate the Croatians' equipment shortage.<ref name="NYTimes-Barracks-24Sep1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/24/world/serbs-and-croats-seeing-war-in-different-prisms.html?pagewanted=all|title=Serbs and Croats: Seeing War in Different Prisms|author=Alan Cowell|author-link=Alan S. Cowell|date=24 September 1991|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=July 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729083252/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/24/world/serbs-and-croats-seeing-war-in-different-prisms.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BostonGlobe-Barracks-Varaždin">{{cite news|newspaper=[[Boston Globe]]|url=https://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2010/03/19/ex_serb_general_hero_or_traitor|title=Ex-Serb general: hero or traitor?|author=Dušan Stojanović|date=19 March 2010|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924154422/http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2010/03/19/ex_serb_general_hero_or_traitor/|url-status=live}}</ref> By 1995, the balance of power had shifted significantly. Serb forces in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were capable of fielding an estimated 130,000 troops; the Croatian Army, [[Croatian Defence Council]] ({{langx|hr|Hrvatsko vijeće obrane}}) (HVO), and the [[Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]]  could field a combined force of 250,000 soldiers and 570 tanks.<ref name="Ramet-3Yugoslavias-452"/><ref name="NYTimes-Croatia-MilitProd">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/05/world/arms-trafficking-to-bosnia-goes-on-despite-embargo.html?ref=croatia|title=Arms Trafficking to Bosnia Goes On Despite Embargo|author=Roger Cohen|author-link=Roger Cohen|date=5 November 1994|access-date=17 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518205333/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/05/world/arms-trafficking-to-bosnia-goes-on-despite-embargo.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Course of the war==
{{For timeline}}

===1991: Open hostilities begin===

====First armed incidents====
[[File:Plitvice Lakes incident, memorial, of the first killed croatian policemen.JPG|thumb|A monument to [[Josip Jović]], widely perceived in Croatia as the first Croatian victim of the war, who died during the [[Plitvice Lakes incident]]]]

[[Ethnic hatred]] grew as various incidents fueled the [[Role of the media in the Yugoslav wars|propaganda]] machines on both sides. During his testimony before the ICTY, one of the top Krajina leaders, Milan Martić, stated that the Serb side started using force first.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/trans/en/060215ED.htm|title=Milan Martic Transcripts|date=15 February 2006|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia|access-date=12 May 2011|location=The Hague|page=1360|quote=Could you tell us, please, was one side responsible for the escalation in terms of violence and demonstrations of force? A. Both sides were responsible, but to my knowledge, the Serb side began using force first|archive-date=August 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805203119/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/trans/en/060215ED.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The conflict escalated into armed incidents in the majority-Serb populated areas. The Serbs [[Pakrac clash|attacked Croatian police units]] in Pakrac in early March,<ref name="NYTimes-Pakrac-3Mar1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/03/world/belgrade-sends-troops-to-croatia-town.html?ref=croatia|author=Stephen Engelberg|title=Belgrade Sends Troops to Croatia Town|date=3 March 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518185319/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/03/world/belgrade-sends-troops-to-croatia-town.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/world/serb-croat-showdown-in-one-village-square.html?ref=croatia|title=Serb-Croat Showdown in One Village Square|author=Stephen Engelberg|date=4 March 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518205534/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/world/serb-croat-showdown-in-one-village-square.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> while one [[Josip Jović]] is widely reported as the first police officer killed by Serb forces as part of the war, during the [[Plitvice Lakes incident]] in late March 1991.<ref name="NYTimes-Plitvice-31Mar1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/01/world/deadly-clash-in-a-yugoslav-republic.html?ref=croatia|title=Deadly Clash in a Yugoslav Republic|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=1 April 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518202811/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/01/world/deadly-clash-in-a-yugoslav-republic.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=19th anniversary of Plitvice action commemorated |work=morh.hr |url=http://www.morh.hr/en/news-press-releases-annoucments/press-release/19th-anniversary-of-plitvice-action-commemorated.html |publisher=[[Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia]] |date=31 March 2010 |access-date=11 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717120303/http://www.morh.hr/en/news-press-releases-annoucments/press-release/19th-anniversary-of-plitvice-action-commemorated.html |archive-date=July 17, 2011 }}</ref>

In March and April 1991, Serbs in Croatia began to make moves to secede from that territory. It is a matter of debate to what extent this move was locally motivated and to what degree the Milošević-led Serbian government was involved. In any event, the [[SAO Krajina]] was declared, which consisted of any Croatian territory with a substantial Serb population. The Croatian government viewed this move as a rebellion.<ref name="icty babic2"/><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/18/world/serbian-official-declares-part-of-croatia-separate.html?ref=croatia|title=Serbian Official Declares Part of Croatia Separate|author=David Binder|date=18 March 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518204455/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/18/world/serbian-official-declares-part-of-croatia-separate.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/02/world/rebel-serbs-complicate-rift-on-yugoslav-unity.html?ref=croatia|title=Rebel Serbs Complicate Rift on Yugoslav Unity|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=2 April 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518205440/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/02/world/rebel-serbs-complicate-rift-on-yugoslav-unity.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

From the beginning of the Log Revolution and the end of April 1991, nearly 200 incidents involving the use of explosive devices and 89 attacks on the Croatian police were recorded.<ref name="Annex IV"/> The [[Ministry of the Interior (Croatia)|Croatian Ministry of the Interior]] started arming an [[Croatian special police order of battle in 1991–95|increasing number of special police]] forces, and this led to the building of a real army. On 9 April 1991, Croatian President Tuđman ordered the special police forces to be renamed ''Zbor Narodne Garde'' ("National Guard"); this marks the creation of a separate military of Croatia.<ref>[[#Commonwealth|Commonwealth]], pp.&nbsp;272–278</ref>

Significant clashes from this period included the [[1991 siege of Kijevo|siege of Kijevo]], where over a thousand people were besieged in the inner Dalmatian village of Kijevo, and the [[Borovo Selo killings]], where Croatian policemen engaged Serb paramilitaries in the eastern Slavonian village of Borovo and suffered twelve casualties.<ref name="NYT-1991-05-05">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/world/one-more-dead-as-clashes-continue-in-yugoslavia.html?ref=croatia|title=One More Dead as Clashes Continue in Yugoslavia|author=Stephen Engelberg|date=5 May 1991|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=May 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503011536/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/world/one-more-dead-as-clashes-continue-in-yugoslavia.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Violence gripped eastern Slavonian villages: in [[Tovarnik]], a Croat policeman was killed by Serb paramilitaries on 2 May, while in [[Sotin]], a Serb civilian was killed on 5 May when he was caught in a crossfire between Serb and Croat paramilitaries.<ref name="NYT-1991-05-05"/> On 6 May, the [[1991 protest in Split]] against the siege of Kijevo at the Navy Command in Split resulted in the death of a Yugoslav People's Army soldier.

On 15 May, [[Stjepan Mesić]], a Croat, was scheduled to be the chairman of the rotating presidency of Yugoslavia. Serbia, aided by Kosovo, Montenegro, and Vojvodina, whose presidency votes were at that time under Serbian control, blocked the appointment, which was otherwise seen as largely ceremonial. This maneuver technically left Yugoslavia without a [[head of state]] and without a [[commander-in-chief]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/16/world/new-crisis-grips-yugoslavia-over-rotation-of-leadership.html?ref=croatia|title=New Crisis Grips Yugoslavia Over Rotation of Leadership|author=Celestine Bohlen|date=16 May 1991|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-date=May 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503045843/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/16/world/new-crisis-grips-yugoslavia-over-rotation-of-leadership.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Two days later, a repeated attempt to vote on the issue failed. [[Ante Marković]], prime minister of Yugoslavia at the time, proposed appointing a panel which would wield presidential powers.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/18/world/yugoslavia-fails-to-fill-presidency.html?ref=croatia|title=Yugoslavia Fails to Fill Presidency|author=Celestine Bohlen|date=18 May 1991|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504043800/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/18/world/yugoslavia-fails-to-fill-presidency.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> It was not immediately clear who the panel members would be, apart from defense minister [[Veljko Kadijević]], nor who would fill position of JNA commander-in-chief. The move was quickly rejected by Croatia as unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/world/croatia-rejects-a-yugoslav-panel.html?ref=croatia|title=Croatia Rejects a Yugoslav Panel|author=Chuck Sudetic|date=19 May 1991|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504054436/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/world/croatia-rejects-a-yugoslav-panel.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> The crisis was resolved after a six-week stalemate, and Mesić was elected president — the first non-communist to become Yugoslav head of state in decades.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/01/world/belgrade-orders-army-to-return-to-its-barracks.html?ref=croatia|title=Belgrade Orders Army to Return To Its Barracks|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=1 July 1991|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504074923/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/01/world/belgrade-orders-army-to-return-to-its-barracks.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

Throughout this period, the federal army, the JNA, and the local [[Territorial Defense Forces (Yugoslavia)|Territorial Defense Forces]] continued to be led by federal authorities controlled by Milošević. [[Helsinki Watch]] reported that Serb Krajina authorities executed Serbs who were willing to reach an accommodation with Croat officials.<ref name="Annex IV"/>

====Declaration of independence====
{{See also|1991 Croatian independence referendum|Ten-Day War}}

On 19 May 1991, the Croatian authorities held a [[1991 Croatian independence referendum|referendum on independence]] with the option of remaining in Yugoslavia as a looser union.<ref name="LATimes-ECstlye-YU">{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-16-mn-2455-story.html|title=Croatia Calls for EC-Style Yugoslavia|date=16 July 1991|access-date=20 December 2010|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015353/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-07-16/news/mn-2455_1_croatia-calls|url-status=live}}</ref> Serb local authorities issued calls for a [[boycott]], which were largely followed by Croatian Serbs. The referendum passed with 94% in favor.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/20/world/croatia-votes-for-sovereignty-and-confederation.html?ref=croatia|title=Croatia Votes for Sovereignty and Confederation|author=Chuck Sudetic|date=20 May 1991|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-date=November 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111080212/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/20/world/croatia-votes-for-sovereignty-and-confederation.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The newly constituted Croatian military units held a military parade and review at [[Stadion Kranjčevićeva]] in Zagreb on 28 May 1991.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Military of Croatia]]|url=http://www.osrh.hr/data/krono_en.html|title=Chronology of the homeland war|work=osrh.hr|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022034944/http://www.osrh.hr/data/krono_en.html|archive-date=October 22, 2010 }}</ref>

The parliament of Croatia declared Croatia's independence and dissolved its association with Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991.<ref name="NYTimes-Declaration-26June1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/2-yugoslav-states-vote-independence-to-press-demands.html |title=2 Yugoslav States Vote Independence To Press Demands |author=Chuck Sudetic |date=26 June 1991 |access-date=12 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110162855/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/2-yugoslav-states-vote-independence-to-press-demands.html |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name=BrownKarim117>[[#Brown & Karim|Brown & Karim (1995)]], p 117</ref> The Croatian parliament's decision was partially boycotted by left-wing parliament deputies.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Hrvatska/Seks-Dio-lijevoga-bloka-odbio-glasovati-za-samostalnost | newspaper = [[Novi list]] | agency = [[HINA]] | language = hr | title = Šeks: Dio lijevoga bloka odbio glasovati za samostalnost | date = 25 June 2012 | access-date = 29 November 2012 | archive-date = March 24, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190324074625/http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Hrvatska/Seks-Dio-lijevoga-bloka-odbio-glasovati-za-samostalnost | url-status = dead }}</ref> The [[European Community]] and the [[Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe]] urged Croatian authorities to place a three-month [[Moratorium (law)|moratorium]] on the decision.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/europeans-warn-on-yugoslav-split.html?ref=croatia|title=Europeans Warn on Yugoslav Split|author=Alan Riding|date=26 June 1991|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518195948/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/europeans-warn-on-yugoslav-split.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

The government of Yugoslavia responded to the declarations of independence of Croatia and Slovenia with Yugoslav Prime Minister [[Ante Marković]] declaring the secessions to be illegal and contrary to the Constitution of Yugoslavia, and supported the JNA taking action to secure the integral unity of Yugoslavia.<ref>Lenard J. Cohen, Jasna Dragović-Soso. State Collapse in South-Eastern Europe: New Perspectives on Yugoslavia's Disintegration. Purdue University Press, 2008. Pp. 323.</ref>

In June and July 1991, the [[Ten-Day War|short armed conflict in Slovenia]] came to a speedy end, partly because of the ethnic homogeneity of the population of Slovenia.<ref name=BrownKarim117/> It was later revealed that a military strike against Slovenia, followed by a planned withdrawal, was conceived by Slobodan Milošević and [[Borisav Jović]], then president of the SFR Yugoslavia presidency. Jović published his diary containing the information and repeated it in his testimony at the Milošević trial at the ICTY.<ref name="Jović-icty-statement">{{cite web|title=Izjava Na Osnovu Pravila 89 (F)|trans-title=Statement Pursuant to Rule 89 (F)|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/proswitness/bcs/mil-wit-jovic.htm|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|language=sr|date=16 November 2003|access-date=18 January 2011|quote=Milošević and I resolutely requested the following from Kadijević: 1. Respond to the Slovenes vigorously using all means including the air force, they must absolutely no longer be allowed to disrespect the Yugoslav People's Army. Then withdraw from Slovenia. We shall make a timely decision on that matter. In that way army morale shall be improved, Croatia shall be scared and Serbian people calmed. 2. The main YPA forces shall be grouped on Karlovac-Plitvice [Lakes] line to the West; Baranja, Osijek, Vinkovci – Sava [River] to the East and Neretva [River] in the South. In that way all territories inhabited by Serbs shall be covered until the final resolution, that is until the people freely decides in a referendum. 3. Completely eliminate Croats and Slovenes from the army.|archive-date=June 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614062653/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/proswitness/bcs/mil-wit-jovic.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Croatia agreed to the [[Brioni Agreement]] that involved freezing its independence declaration for three months, which eased tensions a little.<ref name="NYTimes-Suspension-29June1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/29/world/conflict-in-yugoslavia-2-yugoslav-states-agree-to-suspend-secession-process.html?ref=croatia|title=Conflict in Yugoslavia; 2 Yugoslav States Agree to Suspend Secession Process|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=29 June 1991|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518200044/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/29/world/conflict-in-yugoslavia-2-yugoslav-states-agree-to-suspend-secession-process.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Escalation of the conflict====
{{Further|Battle of Vukovar|Siege of Dubrovnik|Battle of Osijek|Battle of the Barracks|Battle of Gospić|Operation Hurricane-91|Battle of the Dalmatian channels|Battle for Antunovac}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Muzej DR-crop.JPG
| width1 = 240
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = Dubrovnik shelling.jpg
| width2 = 110
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = In the first stages of war, Croatian cities were extensively shelled by the JNA. Bombardment damage in [[Dubrovnik]]: [[Stradun (street)|Stradun]] in the [[Walls of Dubrovnik|walled city]] (left) and map of the walled city with the damage marked (right)
}}

In July, in an attempt to salvage what remained of Yugoslavia, JNA forces were involved in operations against predominantly Croat areas. In July the Serb-led Territorial Defence Forces started their advance on Dalmatian coastal areas in [[Operation Coast-91]].<ref name="LATimes-Desertions-29Sep91"/> By early August, large areas of [[Banovina (region)|Banovina]] were overrun by Serb forces.<ref name="LATimes-OccupiedPct-1Aug91"/>

With the start of military operations in Croatia, Croats and a number of Serbian conscripts started to desert the JNA ''en masse'', similar to what had happened in Slovenia.<ref name="LATimes-Desertions-29Sep91">{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-29-mn-4747-story.html|title=Army Leaves More Towns in Croatia|date=29 September 1991|access-date=13 December 2010|archive-date=December 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204042237/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-09-29/news/mn-4747_1_army-barracks|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/16/world/yugoslav-army-revamping-itself-after-setbacks.html?ref=croatia|title=Yugoslav Army Revamping Itself After Setbacks|author=Stephen Engelberg|date=16 July 1991|access-date=13 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518183622/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/16/world/yugoslav-army-revamping-itself-after-setbacks.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Albanians]] and [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonian]]s started to search for a way to legally leave the JNA or serve their conscription term in [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]]; these moves further homogenized the ethnic composition of JNA troops in or near Croatia.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] – Refworld|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,COUNTRYREP,HRV,,3ae6a80c4,0.html|title=Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY): Military Service|publisher=[[Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada]]|date=1 September 1993|access-date=13 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324063552/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,COUNTRYREP,HRV,,3ae6a80c4,0.html|archive-date=March 24, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

One month after [[Independence of Croatia|Croatia declared its independence]], the Yugoslav army and other Serb forces held something less than one-third of the Croatian territory,<ref name="LATimes-OccupiedPct-1Aug91">{{cite news|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-01-mn-177-story.html |title=Serbian Forces Press Fight for Major Chunk of Croatia |author=Charles T. Powers |date=1 August 1991 |access-date=29 July 2012 |archive-date=May 16, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516054837/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-08-01/news/mn-177_1_defense-force |df=mdy |author-link=Charles T. Powers }}</ref> mostly in areas with a predominantly ethnic Serb population.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/24/world/croats-turn-down-a-new-peace-pact.html?ref=croatia|title=Croats Turn Down a New Peace Pact|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=24 July 1991|access-date=13 December 2010|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504013834/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/24/world/croats-turn-down-a-new-peace-pact.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Serbia-Aid-27July1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/27/world/serbia-sending-supplies-to-compatriots-in-croatia.html?ref=croatia|title=Serbia Sending Supplies to Compatriots in Croatia|author=Stephen Engelberg|date=27 July 1991|access-date=13 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518184343/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/27/world/serbia-sending-supplies-to-compatriots-in-croatia.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> The JNA military strategy partly consisted of extensive [[shell (projectile)|shell]]ing, at times irrespective of the presence of civilians.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Germany Raising Hopes of Croatia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/12/world/germany-raising-hopes-of-croatia.html?scp=5&sq=croatia%201991%20shelling%20civilians&st=cse|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Stephen Engelberg|date=12 December 1991|access-date=27 September 2010|quote=Before the war, the Yugoslav Army drew its soldiers from conscription in all of the Yugoslav republics. Now it must rely on Serbian reservists and Serb irregulars who are poorly trained. A recent report by the monitoring mission concluded that the army was routinely shelling civilian areas.|archive-date=May 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503055619/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/12/world/germany-raising-hopes-of-croatia.html?scp=5&sq=croatia%201991%20shelling%20civilians&st=cse|url-status=live}}</ref> As the war progressed, the cities of [[Dubrovnik]], [[Gospić]], [[Šibenik]], [[Zadar]], [[Karlovac]], [[Sisak]], [[Slavonski Brod]], [[Osijek]], [[Vinkovci]], and [[Vukovar]] all came under attack by Yugoslav forces.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-03-mn-4617-story.html|title=Yugoslav Army Driving on Dubrovnik, 2 Other Cities|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=3 October 1991|access-date=December 13, 2010|archive-date=March 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110306170149/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-10-03/news/mn-4617_1_yugoslav-army|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-04-mn-719-story.html|title=Belgrade Gets a Final Warning From EC|author=Carol J. Williams|date=4 November 1991|access-date=13 December 2010|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230629/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-11-04/news/mn-719_1_final-warning|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-28-mn-503-story.html|title=30 Killed as Croatia Battles Rage Unabated|author=Charles T. Powers|date=28 July 1991|access-date=13 December 2010|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193105/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-07-28/news/mn-503_1_federal-army|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-29-mn-2113-story.html|title=Croatia Says Missiles Aimed at Its Fighters|agency=[[Reuters]]|date=29 December 1991|access-date=13 December 2010|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055047/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-29/news/mn-2113_1_surface-to-surface-missiles|url-status=live}}</ref> The United Nations (UN) imposed a weapons [[embargo]]; this did not affect JNA-backed Serb forces significantly, as they had the JNA arsenal at their disposal, but it caused serious trouble for the newly formed Croatian army. The Croatian government started smuggling weapons over its borders.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/croatia-built-web-of-contacts-to-evade-weapons-embargo-1556500.html|title=Croatia built 'web of contacts' to evade weapons embargo|author=Christopher Bellamy|date=10 October 1992|access-date=13 December 2010|archive-date=November 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110025827/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/croatia-built-web-of-contacts-to-evade-weapons-embargo-1556500.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYT-Arms-Chile">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/11/world/chilean-arms-shipment-to-croatia-stirs-tensions.html?ref=croatia|title=Chilean Arms Shipment to Croatia Stirs Tensions|author=Nathaniel C. Nash|date=11 January 1992|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=May 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503230443/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/11/world/chilean-arms-shipment-to-croatia-stirs-tensions.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Quote box|width=35%|align=left|quote=We will soon gain control of [[Petrinja]], [[Karlovac]] and [[Zadar]] because it has been shown that it is in our interest and the interest of the army to have a large port.|source= —  [[Milan Martić]], August 19, 1991, on the expansion of Republic of Serbian Krajina at Croatia's expense<ref name="NYTimes-MarticInterview-19AUG1991"/>}}

In August 1991, the [[Battle of Vukovar]] began.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/24/world/fighting-may-unravel-yugoslav-truce.html?ref=croatia|title=Fighting May Unravel Yugoslav Truce|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=24 August 1991|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518200455/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/24/world/fighting-may-unravel-yugoslav-truce.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/26/world/new-croatia-strife-after-bonn-warning.html?ref=croatia|title=New Croatia Strife After Bonn Warning|author=Chuck Sudetic|date=26 August 1991|access-date=December 15, 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518194832/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/26/world/new-croatia-strife-after-bonn-warning.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Eastern Slavonia was gravely impacted throughout this period, starting with the [[Dalj massacre]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/03/world/up-to-80-reported-dead-in-croatia-strife.html|author=Stephen Engelberg|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Up to 80 Reported Dead in Croatia Strife|date=3 August 1991|access-date=22 January 2011|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504020543/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/03/world/up-to-80-reported-dead-in-croatia-strife.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and fronts developed around [[Osijek]] and [[Vinkovci]] in parallel to the encirclement of Vukovar.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/23/world/croatia-angrily-sets-deadline-on-truce.html|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Croatia Angrily Sets Deadline on Truce|date=23 August 1991|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|access-date=22 January 2011|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518212155/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/23/world/croatia-angrily-sets-deadline-on-truce.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/02/world/europeans-arrive-in-yugoslavia-to-promote-peace-plan.html|newspaper=The New York Times|author=John Tagliabue|title=Europeans Arrive in Yugoslavia to Promote Peace Plan|date=2 September 1991|access-date=22 January 2011|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518183758/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/02/world/europeans-arrive-in-yugoslavia-to-promote-peace-plan.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/11/world/europeans-are-unable-to-pacify-a-croatian-city.html|newspaper=The New York Times|author=John Tagliabue|title=Europeans Are Unable to Pacify a Croatian City|date=11 September 1991|access-date=22 January 2011|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518201411/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/11/world/europeans-are-unable-to-pacify-a-croatian-city.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/22/world/croatians-under-fierce-assault-pleas-for-real-truce-are-ignored.html|author=Alan Cowell|author-link=Alan S. Cowell|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Croatians Under Fierce Assault; Pleas for Real Truce Are Ignored|date=22 September 1991|access-date=22 January 2011|archive-date=May 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504013950/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/22/world/croatians-under-fierce-assault-pleas-for-real-truce-are-ignored.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In September, Serbian troops completely surrounded the city of Vukovar. Croatian troops, including the [[204th Vukovar Brigade]], entrenched themselves within the city and held their ground against elite armored and mechanized brigades of the JNA, as well as Serb paramilitary units.<ref name="BBC-paramilitaries">{{cite news | work = BBC News | publisher = BBC | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2988304.stm | title = Vukovar massacre: What happened | author = Gabriel Partos | date = June 13, 2003 | access-date = December 15, 2010 | archive-date = August 9, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120809191257/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2988304.stm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="UNHCR-paramilitaries">{{cite news | work = United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – Refworld | publisher = [[Institute for War and Peace Reporting]] | url = http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IWPR,,HRV,,4a60421a1e,0.html | title = Witness Says Stanisic Supplied Croatia's Serbs With Weapons | author = Andrew W. Maki | date = July 10, 2009 | access-date = December 15, 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121017011548/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IWPR,,HRV,,4a60421a1e,0.html | archive-date = October 17, 2012 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> Vukovar was almost completely devastated; 15,000 houses were destroyed.<ref name="DW-Vukovar-Haunted"/> Some ethnic Croatian civilians had taken shelter inside the city. Other members of the civilian population fled the area ''en masse''. Death toll estimates for Vukovar as a result of the siege range from 1,798 to 5,000.<ref name="un">{{cite web | work = Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, established pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 780 (1992) | title = Annex III.A Special forces |date=May 27, 1994 |url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/anx/III-A.htm#IV.B.21 |access-date=October 20, 2010 | editor-first = M. Cherif | editor-last = Bassiouni | editor-link = M. Cherif Bassiouni | publisher = United Nations Security Council | via = [[School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences (UWE)]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020043447/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/III-A.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2010 }}</ref> A further 22,000 were exiled from Vukovar immediately after the town was captured.<ref name="DW-Vukovar-Haunted">{{cite web | work = [[Deutsche Welle]] | publisher = [[ARD (broadcaster)]] | url = http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2129420,00.html | title = Croatia: Vukovar is Still Haunted by the Shadow of its Past | author = Helen Seeney | date = August 22, 2006 | access-date = December 15, 2010 | archive-date = October 24, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121024081832/http://www.dw.de/croatia-vukovar-is-still-haunted-by-the-shadow-of-its-past/a-2129420-1 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/19/world/15000-recall-siege-of-vukovar-in-1991.html | title = 15,000 Recall Siege of Vukovar in 1991 | date = November 19, 2001 | access-date = December 15, 2010 | archive-date = May 18, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518201851/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/19/world/15000-recall-siege-of-vukovar-in-1991.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

Some estimates include 220,000 Croats and 300,000 Serbs [[internally displaced person|internally displaced]] for the duration of the war in Croatia.<ref name="Zanotti111">[[#Zanotti|Zanotti (2011)]], pp.&nbsp;111</ref> In many areas, large numbers of civilians were forced out by the military. It was at this time that the term [[ethnic cleansing]]—the meaning of which ranged from eviction to murder—first entered the English lexicon.<ref>{{cite news |title= On Language; Ethnic Cleansing |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/14/magazine/on-language-ethnic-cleansing.html?scp=1&sq=ethnic%20cleansing%20lexicon&st=cse |author= William Safire |author-link= William Safire |newspaper= The New York Times |date= March 14, 1993 |access-date= September 27, 2010 |archive-date= May 18, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518190327/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/14/magazine/on-language-ethnic-cleansing.html?scp=1&sq=ethnic%20cleansing%20lexicon&st=cse |url-status= live }}</ref>

[[File:Map 3 - Croatia - Eastern Slavonia, September 1991-January 1992.jpg|thumb|The [[Yugoslav People's Army|JNA]] breakthrough in eastern [[Slavonia]], September 1991–-January 1992]]

On October 3, the [[Yugoslav Navy]] renewed its blockade of the main ports of Croatia. This move followed months of standoff for JNA positions in Dalmatia and elsewhere now known as the [[Battle of the Barracks]]. It also coincided with the end of [[Operation Coast-91]], in which the JNA failed to occupy the coastline in an attempt to cut off Dalmatia's access to the rest of Croatia.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/04/world/navy-blockade-of-croatia-is-renewed.html?ref=croatia | title = Navy Blockade of Croatia Is Renewed | author = Chuck Sudetic | author-link = Chuck Sudetic | date = October 3, 1991 | access-date = December 16, 2010 | archive-date = May 18, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518190437/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/04/world/navy-blockade-of-croatia-is-renewed.html?ref=croatia | url-status = live }}</ref>

On October 5, President Tuđman made a speech in which he called upon the whole population to mobilize and defend against "Greater Serbian imperialism" pursued by the Serb-led JNA, Serbian paramilitary formations, and rebel Serb forces.<ref name="NYTimes-Mobilization-6Oct1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/06/world/shells-still-fall-on-croatian-towns-despite-truce.html?ref=croatia|title=Shells Still Fall on Croatian Towns Despite Truce|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=6 October 1991|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518202834/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/06/world/shells-still-fall-on-croatian-towns-despite-truce.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> On 7 October, the Yugoslav air force attacked the main government building in Zagreb, an incident referred to as the [[bombing of the Banski Dvori]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/08/world/yugoslav-planes-attack-croatian-presidential-palace.html|title=Yugoslav Planes Attack Croatian Presidential Palace|date=8 October 1991|access-date=December 13, 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518190737/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/08/world/yugoslav-planes-attack-croatian-presidential-palace.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-08-mn-151-story.html|title=Croatia Leader's Palace Attacked|date=8 October 1991|author=Carol J. Williams|access-date=January 23, 2011|archive-date=October 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022231436/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-10-08/news/mn-151_1_civil-war|url-status=live}}</ref> The next day, as a previously agreed three-month moratorium on implementation of the declaration of independence expired, the Croatian Parliament severed all remaining ties with Yugoslavia. 8 October is now celebrated as Independence Day in Croatia.<ref name="Sabor-Independence-8Oct1991">{{cite web|work=Official web site of the Parliament of Croatia|publisher=Sabor|url=http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?art=20091&sec=2462|title=Ceremonial session of the Croatian Parliament on the occasion of the Day of Independence of the Republic of Croatia|date=7 October 2004|access-date=29 July 2012|archive-date=March 14, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314021206/http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?art=20091&sec=2462|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The bombing of the government offices and the [[Siege of Dubrovnik]] that started in October{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|pp=249–250}} were contributing factors that led to [[European Union]] (EU) [[International sanctions|sanctions]] against Serbia.<ref name="NYTimes-Dubrovnik-9Nov1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/09/world/old-city-totters-in-yugoslav-siege.html?ref=croatia|author=David Binder|title=Old City Totters in Yugoslav Siege|date=9 November 1991|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518212752/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/09/world/old-city-totters-in-yugoslav-siege.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-EUSanctions-9Nov1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/09/world/european-nations-declare-sanctions-against-belgrade.html?ref=croatia|title=European Nations Declare Sanctions Against Belgrade|author=Alan Riding|date=9 November 1991|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=May 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503005338/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/09/world/european-nations-declare-sanctions-against-belgrade.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> On 15 October after the capture of [[Cavtat]] by the JNA, local Serbs led by [[Aco Apolonio]] proclaimed the [[Dubrovnik Republic (1991)|Dubrovnik Republic]].<ref>The [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY) during the trial of Serbian President [[Slobodan Milošević]], identified the Dubrovnik Republic as being part of several regions in Croatia that Milošević sought to be incorporated into a "Serb-dominated state". (http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/ind/en/040727.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520200332/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/ind/en/040727.pdf |date=May 20, 2013 }}) (pages 2 to 3 of the original fax print). The ICTY has claimed that the JNA's campaign in the Dubrovnik region was aimed at securing territory for the Dubrovnik Republic. (http://www.icty.org/sid/7948 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408160826/http://www.icty.org/sid/7948 |date=April 8, 2011 }})</ref> The international media focused on the damage to Dubrovnik's [[cultural heritage]]; concerns about civilian casualties and pivotal battles such as the one in Vukovar were pushed out of public view. Nonetheless, artillery attacks on Dubrovnik damaged 56% of its buildings to some degree, as the historic walled city, a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]], sustained 650 hits by artillery rounds.<ref>{{cite web|work=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – Refworld|publisher=[[Minorities at Risk]]|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,CHRON,HRV,,469f387dc,0.html|title=Chronology for Serbs in Croatia – 6 December 1991|year=2004|access-date=5 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324123228/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,CHRON,HRV,,469f387dc,0.html|archive-date=March 24, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

====Peak of the war====
[[File:Croatian War 1991 child refugee.jpg|thumb|Croatian internally displaced persons near Dubrovnik in December 1991]]

In response to the 5th JNA Corps advance across the [[Sava|Sava River]] towards [[Pakrac]] and further north into western Slavonia,{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|p=245}} the Croatian army began a successful [[counterattack]] in early November 1991, its first major offensive operation of the war. [[Operation Otkos 10]] (31 October to 4 November) resulted in Croatia recapturing an area between the [[Bilogora]] and [[Papuk]] mountains.<ref name="NYTimes-Otkos10">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/04/world/army-rushes-to-take-a-croatian-town.html?ref=croatia |title=Army Rushes to Take a Croatian Town |author=Chuck Sudetic |date=4 November 1991 |access-date=29 July 2012 |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729183641/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/04/world/army-rushes-to-take-a-croatian-town.html |df=mdy |author-link = Chuck Sudetic}}</ref><ref name="Vjesnik-Otkos-Orkan">{{cite news|title="Orkan" i "Otkos" raspršili velikosrpske planove|trans-title="Orkan" and "Otkos" disperse plans of a Greater Serbia|language=hr|newspaper=[[Vjesnik]]|publisher= Narodne Novine d.d.|author=Željko Krušelj|date=24 December 2005}}</ref> The Croatian Army recaptured approximately {{convert|270|km2|sp=us}} of territory in this operation.<ref name="Vjesnik-Otkos-Orkan"/>

The [[Vukovar massacre]] took place in November;<ref name="NYT-Vukovar-Captured">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/18/world/croats-concede-danube-town-s-loss.html?ref=croatia|title=Croats Concede Danube Town's Loss|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=18 November 1991|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-date=January 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128084628/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/18/world/croats-concede-danube-town-s-loss.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Independent-Vukovar-Massacre">{{cite news|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/croats-bury-victims-of-vukovar-massacre-1168387.html|title=Croats bury victims of Vukovar massacre|author=Eugene Brcic|date=29 June 1998|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-date=November 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103121945/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/croats-bury-victims-of-vukovar-massacre-1168387.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the survivors were transported to [[Internment|prison camps]] such as [[Ovčara concentration camp|Ovčara]] and [[Velepromet concentration camp|Velepromet]], with the majority ending up in [[Sremska Mitrovica prison camp]].<ref name="AI-camps">{{cite web|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|url=http://repository.forcedmigration.org/pdf/?pid=fmo:850|format=PDF|title=Yugoslavia&nbsp;– further reports of torture|date=March 1992|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102050019/http://repository.forcedmigration.org/pdf/?pid=fmo:850|archive-date=November 2, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The sustained siege of Vukovar attracted heavy international media attention. Many international journalists were in or near Vukovar, as was UN peace mediator [[Cyrus Vance]], who had been [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] to former US President [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Balkans: Vukovar Massacre Trial Begins In The Hague|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1062028.html|work=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|publisher=[[Broadcasting Board of Governors]]|date=11 October 2005|access-date=11 September 2010|archive-date=September 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914075832/http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1062028.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Also in eastern Slavonia, the [[Lovas massacre]] occurred in October<ref name="B92-Lovas"/><ref name="JURIST-Lovas"/> and the [[Erdut massacre]] in November 1991, before and after the [[fall of Vukovar]].<ref name="icty">[[#Milošević Indictment|Milošević indictment]], p. 17</ref> At the same time, the [[Škabrnja massacre]] and [[Gospić massacre]] occurred in the Dalmatian hinterland.<ref name="CNN-Škabrnja"/>

{{Quote box|width=20%|align=left|quote=Croats became refugees in their own country.|source= —  [[Mirko Kovač (writer)|Mirko Kovač]] on the 10th anniversary of the end of the Croatian War<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.starisajt.nspm.rs/PrenetiTekstovi/2005_kovac_crnogorski.htm|title=Nije Bilo Genocida Nad Srbima|trans-title=There was no Genocide Against Serbs|language=sr|date=9 October 2005|author=Mirko Kovač|access-date=27 January 2011|work=Crnogorski Književni List|publisher=[[Doclean Academy of Sciences and Arts]]|archive-date=February 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227090325/http://www.starisajt.nspm.rs/PrenetiTekstovi/2005_kovac_crnogorski.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

On 14 November, the Navy blockade of Dalmatian ports was challenged by civilian ships. The confrontation culminated in the [[Battle of the Dalmatian channels]], when Croatian [[Coastal artillery|coastal and island based artillery]] damaged, sank, or captured a number of Yugoslav navy vessels, including [[PČ-176 Mukos|''Mukos'' PČ 176]], later rechristened PB 62 ''Šolta''.<ref>{{cite web |work=[[Nacional (weekly)|Nacional]] |publisher=NCL Media Grupa d.o.o. |url=http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/47102/bitka-za-jedrenjak-jadran |title=Bitka za jedrenjak 'Jadran' |language=hr |trans-title=Battle for 'Jadran' sailing ship |author=Eduard Šoštarić |date=July 8, 2008 |access-date=January 25, 2011 |archive-date=July 16, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716110150/http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/47102/bitka-za-jedrenjak-jadran |df=mdy }}</ref> After the battle, the Yugoslav naval operations were effectively limited to the southern [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]].<ref>[[#Wertheim|Wertheim (2007)]], pp. 145–146</ref>

Croatian forces made further advances in the second half of December, including [[Operation Orkan 91]]. In the course of Orkan '91, the Croatian army recaptured approximately {{convert|1440|km2|sp=us}} of territory.<ref name="Vjesnik-Otkos-Orkan"/> The end of the operation marked the end of a six-month-long phase of intense fighting: 10,000 people had died; hundreds of thousands had fled and tens of thousands of homes had been destroyed.<ref name="merger">{{cite news|title=Fighting in Bosnia Eases Under Truce|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F0061FF6355A0C738EDDAF0894DB494D81&scp=26&sq=Croatia%201991%2010.000%20dead&st=cse|newspaper=The New York Times|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|author=Chuck Sudetic|date=20 June 1993|access-date=14 December 2010}}{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[File:Lovas1.jpg|thumb|Photos of the victims of the [[Lovas massacre]]]]

On December 19, as the intensity of the fighting increased, Croatia won its first [[diplomatic recognition]] by a western nation—[[Iceland]]—while the [[Serbian Autonomous Oblasts]] in Krajina and western Slavonia officially declared themselves the Republic of Serbian Krajina.<ref name="NYTimes-Iceland">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/20/world/croatia-clashes-rise-mediators-pessimistic.html |title=Croatia Clashes Rise; Mediators Pessimistic |date=December 19, 1991 |access-date=July 29, 2012 |archive-date=November 15, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115174401/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/20/world/croatia-clashes-rise-mediators-pessimistic.html |df=mdy }}</ref> Four days later, Germany recognized Croatian independence.<ref name="NYTimes-Germany-23Dec91">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/24/world/slovenia-and-croatia-get-bonn-s-nod.html |title=Slovenia and Croatia Get Bonn's Nod |author=Stephen Kinzer |date=December 24, 1991 |access-date=July 29, 2012 |archive-date=June 20, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620034701/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/24/world/slovenia-and-croatia-get-bonn-s-nod.html |df=mdy |author-link=Stephen Kinzer }}</ref> On December 26, 1991, the Serb-dominated federal presidency announced plans for a smaller Yugoslavia that could include the territory captured from Croatia during the war.<ref name="NYTimes-Presidency-RumpYugPlan">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/27/world/serb-led-presidency-drafts-plan-for-new-and-smaller-yugoslavia.html?ref=croatia | title = Serb-Led Presidency Drafts Plan For New and Smaller Yugoslavia | date = December 27, 1991 | access-date = December 16, 2010 | archive-date = May 18, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518200556/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/27/world/serb-led-presidency-drafts-plan-for-new-and-smaller-yugoslavia.html?ref=croatia | url-status = live }}</ref>

However, on December 21, 1991 for the first time in the war [[Istria]] was under attack.<ref name="attack">{{cite web | publisher = [[la Repubblica]] | url = http://ricerca.gelocal.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1991/12/22/bombe-sull-istria.html | format = PDF | title = Bombe sull'Istria | date = December 1991 | access-date = March 6, 2013 | archive-date = October 16, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131016091551/http://ricerca.gelocal.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1991/12/22/bombe-sull-istria.html | url-status = live }}</ref> The Serbian Forces attacked the airport near the city of [[Vrsar]], situated in the south-western of the peninsula between the city of [[Poreč]] and [[Rovinj]], with two [[MiG-21]] and two [[Galeb G-2]].<ref name="destroyed">{{cite web | publisher = Fucine Mute | url = http://www.fucinemute.it/1999/10/listria-e-la-iii-guerra-balcanica-i/ | format = PDF | title = L'Istria e la terza guerra balcanica- Istria in the Third Balcanic War | date = October 1999 | access-date = March 6, 2013 | archive-date = October 14, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131014215631/http://www.fucinemute.it/1999/10/listria-e-la-iii-guerra-balcanica-i/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Afterwards, Yugoslav airplanes [[Carpet bombing|carpet bombed]] Vrsar's Crljenka airport, resulting in two deaths.<ref name="people">{{cite web|publisher=UHDDR|url=http://www.uhddr.hr/novosti/pregled/147|format=PDF|title=Vrsarski Dragovoljci Posjetili- Vrsar's worshiped deaf-the website is in Croatian|date=April 2011|access-date=6 March 2013|archive-date=September 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054840/http://www.uhddr.hr/novosti/pregled/147/|url-status=live}}</ref> Mediated by foreign diplomats, ceasefires were frequently signed and frequently broken. Croatia lost much territory, but expanded the Croatian Army from the seven brigades it had at the time of the first ceasefire to 60 brigades and 37 independent battalions by December 31, 1991.<ref name="NigelThomas-YugoslavWars">[[#Thomas|Thomas, (2006)]], pp. 21–25</ref>

[[File:A destroyed T-34-85 tank in Karlovac, Croatia.jpg|thumb|left|A destroyed [[T-34-85]] tank in Karlovac, 1992]]

The [[Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia]], also referred to as Badinter Arbitration Committee, was set up by the [[Council of the European Union|Council of Ministers]] of the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC) on August 27, 1991, to provide the Conference on Yugoslavia with legal advice. The five-member Commission consisted of presidents of [[Constitutional Court]]s in the EEC. Starting in late November 1991, the committee rendered ten opinions. The Commission stated, among other things, that SFR Yugoslavia was in the process of dissolution and that the internal boundaries of Yugoslav republics may not be altered unless freely agreed upon.<ref name="pellet">{{cite journal|author=Allain Pellet |title=The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee: A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples |journal=European Journal of International Law |year=1992 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=178–185 |url=http://207.57.19.226/journal/Vol3/No1/art12-13.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529223410/http://207.57.19.226/journal/Vol3/No1/art12-13.pdf |archive-date=May 29, 2011 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.ejil.a035802 }}</ref>

Factors in favour of Croatia's preservation of its pre-war borders were the Yugoslav Federal Constitution Amendments of 1971, and the Yugoslav Federal Constitution of 1974. The 1971 amendments introduced a concept that sovereign rights were exercised by the federal units, and that the federation had only the authority specifically transferred to it by the constitution. The [[1974 Yugoslav Constitution|1974 Constitution]] confirmed and strengthened the principles introduced in 1971.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Čobanov|first1=Saša|last2=Rudolf|first2=Davorin|publisher=[[University of Split|University of Split, Faculty of Law]]|url=http://www.pravst.hr/zbornik.php?p=25&s=170|language=hr|title=Jugoslavija: unitarna država ili federacija povijesne težnje srpskoga i hrvatskog naroda&nbsp;– jedan od uzroka raspada Jugoslavije|trans-title=Yugoslavia: a unitary state or federation of historic efforts of Serbian and Croatian nations—one of the causes of breakup of Yugoslavia|year=2009|journal=Zbornik Radova Pravnog Fakulteta U Splitu|volume=46|issue=2|issn=1847-0459|access-date=10 December 2010|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924081027/http://www.pravst.hr/zbornik.php?p=25&s=170|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Rich">{{cite journal|author=Roland Rich|title=Recognition of States: The Collapse of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union|journal=European Journal of International Law|year=1993|issue=1|volume=4|pages=36–65|url=http://www.ejil.org/article.php?article=1207&issue=67|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.ejil.a035834|access-date=January 20, 2011|archive-date=July 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719043217/http://www.ejil.org/article.php?article=1207&issue=67|url-status=dead}}</ref> The borders had been defined by demarcation commissions in 1947, pursuant to decisions of [[AVNOJ]] in 1943 and 1945 regarding the federal organization of Yugoslavia.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Egon Kraljević|publisher=[[Croatian State Archives]]|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=41791|language=hr|title=Prilog za povijest uprave: Komisija za razgraničenje pri Predsjedništvu Vlade Narodne Republike Hrvatske 1945-1946|trans-title=Contribution to the history of public administration: commission for the boundary demarcation at the government's presidency of the People's Republic of Croatia, 1945–1946 (English language summary title)|date=November 2007|journal=Arhivski vjesnik|volume=50|issue=50|format=PDF|issn=0570-9008|access-date=10 December 2010|archive-date=November 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127201235/https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=41791|url-status=live}}</ref>

===1992: Ceasefire===
{{See also|United Nations Protection Force|Miljevci plateau incident}}
{{Location map+| Croatia|width=250|float=right|caption=Occupied areas in Croatia (January 1992)|overlay_image =Cro-occup-lines-Jan92.svg|places=
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Zagreb]] | lat=45.815879 | long=15.978241 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=top}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Osijek]] | lat=45.560218 | long=18.677444 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=left}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Beli Manastir|B.Manastir]] | lat=45.766325 | long=18.607407 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Vukovar]] | lat=45.349733 | long=19.001541 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Erdut]] | lat=45.522706 | long=19.066772 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Vinkovci]] | lat=45.292279 | long=18.804474 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=left}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Županja]] | lat=45.073642 | long=18.692722 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Slavonski Brod]] | lat=45.15408 | long=18.01466 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Pakrac]] | lat=45.440381 | long=17.190857 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=top}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Maslenica]] | lat=44.220107 | long=15.543938 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Karlovac]] | lat=45.48902 | long=15.551147 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=top}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Ogulin]] | lat=45.264255 | long=15.225677 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=left}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Otočac]] | lat=44.86755 | long=15.233917 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=left}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Dubrovnik]] | lat=42.640715 | long=18.109417 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=left}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Konavle]] | lat=42.57666 | long=18.240223 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg| position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Prevlaka]] | lat=42.395573 | long=18.525352 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg| position=left}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Split (city)|Split]] | lat=43.50897 | long=16.437263 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Šibenik]] | lat=43.732654 | long=15.89962 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Zadar]] | lat=44.117909 | long=15.232887 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Sisak]] | lat=45.485651 | long=16.372204 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=top}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Petrinja]] | lat=45.439899 | long=16.277618 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Plitvice Lakes|Plitvice]] | lat=44.881661 | long=15.61861 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=top}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Gospić]] | lat=44.547665 | long=15.372963 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=left}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Knin]] | lat=44.041083 | long=16.194706 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Peruća Dam]] | lat=43.796004 | long=16.595535 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Okučani]] | lat=45.260389 | long=17.197723 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Bihać]] | lat=44.816672 | long=15.879021 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Lightgreen pog.svg | position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=[[Banja Luka]] | lat=44.767395 | long=17.181244 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=Croatian controlled | lat=43.2 | long=13.392334 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=Serb controlled | lat=42.8 | long=13.392334 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Blue pog.svg | position=right}}
{{Location map~|Croatia| label=Bosniak controlled | lat=42.4 | long=13.392334 | label_size=75 | marksize=6| mark= Lightgreen pog.svg | position=right}}
}}

A new UN-sponsored [[ceasefire]], the fifteenth in just six months, was agreed on January 2, 1992, and came into force the next day.<ref name="NYTimes-Jan3-Ceasefire"/> This so-called [[Sarajevo Agreement]] became a lasting ceasefire. Croatia was officially recognized by the European Community on January 15, 1992.<ref name="NYTimes-Germany-23Dec91"/> Even though the JNA began to withdraw from Croatia, including Krajina, the RSK clearly retained the upper hand in the occupied territories due to support from Serbia.<ref name="hrw1"/> By that time, the RSK encompassed {{convert|13913|km2|sp=us}} of territory.<ref name="Profil-RSK-Dokumenti">{{cite web|url=http://www.profil.hr/index.php?cmd=show_proizvod&proizvod_id=30205 |title=Republika Hrvatska i Domovinski rat 1990. – 1995. dokumenti |language=hr |trans-title=Republic of Croatian and the Croatian War of Independence 1990–1995, documents |publisher=Profil |access-date=January 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522135646/http://www.profil.hr/index.php?cmd=show_proizvod&proizvod_id=30205 |archive-date=May 22, 2011 }}</ref> The area size did not encompass another {{convert|680|km2|sp=us}} of occupied territory near Dubrovnik, as that area was not considered part of the RSK.<ref name="HBK-Dubrovnik-okupacija">{{cite web | url= http://www.hbk.hr/?type=biskupija&ID=9 | title= Dubrovačka biskupija | language= hr | trans-title= Dubrovnik Diocese | publisher= [[Croatian Bishops' Conference]] | access-date= January 20, 2011 | quote= Biskupija danas obuhvaća 1368 km<sup>2</sup>.&nbsp;... Pola biskupije bilo je okupirano. [Today, the Diocese encompasses 1,368 km<sup>2</sup>.&nbsp;... A half of the Diocese was occupied.] | archive-date= March 3, 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210303014929/https://hbk.hr/?type=biskupija&ID=9 | url-status= live }}</ref>

Ending the series of unsuccessful ceasefires, the UN deployed a protection force in Serbian-held Croatia—the [[United Nations Protection Force]] (UNPROFOR)—to supervise and maintain the agreement.<ref name="UN-deployment-29Jan91">{{cite news | url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-29-mn-906-story.html | title= Roadblock Stalls U.N.'s Yugoslavia Deployment | newspaper= Los Angeles Times | author= Carol J. Williams | date= January 29, 1992 | access-date= December 16, 2010 | archive-date= June 14, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130614212247/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/03/world/yugoslav-factions-agree-to-un-plan-to-halt-civil-war.html | url-status= live }}</ref> The UNPROFOR was officially created by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 743|UN Security Council Resolution 743]] on February 21, 1992.<ref name="UN_SRES7431992">{{UN document |docid=S-RES-743(1992) |type=Resolution |body=Security Council |year=1992 |resolution_number=743 |access-date=April 10, 2008|date= February 21, 1992}}</ref> The warring parties mostly moved to entrenched positions, and the JNA soon retreated from Croatia into Bosnia and Herzegovina, where a new conflict was anticipated.<ref name="NYTimes-Jan3-Ceasefire"/> Croatia became a member of the UN on May 22, 1992, which was conditional upon Croatia amending its constitution to protect the human rights of minority groups and dissidents.<ref name="NYT-UN-membership">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/23/world/3-ex-yugoslav-republics-are-accepted-into-un.html |title=3 Ex-Yugoslav Republics Are Accepted Into U.N. |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Paul L. Montgomery |date=May 23, 1992 |access-date=July 29, 2012 |archive-date=November 11, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111013548/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/23/world/3-ex-yugoslav-republics-are-accepted-into-un.html |df=mdy |author-link=Paul L. Montgomery }}</ref>
Expulsions of the non-Serb civilian population remaining in the occupied territories continued despite the presence of the UNPROFOR peacekeeping troops, and in some cases, with UN troops being virtually enlisted as accomplices.<ref name="NYT-UNPROFOR-Expulsions92">{{cite news | url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-05-09-mn-1574-story.html | title= Non-Serbs in Croatian Zone Forced to Leave | newspaper= The New York Times | author= Carol J. Williams | date= May 9, 1992 | access-date= December 16, 2010 | archive-date= March 4, 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304210820/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-09/news/mn-1574_1_croatian-forces | url-status= live }}</ref>

The Yugoslav People's Army took thousands of prisoners during the war in Croatia, and interned them in camps in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. The Croatian forces also captured some Serbian prisoners, and the two sides agreed to several [[prisoner exchange]]s; most prisoners were freed by the end of 1992. Some infamous prisons included the [[Sremska Mitrovica camp]], the [[Stajićevo camp]], and the [[Begejci camp]] in Serbia, and the [[Morinj camp]] in Montenegro.<ref name="camp"/> The Croatian Army also established detention camps, such as the [[Lora prison camp]] in [[Split, Croatia|Split]].<ref name="camp">{{cite web | work = Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, established pursuant to the UN Security Council Resolution 780 (1992) | title = Annex VIII—Prison camps |date=May 27, 1994 |url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/VIII-01.htm#III |access-date=October 20, 2010 | editor-first = M. Cherif | editor-last = Bassiouni | editor-link = M. Cherif Bassiouni | publisher = United Nations Security Council | via = [[School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences (UWE)]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022065413/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/VIII-01.htm |archive-date=October 22, 2010 }}</ref>

[[File:Captured Serb cannon and truck in Siritovci 1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Croatian soldiers capture a Serb cannon and truck in the [[Miljevci plateau incident]], June 21, 1992]]

Armed conflict in Croatia continued intermittently on a smaller scale. There were several smaller operations undertaken by Croatian forces to relieve the siege of Dubrovnik, and other Croatian cities (Šibenik, Zadar and Gospić) from Krajina forces. Battles included the [[Miljevci plateau incident]] (between [[Krka (Croatia)|Krka]] and [[Drniš]]), on June 21–22, 1992,<ref name="NYT-Miljevci-24Jun1992">{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/24/world/croatian-troops-hit-serbian-area.html?ref=croatia | title= Croatian Troops Hit Serbian Area | newspaper= The New York Times | author= Michael T. Kaufman | author-link= Michael T. Kaufman | date= June 24, 1992 | access-date= December 17, 2010 | archive-date= May 18, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518201739/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/24/world/croatian-troops-hit-serbian-area.html?ref=croatia | url-status= live }}</ref> Operation Jaguar at Križ Hill near [[Bibinje]] and Zadar, on May 22, 1992, and a series of military actions in the Dubrovnik hinterland: [[Operation Tiger (1992)|Operation Tigar]], on 1–13 July 1992,<ref name="NYT-Dubrovnik-15Jul1992">{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/15/world/the-walls-and-the-will-of-dubrovnik.html?ref=croatia | title= The Walls and the Will of Dubrovnik | newspaper= The New York Times | author= Michael T. Kaufman | author-link= Michael T. Kaufman | date= July 15, 1992 | access-date= December 17, 2010 | archive-date= May 18, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518200602/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/15/world/the-walls-and-the-will-of-dubrovnik.html?ref=croatia | url-status= live }}</ref> in [[Konavle]], on 20–24 September 1992, and at Vlaštica on September 22–25, 1992. Combat near Dubrovnik was followed by the withdrawal of JNA from Konavle, between September 30 and October 20, 1992.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1992/10/18/Last-Yugoslav-army-troops-withdrawing-from-Croatia/7791719380800/ | title=Last Yugoslav army troops withdrawing from Croatia }}</ref> The [[Prevlaka]] peninsula guarding entrance to the [[Bay of Kotor]] was demilitarized and turned over to the UNPROFOR, while the remainder of Konavle was restored to the Croatian authorities.<ref name="UN-UNMOP-Background">{{cite web | url= https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unmop/background.html | title= Prevlaka Peninsula—UNMOP—Background | publisher= United Nations | access-date= December 17, 2010 | archive-date= February 28, 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100228174452/http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unmop/background.html | url-status= live }}</ref>

===1993: Croatian military advances===
{{Further|Operation Maslenica|Operation Medak Pocket}}
Fighting was renewed at the beginning of 1993, as the Croatian army launched [[Operation Maslenica]], an offensive operation in the Zadar area on January 22. The objective of the attack was to improve the strategic situation in that area, as it targeted the city airport and the [[Maslenica Bridge (D8)|Maslenica Bridge]],<ref name="NYT-Maslenica-24Jan92">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/24/world/croats-battle-serbs-for-a-key-bridge-near-the-adriatic.html?scp=3&sq=maslenica&st=cse | title = Croats Battle Serbs for a Key Bridge Near the Adriatic | author = Chuck Sudetic | author-link = Chuck Sudetic | date = January 24, 1993 | access-date = January 21, 2011 | archive-date = May 18, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518194149/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/24/world/croats-battle-serbs-for-a-key-bridge-near-the-adriatic.html?scp=3&sq=maslenica&st=cse | url-status = live }}</ref> the last entirely overland link between Zagreb and the city of Zadar until the bridge area was captured in September 1991.{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|p=242}} The attack proved successful as it met its declared objectives,<ref name="NYT-Cosic-25Jan92">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/25/world/yugoslav-leader-threatens-croats.html?sq=maslenica&scp=4&st=cse | title = Yugoslav Leader Threatens Croats | author = Chuck Sudetic | author-link = Chuck Sudetic | date = January 25, 1992 | access-date = January 21, 2011 | archive-date = July 29, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180729081856/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/25/world/yugoslav-leader-threatens-croats.html?sq=maslenica&scp=4&st=cse | url-status = live }}</ref> but at a high cost, as 114 Croat and 490 Serb soldiers were killed in a relatively limited theater of operations.<ref name="NovaTV-Maslenica-20Jan07">{{cite web | work = dnevnik.hr | publisher = [[Nova TV (Croatia)]] | url = http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/maslenica-obiljezava-14-obljetnicu.html | title = 'Maslenica' obilježava 14.obljetnicu | trans-title = 'Maslenica' marks its 14th anniversary | language = hr | date = January 20, 2007 | access-date = January 21, 2011 | archive-date = March 9, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120309153635/http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/maslenica-obiljezava-14-obljetnicu.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

[[File:Medak pocket battle map.png|thumb|left|Map of [[Operation Medak Pocket]]]]

While Operation Maslenica was in progress, Croatian forces attacked Serb positions {{convert|130|km|sp=us}} to the east. They advanced towards the [[Peruća Lake|Peruća Hydroelectric Dam]] and captured it by January 28, 1993, shortly after Serb militiamen chased away the UN peacekeepers protecting the dam.<ref name="NYT-Peruca-29Jan92">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/29/world/battle-for-dam-in-croatia-grows-ousting-un-force.html?pagewanted=all | title = Battle for Dam in Croatia Grows, Ousting U.N. Force | author = John Darnton | author-link = John Darnton | date = January 29, 1992 | access-date = January 21, 2011 | archive-date = July 29, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180729085029/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/29/world/battle-for-dam-in-croatia-grows-ousting-un-force.html?pagewanted=all | url-status = live }}</ref> UN forces had been present at the site since the summer of 1992. They discovered that the Serbs had planted 35 to 37&nbsp;tons of explosives spread over seven different sites on the dam in a way that prevented the explosives' removal; the charges were left in place.<ref name="NYT-Peruca-29Jan92"/><ref name="NYT-35tons-29Jan92">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/30/world/croats-rush-work-on-crumbling-dam.html?sq=maslenica&scp=10&st=cse | title = Croats Rush Work on Crumbling Dam | author = John Darnton | author-link = John Darnton | date = January 29, 1992 | access-date = January 21, 2011 | archive-date = July 29, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180729082208/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/30/world/croats-rush-work-on-crumbling-dam.html?sq=maslenica&scp=10&st=cse | url-status = live }}</ref> Retreating Serb forces detonated three of explosive charges totaling 5 tons within the {{convert|65|m|sp=us|adj=on}} high dam in an attempt to cause it to fail and flood the area downstream.<ref name="NYT-35tons-29Jan92"/><ref name="LATimes-Peruca-30Jan93">{{cite news | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-30-mn-1902-story.html | title = Croats Rush to Drain Massive Lake Behind Dam | author = Carol J. Williams | date = January 30, 1993 | access-date = December 13, 2010 | archive-date = January 11, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120111191952/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-01-30/news/mn-1902_1_dam-croats-lake | url-status = live }}</ref> The disaster was prevented by [[Mark Nicholas Gray]], a colonel in the British [[Royal Marines]], a lieutenant at the time, who was a [[United Nations Military Observer|UN military observer]] at the site. He risked being disciplined for acting beyond his authority by lowering the reservoir level, which held {{convert|0.54|km3|sp=us}} of water, before the dam was blown up. His action saved the lives of 20,000 people who would otherwise have drowned or become homeless.<ref name="Independent-Peruca-Gray">{{cite news | newspaper = The Independent | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/unsung-army-officer-saved-20000-lives-1601273.html | title = Unsung army officer saved 20,000 lives | author = Tom Wilkie | date = September 16, 1995 | access-date = December 16, 2010 | archive-date = December 23, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141223041934/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/unsung-army-officer-saved-20000-lives-1601273.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

[[Operation Medak Pocket]] took place in a [[Salients, re-entrants and pockets|salient]] south of Gospić, from September 9–17. The offensive was undertaken by the Croatian army to stop Serbian artillery in the area from shelling nearby Gospić.<ref name="NYT-Medak-3Dec2002">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/03/world/croatia-protects-a-general-charged-with-war-crimes.html?pagewanted=2 | title = Croatia Protects a General Charged With War Crimes | author = Daniel Simpson | date = December 3, 2002 | access-date = January 21, 2011 | archive-date = May 18, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518212359/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/03/world/croatia-protects-a-general-charged-with-war-crimes.html?pagewanted=2 | url-status = live }}</ref> The operation met its stated objective of removing the artillery threat, as Croatian troops overran the salient, but it was marred by war crimes. The ICTY later indicted Croatian officers for war crimes. The operation was halted amid international pressure, and an agreement was reached that the Croatian troops were to withdraw to positions held prior to September 9, while UN troops were to occupy the salient alone. The events that followed remain controversial, as Canadian authorities reported that the Croatian army intermittently fought against the advancing Canadian [[Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry]] before finally retreating after sustaining 27 fatalities.<ref name="PPCLI">{{cite journal|publisher=[[Canadian Forces Land Force Command]] |author=Lee Windsor |title=Professionalism Under Fire |journal=The Army Doctrine and Training Bulletin |year=2001 |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=20–27 |url=http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/caj/documents/vol_04/iss_3/CAJ_vol4.3_08_e.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610152922/http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/caj/documents/vol_04/iss_3/CAJ_vol4.3_08_e.pdf |archive-date=June 10, 2011 }}</ref> The Croatian ministry of defense and UN officer's testimonies given during the Ademi-Norac trial deny that the battle occurred.<ref name="Nacional-Medak-Canada">{{cite news|publisher=Nacional |url=http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/10445/kanadani-odlikovani-za-laznu-bitku |title=Kanađani odlikovani za lažnu bitku |trans-title=Canadians decorated for fictitious battle |language=hr |date=December 11, 2002 |access-date=January 25, 2011 |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527135043/http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/10445/kanadani-odlikovani-za-laznu-bitku |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="Canada-Com-Medak-myth">{{cite web | work = [[Canada.com]] | publisher = [[Postmedia News]] | url = http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=bf494a0f-2b8a-4b31-9b5a-a71ddf1f78a2 | title = Medak Pocket battle 'a myth' | date = September 20, 2007 | access-date = January 25, 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121109205327/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=bf494a0f-2b8a-4b31-9b5a-a71ddf1f78a2 | archive-date = November 9, 2012 | df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="NovaTV-Medak-Canada">{{cite web | work = dnevnik.hr | publisher = [[Nova TV (Croatia)|Nova TV]] | url = http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/policajac-un-a-cijeli-medacki-dzep-bio-planski-unisten.html | title = Policajac UN-a: Cijeli Medački džep bio planski uništen | trans-title = UN Police Officer: Entire Medak Pocket was Destroyed on Purpose | language = hr | date = February 21, 2008 | access-date = January 25, 2011 | quote = Upitan o navodnom sukobu Hrvatske vojske i kanadskog bataljuna McGuinnes je rekao da je do razmjene vatre došlo jednom ili dva puta, ali da ozlijeđenih nije bilo. [Questioned on an alleged clash of Croatian army and the Canadian battalion, McGuinnes said that shots were exchanged once or twice, but there were no injuries] | archive-date = May 22, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110522134414/http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/policajac-un-a-cijeli-medacki-dzep-bio-planski-unisten.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | work = dnevnik.hr | publisher = Nova TV | url = http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/pukovnik-unprofor-a-hv-se-nije-sukobio-s-plavim-kacigama-2.html | title = Pukovnik UNPROFOR-a: HV se nije sukobio s plavim kacigama | trans-title = UNPROFOR colonel: Croatian army did not clash with the blue helmets | language = hr | date = February 20, 2008 | access-date = January 25, 2011 | archive-date = October 14, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131014233903/http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/pukovnik-unprofor-a-hv-se-nije-sukobio-s-plavim-kacigama-2.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"  style="float:right;"
|+ Ethnic make-up of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (1991–1993)
|-
! Ethnic group || 1991<ref>[[#Milošević Indictment|Milošević indictment]], p. 22</ref> || 1993<ref>[[#Martić Verdict|Martić verdict]], p. 112</ref>
|-
| Serbs || 245,800 (52.3%) || 398,900 (92%)
|-
| Croats || 168,026 (35.8%) || 30,300 (7%)
|-
| Others ||  55,895 (11.9%) || 4,395 (1%)
|-
| Total || 469,721 || 433,595
|}

On February 18, 1993, Croatian authorities signed the [[Daruvar Agreement]] with local Serb leaders in Western Slavonia. The aim of the secret agreement was normalizing life for local populations near the frontline. However, authorities in Knin learned of this and arrested the Serb leaders responsible.<ref>{{cite web|title=Martic Owed His Fame to The Knin Roadblocks|url=http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/martic-owed-his-fame-to-the-knin-roadblocks.29.html?cat_id=1&news_id=9441|publisher=Sense-Agency|date=January 16, 2006|access-date=September 11, 2010|archive-date=June 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624063707/http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/martic-owed-his-fame-to-the-knin-roadblocks.29.html?cat_id=1&news_id=9441|url-status=dead}}</ref> In June 1993, Serbs began voting in a referendum on merging Krajina territory with [[Republika Srpska]].<ref name="merger"/> Milan Martić, acting as the RSK interior minister, advocated a merger of the "two Serbian states as the first stage in the establishment of a state of all Serbs" in his April 3 letter to the Assembly of the Republika Srpska. On January 21, 1994, Martić stated that he would "speed up the process of unification and pass on the baton to all Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević" if elected president of the RSK".<ref>[[#Martić Verdict|Martić verdict]], p. 125<br /> ''Efforts to unify the Croatian Krajina and the Bosnian Krajina continued throughout 1992 until 1995. The evidence shows that the RSK leadership sought an alliance, and eventually unification, with the RS in BiH and that Milan Martić was in favour of such unification. A letter dated April 3, 1993 from, inter alia, Milan Martic as minister of the interior to the Assembly of the RS, written on behalf of "the Serbs from the RSK", advocates a joinder of the "two Serbian states as the first stage in the establishment of a state of all Serbs". Moreover, in this regard, the Trial Chamber recalls the evidence concerning operation Koridor 92. On January 21, 1994, during the election campaign for the RSK presidential elections, Milan Martić stated that he would "speed up the process of unification" and "pass on the baton to our all Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic."''</ref> These intentions were countered by the [[United Nations Security Council]] (UNSC) [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 871|Resolution 871]] in October 1993, when the UNSC affirmed for the first time that the United Nations Protected Areas, i.e. the RSK held areas, were an integral part of the Republic of Croatia.<ref>{{cite web |title=UN Security Council resolution 871 (1993) on the situation in Former Yugoslavia |url=http://www.ohr.int/other-doc/un-res-bih/default.asp?content_id=7106 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040921050927/http://www.ohr.int/other-doc/un-res-bih/default.asp?content_id=7106 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 21, 2004 |date=October 3, 1993 |access-date=September 11, 2010 |quote=7. Stresses the importance it attaches, as a first step towards the implementation of the United Nations peace-keeping plan for the Republic of Croatia, to the process of '''restoration of the authority of the Republic of Croatia in the pink zones''', and in this context calls for the revival of the Joint Commission established under the chairmanship of UNPROFOR; 8. Urges all the parties and others concerned to cooperate with UNPROFOR in reaching and implementing an agreement on confidence-building measures including the restoration of electricity, water and communications in all regions of the Republic of Croatia, and stresses in this context the importance it attaches to the opening of the railroad between Zagreb and Split, the highway between Zagreb and Zupanja, and the Adriatic oil pipeline, securing the uninterrupted traffic across the Maslenica strait, and restoring the supply of electricity and water to all regions of the Republic of Croatia including the United Nations Protected Areas. |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

During 1992 and 1993, an estimated 225,000 Croats, as well as refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, settled in Croatia. Croatian volunteers and some conscripted soldiers participated in the [[war in Bosnia and Herzegovina]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/06/world/croats-claim-their-own-slice-of-bosnia.html?ref=croatia|title=Croats Claim Their Own Slice of Bosnia|author=John F. Burns|author-link=John Fisher Burns|date=6 July 1992|access-date=December 17, 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518213422/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/06/world/croats-claim-their-own-slice-of-bosnia.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 1992, Croatia had accepted 335,985 refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of whom were [[Bosniak]] civilians (excluding men of drafting age).<ref>{{cite journal|title=Forced Migration and Refugee Flows in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina: Early Warning, Beginning and Current State of Flows|first1=Silva|last1=Meznaric|first2=Jelena|last2=Zlatkovic Winter|pages=3&ndash;4|journal=Refuge|volume=12|number=7|date=February 1993|doi=10.25071/1920-7336.21183|url=http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/refuge/article/download/21183/19854|doi-access=free|access-date=December 31, 2014|archive-date=December 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231193812/http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/refuge/article/download/21183/19854|url-status=live}}</ref> The large number of refugees significantly strained the Croatian economy and infrastructure.<ref name="Guardian-BosnianRefugees-1992">{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1992/jun/09/warcrimes|title=Croatian coast straining under 200,000 refugees: Yigan Chazan in Split finds room running out for the many escaping from war in Bosnia|author=Yigan Chazan|date=9 June 1992|access-date=31 December 2014|archive-date=April 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406110957/https://www.theguardian.com/world/1992/jun/09/warcrimes|url-status=live}}</ref> The American Ambassador to Croatia, [[Peter Galbraith]], tried to put the number of Muslim refugees in Croatia into a proper perspective in an interview on 8 November 1993. He said the situation would be the equivalent of the [[United States]] taking in 30,000,000 refugees.<ref>[[#Blaskovich|Blaskovich (1997)]], p. 103.</ref>

===1994: Erosion of support for Krajina===
{{Further|Washington Agreement|Operation Winter '94}}
[[File:Western Bosnia 1994.png|thumb|Map of the Bihać enclave]]

In 1992, the [[Croat–Bosniak war|Croat-Bosniak conflict]] erupted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, just as each was fighting with the Bosnian Serbs. The war was originally fought between the [[Croatian Defence Council]] and Croatian volunteer troops on one side and the [[Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (ARBiH) on the other, but by 1994, the Croatian Army had an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 troops involved in the fighting.<ref name="NYT-Troops-in-Bosnia">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/04/world/un-security-council-warns-croatia-on-troops-in-bosnia.html?ref=croatia|title=U.N. Security Council Warns Croatia on Troops in Bosnia|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Paul Lewis|date=4 February 1994|access-date=17 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518201923/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/04/world/un-security-council-warns-croatia-on-troops-in-bosnia.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> Under pressure from the United States,<ref name="LAT-USpressure-WashAgr">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-25-mn-27191-story.html|title=Croats, Muslims Summoned to U.S. for Talks|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|author=Doyle McManus|author-link=Doyle McManus|date=25 February 1994|access-date=17 December 2010|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305204113/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-02-25/news/mn-27191_1_bosnian-muslims|url-status=live}}</ref> the belligerents agreed on a truce in late February,<ref name="NYT-Bosnia-Croatia-truce">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/24/world/croats-and-muslims-reach-truce-to-end-the-other-bosnia-conflict.html?ref=croatia|title=Croats and Muslims Reach Truce To End the Other Bosnia Conflict|newspaper=The New York Times|author=William E. Schmidt|date=24 February 1994|access-date=17 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518190001/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/24/world/croats-and-muslims-reach-truce-to-end-the-other-bosnia-conflict.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> followed by a meeting of Croatian, Bosnian, and Bosnian Croat representatives with US Secretary of State [[Warren Christopher]] in Washington, D.C., on February 26, 1994. On March 4, Franjo Tuđman endorsed the agreement providing for the creation of the [[Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and an alliance between Bosnian and Croatian armies against the Serb forces.<ref name="NYT-WashingtonAgreement-19Mar1994">{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/19/world/muslims-and-bosnian-croats-give-birth-to-a-new-federation.html?ref=croatia | title= Muslims and Bosnian Croats Give Birth to a New Federation | author= Steven Greenhouse | author-link= Steven Greenhouse | newspaper= The New York Times | date= March 18, 1994 | access-date= December 17, 2010 | archive-date= May 18, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518195112/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/19/world/muslims-and-bosnian-croats-give-birth-to-a-new-federation.html?ref=croatia | url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="NYT-WashingtonAgreement-05Mar1994">{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/world/croatian-leader-backs-pact-by-bosnia-s-muslims-and-croats.html?ref=croatia | title= Croatian Leader Backs Pact by Bosnia's Muslims and Croats | author= Stephen Kinzer | author-link= Stephen Kinzer | newspaper= The New York Times | date= March 4, 1994 | access-date= December 17, 2010 | archive-date= May 18, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518190653/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/world/croatian-leader-backs-pact-by-bosnia-s-muslims-and-croats.html?ref=croatia | url-status= live }}</ref>
This led to the dismantling of [[Herzeg-Bosnia]] and reduced the number of warring factions in Bosnia and Herzegovina from three to two.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bosnia and Herzegovina—Background|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bosnia-and-herzegovina/|work=[[The World Factbook]]|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|access-date=September 11, 2010|quote=Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of sovereignty in October 1991 was followed by a declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia on March 3, 1992 after a referendum boycotted by ethnic Serbs. The Bosnian Serbs—supported by neighboring Serbia and Montenegro—responded with armed resistance aimed at partitioning the republic along ethnic lines and joining Serb-held areas to form a "Greater Serbia". In March 1994, Bosniaks and Croats reduced the number of warring factions from three to two by signing an agreement creating a joint Bosniak/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina|archive-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124195757/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bosnia-and-herzegovina/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In late 1994, the Croatian Army intervened in Bosnia from November 1–3, in [[Operation Cincar]] near [[Kupres (town)|Kupres]],<ref name="NYT-Cincar-4Nov1994">{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/04/world/bosnian-army-and-croats-drive-serbs-out-of-a-town.html | title= Bosnian Army and Croats Drive Serbs Out of a Town | newspaper= The New York Times | author= Chuck Sudetic | author-link= Chuck Sudetic | date= November 4, 1994 | access-date= December 17, 2010 | archive-date= May 18, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518184331/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/04/world/bosnian-army-and-croats-drive-serbs-out-of-a-town.html | url-status= live }}</ref> and from November 29 – December 24 in the ''[[Operation Winter '94|Winter '94]]'' operation near [[Dinara]] and [[Livno]].<ref name="NYT-Winter94-12Jan1995">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/12/world/croatia-is-set-to-end-mandate-of-un-force-on-its-territory.html|title=Croatia Is Set to End Mandate Of U.N. Force on Its Territory|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Roger Cohen|author-link=Roger Cohen|date=12 January 1995|access-date=17 December 2010|archive-date=November 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111152445/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/12/world/croatia-is-set-to-end-mandate-of-un-force-on-its-territory.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Burg and Shoup331">[[#BurgShoup2000|Burg and Shoup (2000)]], p. 331</ref> These operations were undertaken to detract from the siege of the Bihać region and to approach the RSK capital of Knin from the north, isolating it on three sides.<ref name="Ramet-3Yugoslavias-452">[[#Ramet|Ramet (2006)]], p. 452</ref>

During this time, unsuccessful negotiations mediated by the UN were under way between the Croatian and RSK governments. The matters under discussion included opening the Serb-occupied part of the [[A3 (Croatia)|Zagreb–Slavonski Brod motorway]] near [[Okučani]] to transit traffic, as well as the putative status of Serbian-majority areas within Croatia. The motorway initially reopened at the end of 1994, but it was soon closed again due to security issues. Repeated failures to  resolve the two disputes would serve as triggers for major Croatian offensives in 1995.<ref name="A3-reopens-1994">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/04/world/opened-road-in-croatia-path-to-peace.html|title=Opened Road in Croatia: Path to Peace?|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Stephen Kinzer|author-link=Stephen Kinzer|date=4 January 1995|access-date=17 December 2010|archive-date=November 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111171237/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/04/world/opened-road-in-croatia-path-to-peace.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Oklopnjak vukovarska vojarna 2.JPG|thumb|left|A Croatian [[improvised fighting vehicle]]]]

At the same time, the Krajina army continued the [[Siege of Bihać (1992–95)|Siege of Bihać]], together with the [[Army of Republika Srpska]] from Bosnia.<ref>{{cite news|title=Conflict in the Balkans: In Croatia; Balkan War May Spread Into Croatia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/02/world/conflict-in-the-balkans-in-croatia-balkan-war-may-spread-into-croatia.html?scp=1&sq=krajina%20biha%C4%87%201994&st=cse|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Roger Cohen|author-link=Roger Cohen|date=December 12, 1994|access-date=October 13, 2010|archive-date=May 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512165911/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/02/world/conflict-in-the-balkans-in-croatia-balkan-war-may-spread-into-croatia.html?scp=1&sq=krajina%20biha%C4%87%201994&st=cse|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Michael C. Williams (United Nations)|Michael Williams]], an official of the UN peacekeeping force, said that when the village of [[Vedro Polje, Bosanski Petrovac|Vedro Polje]] west of Bihać had fallen to a RSK unit in late November 1994, the siege entered the final stage. He added that heavy tank and artillery fire against the town of [[Velika Kladuša]] in the north of the Bihać enclave was coming from the RSK. Western military analysts said that among the array of Serbian [[surface-to-air missile]] systems that surrounded the Bihać pocket on Croatian territory, there was a modern [[SAM-2]] system probably brought there from Belgrade.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/28/world/hard-fought-ground.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | title = Hard-Fought Ground | newspaper = The New York Times | author = Roger Cohen | author-link = Roger Cohen | date = October 28, 1994 | access-date = November 20, 2011 | archive-date = May 18, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130518194603/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/28/world/hard-fought-ground.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | url-status = live }}</ref> In response to the situation, the Security Council passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 958|Resolution 958]], which allowed NATO aircraft deployed as a part of the [[Operation Deny Flight]] to operate in Croatia.  On November 21, NATO attacked the [[Udbina]] airfield controlled by the RSK, temporarily disabling runways. Following the Udbina strike, NATO continued to launch strikes in the area, and on November 23, after a NATO reconnaissance plane was illuminated by the radar of a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, NATO planes attacked a SAM site near [[Dvor, Croatia|Dvor]] with [[AGM-88 HARM]] [[anti-radiation missiles]].<ref name="b182183">[[#Bucknam|Bucknam (2003)]], pp. 182–83</ref>

In later campaigns, the Croatian army would pursue a variant of [[blitzkrieg]] tactics, with the Guard brigades punching through the enemy lines while the other units simply held the lines at other points and completed an encirclement of the enemy units.<ref name="NigelThomas-YugoslavWars"/><ref name="Ramet-3Yugoslavias-452"/> In a further attempt to bolster its armed forces, Croatia hired [[Military Professional Resources Inc.]] (MPRI) in September 1994 to train some of its officers and NCOs.{{cn|date=June 2023}} Begun in January 1995, MPRI's assignment involved fifteen advisors who taught basic officer leadership skills and training management. MPRI activities were reviewed in advance by the US State Department to ensure they did not involve tactical training or violate the UN arms embargo still in place.<ref name="HuffingtonPost-MPRI-Shoyster">{{cite web | url= https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-isenberg/mpri-couldnt-read-minds-l_b_688000.html | title= MPRI Couldn't Read Minds: Let's Sue Them | work= [[The Huffington Post]] | author= David Isenberg | date= August 19, 2010 | access-date= January 17, 2011 | archive-date= September 2, 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100902143826/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-isenberg/mpri-couldnt-read-minds-l_b_688000.html | url-status= live }}</ref>

===1995: End of the war===
{{Further|Operation Flash|Operation Summer '95|Operation Storm|Erdut Agreement|UNTAES|UNMOP}}
Tensions were renewed at the beginning of 1995 as Croatia sought to put increasing pressure on the RSK. In a five-page letter on 12 January [[Franjo Tuđman]] formally told the UN Secretary General [[Boutros Boutros-Ghali]] that Croatia was ending the agreement permitting the stationing of UNPROFOR in Croatia, effective 31 March. The move was purportedly motivated by actions by Serbia and the Serb-dominated Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to provide assistance to the Serb occupation of Croatia and allegedly integrate the occupied areas into Yugoslav territory. The situation was noted and addressed by the [[United Nations General Assembly|UN General Assembly]]:<ref name="NYTimes-UNPROFOR-dismissed">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/13/world/croatia-tells-un-troop-accord-ends.html?ref=croatia|title=Croatia Tells U.N. Troop Accord Ends|date=13 January 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518202335/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/13/world/croatia-tells-un-troop-accord-ends.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|...&nbsp;regarding the situation in Croatia, and to respect strictly its territorial integrity, and in this regard concludes that their activities aimed at achieving the integration of the occupied territories of Croatia into the administrative, military, educational, transportation and communication systems of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ([[Serbia and Montenegro]]) are illegal, null and void, and must cease immediately.<ref>{{cite web|title=The situation in the occupied territories of Croatia |url=http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/3feb9ee66c4dad69802567ba00335341?Opendocument |publisher=United Nations General Assembly |date=February 9, 1995 |access-date=December 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629195443/http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/3feb9ee66c4dad69802567ba00335341?Opendocument |archive-date=June 29, 2011 }}</ref>|The [[United Nations General Assembly]] resolution 1994/43, regarding to the occupied territories of Croatia}}

[[File:Map 49 - Croatia - Operation Oluja, 4-8 August 1995.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Operation Storm]]]]

International peacemaking efforts continued, and a new peace plan called the [[Z-4 plan]] was presented to Croatian and Krajina authorities. There was no initial Croatian response, and the Serbs flatly refused the proposal.<ref>[[#Martić Verdict|Martić Verdict]], p. 58</ref> As the deadline for UNPROFOR to pull out neared, a new UN peacekeeping mission was proposed with an increased mandate to patrol Croatia's internationally recognized borders. Initially the Serbs opposed the move, and  tanks were moved from Serbia into eastern Croatia.<ref name="NYTimes-UNCRO-Mar14">{{cite news | newspaper= The New York Times | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/14/world/croatia-s-serbs-balk-at-a-new-un-role.html?ref=croatia | title= Croatia's Serbs Balk at a New U.N. Role | author= Raymond Bonner | author-link= Raymond Bonner | date= March 14, 1995 | access-date= December 18, 2010 | archive-date= May 18, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518194247/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/14/world/croatia-s-serbs-balk-at-a-new-un-role.html?ref=croatia | url-status= live }}</ref> A settlement was finally reached, and the new UN peacekeeping mission was approved by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 981]] on March 31. The name of the mission was the subject of a last-minute dispute, as Croatian Foreign Minister [[Mate Granić]] insisted that the word ''Croatia'' be added to the force's name. The name [[United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation|United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia]] (UNCRO) was approved.<ref name="NYTimes-UNCRO-Mar31">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/01/world/un-votes-to-keep-its-troops-in-balkans-for-8-more-months.html?ref=croatia|title=U.N. Votes to Keep Its Troops In Balkans for 8 More Months|author=Christopher S. Wren|date=1 April 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518195754/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/01/world/un-votes-to-keep-its-troops-in-balkans-for-8-more-months.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

Violence erupted again in early May 1995. The RSK lost support from the Serbian government in Belgrade, partly as a result of international pressure. At the same time, the Croatian [[Operation Flash]] reclaimed all of the previously occupied territory in Western Slavonia.<ref name="NYTimes-Flash-May2">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/02/world/croatia-hits-area-rebel-serbs-hold-crossing-un-lines.html?ref=croatia|title=Croatia Hits Area Rebel Serbs Hold, Crossing U.N. Lines|author=Roger Cohen|author-link=Roger Cohen|date=2 May 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518193541/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/02/world/croatia-hits-area-rebel-serbs-hold-crossing-un-lines.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> In retaliation, Serb forces [[Zagreb rocket attack|attacked Zagreb]] with rockets, killing 7 and wounding over 200 civilians.<ref>[[#Martić Verdict|Martić verdict]], pp.&nbsp;114–117</ref> The Yugoslav army responded to the offensive with a show of force, moving tanks towards the Croatian border, in an apparent effort to stave off a possible attack on the occupied area in Eastern Slavonia.<ref name="NYTimes-Tanks-May7">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/07/world/serbia-moves-tanks-to-croatia-border.html?ref=croatia|title=Serbia Moves Tanks to Croatia Border|author=Roger Cohen|author-link=Roger Cohen|date=7 May 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518193242/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/07/world/serbia-moves-tanks-to-croatia-border.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the following months, international efforts mainly concerned the largely unsuccessful [[United Nations Safe Areas]] set up in Bosnia and Herzegovina and trying to set up a more lasting ceasefire in Croatia. The two issues virtually merged by July 1995 when a number of the safe areas in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina were [[Srebrenica massacre|overrun]] and one in [[Bihać]] was threatened.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/croats-ready-to-hurl-troops-into-battle-of-bihac-1593388.html|title=Croats ready to hurl troops into battle of Bihać|work=The Independent|location=UK|author=Tony Barber|date=28 October 1995|access-date=13 October 2010|archive-date=June 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619062601/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/croats-ready-to-hurl-troops-into-battle-of-bihac-1593388.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1994, Croatia had already signaled that it would not allow Bihać to be captured,<ref name="Ramet-3Yugoslavias-452"/> and a new confidence in the Croatian military's ability to recapture occupied areas brought about a demand from Croatian authorities that no further ceasefires were to be negotiated; the occupied territories would be re-integrated into Croatia.<ref name="LATimes-Analysis-Aug1">{{cite news|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-01-mn-30190-story.html|title=Balkan War Looms as Croatia Widens Its Reach|author=William D. Montalbano|date=1 August 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305072347/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-08-01/news/mn-30190_1_balkan-war|url-status=live}}</ref> These developments and the [[Washington Agreement]], a ceasefire signed in the Bosnian theater, led to another meeting of presidents of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 July, when the [[Split Agreement]] was adopted. In it, Bosnia and Herzegovina invited Croatia to provide military and other assistance, particularly in the Bihać area. Croatia accepted, committing itself to an armed intervention.<ref name="NYTimes-SplitDeclaration-23Jul1995">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/23/world/croatia-to-assist-bosnia.html?ref=croatia|title=Croatia to Assist Bosnia|date=23 July 1995|access-date=2 January 2011|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518190203/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/23/world/croatia-to-assist-bosnia.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Martic-order1995.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|The document issued by the Supreme Defense Council of the [[Republic of Serbian Krajina|RSK]] on 4 August 1995, ordering the evacuation of civilians from its territory]]

From 25 to 30 July, the Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) troops attacked Serb-held territory north of Mount [[Dinara]], capturing [[Bosansko Grahovo]] and [[Glamoč]] during [[Operation Summer '95]]. That offensive paved the way for the military recapture of occupied territory around Knin, as it severed the last efficient resupply route between Banja Luka and Knin.<ref name="NYTimes-Summer95-30Jul1995">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/30/world/croatia-presses-offensive-against-serbs.html|author=Alan Cowell|author-link=Alan Cowell|title=Croatia Presses Offensive Against Serbs|date=30 July 1995|access-date=30 December 2010|archive-date=November 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106041011/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/30/world/croatia-presses-offensive-against-serbs.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On 4 August, Croatia started [[Operation Storm]], with the aim of recapturing almost all of the occupied territory in Croatia, except for a comparatively small strip of land, located along the [[Danube]], at a considerable distance from the bulk of the contested land. The offensive, involving 100,000 Croatian soldiers, was the largest single land battle fought in Europe since [[World War II]].<ref name="NYTimes-100000-Soldiers">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/08/opinion/the-croatian-offensive.html|title=The Croatian Offensive|date=8 August 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518193947/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/08/opinion/the-croatian-offensive.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Operation Storm achieved its goals and was declared completed on 8 August.<ref name="LATimes-Storm-Complete">{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-08-mn-32662-story.html|title=Croats Declare Victory, End Blitz|author=Dean E. Murphy|date=8 August 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012140454/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-08-08/news/mn-32662_1_serb-refugees|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Croatian human rights organization ''Hrvatski helsinški odbor,'' counted 677 Serb civilians killed by Croatian forces after Operation Storm, mostly old people who remained, while other Serb civilians fled.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HHO: Nitko nije osuđen za ratne zločine nakon Oluje! |url=https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/hho-nitko-nije-osudjen-za-ratne-zlocine-nakon-oluje-280715 |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=www.vecernji.hr |language=hr |archive-date=October 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001233909/https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/hho-nitko-nije-osudjen-za-ratne-zlocine-nakon-oluje-280715 |url-status=live }}</ref> An additional 837 Serb civilians are listed as missing following Operation Storm.<ref>{{Cite web |title=O zločinima u Oluji se šuti. "Ubio brata i sestru, majku s kravama zapalio u štali" |url=https://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=2385154 |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=www.index.hr |language=hr |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028142518/https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/o-zlocinima-u-oluji-se-suti-ubio-brata-i-sestru-majku-im-zapalio-u-stali/2385154.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Other sources indicate a 181 more victims were killed by Croatian forces and buried in a mass grave in Mrkonjić Grad, following a continuation of the Operation Storm offensive into Bosnia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U Mrkonjić Gradu traže istinu o ubijenima u ratu |url=https://balkans.aljazeera.net/news/balkan/2016/11/11/u-mrkonjic-gradu-traze-istinu-o-ubijenima-u-ratu |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=balkans.aljazeera.net |language=bs |archive-date=October 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001233909/https://balkans.aljazeera.net/news/balkan/2016/11/11/u-mrkonjic-gradu-traze-istinu-o-ubijenima-u-ratu |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-11-13 |title=Jutarnji list - KRONOLOGIJA SLUČAJA MRKONJIĆ GRAD Što se doista dogodilo 1995. i 1996., tko je sudjelovao u borbama, čija su imena završila u kaznenim prijavama... |url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/kronologija-slucaja-mrkonjic-grad-sto-se-doista-dogodilo-1995.-i-1996.-tko-je-sudjelovao-u-borbama-cija-su-imena-zavrsila-u-kaznenim-prijavama...-5258975 |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=www.jutarnji.hr |language=hr-hr |archive-date=October 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001233911/https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/kronologija-slucaja-mrkonjic-grad-sto-se-doista-dogodilo-1995.-i-1996.-tko-je-sudjelovao-u-borbama-cija-su-imena-zavrsila-u-kaznenim-prijavama...-5258975 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many of the civilian population of the occupied areas fled during the offensive or immediately after its completion, in what was later described in various terms ranging from expulsion to planned evacuation.<ref name="LATimes-Storm-Complete"/> Krajina Serb sources (Documents of HQ of Civilian Protection of RSK, Supreme Council of Defense published by Kovačević,<ref name="Kovačević and Linta93-94">[[#Kovačević and Linta|Kovačević and Linta (2003)]], pp. 93–94</ref> Sekulić,<ref>[[#Sekulić|Sekulić (2000)]], pp. 171–246</ref> and Vrcelj<ref>[[#Vrcelj|Vrcelj (2002)]], pp. 212–222</ref>) say that the evacuation of Serbs was organized and planned beforehand.<ref name="HJSociety-Knin-Evacuation">{{cite web | publisher = [[Henry Jackson Society]] | url = http://greatersurbiton.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/how-croatia-and-the-us-prevented-genocide-with-operation-storm/ | title = How Croatia and the US prevented genocide with 'Operation Storm' | author = Marko Attila Hoare | date = March 14, 2008 | access-date = December 20, 2010 | archive-date = March 17, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110317183511/http://greatersurbiton.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/how-croatia-and-the-us-prevented-genocide-with-operation-storm/ | url-status = live }}</ref>{{bettersourceneeded|date=July 2023}} According to [[Amnesty International]], "some 200,000 Croatian Serbs, including the entire Croatian Serb Army, fled to the neighbouring Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina under Bosnian Serb control. In the aftermath of the operations members of the Croatian Army and police murdered, tortured, and forcibly expelled Croatian Serb civilians who had remained in the area as well as members of the withdrawing Croatian Serb armed forces".<ref name="amnesty2005">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR64/002/2005 |title=Croatia: "Operation Storm" – still no justice ten years on |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |date=August 26, 2005 |access-date=January 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119232143/http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR64/002/2005 |archive-date=January 19, 2011 }}</ref> The ICTY, on the other hand, concluded that only about 20,000 people were deported.<ref name="gotovina judgement"/> The [[BBC]] noted 200,000 Serb refugees at one point.<ref name="storm anniversary">{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4125640.stm | title= Croatia marks Storm anniversary | work= BBC News | date= August 5, 2005 | access-date= December 23, 2010 | archive-date= July 16, 2022 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220716154534/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4125640.stm | url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4747379.stm | title= Evicted Serbs remember Storm | author= Matt Prodger | author-link= Matt Prodger | publisher= BBC | work= BBC News | date= August 5, 2005 | access-date= December 23, 2010 | archive-date= February 19, 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090219223101/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4747379.stm | url-status= live }}</ref> Croatian refugees exiled in 1991 were finally allowed to return to their homes. In 1996 alone, about 85,000 displaced Croats returned to the former Krajina and western Slavonia, according to the estimates of the [[U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?id=822|title=World Refugee Survey—Croatia|publisher= [[U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants]]|access-date=November 19, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315041821/http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?id=822 |archive-date=March 15, 2008 }}</ref>

In the months that followed, there were still some intermittent, mainly artillery, attacks from Serb-held areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Dubrovnik area and elsewhere.<ref name="NYTimes-Dubrovnik-Artillery-17Aug95">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/17/world/dubrovnik-finds-hint-of-deja-vu-in-serbian-artillery.html?ref=croatia|title=Dubrovnik Finds Hint of Deja Vu in Serbian Artillery|author=Raymond Bonner|author-link=Raymond Bonner|date=17 August 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518194239/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/17/world/dubrovnik-finds-hint-of-deja-vu-in-serbian-artillery.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> The remaining Serb-held area in Croatia, in [[Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1995–98)|Eastern Slavonia]], was faced with the possibility of military confrontation with Croatia. Such a possibility was repeatedly stated by Tuđman after Storm.<ref name="NYTimes-Slavonia-retaking-27Aug95">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/27/world/croatia-s-president-pledges-to-retake-serb-held-enclave.html?ref=croatia|title=Croatia's President Pledges To Retake Serb-Held Enclave|date=27 August 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518195638/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/27/world/croatia-s-president-pledges-to-retake-serb-held-enclave.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> The threat was underlined by the movement of troops to the region in mid-October,<ref name="NYTimes-Slavonia-troops-15Oct95">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/17/world/croatia-reported-to-move-troops-to-disputed-serb-region.html?ref=croatia|title=Croatia Reported to Move Troops to Disputed Serb Region|author=Chris Hedges|author-link=Chris Hedges|date=15 October 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518203829/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/17/world/croatia-reported-to-move-troops-to-disputed-serb-region.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as a repeat of an earlier threat to intervene militarily—specifically saying that the Croatian Army could intervene if no peace agreement was reached by the end of the month.<ref name="NYTimes-Slavonia-intervention-15Oct95">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/05/world/croatian-president-again-threatent-attack.html?ref=croatia|agency=[[Reuters]]|title=Croatian President Again Threatent Attack|date=5 November 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518203144/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/05/world/croatian-president-again-threatent-attack.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Reintegration of Eastern Slavonia====

Further combat was averted on 12 November when the [[Erdut Agreement]] was signed by the RSK acting defense minister Milan Milanović,<ref name="NYTimes-ErdutAgr-12Nov95"/><ref name="USIP-Erdut-Agreement">{{cite web|publisher=[[United States Institute of Peace]]|url=http://www.usip.org/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/croatia_erdut_11121995.pdf|title=The Erdut Agreement|date=12 November 1995|access-date=17 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201185656/http://www.usip.org/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/croatia_erdut_11121995.pdf|archive-date=February 1, 2013|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> on instructions received from Slobodan Milošević and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia officials.<ref name="COE-CroatiaReport-Milanović">{{cite web |publisher=[[Council of Europe]] |url=http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc96/EDOC7510.htm |title=Croatia's request for membership of the Council of Europe – Report |author=René van der Linden |date=29 March 1996 |access-date=17 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111103337/http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=%2FDocuments%2FWorkingDocs%2FDoc96%2FEDOC7510.htm |archive-date=January 11, 2012 |df=mdy-all |author-link = René van der Linden}}</ref><ref name="ICTY-Milošević-trial-Milanović">{{cite web|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/trans/en/031015ED.htm|title=Slobodan Milošević trial – Transcript|pages=27555–27556|date=15 October 2003|access-date=17 January 2011|archive-date=May 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517034158/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/trans/en/031015ED.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The agreement stated that the remaining occupied area was to be returned to Croatia, with a two-year transitional period.<ref name="NYTimes-ErdutAgr-12Nov95">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/13/world/serbs-in-croatia-resolve-key-issue-by-giving-up-land.html?ref=croatia|title=Serbs in Croatia Resolve Key Issue by Giving up Land|author=Chris Hedges|author-link=Chris Hedges|date=12 November 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518200823/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/13/world/serbs-in-croatia-resolve-key-issue-by-giving-up-land.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> The new UN transitional administration was established as the [[United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium]] (UNTAES) by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1037]] of 15 January 1996.<ref name="UN_SRES10371996">{{UN document|docid=S-RES-1037(1996)|type=Resolution|body=Security Council|year=1996|resolution_number=1037|access-date=6 September 2008}}</ref> The agreement also guarantees the right of establishment of a [[Joint Council of Municipalities]] for the local Serbian community.

The transitional period was subsequently extended by a year. On 15 January 1998, the UNTAES mandate ended and Croatia regained full control of the area.<ref name="NYTimes-UNTAES-16Jan98">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/16/world/an-ethnic-morass-is-returned-to-croatia.html?ref=croatia|title=An Ethnic Morass Is Returned to Croatia|author=Chris Hedges|date=16 January 1998|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518201803/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/16/world/an-ethnic-morass-is-returned-to-croatia.html?ref=croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> As the UNTAES replaced the UNCRO mission, the Prevlaka peninsula, previously under UNCRO control, was put under the control of [[United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka]] (UNMOP). The UNMOP was established by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1038]] of 15 January 1996, and terminated on 15 December 2002.<ref name="UN-UNMOP-Background"/>

==Notable defections==

On 25 October 1991, [[Yugoslav Air Force]] pilot [[Rudolf Perešin]] flew his [[MiG-21|MiG-21R]] to [[Austria]] and defected.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=12 May 2019 |title=Rudolf Peresin's MiG-21 put on display outside Defence Ministry |pages=1 |work=N1 |url=https://ba.n1info.com/english/news/a343839-rudolf-peresins-mig-21-put-on-display-outside-defence-ministry-in-zagreb/ |access-date=October 30, 2022 |archive-date=October 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030225445/https://ba.n1info.com/english/news/a343839-rudolf-peresins-mig-21-put-on-display-outside-defence-ministry-in-zagreb/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> He later fought on behalf of [[Croatian Air Force|Croatian forces]] in the war, ultimately dying after being shot down in 1995.<ref name=":0" />

On 4 February 1992, air force pilot {{ill|Danijel Borović|sh}} flew his [[MiG-21]]bis to [[Croatia]] and defected.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=3 February 2021 |title=President Decorates Pilot for Flying First MIG to Croatian Side |pages=1 |work=[[Total Croatia News]] |url=https://www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/59938-president-decorates-pilot-for-flying-first-mig-to-croatian-side |access-date=October 30, 2022 |archive-date=October 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030225448/https://www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/59938-president-decorates-pilot-for-flying-first-mig-to-croatian-side |url-status=live }}</ref> He later fought on behalf of Croatian forces in the war. The MiG-21bis itself was later shot down on 24 June 1992, killing pilot {{ill|Anto Radoš|sh}}.

On 15 May 1992, air force pilots {{ill|Ivica Ivandić|sh}} and {{ill|Ivan Selak|sh}} flew their [[MiG-21]]bis to [[Croatia]] and defected.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 May 2022 |title=Ivan Selak described how he and Ivica Ivandić fled the JNA 30 years ago with MIGs: "We returned the stolen" |pages=1 |work=[[Istra21]] |url=https://www.istra24.hr/politika-i-drustvo/ivan-selak-opisao-kako-su-on-i-ivica-ivandic-prije-30-godina-mig-ovima-pobjegli-iz-jna-vratismo-ukradeno |access-date=October 30, 2022 |archive-date=October 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030225445/https://www.istra24.hr/politika-i-drustvo/ivan-selak-opisao-kako-su-on-i-ivica-ivandic-prije-30-godina-mig-ovima-pobjegli-iz-jna-vratismo-ukradeno |url-status=live }}</ref> Both later fought on behalf of Croatian forces in the war and survived. Ivandić's MiG-21bis was shot down on 14 September 1993, killing pilot {{ill|Miroslav Peris|sh}}.

==Impact and aftermath==

===Assessment of type and name of the war===
[[File:Strinćjera.jpg|thumb|Monument to the defenders of Dubrovnik, 2009]]

The standard term applied to the war as directly translated from Croatian is ''Homeland war'' ({{langx|hr|Domovinski rat}}),<ref name="HRV-name-CWI">{{cite journal|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=40171&lang=en|trans-title=Croatian War Veterans of the Benkovac Area in the Croatian War of Independence (English summary)|language=hr|title=Branitelji benkovačkog kraja u domovinskom ratu|publisher=Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences|journal=Društvena Istraživanja|issn=1330-0288|author=Josip Čerina|date=July 2008|volume=17|issue=3|access-date=December 16, 2010|archive-date=October 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016050910/http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=40171&lang=en|url-status=live}}</ref> while the term ''Croatian War of Independence'' is also used.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/02/serbian-war-crimes-bosnic-gloucester|title=Serbian war crimes suspect Mile Bosnic arrested in Gloucester|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|author=Amy Fallon|date=2 April 2010|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=March 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305033510/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/02/serbian-war-crimes-bosnic-gloucester|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYT-name-CWI">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/12/world/croatia-is-set-to-end-mandate-of-un-force-on-its-territory.html|title=Croatia Is Set to End Mandate Of U.N. Force on Its Territory|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Roger Cohen|author-link=Roger Cohen|date=12 January 1995|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=November 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111152445/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/12/world/croatia-is-set-to-end-mandate-of-un-force-on-its-territory.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBC-name-CWI">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6162474.stm|title=Croatia marks massacre in Vukovar|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|date=18 November 2006|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=April 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404002354/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6162474.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/the-real-captain-dragan|title=The real captain Dragan|publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|author=Trevor Bormann|date=28 September 2010|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=December 3, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203051344/http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/the-real-captain-dragan/|url-status=live}}</ref> Early English sources also called it the ''War in Croatia'', the ''Serbo-Croatian War'',{{cn|date=June 2023}} and the ''Conflict in Yugoslavia''.<ref name="NYTimes-Suspension-29June1991"/><ref name="B92-RUH"/>

Different translations of the Croatian name for the war are also sometimes used, such as ''Patriotic War'', although such use by native speakers of English is rare.<ref name="HRV-name-PatWar">{{cite journal|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?lang=hr&show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=4853|trans-title=Combat Effectiveness of Anti-Infantry Landmines: Experiences From the Croatian Patriotic War (English summary)|language=hr|title=Vojna učinkovitost protupješačkih mina: Iskustva iz domovinskog rata|publisher=Croatian Sociological Association and Jesenski & Turk Publishing House|journal=Polemos: časopis Za Interdisciplinarna Istraživanja Rata I Mira|issn=1331-5595|author=Slavko Halužan|date=December 1999|volume=2|issue=3–4|access-date=16 December 2010|archive-date=January 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115104901/http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?lang=hr|url-status=live}}</ref> The official term used in Croatian is the most widespread name used in Croatia but other terms are also used. Another is ''Greater-Serbian Aggression'' ({{langx|hr|Velikosrpska agresija}}). The term was widely used by the media during the war, and is still sometimes used by the Croatian media, politicians and others.<ref name="HRV-name-VSA-Bilandžija">{{cite journal|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=65472|trans-title=Croatian Army in International Relations (English summary)|language=hr|title=Hrvatska vojska u međunarodnim odnosima|publisher=Croatian Sociological Association and Jesenski & Turk Publishing House|journal=Polemos: časopis Za Interdisciplinarna Istraživanja Rata I Mira|issn=1331-5595|author=Mirko Bilandžić|date=July 2008|volume=11|issue=22|access-date=21 December 2010|archive-date=October 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016050926/http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=65472|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mvpei.hr/custompages/static/hrv/templates/_frt_Priopcenja_en.asp?id=3822|title=Press Release 155/08|publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (Croatia)]]|author=Mario Dragun|date=27 May 2008|access-date=16 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130217161352/http://www.mvpei.hr/custompages/static/hrv/templates/_frt_Priopcenja_en.asp?id=3822|archive-date=February 17, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="B92-name-GSA">{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=05&dd=28&nav_id=50591 |title=Croatian leadership slates Jeremić comments |publisher=[[B92]] |date=28 May 2008 |access-date=16 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104133857/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=05&dd=28&nav_id=50591 |archive-date=November 4, 2012 }}</ref>

Two views exist as to whether the war was a [[civil war|civil]] or an [[armed conflict|international]] war. The government of Serbia often states that it was entirely a "civil war".{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|pp=238–239}}<ref>{{cite news|work=Die Welt Online|url=https://www.welt.de/die-welt/politik/article4876711/Warum-sollte-Serbien-Mladic-schuetzen.html|title=Warum sollte Serbien Mladic schützen?|publisher=[[Die Welt]]|author=Daniel Böhmer|date=17 October 2009|access-date=16 December 2010|language=de|trans-title=Why should Serbia protect Mladic?|quote=Boris Tadic: "''Eine Täterrolle für Serbien muss ich ablehnen. Das war ein Bürgerkrieg, und daran war jeder beteiligt. Wir alle müssen uns unserer Verantwortung stellen''" (Translation: "I must refuse the role of a perpetrator for Serbia. This was a civil war, and everyone was involved. We must all shoulder our responsibilities.")|archive-date=October 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020203105/http://www.welt.de/welt_print/politik/article4876711/Warum-sollte-Serbien-Mladic-schuetzen.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The prevailing view in Croatia and of most international law experts, including the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|ICTY]], is that the war was an international conflict, between the rump Yugoslavia and Serbia against Croatia, supported by Serbs in Croatia.{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|pp=238–241}}<ref>{{cite web|title=The Prosecutor vs. Dusko Tadic a/k/a "Dule"|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/tadic/acdec/en/51002723.htm|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|date=5 October 1995|access-date=19 January 2011|quote=<br />The armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia started shortly after the date on which Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence on June 25, 1991 between the military forces of the SFRY and Slovenia and Croatia. Such armed conflict should, of course, be characterized as internal because the declarations of independence were suspended in consequence of the proposal of the EC for three months. After the expiration of the three months' period, on October 7, 1991, Slovenia proclaimed its independence with effect from that date, and Croatia with effect from October 8, 1991. So the armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia should be considered international as from October 8, 1991 because the independence of these two States was definite on that date|archive-date=May 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517022141/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/tadic/acdec/en/51002723.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | work = Final Report of the Commission of Experts Established Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992) | title = General Conclusions and Recommendations |url=http://www.his.com/~twarrick/commxyu5.htm#V|date=27 May 1994|editor-first = M. Cherif | editor-last = Bassiouni | editor-link = M. Cherif Bassiouni | publisher = United Nations Security Council | access-date=7 September 2011|archive-date=October 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021152733/http://www.his.com/~twarrick/commxyu5.htm#V|url-status=live}}</ref> The Croatian international legal scholar and [[Yale University]] professor, [[Mirjan Damaška]], said that the question of aggression was not one for the ICJ to decide as at the time of the verdict, the international crime of aggression had not yet been defined.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://informator.hr/strucni-clanci/mirjan-damaska-u-pravu-sam-postigao-mnogo-vise-u-americi-nego-sto-bih-postigao-da-sam-ostao-u-domovini-no-bio-bih-sretniji-da-sam-ostao-u-hrvatskoj|title=Mirjan Damaška: "U pravu sam postigao mnogo više u Americi nego što bih postigao da sam ostao u domovini, no bio bih sretniji da sam ostao u Hrvatskoj!"|publisher=Informator|date=10 January 2020|access-date=January 17, 2021|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122015701/https://informator.hr/strucni-clanci/mirjan-damaska-u-pravu-sam-postigao-mnogo-vise-u-americi-nego-sto-bih-postigao-da-sam-ostao-u-domovini-no-bio-bih-sretniji-da-sam-ostao-u-hrvatskoj|url-status=live}}</ref> Neither Croatia nor Yugoslavia ever formally [[Declaration of war|declared war]] on each other.<ref name="NYT-undeclared-08Jan1992">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/08/world/un-s-yugoslavia-envoy-says-rising-war-weariness-led-to-the-cease-fire.html|title=U.N.'s Yugoslavia Envoy Says Rising War-Weariness Led to the Cease-Fire|newspaper=The New York Times|author=David Binder|date=8 January 1992|access-date=18 January 2011|archive-date=November 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111191509/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/08/world/un-s-yugoslavia-envoy-says-rising-war-weariness-led-to-the-cease-fire.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Unlike the Serbian position that the conflict need not be declared as it was a civil war,{{sfn|Bjelajac et al.|2009|pp=238–239}} the Croatian motivation for not declaring war was that Tuđman believed that Croatia could not confront the JNA directly and did everything to avoid an all-out war.<ref>[[#Silber and Little|Silber and Little (1996)]], p. 170</ref>

{{Blockquote|All acts and omissions charged as Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 occurred during the international armed conflict and partial occupation of Croatia.&nbsp;... Displaced persons were not allowed to return to their homes and those few Croats and other non-Serbs who had remained in the Serb-occupied areas were expelled in the following months. The territory of the RSK remained under Serb occupation until large portions of it were retaken by Croatian forces in two operations in 1995. The remaining area of Serb control in Eastern Slavonia was peacefully re-integrated into Croatia in 1998.<ref>[[#Milošević Indictment|Milošević indictment]], p. 28, 32</ref>|ICTY's indictment against Milošević}}

===Casualties and refugees===
[[File:Vukovar Memorial Cemetery – Eternal Flame, 20150429160745.jpg|thumb|War memorial containing 938 graves of victims of the siege of Vukovar]]
[[File:Stajicevo Livade-stables.jpg|thumb|The former [[Stajićevo camp]] in Serbia, where Croatian prisoners of war and civilians were kept by Serbian authorities]]

Most sources place the total number of deaths from the war at around 20,000.<ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3095774.stm|title=Presidents apologise over Croatian war|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|date=September 10, 2003|access-date=February 7, 2010|archive-date=March 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331125320/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3095774.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="setimes1">{{cite web|url=http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2008/11/20/feature-01|title=Serbia to respond to Croatian genocide charges with countersuit at ICJ|work=SETimes.com|publisher=[[Southeast European Times]]|date=November 20, 2008|access-date=February 7, 2010|archive-date=August 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802074603/http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2008/11/20/feature-01|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="tehrantimes1">{{cite news|url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=182811|title=UN to hear Croatia genocide claim against Serbia|newspaper=Tehran Times|date=November 19, 2008|access-date=February 7, 2010|archive-date=June 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614061721/http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=182811|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the head of the Croatian Commission for Missing Persons, Colonel Ivan Grujić, Croatia suffered 12,000 killed or missing, including 6,788 soldiers and 4,508 civilians.<ref name="Ivan Grujic">{{cite web|url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/martic-witness-details-croatian-war-casualties|title=Martic Witness Details Croatian War Casualties|publisher=Global Voices BALKANS|access-date=April 13, 2006|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233026/https://iwpr.net/global-voices/martic-witness-details-croatian-war-casualties|url-status=live}}</ref> Another source gives a figure of 14,000 killed on the Croatian side, of whom 43.4% were civilians.{{sfn|Fink|2010|p=469}} Official figures from 1996 also list 35,000 wounded.<ref name="Darko Zubrinic">{{cite web|author=Darko Zubrinic|url=http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/et112.html|title=Croatia within ex-Yugoslavia|publisher=Croatianhistory.net|access-date=February 7, 2010|archive-date=July 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729120303/http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/et112.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ivo Goldstein]] mentions 13,583 killed or missing,<ref name="Goldstein256">[[#Goldstein|Goldstein (1999)]], p. 256</ref> while Anglo-Croatian historian [[Marko Attila Hoare]] reports the number to be 15,970<ref name="Genocide in Bosnia and the failure of international justice">{{cite web|url=http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/5511/1/Hoare-M-5511.pdf|title=Genocide in Bosnia and the failure of international justice|date=April 2008|access-date=January 22, 2020|author=Marko Attila Hoare|publisher=Kingston University|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312023824/http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/5511/1/Hoare-M-5511.pdf|archive-date=March 12, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> (citing figures from January 2003 presented by scientific researcher Dražen Živić).<ref>{{cite web|title= Utjecaj srbijanske agresije na stanovništvo Hrvatske|url= https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/utjecaj-srbijanske-agresije-na-stanovnistvo-hrvatske/175515.aspx|access-date= October 12, 2018|archive-date= August 30, 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180830110142/https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/utjecaj-srbijanske-agresije-na-stanovnistvo-hrvatske/175515.aspx|url-status= live}}</ref> Close to 2,400 persons were reported missing during the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2010/croatia-serbia-news-2010-11-04.htm|title=Croatia/Serbia: more action needed to find missing persons|publisher=The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)|date=November 4, 2010|access-date=January 23, 2011|archive-date=November 19, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119141534/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2010/croatia-serbia-news-2010-11-04.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, the Croatian Memorial-Documentation Center of Homeland War published new figures, indicating 22,211 killed or missing in the war: 15,007 killed or missing on the Croatian side and 7,204 killed or missing on the Serb side. 1,077 of those killed on the territories of the Republic of Serbian Krajina were non-Serbs.<ref name="Enis Zebic"/> However, on Croatian government-controlled territory, the Center did not break-out the ethnic structure of the total number of 5,657 civilians killed, due to missing data.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-01-09|title=Globus - HRVATSKA KNJIGA MRTVIH Konačna istina o svim ratnim žrtvama|url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/globus/politika/hrvatska-knjiga-mrtvih-konacna-istina-o-svim-ratnim-zrtvama-6915678|access-date=2020-12-27|website=www.jutarnji.hr|language=hr-hr|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028075344/https://www.jutarnji.hr/globus/politika/hrvatska-knjiga-mrtvih-konacna-istina-o-svim-ratnim-zrtvama-6915678|url-status=live}}</ref>

As of 2016, the Croatian government listed 1,993 missing persons from the war, of whom 1093 were Croats (428 soldiers and 665 civilians), while the remaining 900 were Serbs (5 soldiers and 895 civilians).<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-01-09|title=Globus - HRVATSKA KNJIGA MRTVIH Konačna istina o svim ratnim žrtvama|url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/globus/politika/hrvatska-knjiga-mrtvih-konacna-istina-o-svim-ratnim-zrtvama-6915678|access-date=2020-08-30|website=www.jutarnji.hr|language=hr-hr|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028075344/https://www.jutarnji.hr/globus/politika/hrvatska-knjiga-mrtvih-konacna-istina-o-svim-ratnim-zrtvama-6915678|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icrc.org/Web/doc/siterfl0.nsf/htmlall/familylinks-croatia-eng|title=Book of Missing Persons on the Territory of the Republic of Croatia|publisher=The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)|date=January 1, 2010|access-date=January 23, 2011|archive-date=August 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805110821/http://www.icrc.org/Web/doc/siterfl0.nsf/htmlall/familylinks-croatia-eng|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2009, there were more than 52,000 persons in Croatia registered as disabled due to their participation in the war.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Glas Slavonije]]|publisher=Glas Slavonije d.d.|url=http://www.glas-slavonije.hr/vijest.asp?rub=1&ID_VIJESTI=116366|title=HZMO: Invalidsku mirovinu primaju 45.703 hrvatska ratna vojna invalida|trans-title=Croatian Retirement Insurance Institute: Disability check received by 45,703 persons formerly serving with Croatian military|language=hr|author=Vesna Roller|date=November 7, 2009|access-date=January 22, 2011|archive-date=July 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719141728/http://www.glas-slavonije.hr/vijest.asp?rub=1&ID_VIJESTI=116366|url-status=live}}</ref> This figure includes not only those disabled physically due to wounds or injuries sustained, but also persons whose health deteriorated due to their involvement in the war, including diagnoses of chronic diseases such as [[cardiovascular disease]], as well as [[posttraumatic stress disorder]] (PTSD).<ref>{{cite news|publisher=[[Europapress Holding]]|newspaper=[[Slobodna Dalmacija]]|url=http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/59188/Default.aspx|title=U protekle tri godine novih 8 tisuća invalida Domovinskog rata|trans-title=Extra 8000 disabled persons due to the Homeland War in the past three years|language=hr|author=S. Dukić|date=June 23, 2009|access-date=January 22, 2011|archive-date=October 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019065046/http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/59188/Default.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, the number of war-related PTSD-diagnosed persons was 32,000.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Slobodna Dalmacija|publisher=Europapress Holding|url=http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/119968/Default.aspx|title=Oboljeli od PTSP-a: Blokirat ćemo sve domove zdravlja|trans-title=PTSD patients: We shall block all primary healthcare facilities|language=hr|author=Stanislav Soldo|date=October 30, 2010|access-date=January 22, 2011|archive-date=January 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111145406/http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/119968/Default.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

In total, the war caused 500,000 refugees and displaced persons.<ref>[[#Frucht|Frucht (2005)]], p. 439</ref> Around 196,000<ref name="HRW-196000">{{cite web|publisher=Human Rights Watch|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/1995/10/01/civil-and-political-rights-croatia|title=Civil and Political Rights in Croatia|date=October 1, 1995|access-date=December 23, 2010|page=62|archive-date=October 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011191449/http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/1995/10/01/civil-and-political-rights-croatia|url-status=live}}</ref> to 247,000 (in 1993)<ref name=hri/> Croats and other non-Serbs were displaced during the war from or around the RSK. The [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) said that 221,000 were displaced in 2006, of which 218,000 had returned.<ref name="ictj"/> Up to 300,000 Croats were displaced, according to other sources.{{sfn|Phuong|2005|p=157}} The majority were displaced during the initial fighting and during the JNA offensives of 1991 and 1992.<ref name="NYT-UNPROFOR-Expulsions92"/><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-14-mn-185-story.html|title=Serbian Refugees Uneasy in the Role of Occupiers|author=Carol J. Williams|date=December 14, 1991|access-date=December 16, 2010|archive-date=March 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308150502/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-14/news/mn-185_1|url-status=live}}</ref> On 16 March 1994, Croatia registered 492,636 displaced or refugees on its territory (241,014 persons from Croatia itself and 251,622 from Bosnia and Herzegovina), an estimated 10% of the country's population.{{sfn|Schaller|1996|p=894}}  Some 150,000 Croats from Republika Srpska and Serbia have obtained Croatian citizenship since 1991,<ref name="Dominelli163">[[#Dominelli|Dominelli (2007)]], p. 163</ref> many due to incidents like the [[expulsions in Hrtkovci]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cleansing-row-prompts-crisis-in-vojvodina-1542202.html|title='Cleansing' row prompts crisis in Vojvodina|author=Marcus Tanner|newspaper=The Independent|date=August 24, 1992|access-date=January 19, 2011|archive-date=November 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110115113/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cleansing-row-prompts-crisis-in-vojvodina-1542202.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Sunja (Croatia).JPG|thumb|left|Destroyed Serbian house in Croatia. Most Serbs were displaced during [[Operation Storm]] in 1995.]]

The Belgrade-based non-government organization ''Veritas'' lists 7,134 killed and missing from the Republic of Serbian Krajina, including 4,484 combatants and 2,650 civilians, and 307 JNA members who were not born or lived in Croatia. Most of them were killed or went missing in 1991 (2,729) and 1995 (2,348). The most deaths occurred in Northern Dalmatia (1,605).<ref name="veritas">{{cite web|url=http://www.veritas.org.rs/srpske-zrtve-rata-i-poraca-na-podrucju-hrvatske-i-bivse-rsk-1990-1998-godine/|title=Srpske žrtve rata i poraća na području Hrvatske i bivše RSK 1990. – 1998. godine|work=Veritas|access-date=June 16, 2015|archive-date=November 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124020956/http://www.veritas.org.rs/srpske-zrtve-rata-i-poraca-na-podrucju-hrvatske-i-bivse-rsk-1990-1998-godine/|url-status=live}}</ref> The JNA has officially acknowledged 1,279 killed in action. The actual number was probably considerably greater, since casualties were consistently underreported. In one example, official reports spoke of two slightly wounded soldiers after an engagement, however, according to the unit's intelligence officer, the actual number was 50 killed and 150 wounded.<ref name="Meštrović77">[[#Meštrović|Meštrović (1996)]], pp.&nbsp;77–78</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGShXjNZzEsC&q=JNA+casualties&pg=PA77 |title=Meštrović.S (1996), Genocide After Emotion: The Postemotional Balkan War, Taylor & Francis Ltd, p.77 |access-date = 28 April 2010|isbn=9780415122948 |last1=Meštrović |first1=Stjepan Gabriel |year=1996 |publisher=Psychology Press }}</ref>

According to Serbian sources, some 120,000 Serbs were displaced from 1991 to 1993, and 250,000 were displaced after Operation Storm.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.veritas.org.rs/bilteni/Bilten_v.pdf |date=December 1999 |access-date=September 5, 2009 |journal=Veritas – Bilten |language=sr |title=Zločini nad Srbima na prostoru Hrvatske u periodu 90–99 |trans-title=Crimes Against Serbs in the territory of Croatia in Period of 1990–1999 |last=Štrbac |first=Savo |author-link=Savo Štrbac |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325203110/http://www.veritas.org.rs/bilteni/Bilten_v.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009 }}</ref> The number of displaced Serbs was 254,000 in 1993,<ref name="hri"/> dropping to 97,000 in the early 1995<ref name="HRW-196000"/> and then increasing again to 200,000 by the end of the year. Most international sources place the total number of Serbs displaced at around 300,000. According to Amnesty International 300,000 were displaced from 1991 to 1995, of which 117,000 were officially registered as having returned as of 2005.<ref name="amnesty2005"/> According to the OSCE, 300,000 were displaced during the war, of which 120,000 were officially registered as having returned as of 2006. However, it is believed the number does not accurately reflect the number of returnees, because many returned to Serbia, Montenegro, or Bosnia and Herzegovina after officially registering in Croatia.<ref name="ictj">{{cite web|url=http://wcjp.unicri.it/proceedings/docs/ICTJ_Croatia%20developments%20tr%20justice_2006_eng.PDF|title=Croatia: Selected Developments in Transitional Justice|publisher=International Center for Transitional Justice|access-date=September 5, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618163442/http://wcjp.unicri.it/proceedings/docs/ICTJ_Croatia%20developments%20tr%20justice_2006_eng.PDF|archive-date=June 18, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> According to the UNHCR in 2008, 125,000 were registered as having returned to Croatia, of whom 55,000 remained permanently.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/node/79189|title=Croatia – Events of 2008|date=January 14, 2009|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|access-date=September 5, 2009|archive-date=October 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012064651/http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79189|url-status=live}}</ref> 

While the prewar 1991 Croatian census counted 581,663 Serbs, or 12.2% of the population in Croatia,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Savezni zavod za statistiku i evidenciju FNRJ i SFRJ, popis stanovništva 1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981. i 1991. godine, za teritorijalnu organizaciju, općine i pripadajuća naseljena mjesta 1991. godine |url=https://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/G1991/pdf/G19914018.pdf |access-date=October 1, 2022 |archive-date=June 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620122905/https://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/G1991/pdf/G19914018.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> the first postwar 2001 census showed only 201,631 Serbs remaining in Croatia, or just 4.5% of the population.

The [[Croatian Association of Prisoners in Serbian Concentration Camps]] and [[Croatian Disabled Homeland War Veterans Association]] were founded to help victims of prison abuse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.business.hr/hr/Naslovnica/Politika/Simonovic-potvrdio-Josipovica-U-tuzbi-protiv-Srbije-se-nalaze-logori |title=Šimonović potvrdio Josipovića: U tužbi protiv Srbije se nalaze logori |trans-title=Šimonović confirms Josipović: The camps are included in the lawsuit against Serbia |language=hr |work=[[Business.hr]] |publisher=Business.hr d.o.o. |date=January 8, 2010 |access-date=January 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213025506/http://www.business.hr/hr/Naslovnica/Politika/Simonovic-potvrdio-Josipovica-U-tuzbi-protiv-Srbije-se-nalaze-logori |archive-date=February 13, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wvf-fmac.org/members.html |title=World Veterans Federation – Alphabetical List by Country |publisher=[[World Veterans Federation (WVF)]] |access-date=January 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907154440/http://wvf-fmac.org/members.html |archive-date=September 7, 2011 }}</ref>

A 2013 report by the [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP) in Croatia entitled 'Assessment of the Number of Sexual Violence Victims during the Homeland War on the Territory of the Republic of Croatia and Optimal Forms of Compensation and Support of Victims', determined the estimated victims (male and female) of [[rape]] and other forms of [[sexual assault]] on both sides to number between approximately 1,470 and 2,205 or 1,501 and 2,437 victims.<ref name="UNDP Sexual Violence">{{cite web|url=https://www.undp.org/content/dam/croatia/docs/Research%20and%20publications/socialinclusion/UNDP-HR-SEXUAL%20-VIOLENCE%20-IN%20-CONFLICT-RESEARCH-ENG-2014.pdf|title=Assessment of the Number of Sexual Violence Victims during the Homeland War of the Republic of Croatia and Optimal Forms of Compensation and Support to Victims|publisher=UNDP|access-date=January 22, 2020|archive-date=January 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120174134/https://www1.undp.org/content/dam/croatia/docs/Research%20and%20publications/socialinclusion/UNDP-HR-SEXUAL%20-VIOLENCE%20-IN%20-CONFLICT-RESEARCH-ENG-2014.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Most victims were non-Serbs assaulted by Serbs.<ref name="UNDP Sexual Violence" /> By region, the largest number of rapes and acts of sexual violence occurred in Eastern Slavonia, with an estimated 380-570 victims.<ref name="UNDP Sexual Violence" /> According to the UNDP report, between 300 and 600 men (4.4%-6.6% of those imprisoned) and between 279 and 466 women (or 30%-50% of those imprisoned) suffered from various forms of sexual abuse while being held in Serbian detention camps and prisons (including those in Serbia proper).<ref name="UNDP Sexual Violence" /> Between 412 and 611 Croat women were raped in the Serb-occupied territories, outside of detention camps, from 1991 to 1995.<ref name="UNDP Sexual Violence" /> Croat forces were also known to have committed rapes and acts of sexual violence against Serb women during Operations [[Operation Flash|Flash]] and [[Operation Storm|Storm]], with an estimated 94-140 victims.<ref name="UNDP Sexual Violence" /> Sexual abuse of Serb prisoners also occurred in the Croat-run [[Lora prison camp|Lora]] and [[Kerestinec camp|Kerestinec]] camps.<ref name="UNDP Sexual Violence" />

On May 29, 2015, the Croatian parliament passed the first law in the country that recognises rape as a war crime – the Law on the Rights of Victims of Sexual Violence during the Military Aggression against the Republic of Croatia in the Homeland War.<ref name="BIRN Rape Survivors">{{cite web |last1=Vladisavljevic |first1=Anja |last2=Lakic |first2=Mladen |last3=Begisholli |first3=Blerta |title=Compensation Comes Late for Rape Survivors of Balkan Wars |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2019/06/19/compensation-comes-late-for-rape-survivors-of-balkan-wars/ |website=BalkanInsight |publisher=BIRN |access-date=22 January 2020 |date=19 June 2019}}</ref> The legislation, which is overseen by the Croatian War Veterans’ Ministry, provides victims with medical and legal aid as well as financial compensation from the state – up to 20,000 euros. These benefits do not depend on a court verdict.<ref name="BIRN Rape Survivors" />

As of May 2019, Željka Žokalj from the War Veterans’ Ministry, said that around 25 million kunas (3.37 million euros) have already been awarded to victims. Since 2015, 249 compensation requests have been filed and 156 of them approved.<ref name="BIRN Rape Survivors"/>

===Wartime damage and minefields===
{{Further|Minefields in Croatia}}
[[File:Osijek-2.JPG|thumb|Bombardment damage in Osijek]]
[[File:NE PRILAZITE - NA OVOM PODRUCJU JE VELIKA OPASNOST OD MINA (Hrvatska, 7 Travanj 2007).jpg|thumb|A standard minefield marking]]

Official figures on wartime damage published in Croatia in 1996 specify 180,000 destroyed housing units, 25% of the Croatian economy destroyed, and US$27&nbsp;billion of material damage.<ref name="Darko Zubrinic"/> ''Europe Review 2003/04'' estimated the war damage at US$37&nbsp;billion in damaged infrastructure, lost [[Output (economics)|economic output]], and refugee-related costs, while GDP dropped 21% in the period.<ref name="Europe-Review-2003">[[#Europe Review|Europe Review (2003)]], p. 75</ref> 15 percent of housing units and 2,423 cultural heritage structures, including 495 sacral structures, were destroyed or damaged.<ref name="Vjesnik-Damage-2010">{{cite news | newspaper= Vjesnik | publisher= Narodne Novine d.d. | url= http://limun.hr/main.aspx?id=629117&Page=1 | title= Beskrajna obnova od rata | trans-title= Endless reconstruction after the war | language= hr | author= Maja Sajler Garmaz | date= December 21, 1991 | access-date= January 20, 2011 | archive-date= December 18, 2014 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141218121544/http://limun.hr/main.aspx?id=629117&Page=1 | url-status= dead }}</ref> The war imposed an additional economic burden of very high military expenditures. By 1994, as Croatia rapidly developed into a de facto war economy, the military consumed as much as 60 percent of total government spending.<ref>[[#Commonwealth|Commonwealth (1999), p. 280]]</ref>

Yugoslav and Serbian expenditures during the war were even more disproportionate. The federal budget proposal for 1992 earmarked 81 percent of funds to be diverted into the Serbian war effort.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper= The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/21/world/yugoslav-breakup-gains-momentum.html | title = Yugoslav Breakup Gains Momentum | author= Chuck Sudetic | author-link= Chuck Sudetic | date = December 21, 1991 | access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref> Since a substantial part of the federal budgets prior to 1992 was provided by Slovenia and Croatia, the most developed republics of Yugoslavia, a lack of federal income quickly led to desperate printing of money to finance  government operations. That in turn produced the worst episode of [[hyperinflation]] in history: Between October 1993 and January 1995, Yugoslavia, which then consisted of Serbia and Montenegro, suffered through a hyperinflation of five [[wikt:quadrillion|quadrillion]] percent.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper= [[The Wall Street Journal]] | url = https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/05/08/hyper-hyper-inflation/ | title = Hyper Hyper-Inflation | author= Bob Davis | date = May 8, 2009 | access-date=January 20, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= The Worst Episode of Hyperinflation in History: Yugoslavia 1993–94 |url= http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/hyper.htm#YUGO |publisher= [[San Jose State University]] |access-date= January 20, 2011 |archive-date= December 7, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121207073105/http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/hyper.htm#YUGO |url-status= dead }}</ref>

Many Croatian cities were attacked by artillery, missiles, and aircraft bombs by RSK or JNA forces from RSK or Serb-controlled areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Montenegro and Serbia. The most shelled cities were Vukovar, Slavonski Brod (from the mountain of [[Vučjak (mountain)|Vučjak]]),<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.hic.hr/ZZ-spomenar24.htm| access-date= January 27, 2011| work= Hrvatski spomenar| publisher= Hrvatski Informativni Centar| title= Dogodilo se 31. kolovoza| trans-title= Happened on August 31| language= hr| quote= Srbi s planine Vučjak u BiH neprekidno granatiraju Slavonski Brod| archive-date= May 18, 2013| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518211618/http://www.hic.hr/ZZ-spomenar24.htm| url-status= dead}}</ref> and [[Županja]] (for more than 1,000 days),<ref name="zupanja">{{cite web | url= http://www.hic.hr/dom/397/dom06.htm | access-date= January 27, 2011 | work= Hrvatski spomenar | publisher= Hrvatski Informativni Centar | title= Dogodilo se 26. listopada | trans-title= Happened on October 26 | language= hr | quote= Neprekinuta opća opasnost u Županji traje još od travnja 1992&nbsp;... Srbi iz Bosne grad gađaju oko 12 ili oko 15 sati, kada je na ulicama najviše ljudi. | archive-date= May 18, 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518215152/http://www.hic.hr/dom/397/dom06.htm | url-status= dead }}</ref> Vinkovci, Osijek, [[Nova Gradiška]], [[Novska]], [[Daruvar]], Pakrac, Šibenik, [[Sisak]], Dubrovnik, Zadar, Gospić, Karlovac, [[Biograd na moru]], [[Slavonski Šamac]], [[Ogulin]], [[Duga Resa]], [[Otočac]], [[Ilok]], [[Beli Manastir]], [[Lučko]], Zagreb, and others<ref>{{cite news | newspaper= The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/20/world/aid-convoy-falls-victim-in-croatia.html?ref=croatia | title = Aid Convoy Falls Victim in Croatia | author= Chuck Sudetic | author-link= Chuck Sudetic | date = October 20, 1991 | access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Croatia Fighting Worsens as Zagreb Suburb Is Hit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/12/world/croatia-fighting-worsens-as-zagreb-suburb-is-hit.html?sq=shelling+croatia+1992&scp=2&st=cse |newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 11, 1993|access-date=October 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | newspaper= The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/05/world/yugoslav-battles-rage-on-eve-of-talks.html?ref=croatia | title = Yugoslav Battles Rage on Eve of Talks | author= Chuck Sudetic | author-link= Chuck Sudetic | date = November 5, 1991 | access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Slavonski Brod was never directly attacked by tanks or infantry, but the city and its surrounding villages were hit by more than 11,600 artillery shells and 130 aircraft bombs in 1991 and 1992.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jelić A |title=Child casualties in a Croatian community during the 1991-2 war |journal=Archives of Disease in Childhood |volume=71 |issue=6 |pages=540–2 |date=December 1994  |pmid=7726618 |pmc=1030096 |doi=10.1136/adc.71.6.540}}</ref>

Approximately 2&nbsp;million mines were laid in various areas of Croatia during the war. Most of the [[Minefields in Croatia|minefields]] were laid with no pattern or any type of record being made of the position of the mines.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Soldo S, Puntarić D, Petrovicki Z, Prgomet D |title=Injuries caused by antipersonnel mines in Croatian Army soldiers on the East Slavonia front during the 1991–1992 war in Croatia |journal=Military Medicine |volume=164 |issue=2 |pages=141–4 |date=February 1999  |pmid=10050574|doi=10.1093/milmed/164.2.141 |doi-access=free }}</ref> A decade after the war, in 2005, there were still about 250,000 mines buried along the former front lines, along some segments of the international borders, especially near Bihać, and around some former JNA facilities.<ref name="Hanson-96">[[#Hanson|Hanson (2000)]], p. 96.</ref> As of 2007, the area still containing or suspected of containing mines encompassed approximately {{convert|1000|km2|sp=us}}.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=BBC |work=BBC News | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6701517.stm | title = Croatian bees sniff out landmines | author= Nicholas Walton | date = May 30, 2007 | access-date=January 17, 2010}}</ref> More than 1,900 people were killed or injured by land mines in Croatia since the beginning of the war, including more than 500 killed or injured by mines after the end of the war.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Croatian Mine Action Centre | url = http://www.hcr.hr/en/aktualnostCijela.asp?ID=1245 | title = Mine victims assistance (MVA) | year = 2010 | access-date = January 17, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120311130152/http://www.hcr.hr/en/aktualnostCijela.asp?ID=1245 | archive-date = March 11, 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Between 1998 and 2005, Croatia spent €214&nbsp;million on various mine action programs.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = International Committee of Red Cross | url = http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/croatia-mines-300905.htm | title = Croatia: safe playgrounds in danger zones | author = Marcin Monko | date = September 30, 2005 | access-date = January 17, 2010 | archive-date = October 1, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121001055138/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/croatia-mines-300905.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> As of 2009, all remaining minefields are clearly marked.<ref name="EUObserver-mines-2009">{{cite web | work = [[EUobserver]] | url = http://euobserver.com/886/28527 | title = Croatian region calls for EU aid on landmines | date= August 10, 2009 | author= Valentina Pop | access-date=January 17, 2010}}</ref> During the 2015 European migrant crisis, there existed concerns over areas where mines could affect the flow of refugees coming from Serbia to Croatia.<ref name="bbc.com_2015-09-16">{{Citation | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34268043| title=Migrant crisis: Croatia mines warning after border crossing – BBC News| newspaper=Bbc.com| date=September 16, 2015| access-date=16 September 2015}}</ref>

===War crimes and the ICTY===
{{Further|International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|List of indictees of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia}}
The [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY) was established by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 827|UN Security Council Resolution 827]], which was passed on 25 May 1993. The court has power to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of [[international humanitarian law]], breaches of the [[Geneva Conventions]], violating the [[Laws of war|laws or customs of war]], committing [[genocide]], and [[Crime against humanity|crimes against humanity]] committed in the territory of the former SFR Yugoslavia since 1 January 1991.<ref>{{cite web|title=Statute of the Tribunal|url=http://www.icty.org/sid/135|publisher=[[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]]|date=September 2009|access-date=19 January 2011}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Between 1991 and 1995, Martić held positions of minister of interior, minister of defense and president of the self-proclaimed "Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina" (SAO Krajina), which was later renamed "Republic of Serbian Krajina" (RSK). He was found to have participated during this period in a [[joint criminal enterprise]] which included Slobodan Milošević, whose aim was to create a unified Serbian state through commission of a widespread and systematic campaign of crimes against non-Serbs inhabiting areas in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina envisaged to become parts of such a state.<ref name="icty martic"/>|International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in its verdict against Milan Martić}}

[[File:Castle Eltz Vukovar4.JPG|thumb|[[Eltz Manor|Castle Eltz]] after the [[Siege of Vukovar]]]]
[[File:Milan Martic ICTY.png|thumb|[[Milan Martic]] during trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]]
By the time of the last verdict delivered in 2023, the ICTY has convicted nine officials from the Serb/Montenegrin side and nobody from the Croatian side. The Serb officials were convicted for [[war crime]]s and [[crimes against humanity]], including [[murder]], torture, [[persecution]]s on political, racial and religious grounds, cruel treatment, [[imprisonment]], [[deportation]], [[Looting|plunder]] of public or private property, wanton destruction of villages or devastation not justified by military necessity, inhumane acts, and attacks on civilians.<ref name="icty martic"/> [[Milan Martić]] received the largest sentence: 35 years in prison.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6743607.stm|title=Serb leader jailed for war crimes|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|date=March 10, 2006|access-date=20 December 2010}}</ref> [[Milan Babić]] received 13 years. He expressed remorse for his role in the war, asking his "Croat brothers to forgive him".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article739400.ece|title=Milan Babic — Former dentist who founded the doomed Serb Republic of Krajina and initiated 'ethnic cleansing'|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=10 March 2006|access-date=20 December 2010}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Two Yugoslav army officers were sentenced for the Vukovar massacre; [[Veselin Šljivančanin]] was sentenced to 10 years and [[Mile Mrkšić]] to 20 years in prison.<ref name="Mrksic sentence">{{cite news|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8033635.stm|title=Hague triples Vukovar jail term|date=5 May 2009|access-date=15 December 2010}}</ref> 

Yugoslav Army officials [[Pavle Strugar]] and [[Miodrag Jokić]] were sentenced to eight and seven years, respectively, for shelling the Old Town of Dubrovnik, a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/world/europe/31iht-serbs.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=pavle%20strugar%20miodrag%20joki%C4%87%207%20years&st=cse|title=General guilty in Dubrovnik attack|work=The New York Times|date=1 February 2005|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref> A third indictee, [[Vladimir Kovačević (military officer)|Vladimir Kovačević]], was declared mentally unfit to stand trial.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icty.org/sid/8763|title=Vladimir Kovacevic Declared Unfit to Stand Trial|date=12 April 2006|publisher= International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|access-date=12 June 2012}}</ref> In 2018, [[Vojislav Šešelj]] was sentenced to 10 years for crimes against humanity perpetrated through [[persecution]] and [[deportation]] of [[Persecution of Croats in Serbia during Yugoslav Wars|Croats from Vojvodina in 1992]],<ref>{{cite news|title=UN court quashes acquittal of Serb politician for war crimes|publisher=[[Irish Times]]|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/un-court-quashes-acquittal-of-serb-politician-for-war-crimes-1.3458569|date=11 April 2018}}</ref> while he was also given an additional cumulative sentence of 4 years and 9 months for contempt of court.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=ICTY|title=1st contempt of court proceedings: Vojislav Šešelj|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/contempt_seselj/cis/en/cis_seselj_contempt_en.pdf}}{{cite web|publisher=ICTY|title=2nd contempt of court proceedings: Vojislav Šešelj| url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/contempt_seselj2/cis/en/cis_seselj_contempt_second_en.pdf}}{{cite web|publisher=ICTY|title=3rd contempt of court proceedings: Vojislav Šešelj|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/contempt_seselj3/cis/en/cis_seselj_contempt_third_en.pdf}}</ref> Vukovar's mayor, [[Slavko Dokmanović]], was brought to trial at the ICTY, but committed suicide in 1998 in captivity before the judgement.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/30/world/serb-charged-in-massacre-commits-suicide.html|title=Serb Charged in Massacre Commits Suicide|author=Marlise Simons|author-link=Marlise Simons|date=30 June 1998|access-date=16 December 2010}}</ref> The Yugoslav Army's [[Chief of General Staff of the Yugoslav Army|Chief of the General Staff]], [[Momčilo Perišić]], was eventually acquitted on all charges.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=BBC|title=Momcilo Perisic: Yugoslav army chief conviction overturned|date=28 February 2013|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21621242}}</ref> Ex-RSK President [[Goran Hadžić]] died during the trial. Slobodan Milošević was indicted for war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, but died before the judgement.<ref name="autogenerated4"/> According to the ICTY, Serb forces from the SAO Krajina deported at least 80–100,000 Croats and other non-Serb civilians in 1991–92.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/stanisic_simatovic/tjug/en/130530_summary.pdf | title=Judgement Summary for Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović | date=30 May 2013 | publisher=ICTY | page=2 | access-date=10 July 2017 | archive-date=25 December 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225002557/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/stanisic_simatovic/tjug/en/130530_summary.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref> 

In 2023, the follow-up [[International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals]] sentenced [[State Security Service (FR Yugoslavia)|State Security Service]] (SDB) officers within the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia)|Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia]] [[Jovica Stanišić]] and [[Franko Simatović]] for [[aiding and abetting]] a [[Dalj massacre|murder in Daljska Planina]] and persecution in June 1992 through their control of Serb paramilitary, as well as other crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, included them in a [[joint criminal enterprise]], and sentenced them each to 15 years in prison.<ref>{{cite news|title=UN commends Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, as final judgement is delivered| work=UN News| date=31 May 2023| url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1137222| access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=STANIŠIĆ and SIMATOVIĆ (MICT-15-96-A)| url=https://www.irmct.org/en/cases/mict-15-96| publisher=International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals| location=The Hague| date=31 May 2023| access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref> The Tribunal concluded:

{{blockquote|...The Trial Chamber found proven beyond reasonable doubt that, from at least August 1991 and at all times relevant to the crimes charged in the Indictment, a [[Joint criminal enterprise|common criminal purpose]] existed to forcibly and permanently remove the majority of non-Serbs from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, through the commission of the crimes of [[persecution]], [[murder]], [[deportation]], and inhumane acts ([[Forced displacement|forcible transfer]]) charged in the Indictment. It further found that a joint criminal enterprise existed, in which the common criminal purpose was shared by senior political, military, and police leadership in Serbia, SAO Krajina, SAO SBWS, and Republika Srpska, with core members being Slobodan Milošević, [[Radmilo Bogdanović]], [[Radovan Stojičić]] (Badža), [[Mihalj Kertes]], Milan Martić, Milan Babić, Goran Hadžić, [[Radovan Karadžić]], Ratko Mladić, [[Momčilo Krajišnik]], [[Biljana Plavšić]], and Željko Ražnatović (Arkan).... The Appeals Chamber has further concluded that all reasonable doubt has been eliminated that Stanišić and Simatović possessed the requisite ''[[mens rea]]'' for joint criminal enterprise liability.<ref>{{cite web| title=The Prosecutor vs. Jovica Stanišić & Franko Simatović — Judgement In the Appeals Chamber| url=https://www.irmct.org/sites/default/files/case_documents/IRMCT-Appeal-Judgement-Stanisic-Simatovic-ENG.pdf |page=142, 256| publisher=International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals| location=The Hague| date=31 May 2023| access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref>}} 

The ICTY indicted Croatian officers [[Janko Bobetko]], [[Rahim Ademi]], and [[Mirko Norac]], for crimes committed during Operation Medak Pocket, but that case was also transferred to Croatian courts. Norac was found guilty and jailed for 7 years; Ademi was acquitted.<ref name="ICTY-Ademi-Acquittal">{{cite web|url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/ademi/cis/en/cis_ademi_norac.pdf|title=Rahim Ademi acquitted|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|access-date=22 January 2011}}</ref> Bobetko was declared unfit to stand trial due to poor health.<ref name="BBC-Bobetko-2003">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2985951.stm|title=Profile: General Janko Bobetko|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|date=29 April 2003|access-date=22 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="NYT-Bobetko-30Apr2003">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/30/obituaries/30BOBE.html|agency=[[Associated Press]]|title=Janko Bobetko, 84, a Hero of Croatian Independence, Dies|newspaper=The New York Times|date=30 April 2003|access-date=22 January 2011}}</ref> The ICTY's indictment against General [[Ante Gotovina]] cited at least 150 Serb civilians killed in the aftermath of Operation Storm.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/croatian-general-accused-of-ethnic-cleansing-against-serbs-goes-on-trial-794474.html|title=Croatian general accused of ethnic cleansing against Serbs goes on trial|newspaper=The Independent|author=Vesna Perić Zimonjić|date=12 March 2008|access-date=13 October 2010}}</ref> The [[Croatian Helsinki Committee]] registered 677 Serb civilians killed in the operation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20010915/prilozi.htm|title=Prohujalo s Olujom|newspaper=[[Slobodna Dalmacija]]|author=Marina Karlović-Sabolić|publisher=Europapress Holding|date=15 September 2001|access-date=13 October 2010}}</ref> [[Louise Arbour]], a prosecutor of the ICTY, stated that the legality and legitimacy of the Operation itself was not the issue, but that the ICTY was required to investigate whether crimes were committed during the campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icty.org/sid/7748|title=Statement by Justice Louise Arbour, Prosecutor of the ICTY during her visit to Zagreb, Croatia|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|date=20 July 1999|access-date=19 November 2010}}</ref> The Trial Chamber reiterated that the legality of Operation Storm is "irrelevant" for the case at hand, since the ICTY's remit is processing war crimes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/judges-grant-leave-to-amend-operation-storm-indictment.29.html?cat_id=1&news_id=9335|title=Judges Grant Leave to Amend Operation Storm Indictment|publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|date=21 October 2005|access-date=19 November 2010|archive-date=May 26, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240526104121/https://www.webcitation.org/6DArwoiCX?url=http://www.sense-agency.com/icty/judges-grant-leave-to-amend-operation-storm-indictment.29.html%3Fcat_id=1|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2011, [[Trial of Gotovina et al|Gotovina was sentenced]] to 24 and Markač to 18 years in prison. In 2012, their convictions were overturned and both were immediately released. Čermak was acquitted of all charges.<ref name="gotovina judgement"/> Recorded war crimes that were committed against ethnic Serbs, particularly the elderly, during or in the aftermath of Operation Storm include the [[Golubić killings]], [[Grubori massacre]], and [[Varivode massacre]]. In the first-degree verdict, the trial chamber found that "certain members of the Croatian political and military leadership shared the common objective of the permanent removal of the Serb civilian population from the Krajina by force or threat of force", implicating [[Franjo Tuđman]], [[Gojko Šušak]], who was the Minister of Defence and a close associate of Tuđman's, and [[Zvonimir Červenko]], the Chief of the Croatian army Main Staff.<ref name="gotovina judgement"/> Nevertheless, in the second-degree verdict, the appeals chamber dismissed the notion of such a [[joint criminal enterprise]]. The verdict meant the ICTY convicted no Croats for their role in the Croatian War of Independence.<ref name="BBC-2012-11-16"/>

{{multiple image
| align = left
| image1 = ICTY 2006-01-16.jpg
| width1 = 100
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = Slobodan_Milošević_facingright.jpg
| width2 = 95
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| image3 = Accused Mile Mrkšić.jpg
| width3 = 119
| alt3 = 
| caption3 = 
| footer = The ICTY (left) convicted numerous individuals for their role in the war. Milošević (middle) became the first former [[head of state]] of any country brought before an international criminal tribunal,<ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite news|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1419772.stm|title=Milosevic scorns UN tribunal|date=3 July 2001|access-date=4 February 2011}}</ref> but died before a verdict was reached. [[Mile Mrkšić]] (right) received 20 years.<ref name="Mrksic sentence"/>
}}
A number of Croat civilians in hospitals and [[Bomb shelter|shelters]] marked with a [[Emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|red cross]] were targeted by Serb forces.<ref>{{cite journal|publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]|url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jpjf.htm|title=Spotlight on violations of international humanitarian law—The role of the media|author=Roy W. Gutman|journal=International Review of the Red Cross|issue=325|date=31 December 1998|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-date=September 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917045550/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jpjf.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> There were numerous well-documented war crimes against civilians and [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] perpetrated by Serb and Yugoslav forces in Croatia: the [[Dalj killings]],<ref name="BBC-Milosevic-indictment2001">{{cite news|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/354561.stm|title=Milosevic Indictment (text)|date=29 October 2001|access-date=19 December 2010}}</ref> the [[Lovas massacre]],<ref name="B92-Lovas"/><ref name="JURIST-Lovas">{{cite web|work=jurist.law.pitt.edu |publisher=Jurist Legal News & Research Services, Inc. |url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/05/serbia-war-crimes-prosecutor.php |title=Serbia war crimes prosecutor investigating 12 for 1991 mass murders of Croats |date=30 May 2007 |access-date=19 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113195439/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/05/serbia-war-crimes-prosecutor.php |archive-date=January 13, 2011 }}</ref> the [[Široka Kula massacre]],<ref>{{cite web|work=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – Refworld|publisher=[[Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada]]|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,COI,IRBC,QUERYRESPONSE,HRV,3ae6acfb9f,0.html|title=Croatia: Information on abuses carried out between April 1992 and September 1992 by Serbian military and paramilitary forces in Krajina generally and in particular in the places named in Response HRV16050.E|date=1 February 1994|access-date=20 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017041708/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,COI,IRBC,QUERYRESPONSE,HRV,3ae6acfb9f,0.html|archive-date=October 17, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> the [[Baćin massacre]],<ref name="BBC-Milosevic-indictment2001"/> the [[Saborsko massacre]],<ref>[[#Martić Verdict|Martić verdict]], pp&nbsp;79–85</ref> the [[Škabrnja massacre]],<ref name="CNN-Škabrnja">{{cite web |work=[[CNN International]] |publisher=[[Turner Broadcasting System]] |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2001-11-16/world/croatia.extradict_1_war-crimes-war-crimes-bosnian-croat?_s=PM:WORLD |title=Croatia war-crimes suspect extradited |date=16 November 2001 |access-date=19 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002063341/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-11-16/world/croatia.extradict_1_war-crimes-war-crimes-bosnian-croat?_s=PM%3AWORLD |archive-date=October 2, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> the [[Voćin massacre]],<ref name="BBC-Milosevic-indictment2001"/><ref name="NYTimes-Voćin-19Dec1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/19/world/villagers-in-croatia-recount-massacre-by-serbian-forces.html?ref=croatia|title=Villagers in Croatia Recount Massacre by Serbian Forces|author=Stephen Engelberg|date=19 December 1991|access-date=16 December 2010}}</ref> and the [[Zagreb rocket attacks]].

There were a number of prison camps where Croatian POWs and civilians were detained, including the Sremska Mitrovica camp, the Stajićevo camp, and the Begejci camp in Serbia, and the Morinj camp in Montenegro.<ref name="camp"/> The [[Croatian Association of Prisoners in Serbian Concentration Camps]] was later founded in order to help the victims of prison abuse. The Croatian Army established detention camps, like Lora prison camp in [[Split, Croatia|Split]].<ref name="camp"/>

Croatian war crimes included the [[Gospić massacre]], the [[Sisak killings]] in 1991 and 1992,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,,HRV,,4c03a834c,0.html|title=''Amnesty International Report 2010 – Croatia''|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|work=UNHCR – Refworld|date=28 May 2010|access-date=13 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017095835/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,,HRV,,4c03a834c,0.html|archive-date=October 17, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and others,<ref name="NYT-Gospić-massacre">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/25/world/evidence-in-massacre-points-to-croats.html|title=Evidence in Massacre Points to Croats|author=Chuck Sudetic|author-link=Chuck Sudetic|date=25 January 1992|access-date=19 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-03-mn-52684-story.html|agency=[[Associated Press]]|title=Croatia Admits Serb Civilians Were Killed|date=3 October 1995|access-date=19 December 2010}}</ref> which were likewise prosecuted by Croatian courts or the ICTY. Another infamous instance of war crimes, in what would later become known as the "[[Pakračka Poljana camp|Pakračka Poljana]]" case, committed by a reserve police unit commanded by [[Tomislav Merčep]], involved the killing of prisoners, mostly ethnic Serbs, near Pakrac in late 1991 and early 1992.<ref name="Tportal-Merčep">{{cite web|url=http://daily.tportal.hr/101036/Mercep-suspected-of-murder-or-disappearance-of-43-people.html |title=Mercep suspected of murder or disappearance of 43 people |work=T-portal |publisher=T-Com Hrvatska |date=12 December 2010 |access-date=22 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717233000/http://daily.tportal.hr/101036/Mercep-suspected-of-murder-or-disappearance-of-43-people.html |archive-date=July 17, 2011 }}</ref> The events were initially investigated by the ICTY, but the case was eventually transferred to the Croatian judiciary.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nacional.hr/en/clanak/26774/suljic-dying-statement-against-mercep-impossible |title=Suljic dying, statement against Mercep impossible |author=Berislav Jelinić |work=[[Nacional (weekly)|Nacional]] |publisher=NCL Media Grupa d.o.o. |date=31 July 2006 |access-date=22 January 2011 |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527134918/http://www.nacional.hr/en/clanak/26774/suljic-dying-statement-against-mercep-impossible |df=mdy }}</ref> More than a decade later, five members of this unit, although not its commander, were indicted on criminal charges related to these events, and convicted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vsrh.hr/EasyWeb.asp?pcpid=673|title=Presuda i rješenje broj: I Kž 81/06-7|trans-title=Ruling and decision number: I Kž 81/06-7|language=hr|publisher=[[Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia]]| date=10 May 2006|access-date=22 January 2011}}</ref> Merčep was arrested for crimes in Pakrac, as well as crimes in central Croatia and Zagreb in December 2010 and sentenced in 2016 to five and a half years.<ref name="CBC-Merčep">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/croatia-detains-former-official-for-war-crimes-1.932713|title=Croatia detains former official for war crimes|work=[[CBC News]]|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=10 December 2010|access-date=22 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Milekic |first1=Sven |title=Croatian Police Official Mercep Jailed for War Crimes |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2016/05/12/tomislav-mercep-croatia-police-trial-verdict-05-12-2016/ |work=Balkan Insight |date=12 May 2016}}</ref> Merčep, who died in 2020,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vladisavljevic |first1=Anja |title=Croatian War Criminal Tomislav Mercep Dies |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2020/11/17/croatian-war-criminal-tomislav-mercep-dies/ |work=Balkan Insight |date=17 November 2020}}</ref> had also been implicated with his units in the [[1991 killings of Serbs in Vukovar|kidnappings and executions of Serb civilians]] in Vukovar prior to the town's fall to the JNA in 1991 but never charged for those crimes.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hedl |first1=Drago |title=Mercep and Vukovar |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2012/05/07/mercep-and-vukovar/ |work=Balkan Insight |date=7 May 2012}}</ref> In 2009, [[Branimir Glavaš]], a Croatian incumbent [[Member of Parliament|MP]] at the time, was convicted of war crimes committed in [[Osijek]] in 1991 and sentenced to jail by a Croatian court.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/Bosnia_Arrests_Croatian_Deputy_Convicted_Of_War_Crimes/1730996.html|title=Bosnia Arrests Croatian Deputy Convicted Of War Crimes|work=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|publisher=[[Broadcasting Board of Governors]]|date=13 May 2009|access-date=22 January 2011}}</ref>

==Serbia's role==

===During the war===
{{See also|Serbia in the Yugoslav Wars|Role of the media in the Yugoslav wars}}
[[File:Serbia in the Yugoslav Wars.png|thumb|Territories controlled by Serb forces during the [[Yugoslav Wars]]. It is widely believed that Milošević tried to create [[Greater Serbia]], which would unite all Serbs across a [[Breakup of Yugoslavia|collapsing Yugoslavia]].<ref name="Annex IV"/><ref>{{cite news | newspaper= The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/18/international/europe/18serbia.html | title = The End of Greater Serbia | author= Nicholas Wood | date = March 18, 2006 | access-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=BBC |work=BBC News | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/655616.stm | title = Obituary: Slobodan Milosevic | date = March 11, 2006 | access-date=December 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/acdec/en/020418.pdf Decision of the ICTY Appeals Chamber; April 18, 2002; Reasons for the Decision on Prosecution Interlocutory Appeal from Refusal to Order Joinder; Paragraph 8]</ref>]]

While Serbia and Croatia never declared war on each other, Serbia was directly and indirectly involved in the war through a number of activities.<ref name="NYT-undeclared-08Jan1992"/> Its foremost involvement entailed material support of the JNA. Following the independence of various republics from SFR Yugoslavia, Serbia provided the bulk of manpower and funding that was channeled to the war effort through Serbian control of the Yugoslav presidency and the federal defense ministry.<ref name="Jović-icty-statement"/> Serbia actively supported various paramilitary volunteer units from Serbia that were fighting in Croatia.<ref name="B92-Lovas"/><ref name="un"/> Even though no actual fighting occurred on Serbian or Montenegrin soil, involvement of the two was evident through the maintenance of prison camps in Serbia and Montenegro, which became places where a number of war crimes were committed.<ref name="camp"/>

{{Quote box|width=30%|align=left|quote=Borders are always dictated by the strong, never by the weak&nbsp;... We simply consider it as a legitimate right and interest of the Serb nation to live in one state.|source=[[Slobodan Milošević]], 16 March 1991, on the breakup of Yugoslavia.{{sfn|Doder|Branson|1999|p=81}}}}

Milošević's trial at the ICTY revealed numerous declassified documents of Belgrade's involvement in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia.<ref name="hrw1"/><ref name="NYTimes-Serbia-Aid-27July1991"/> Evidence introduced at trial showed exactly how Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia financed the war, that they provided weapons and material support to Bosnian and Croatian Serbs, and demonstrated the administrative and personnel structures set up to support the Bosnian Serb and Croatian Serb armies.<ref name="hrw1"/><ref>[[#Perišić Verdict|Perišić verdict]], pp. 3, 8</ref> It was established that Belgrade, through the federal government, financed more than 90 percent of the Krajina budget in 1993; that the Supreme Defense Council decided to hide aid to Republika Srpska and Krajina from the public; that the National Bank of Krajina operated as a branch office of the National Bank of Yugoslavia; and that by March 1994 FR Yugoslavia, Krajina, and Republika Srpska used a single currency. Numerous documents demonstrated that branches of the Krajina Public Accountancy Service were incorporated into Serbia's accountancy system in May 1991, and that the financing of Krajina and Republika Srpska caused hyperinflation in FR Yugoslavia.<ref name="hrw1">{{cite web|title=Weighing the Evidence – Lessons from the Slobodan Milosevic Trial|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/node/11081/section/5|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|date= December 13, 2006 |access-date=November 18, 2010}}</ref> The trial revealed that the JNA, the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia)|Serbian Ministry of Interior]], and other entities (including Serb civilian groups and police) armed Serb civilians and local territorial defense groups in the RSK before the conflict escalated.<ref name="hrw1"/>

In 1993, the [[US State Department]] reported that right after the Maslenica and Medak pocket operations, authorities in Serbia dispatched substantial numbers of "volunteers" to Serb-held territories in Croatia to fight.<ref name="hri">{{cite web|url=http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Rights/93/Croatia93.html|title=Croatia Human Rights Practices, 1993|publisher=US Department of State|date=31 January 1994|access-date=13 December 2010}}</ref> A former secretary of the Serbian paramilitary leader [[Željko Ražnatović]] testified at the Hague, confirming that Ražnatović took his orders, and his money, directly from the [[secret police]] run by Milošević.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00D15FB345E0C778EDDAD0894DB404482&scp=8&sq=erdut&st=cse|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721164049/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00D15FB345E0C778EDDAD0894DB404482&scp=8&sq=erdut&st=cse|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 July 2012|author=Marlise Simons|author-link=Marlise Simons|title=Mystery Witness Faces Milosevic|newspaper=The New York Times|date=24 April 2003|access-date=29 October 2010}}</ref>

This degree of control was reflected in negotiations held at various times between Croatian authorities and the RSK, as the Serbian leadership under Milošević was regularly consulted and frequently made decisions on behalf of the RSK.<ref name="NYTimes-Jan3-Ceasefire"/> The Erdut Agreement that ended the war was signed by a RSK minister on instructions from Milošević.<ref name="NYTimes-ErdutAgr-12Nov95"/><ref name="COE-CroatiaReport-Milanović"/><ref name="ICTY-Milošević-trial-Milanović"/> The degree of control Serbia held over SFR Yugoslavia and later the RSK was evidenced through testimonies during the Milošević trial at the ICTY.<ref name="Jović-icty-statement"/><ref name="COE-CroatiaReport-Milanović"/><ref name="ICTY-Milošević-trial-Milanović"/>

Serbia's state-run media were reportedly used to incite the conflict and further inflame the situation,<ref>{{cite web|title=Politika Falsifikata|trans-title=Policy of Falsification|language=sr|url=http://www.vreme.com/arhiva_html/431/8.html|work=[[Vreme]]|publisher=NP "VREME" d.o.o.|author=Miloš Vasić|date=23 January 1999|access-date=23 January 2011|archive-date=October 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022100724/http://www.vreme.com/arhiva_html/431/8.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How Yugoslavia's Destroyers Harnessed Media|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/karadzic/bosnia/media.html|publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service]]|author=Christopher Bennett|access-date=23 January 2011}}</ref> and also to broadcast false information about the war and the state of the Serbian economy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Serbian Media Is a One-Man Show|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/10/weekinreview/serbian-media-is-a-one-man-show.html?pagewanted=all#IVC|newspaper= The New York Times|author=Jane Perlez|author-link=Jane Perlez|date=10 August 1997|access-date=23 January 2011}}</ref>

Following the rise of nationalism and political tensions after Slobodan Milošević came to power, as well as the outbreaks of the Yugoslav Wars, numerous [[anti-war movement]]s developed in Serbia.<ref name="Udovicki 2000 255–266">{{harvnb|Udovicki|Ridgeway|2000|pp=255–266}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fridman|2010}}</ref><ref name=republika>{{cite web|url=http://www.republika.co.rs/492-493/20.html|title=Antiratne i mirovne ideje u istoriji Srbije i antiratni pokreti do 2000. godine |year=2011|work=republika.co.rs|access-date=4 May 2020}}</ref> The [[1991–1992 anti-war protests in Belgrade|anti-war protests]] in [[Belgrade]] were held mostly because of opposition to the [[Battle of Vukovar]] and [[Siege of Dubrovnik]],<ref name="Udovicki 2000 255–266"/><ref name=republika /> while protesters demanded the [[referendum]] on a declaration of war and disruption of [[Conscription|military conscription]].<ref name=Vreme>{{cite web|url=https://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php?id=592022|title=Spomenik neznanom dezerteru |year=2008|work=[[Vreme]]|access-date=4 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Udovicki|Ridgeway|2000|p=258}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Powers|1997|p=467}}</ref> It is estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 people deserted from the Milošević-controlled [[Military of Serbia and Montenegro|Yugoslav Army]] during the wars, while between 100,000 and 150,000 people emigrated from Serbia refusing to participate in the war.<ref name=Vreme /><ref name=republika /> According to professor Renaud De la Brosse, senior lecturer at the [[University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne|University of Reims]] and a witness called by the ICTY, it is surprising how great the resistance to [[Propaganda during the Yugoslav Wars|Milošević's propaganda]] was among Serbs, given that and the lack of access to alternative news.<ref name=IWPR>{{cite web|url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/comment-milosevics-propaganda-war|title=Comment: Milosevic's Propaganda War|work=[[Institute for War and Peace Reporting]]|access-date=5 May 2020}}</ref> By late December 1991, just over a month after victory had been proclaimed in Vukovar, opinion polls found that 64% of Serbian people wanted to end the war immediately and only 27% were willing for it to continue.<ref>{{harvnb|Cigar|1996|pages=40–42}}</ref>

===After the war===
{{See also|Croatia–Serbia relations|Croatia-Serbia genocide case}}
[[File:Ovcara.jpg|thumb|The Ovčara Massacre Memorial in Vukovar, where Serbian President [[Boris Tadić]] expressed his "apology and regret" for the 1991 [[Vukovar massacre]] in which 260 people were killed.<ref name="BBC-Tadić-Vukovar-2010"/>]]

After the successful implementation of the Erdut Agreement which ended armed conflict in 1995, the [[Croatia-Serbia relations|relations between Croatia and Serbia]] gradually improved and the two countries established diplomatic relations following an agreement in early August 1996.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/08/world/serbia-and-croatia-agree-to-diplomatic-relations.html|title=Serbia and Croatia Agree to Diplomatic Relations|date=8 August 1996|access-date=18 December 2010}}</ref>

In a case before the [[International Court of Justice]], Croatia filed a suit against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 2 July 1999, citing Article IX of the [[Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide]].<ref name="PreliminaryObjections">{{cite web|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/118/14891.pdf|title=Preliminary Objections (Croatia v. Serbia)|date=18 November 2008|publisher=The [[International Court of Justice]]|access-date=19 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017164751/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/118/14891.pdf|archive-date=October 17, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> With the transformation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into [[Serbia and Montenegro]] and the dissolution of that country in 2006, Serbia is considered its legal successor.<ref name="PreliminaryObjections"/> The application was filed for Croatia by a U.S. lawyer, [[David B. Rivkin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/118/7125.pdf|title=Application Instituting Proceedings (Croatie c. Yugoslavie)|date=2 July 2008|publisher=The [[International Court of Justice]]|access-date=19 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726171143/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/118/7125.pdf|archive-date=July 26, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Serbia reciprocated with the genocide lawsuit against the Republic of Croatia on 4 January 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=01&dd=04&nav_id=64226 |title=Serbia files genocide lawsuit against Croatia |date=4 January 2010 |publisher=B92 |access-date=19 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608090309/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=01&dd=04&nav_id=64226 |archive-date=June 8, 2011 }}</ref> The Serbian application covers missing people, killed people, refugees, expelled people, and all military actions and concentration camps with a historical account of genocide committed by the [[Independent State of Croatia]] during World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.blic.rs/News/5785/No-court-trial-would-be-better-for-Zagreb |title=No court trial would be better for Zagreb |date=4 January 2010 |publisher=Blic |access-date=19 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222014958/http://english.blic.rs/News/5785/No-court-trial-would-be-better-for-Zagreb |archive-date=December 22, 2010 }}</ref>

In 2003, Stjepan Mesić became the first Croatian head of state to visit Belgrade since 1991. Both Mesić and the President of Serbia and Montenegro, [[Svetozar Marović]], issued mutual apologies to Croat and Serb victims of the war.<ref>{{cite news|title= Presidents apologise over Croatian war|date=September 10, 2003|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3095774.stm|access-date= 15 January 2022}}</ref>

By 2010, Croatia and Serbia further improved their relations through an agreement to resolve remaining refugee issues,<ref name="UNHCR-Croatia-Serbia-Refugees2010">{{cite web|publisher=United Nations|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36873&Cr=UNHCR&Cr1|title=UN agency welcomes Serbia-Croatia agreement on refugee, return issues|date=26 November 2010|access-date=18 December 2010}}</ref> and visits of Croatian President [[Ivo Josipović]] to Belgrade,<ref name="BBC-Josipović-Belgrade-2010">{{cite web|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10679367|title=Serbia and Croatia forge ties with talks in Belgrade|date=18 July 2010|access-date=18 December 2010}}</ref> and of the Serbian President [[Boris Tadić]] to Zagreb and Vukovar. During their meeting in Vukovar, President Tadić gave a statement expressing his "apology and regret", while President Josipović said "that no crimes committed at the time would go unpunished." The statements were made during a joint visit to the Ovčara memorial center, site of the Vukovar massacre.<ref name="BBC-Tadić-Vukovar-2010">{{cite web|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11689153|title=Serb leader Tadic apologises for 1991 Vukovar massacre|date=4 November 2010|access-date=18 December 2010}}</ref>

==Role of the international community==
The war developed at a time when the attention of the United States and the world was on Iraq, and the [[Gulf War]] in 1991, along with a sharp rise in oil prices and a slowdown in the growth of the world economy.<ref>Commodity review and outlook 1991–92, [[Food and Agriculture Organization]]  [http://www.fao.org/ FAO]</ref>

Between 19 and 23 December 1991, several other European countries, beginning with [[Germany]] and the [[Vatican City]], followed by [[Sweden]] and [[Italy]], announced their recognition of Croatia's (and Slovenia's) independence.<ref name="NYTimes-Germany-23Dec91"/> The [[European Union]] as a whole recognized the independence of the two republics on 15 January 1992.

Each of the major foreign governments acted somewhat differently:
*Germany – up until 1991, Germany supported a 'status quo'.<ref>[[#Glaurdic|Glaurdic (2011)]], pp. 59, 124-125</ref> According to diplomat Gerhard Almer, the Yugoslav disintegration was feared as "a bad example for the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]", sparking fears that violence could also be used against the nations that were about to declare independence from the Soviet Union.<ref>[[#Glaurdic|Glaurdic (2011)]], p. 160</ref> During the war, this policy changed, when Helmut Kohl announced that Germany recognized Slovenia and Croatia as independent countries.
*[[United Kingdom]] – [[John Major]]'s government favored neutrality.
*United States – The United States, under [[George H. W. Bush]], tended to favour non-intervention at first,<ref>[[#Glaurdic|Glaurdic (2011)]], p. 110</ref> just like the United Kingdom. In contrast, from 1993, the administration led by [[Bill Clinton]] tended to engage itself in order to end the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. [[Cyrus Vance]] supported the 'integrity of Yugoslavia'.<ref>[[#Glaurdic|Glaurdic (2011)]], pp.&nbsp;264–265</ref>
*Russia – The Russian government under [[Boris Yeltsin]] tended to oppose recognition of Croatia although Russia recognized Croatia on 17 February 1992, while the United States did the same on 7 April 1992.<ref>Azrael, Jeremy R. and Emil A. Payin. U.S. and Russian Policymaking With Respect to the Use of Force. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1996. [http://www.rand.org/pubs/conf_proceedings/CF129 Chapter 11: Yugoslavia: 1989–1996], by Warren Zimmermann</ref>

==Notable people==
<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦---> 
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
*[[Roza Miletić]] (born 1934), Croatian war veteran

==See also==
{{History of Croatia}}
*[[Croatian War of Independence in film]]
*[[Virovitica–Karlovac–Karlobag line]]
{{-}}

==Annotations==
{{notelist-ua|30em}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
===Books===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | last1= Bjelajac | first1= Mile | last2= Žunec | first2= Ozren |author3=Mieczyslaw Boduszynski |author4=Raphael Draschtak |author5=Igor Graovac |author6=Sally Kent |author7=Rüdiger Malli |author8=Srdja Pavlović |author9=Jason Vuić | editor1-first= Charles W. | editor1-last= Ingrao | editor2-first= Thomas Allan | editor2-last= Emmert | title= Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: a Scholars' Initiative | year= 2009 | publisher= [[Purdue University Press]] | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=t0nYdgFrdG8C | isbn=978-1-55753-533-7 | chapter= The War in Croatia, 1991–1995 | chapter-url= http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/history/facstaff/Ingrao/si/Team_7_Full_Text_Report.pdf|format=PDF|ref={{harvid|Bjelajac et al.|2009}} }}
* {{cite book | ref=Blaskovich| last=Blaskovich | first=Jerry | url=https://archive.org/details/anatomyofdeceita00blas | url-access=registration| title=Anatomy of Deceit: An American Physician's First-Hand Encounter with the Realities of the War in Croatia | year=1997 |location=New York City| publisher=Dunhill Publishing | isbn=0-935016-24-4}}
* {{cite book|ref=Brown & Karim|last1=Brown|last2=Karim|first1=Cynthia|first2=Farhad|title=Playing the "Communal Card": Communal Violence and Human Rights|year=1995|location=New York City|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|isbn=978-1-56432-152-7|url=https://archive.org/details/playingcommunalc00brow}}
* {{cite book| ref=Bucknam| title =Responsibility of Command| last =  Bucknam | first = Mark | publisher =  Air University Press| year =  2003|isbn = 1-58566-115-5|oclc = 52199670 | location = Maxwell Air Force Base }}
* {{cite book | last1=Burg | last2= Shoup | first1=Steven L. | first2= Paul S. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4eKmp_qu_QC | title=The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention |location=New York City| publisher=[[M.E. Sharpe]] | year=2000 | isbn=1-56324-309-1 | ref = BurgShoup2000}}
* {{cite book|last=Djokić|first=Dejan|title=Yugoslavism: Histories of a Failed Idea, 1918–1992|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMyZdvTympMC|year=2003|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-663-0}}
* {{cite book | ref=Dominelli| last=Dominelli | first=Lena | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrXHXm-qcfYC | title=Revitalising Communities in a Globalising World | publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] | year=2007 |location=Hampshire| isbn=978-0-7546-4498-9}}
* {{cite book | last1=Doder | last2= Branson | first1=Dusko | first2= Louise | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXPc621X6yMC | title=Milosevic: Portrait of a Tyrant | publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] | year=1999 | isbn=0-684-84308-0}}
* {{cite book | last=Fink| first=George | author-link=George Fink| title=Stress of War, Conflict and Disaster| publisher=Academic Press| year=2010 |isbn= 978-0123813824 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOq4XV94wLsC&pg=PA469}}
* {{cite book | ref=Finlan| last=Finlan | first=Alastair | url=https://archive.org/details/collapseofyugosl00alas | url-access=registration| title=The Collapse of Yugoslavia, 1991–1999 | year=2004 | publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|location=Oxford| isbn=1-84176-805-7}}
* {{cite book | ref=Frucht| last=Frucht | first=Richard C. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVBB1a0rC70C | title=Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture | year=2005 | publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, California| isbn=1-57607-800-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=Sharon |title=Political Change in Post-Communist Slovakia and Croatia: From Nationalist to Europeanist |date=2006 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-23060-088-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PGuHDAAAQBAJ }}
* {{cite book | ref=Glaurdic| last=Glaurdić | first=Josip | title=The Hour of Europe: Western Powers and the Breakup of Yugoslavia | year=2011 | publisher=Yale University Press | isbn=978-0-300-16645-3}}
* {{cite book | ref=Goldstein| last=Goldstein | first=Ivo | author-link= Ivo Goldstein | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSxJdE4MYo4C | title=Croatia: A History | year=1999 | publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |location=London| isbn=1-85065-525-1}}
* {{cite book | editor1-first= Melanie C. | editor1-last= Greenberg | editor2-first= John H. | editor2-last= Barton | editor3-first= Margaret E. | editor3-last= McGuinness | title= Words Over War, Mediation and Arbitration to Prevent Deadly Conflict | year= 2000 | publisher= [[Rowman & Littlefield]] | url= http://www.wilsoncenter.org/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/words/int.pdf | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060720041029/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/words/int.pdf | url-status= dead | archive-date= 2006-07-20 | isbn=0-8476-9892-0 | chapter= Croatian Independence from Yugoslavia, 1991–1992 | chapter-url= http://www.wilsoncenter.org/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/words/3.pdf | ref=Hanson| last= Hanson | first = Alan}}
* {{cite book|last=Jović|first=Dejan|author-link=Dejan Jović|title=Yugoslavia: A State that Withered Away|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Po03enYpbqsC|year=2009|publisher=Purdue University Press|isbn=978-1-55753-495-8}}
*  {{cite book | ref=Kadijević| last=Kadijević | first=Veljko | author-link= Veljko Kadijević |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJJsQgAACAAJ | title=Moje viđenje raspada: vojska bez države |trans-title=My View of Dissolution: an Army Without a State | year=1993 | publisher=Politika | location=Belgrade | language=sr | isbn=86-7607-047-4}}
* {{cite book | ref=Kovačević and Linta| last1=Kovačević | last2= Linta | first1=Drago | first2= Miodrag | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_wTcAAAACAAJ | title=Kavez: Krajina u dogovorenom ratu |trans-title=Cage: Krajina in an Arranged War | publisher=Srpski demokratski forum | location=Belgrade | language=sr | year=2003 | isbn=86-83759-04-0}}
* {{cite book | ref=Mann| last=Mann | first=Michael | author-link= Michael Mann (sociologist) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGHGPgj1_tIC | title=The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing | year=2005 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-521-53854-8}}
* {{cite book | ref=Mesić| last=Mesić | first=Stjepan | author-link= Stjepan Mesić|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mButzsYUurkC | title=The Demise of Yugoslavia: A Political Memoir | year=2004 | publisher=Central European University Press | isbn=963-9241-81-4}}
*  {{cite book | ref=Meštrović| last=Meštrović | first=Stjepan Gabriel | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGShXjNZzEsC | title=Genocide After Emotion: The Postemotional Balkan War | year=1996 | publisher=Routledge | isbn=0-415-12294-5}}
* {{cite book| last=Phuong| first=Catherine | title=The International Protection of Internally Displaced Persons|publisher=Cambridge University Press| year= 2005| isbn= 978-1139442268| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hh-VZmGCPMkC&pg=PA157 }}
*  {{cite book | ref=Ramet| last=Ramet | first=Sabrina P. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTw3lEqi2-oC | title=The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2005 | year=2006 | publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |location=Bloomington| isbn=0-253-34656-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Schaller|first=Jane Green| chapter=Protection of Children and their Health During Times of War|location=The Hague| editor-last=Verhellen |editor-first=Eugeen  |year=1996| title=Monitoring Children's Rights| publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bH33Fgq14AMC&pg=PA894 |isbn=978-9041101617}}
* {{cite book | ref=Sekulić| last=Sekulić | first=Milisav | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0L_GAAACAAJ | title=Knin je pao u Beogradu |trans-title=Knin Fell in Belgrade | publisher=Nidda Verlag | language=sr | year=2000 | id= UDK: 3 355.45 (497.5-074) "1991/1995"}}
*  {{cite book | ref=Silber and Little| last1=Silber | last2= Little | first1=Laura | first2= Allan | author-link1= Laura Silber| author-link2= Allan Little | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mJNpAAAAMAAJ | title=The Death of Yugoslavia | publisher=[[Penguin Books]] | year=1996 | isbn=0-14-026168-0}}
*  {{cite book | last1=Silber | last2= Little | first1=Laura | first2= Allan | author-link1= Laura Silber| author-link2= Allan Little | url=https://archive.org/details/yugoslaviadeatho00silb | url-access=registration | title=Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation |location=London| publisher=[[Penguin Books]] | year=1997 | isbn=0-14-026263-6}}
*  {{cite book | ref=Thomas| last=Thomas | first=Nigel | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5Px01NrM7QC | title=The Yugoslav Wars: Slovenia & Croatia 1991–95 | year=2006 |location=Oxford| publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] | isbn=1-84176-963-0}}
*  {{cite book | ref=Vrcelj | last=Vrcelj | first=Marko | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O24tAQAAIAAJ | title=Rat za Srpsku Krajinu: 1991–1995 |trans-title=War for Serbian Krajina: 1991–1995 | year=2002 | publisher=Srpsko kulturno društvo "Zora" | location=Belgrade | language=sr | isbn=978-86-83809-06-6}}
*  {{cite book | ref=Wertheim| last=Wertheim | first=Eric | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TJunjRvplU4C | title=Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems | year=2007 | publisher=Naval Institute Press | isbn=978-1-59114-955-2}}
* {{cite book | ref=Western European Union| author=Western European Union | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQcVAAAAYAAJ | title=Proceedings – Assembly of Western European Union: Actes officiels – Assemblée de l'Union de l'europe | year=1986 | publisher=[[University of Virginia]] | author-link=Western European Union }}
*  {{cite book | ref=Zanotti| last=Zanotti | first=Laura | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0QoJuVkxR4C | title=Governing Disorder: UN Peace Operations, International Security, and Democratization in the Post-Cold War Era | year=2011 | publisher=Penn State Press | isbn=978-0-271-03761-5}}
*{{cite book|title=Protest, Power, and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action from ACT-UP to Women's Suffrage|first=Roger S|last=Powers|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=1997|isbn= 978-1136764820}}
*{{cite book|title=Burn This House: The Making and Unmaking of Yugoslavia|first1=Jasminka|last1=Udovicki|first2=James|last2=Ridgeway|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|year=2000|isbn=978-1136764820|location=Durham, North Carolina}}
*{{cite book|last=Cigar|first=Norman|editor-last=Meštrović|editor-first=Stjepan Gabriel|title=Genocide After Emotion: The Post-Emotional Balkan War|chapter=The Serbo-Croatian War, 1991|publisher=Routledge|year=1996|isbn=978-0-415-12293-1|location=London}}
{{Refend}}

===Other sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite web| ref=Babić Verdict| title=The Prosecutor vs. Milan Babić - Judgement| url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/babic/tjug/en/bab-sj040629e.pdf| publisher= International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia |date=June 26, 2009| access-date=September 11, 2010}}
*  {{cite book | ref=Commonwealth| title=Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States |year=1999| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmN95fFocsMC| publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-1-85743-058-5}}
*  {{cite book | ref=Europe Review| title= Europe Review | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Hwi0s3I5jLEC&q=croatia+war+damage+estimated&pg=PA75 | isbn= 0-7494-4067-8 | publisher= [[Kogan Page]] | author= World of Information | year= 2003 }}
* {{cite web |ref=Martić Verdict| title=The Prosecutor vs. Milan Martic – Judgement |url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/tjug/en/070612.pdf |publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia |date=June 12, 2007 |access-date=August 11, 2010}}
* {{cite web|publisher= International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia |url= http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/ind/en/ind_cro010927.pdf |title=The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Slobodan Milošević (IT-02-54) – Indictment|date=October 22, 2002| ref=Milošević Indictment |access-date=October 18, 2010}}
*{{cite web|ref=Perišić Verdict| url=http://www.icty.org/x/cases/perisic/tjug/en/110906_summary.pdf| title=Summary of the Judgement in the Case of Prosecutor v. Momčilo Perišić| date=September 6, 2011| publisher=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia| access-date=September 7, 2011|location=The Hague}}
* {{cite journal | publisher = [[United States Institute of Peace]] | url = http://www.usip.org/publications/serbian-nationalism-and-origins-yugoslav-crisis | title = Serbian Nationalism and the Origins of the Yugoslav Crisis | last= Pešić | first= Vesna | author-link=Vesna Pešić | journal= Peaceworks | issue= 8 |date=April 1996 | access-date = November 29, 2012}}
* {{cite journal | url = http://www.mup.hr/UserDocsImages/Glasilo%20MUP/2010/prilog_42.pdf | publisher = [[Ministry of the Interior (Croatia)|Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Croatia]] | language = hr | title = Prilog "Policija u Domovinskom ratu 1990–1991." | journal = Glasilo "Mir, Ugled, Povjerenje" | issue = 42 | date = September 2010 | editor-first = Marija | editor-last = Kreš | issn = 1846-3444 | access-date = September 30, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170703031840/https://www.mup.hr/UserDocsImages/Glasilo%20MUP/2010/prilog_42.pdf | archive-date = July 3, 2017 | url-status = dead }}
*{{cite web|ref={{harvid|ICJ|3 February 2015}}|title=Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia)|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/118/18422.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213060252/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/118/18422.pdf|archive-date=December 13, 2016|df=mdy-all}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Perunovic|first1=Sreca|title=Animosities in Yugoslavia before its demise: Revelations of an opinion poll survey |journal=Ethnicities|year=2015|volume=16|issue=6|pages=819–841|doi=10.1177/1468796815576059|s2cid=147068505}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Fridman|first1=Orli|title='It was like fighting a war with our own people': anti-war activism in Serbia during the 1990s |journal=The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity |year=2010|volume=39|issue=4|pages=507–522|doi=10.1080/00905992.2011.579953|s2cid=153467930}}

{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.sense-agency.com/ Sense Tribunal coverage of ICTY and ICJ proceedings]
* [http://www.warphotoltd.com/?section=limited&page=2&item=2 War Photo Limited – Images of the war]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110205123147/http://www.e-novine.com/fotogalerija/fotogalerija-region/44486-Zloin-bez-kazne.html More images of the war]
* {{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur48/026/1991/en/ |title=Yugoslavia: Torture and Deliberate and Arbitrary Killings in War Zones |date=November 1991 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] }}
* {{cite web| url= http://www.nin.co.rs/1999-10/14/10153.html| title= Zloupotreba psihijatrije |trans-title=Abuse of Psychiatry| language= sr| date= October 14, 1999 | access-date=January 30, 2011| work= [[NIN (magazine)|NIN]] |publisher= Ringier Axel Springer}}
* [http://www.centardomovinskograta.hr/ Croatian Memorial-Documentation Center of the Homeland War] {{in lang|hr}}

{{Croatia topics}}
{{Wars and battles involving Croatia|state=autocollapse}}
{{Yugoslavia topics}}
{{Yugoslav wars}}
{{Post-Cold War European conflicts}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croatian War Of Independence}}
[[Category:Croatian War of Independence| ]]
[[Category:1990s conflicts]]
[[Category:1990s in Croatia]]
[[Category:Croatia–Serbia relations]]
[[Category:Political history of Serbia]]
[[Category:Decommunization]]
[[Category:Separatism in Croatia]]
[[Category:Wars involving Croatia]]
[[Category:Wars involving Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:Wars involving Serbia]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Balkans]]
[[Category:Wars of independence]]
[[Category:Yugoslav Wars]]