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{{Short description|Proto-state in Croatia (1991–1995)}} | |||
] | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} | |||
{{Infobox country | |||
| native_name = Република Српска Крајина<br/>''Republika Srpska Krajina'' | |||
| conventional_long_name = Republic of Serbian Krajina | |||
| common_name = Serbian Krajina<br />Krajina | |||
| status = ] | |||
| status_text = {{nowrap|] ] of ]/]<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804015846/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/tjug/en/070612.pdf |date=4 August 2012 }}. p. 46. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009. (On 16 March 1991 another referendum was held which asked "Are you in favour of the SAO Krajina joining the Republic of Serbia and staying in Yugoslavia with Serbia, Montenegro and others who wish to preserve Yugoslavia?". With 99.8% voting in favour, the referendum was approved and the Krajina assembly declared that "the territory of the SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified state territory of the Republic of Serbia".)</ref> }} | |||
| p1 = Socialist Republic of Croatia | |||
| flag_p1 = Flag of SR Croatia.svg | |||
| p2 = SAO Krajina | |||
| flag_p2 = Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg | |||
| p3 = SAO Western Slavonia | |||
| flag_p4 = Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg | |||
| p4 = SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia | |||
| flag_p3 = Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg | |||
| s1 = Croatia | |||
| flag_s1 = Flag of Croatia (WFB 2000).jpg | |||
| s2 = Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1995–1998) | |||
| flag_s2 = Flag of the Republic of Eastern Slavonia - Baranja - and Western Syrmia.svg | |||
| image_flag = State Flag of Serbian Krajina (1991).svg | |||
| flag = Flag of Serbian Krajina | |||
| image_coat = Coat of arms of the Republic of Serbian Krajina.svg | |||
| coa_size = 70px | |||
| image_map = Map of Republika Srpska Krajina.png | |||
| image_map_caption = The self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina in 1991 | |||
| national_motto = '']''<br/>Само слога Србина спашава<br/><small>"Only Unity Saves the Serbs"</small> | |||
| national_anthem = '']''<br/>Боже правде<br/><small>"God of Justice"</small><br />{{center|]}} Unofficial anthem: '''Himna Krajini'''<br>Химна Крајини<br><small>"Anthem to Krajina"</small><br>] | |||
| common_languages = ] | |||
| religion = ] | |||
| capital = ] | |||
| largest_city = ] | |||
| government_type = ]| | |||
| title_leader = ] | |||
| leader1 = ] | |||
| year_leader1 = 1991–1992 | |||
| leader2 = ] | |||
| year_leader2 = 1992–1993 | |||
| leader3 = ] | |||
| year_leader4 = 1994–1995 | |||
| leader4 = ] | |||
| year_leader3 = 1993–1994| | |||
| title_deputy = ] | |||
| deputy1 = ] | |||
| year_deputy1 = 1991–1992 <small>(first)</small> | |||
| deputy2 = ] | |||
| year_deputy2 = 1995 <small>(last)</small>| | |||
| legislature = ]| | |||
| era = ]| | |||
| event_pre = ] | |||
| date_pre = 17 August 1990 | |||
| event_start = {{nowrap|]}} | |||
| date_start = 19 December | |||
| year_start = 1991 | |||
| event1 = ] | |||
| date_event1 = 3 May 1995 | |||
| event_end = ] | |||
| date_end = 8 August | |||
| year_end = 1995 | |||
| event_post = ] | |||
| date_post = 12 November 1995| | |||
| stat_year1 = 1991<ref name="worldstatesmen.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Croatia.html#Krajina|title=Croatia|access-date=26 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915034202/http://worldstatesmen.org/Croatia.html#Krajina|archive-date=15 September 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| stat_area1 = 17028 | |||
| stat_pop1 = 286,716 | |||
| stat_year2 = 1993<ref name="worldstatesmen.org"/> | |||
| stat_pop2 = 435,595 | |||
| stat_year3 = 1994 | |||
| stat_pop3 = 430,000 | |||
| currency = ] <small>(1992–1994)</small><br />] <small>(1994–1995)</small> | |||
| today = ] | |||
| footnotes = Area source: <big>{{lower|0.5em|<ref name="klajn">Klajn, Lajčo (2007). . p. 199. University Press of America. {{ISBN|0-7618-3647-0}}.</ref>}}</big><br/>Population source: <big>{{lower|0.5em|<ref name="klajn" /><ref name="svarm">Svarm, Filip (15 August 1994). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515214513/http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/serbian_digest/151/t151-4.htm |date=15 May 2008 }}. Vreme News Digest Agency. Retrieved 8 July 2009.</ref>}}</big> | |||
| demonym = | |||
| area_km2 = | |||
| area_rank = | |||
| GDP_PPP = | |||
| GDP_PPP_year = | |||
| HDI = | |||
| HDI_year = | |||
}} | |||
The '''Republic of Serbian Krajina''' or '''Serb Republic of Krajina''' ({{langx|sh|Република Српска Крајина|italics=no}} / {{lang|sh|Republika Srpska Krajina}} or РСК / '''''RSK''''', {{IPA|sh|rɛpǔblika sr̩̂pskaː krâjina|pron}}), known as the '''Serbian Krajina'''{{Cref2|a}} ({{lang|sh|Српска Крајина|italics=no}} / {{lang|sh|Srpska Krajina}}) or simply '''Krajina''', was a self-proclaimed ] ],<ref name="hicvs">{{Cite web |url=http://www.hic.hr/velika-srbija29.htm |title=HIC: VJESNIK, Podlistak, 16 i 17. travnja 2005., ''VELIKOSRPSKA TVOREVINA NA HRVATSKOM TLU: IZVORNI DOKUMENTI O DJELOVANJU 'REPUBLIKE SRPSKE KRAJINE' (XXIX.)'' |access-date=31 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041551/http://www.hic.hr/velika-srbija29.htm |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="indeks_oluja">{{Cite web |url=http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/godisnjica-oluje-hrvatska-slavi-srbija-zali-/564772.aspx |title=Godišnjica Oluje: Hrvatska slavi, Srbija žali |access-date=31 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924050205/http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/godisnjica-oluje-hrvatska-slavi-srbija-zali-/564772.aspx |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> a territory within the newly independent ] (formerly part of ]), which it defied, and which was active during the ] (1991–95). It was not recognized internationally. The name '']'' ("Frontier") was adopted from the historical ] of the ] (]), which had a substantial Serb population and existed up to the late 19th century. The RSK government waged a war for ethnic Serb independence from Croatia and unification with the ] and ] (in ]).<ref name=":0">"DOKUMENTI INSTITUCIJA POBUNJENIH SRBA U REPUBLICI HRVATSKOJ (siječanj – lipanj 1993.)", edicija "REPUBLIKA HRVATSKA I DOMOVINSKI RAT 1990.-1995. DOKUMENTI", Knjiga 7., str. 14-16, 21, 24, 35, 42, 52, 59, 103, 130, 155, 161, 180-182, 197, 351, 378, 414, 524, 605, 614, 632, 637</ref> | |||
The government of Krajina had ''de facto'' control over central parts of the territory while control of the outskirts changed with the successes and failures of its military activities. The territory was legally protected by the ] (UNPROFOR). | |||
The '''Republic of Serbian Krajina''' (''Republika Srpska Krajina'', ''Република Српска Крајина'', ''RSK'') was an internationally unrecognized ] republic in ]. Established in ], its main portion was overrun by Croatian forces in ]; a rump remained in existence in eastern ] until its peaceful reincorporation into Croatia in ]. | |||
Its main portion was ] and the Republic of Serbian Krajina was ultimately disbanded as a result; a ] under ] administration until its peaceful reintegration into Croatia in 1998 under the ]. | |||
==The origins of the Krajina== | |||
==Background== | |||
The original ] was carved out of parts of the ]s of ] and ] by ] in ]/] in order to form a "]" with the ] as a means of defending the border. Many Serbs immigrated into the region and participated in the fight against the Ottomans. The Austrians controlled the Frontier from military headquarters in Vienna and did not make it a ], though it had some special rights in order to encourage settlement in an otherwise deserted, war-ravaged territory. The abolition of the military rule took place between ] and ]. After that, the ] was reincorporated in ] in ]. | |||
The name '']'' (meaning "frontier") stemmed from the ] which the ] carved out of parts of the ]s of ] and ] between 1553 and 1578 with a view to defending itself against the expansion of the ].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Kolar-Dimitrijević |first=Mira |date=2018 |title=The history of Money in Croatia (1527-1941) |page=38 |work=] |url=https://www.hnb.hr/documents/20182/121504/The-History-of-Money-in-Croatia.pdf/}}</ref> The population was mainly ], ] and ]<ref>{{cite book |last=Frucht |first=Richard |title=Eastern Europe, An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture |date=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=1576078000 |pages=422}}</ref><ref name="Stoianovich">{{cite book |last=Stoianovich |first=Traian |title=Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe |date=1992 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=1563240335 |pages=152 |author-link=Traian Stoianovich}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hálfdanarson |first=Guðmundur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=479mAAAAMAAJ&q=vlachs+ethnicity |title=Racial Discrimination and Ethnicity in European History |date=2003 |publisher=PLUS, Università di Pisa |isbn=9788884922809}}</ref> who immigrated from nearby parts of the Ottoman Empire (] and ]) into the region and helped bolster and replenish the population as well as the garrisoned troops in the fight against the Ottomans. The Austrians controlled the Frontier from military headquarters in ] and did not make it a crown land, though it had some special rights in order to encourage settlement in an otherwise deserted, war-ravaged territory. The abolition of the military rule took place between 1869 and 1871. In order to attract Serbs to become part of Croatia, on 11 May 1867, the ] solemnly declared that "the ] recognizes the Serbs living in it as a nation identical and equal with the Croatian nation". Subsequently, the Military Frontier was incorporated into ] on 1 August 1881<ref name=":1" /> when the ] ] took over from the Zagreb General Command.{{sfn|Horvat|1906|pp=289–290}} | |||
] | ]]] | ||
Following ], the regions formerly part of the Military Frontier |
Following the end of ] in 1918, the regions formerly forming part of the Military Frontier came under the control of the ], where they formed part of the ], along with most of the old Croatia-Slavonia. ], the Serbs of the ] and ], as well as those of the ] and of other regions west of ], organized a notable political party, the ] under ]. In the new state there existed much tension between the Croats and Serbs over differing political visions, with the campaign for Croatian autonomy culminating in the assassination of a Croatian ], ], in the parliament, and repression by the Serb-dominated security structures. | ||
Between 1939 and 1941, in an attempt to resolve the Croat-Serb political and social antagonism in first Yugoslavia, the Kingdom established an autonomous ] incorporating (amongst other territories) much of the former Military Frontier as well as parts of ] and ]. In 1941, the ] ] and in the aftermath the ] (which included the whole of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of Serbia (Eastern ]) as well) was declared. The Germans installed the ] (who had allegedly plotted the assassination of the Serbian King ] in 1934) as rulers of the new country; the Ustaše authorities promptly pursued a genocidal policy of ], ] and Croats (from opposition groups), leading to the deaths of over 300,000.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|p=114}}{{sfn|Baker|2015|p=18}} During this period, individual Croats coalesced around the ruling authorities or around the communist anti-fascist ]. Serbs from around the ] area tended to join the ], whilst Serbs from the ] and ] regions tended to join the Partisans. Various Chetnik groups also committed ] against Croats across many areas of ] and parts of ].<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Cooke | first1 = Philip | last2 = Shepherd | first2 = Ben H. | title = European Resistance in the Second World War | publisher = Pen and Sword | year = 2013 | isbn = 9781473833043 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KpFABAAAQBAJ | page = 222 }}</ref> | |||
The net effect of the region's troubled 20th century history was that, by the end of the ], many Serbs were very distrustful of the Croatian government. With nationalist feelings growing on both sides of the ethnic divide, there was a fear among the Serbs that a nationalist Croatian government would revive the spectre of fascism and ethnic killing. This provided a powerful rallying point for Serbian nationalists opposed to the prospect of living in a newly independent Croatian state. | |||
At the end of World War II in 1945, the communist-dominated Partisans prevailed and the Krajina region became part of the People's Republic of Croatia until 7 April 1963, when the federal republic changed its name to the ]. ] suppressed the autonomous political organizations of the region (along with other movements such as the ]); however, the ] constitutions of 1965 and 1974 did give substantial rights to national minorities - including to the Serbs in SR Croatia. | |||
The emerging Serbian Krajina would include three kinds of territories: | |||
* much of the historical Military Frontier, in areas with a majority or a plurality of Serbian population | |||
* areas such as parts of northern Dalmatia that were never part of the Frontier but had a majority of Serbian population | |||
* areas that bordered with Serbia and where Serbs were in a plurality or in a minority | |||
The Serbian "Krajina" entity to emerge upon Croatia's declaration of independence in 1991 would include three kinds of territories: | |||
==The creation of the RSK== | |||
* a large section of the historical Military Frontier, in areas with a majority Serbian population; | |||
Croatia's moves towards independence in the early ] following the election of the nationalist President ] were strongly opposed by the country's Serbian minority, who were supported both politically and militarily by the ] (JNA) and ] under President ]. At the time, Serbs comprised about 11% of Croatia's population. Nationalist Serbs in the Krajina established a Serbian National Council in July ] to coordinate opposition to Tuđman's policies. ], a dentist from the southern town of ], was elected its President. | |||
* areas such as parts of northern ], that never formed part of the Frontier but had a majority or a plurality of Serbian population, including the self-proclaimed entity's capital, ]; | |||
* areas that bordered with Serbia and where Serbs formed a significant minority (], ]). | |||
Large sections of the historical Military Frontier lay outside of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and contained a largely Croat population - these including much of ], the area centered around the city of ], central and south-eastern Slavonia. | |||
The Krajina Serbs established a ] militia under the leadership of ], the police chief in Knin. It erected barricades of logs across roads through the Krajina, effectively severing the Croatian coastal region of ] from the rest of the country, in an incident which became commonly known as the "log revolution." In August 1990, a referendum was held in the Krajina (but was confined to Serb voters) on the question of Serb "sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia. The resolution was passed by a majority of 99.7% but was declared illegal and invalid by the Croatian government. | |||
==Creation== | |||
] | |||
{{see also|Croatian War of Independence}} | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
The Serb-populated regions in Croatia were of central concern to the Serbian nationalist movement of the late 1980s, led by ]. In September 1986 the ] on the status of Serbia and Serbs was partially leaked by a Serbian newspaper. It listed a series of grievances against the Yugoslav federation, claiming that the situation in Kosovo was genocide, and complained about alleged discrimination of Serbs at the hands of the Croatian authorities. Among the claims that it makes is that 'except for the time under the ], the Serbs in Croatia have never been as jeopardized as they are today'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Glaurdic|first=Josip|title=The Hour of Europe: Western Powers and the Breakup of Yugoslavia|year=2011|publisher=Yale University Press|location=London|isbn=978-0300166293|pages=17–18}}</ref> Tension was further fueled by the overthrow of Vojvodina and Montenegro's government by Milošević's loyalists, and the abrogation of Kosovo's and Vojvodina's autonomy in 1989, which gave Milošević 4 out of 8 votes on the Yugoslav Federal Presidency, thus gaining the power to block every decision made by the Presidency. Furthermore, a series of Serb nationalist rallies were held in Croatia during 1989, under pressure from Serbia. On 8 July 1989, a large nationalist rally was held in Knin, during which banners threatening JNA intervention in Croatia, as well as ] iconography was displayed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Glaurdic|first=Josip|title=The Hour of Europe: Western Powers and the Breakup of Yugoslavia|year=2011|publisher=Yale University Press|location=London|isbn=978-0300166293|pages=51}}</ref> The Croatian pro-independence party victory in 1990 made matters more tense, especially since the country's Serb minority was supported by Milošević. At the time, Serbs comprised about 12.2% (581,663 people) of Croatia's population (1991 census).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kovjanić |first=Aleksandar |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/abs/impact-of-the-war-in-croatia-19911995-on-the-differentiation-of-age-structure-between-serbs-and-croats-a-case-study-of-the-banija-region/C9AB17243F994F2C0766A5763D3A4C76 |title=Impact of the War in Croatia (1991-1995) on the Differentiation of Age Structure between Serbs and Croats: A Case Study of the Banija Region |journal=Nationalities Papers |year=2023 |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=370–386 |publisher=] |location=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/nps.2021.72 |s2cid=245363869 |language=English}}</ref> | |||
Serbs became increasingly opposed to the policies of Franjo Tuđman, elected president of Croatia in April 1990, due to his overt desire for the creation of an independent Croatia. On 30 May 1990, the ] (SDS) of Jovan Rašković broke all ties to the Croatian parliament. The following June in Knin, the SDS-led Serbs proclaimed the creation of the Association of Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika. In August 1990, the Serbs began what became known as the ], where barricades of logs were placed across roads throughout the South as an expression of their secession from Croatia. This effectively cut Croatia in two, separating the coastal region of ] from the rest of the country. The ] was passed in December 1990, which reduced the status of Serbs from "constituent" to a "national minority" in the same category as other groups such as Italians and Hungarians. Some would later justify their claim to an independent Serb state by arguing that the new constitution contradicted the ], because, in their view, Croatia was still legally governed by the ], although this ignores the fact that Serbia's constitution, promulgated three months before Croatia's, also contained several provisions violating the 1974 Federal Constitution.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ramet|first=Sabrina|title=The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building And Legitimation, 1918-2005|year=2006|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0253346568|pages=383–384}}</ref> | |||
The Krajina Serbs did not initially seek independence for their area. Instead, on ], 1990, the Krajina Serbian National Council declared "the autonomy of the Serbian people on ethnic and historic territories on which they live and which are within the current boundaries of the Republic of Croatia as a federal unit of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Croatia was at this time still part of the SFRY and it was theoretically possible that the Serbian Krajina could have seceded from Croatia to remain part of a Yugoslavia minus Croatia and ]. Indeed, this was a source of significant tension within Krajina Serb politics, which was dominated by a conflict between supporters of a unified Yugoslavia and ultranationalist supporters of a "]". | |||
Serbs in Croatia had established a Serbian National Council in July 1990 to coordinate opposition to Croatian independence. Their position was that if Croatia could secede from Yugoslavia, then the Serbs could secede from Croatia. ], a dentist by profession from the southern town of ], was elected president. At his ] trial in 2004, he claimed that "during the events , and in particular at the beginning of his political career, he was strongly influenced and misled by Serbian propaganda, which repeatedly referred to the imminent threat of a Croatian genocide perpetrated on the Serbs in Croatia, thus creating an atmosphere of hatred and fear of Croats."<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312040615/http://www.un.org/icty/babic/trialc/judgement/index.htm |date=12 March 2009 }}. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 8 July 2009.</ref> The rebel Croatian Serbs established a number of ] militia units under the leadership of ], the police chief in Knin. | |||
Babić's administration announced the creation of a Serbian Autonomous District (''Srpska autonomna oblast'' or SAO) of Krajina on ], 1990 and on ], ] declared that it would secede from Croatia to join (or, rather, not leave) Yugoslavia. Other Serb-dominated communities in eastern Croatia announced that they would also join the SAO and ceased paying taxes to Zagreb. | |||
In August 1990, a referendum was held in Krajina on the question of Serb "sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia. The resolution was confined exclusively to Serbs so it passed by an improbable majority of 99.7%. As expected, it was declared illegal and invalid by the Croatian government, who stated that Serbs had no constitutional right to break away from Croatian legal territory - as well as no right to limit the franchise to one ethnic group. | |||
Croatia held a referendum on independence on ], ] in which the electorate — minus many Serbs, who chose to boycott it — voted overwhelmingly for independence with the option of confederate union with other Yugoslav states. On ], 1991, Croatia and Slovenia both declared their independence from Yugoslavia. As the JNA attempted unsuccessfully to crush Slovenia's independence, clashes between Krajina Serbs and Croatian security forces broke out almost immediately, leaving dozens dead on both sides. The fighting generally took the form of Serbian attacks on Croatian police posts and state buildings, with the Croatian police fighting back where they could. Both sides engaged in tit-for-tat attacks on civilian targets, blowing up and burning houses belonging to people of the "wrong" ethnic group. The Serbs were initially armed with little more than small arms but the JNA soon remedied this by allowing them free access to army equipment, up to and including armoured vehicles and artillery. | |||
Babić's administration announced the creation of a ] (or ''SAO Krajina'') on 21 December 1990. On 16 March 1991, another referendum was held which asked: "Are you in favor of the SAO Krajina joining the Republic of Serbia and staying in Yugoslavia with Serbia, Montenegro and others who wish to preserve Yugoslavia?". With 99.8% voting in favor, the referendum was approved and the Krajina assembly declared that "the territory of the SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified state territory of the Republic of Serbia".<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804015846/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/tjug/en/070612.pdf |date=4 August 2012 }}. p. 46. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009.</ref><ref name="ICTY">. p. 46. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Accessed 13 September 2009. (On 16 March 1991 another referendum was held which asked "Are you in favour of the SAO Krajina joining the Republic of Serbia and staying in Yugoslavia with Serbia, Montenegro and others who wish to preserve Yugoslavia?". With 99.8% voting in favour, the referendum was approved and the Krajina assembly declared that "the territory of the SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified state territory of the Republic of Serbia".)</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804015846/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/tjug/en/070612.pdf|date=4 August 2012}}. p. 46. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009.</ref> On 1 April 1991, it declared that it would secede from Croatia.<ref name="NYTimes-Separation-1Apr1991">{{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 | date = 2 April 1991 | access-date = 11 December 2010 | 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 | archive-date = 18 May 2013 | url-status = live }}</ref> Other Serb-dominated communities in eastern Croatia announced that they would also join SAO Krajina and ceased paying taxes to the ] government, and began implementing its own currency system, army regiments, and postal service. | |||
The ] and ] attempted to broker a ceasefire and peace settlement, but the truces were repeatedly broken by both sides (often within only a few hours) and hardline nationalists on both sides rejected any moves to settle the conflict. Around August 1991, the leadership of the Serbian Krajina (and that of Serbia) agreed to embark on what war crimes prosecutors would later describe as a "joint criminal enterprise" to permanently forcibly remove the non-Serb population of the Croatian Krajina in order to make them part of a new Serb-dominated state. The participants included Milan Babić, Slobodan Milošević, other Krajina Serb figures such as Milan Martić, the Serbian militia leader ] and Yugoslav Army commanders including General ], who was at the time the commander of JNA forces in Croatia. | |||
Croatia held a ], in which the electorate—minus many Serbs, who chose to boycott it—voted overwhelmingly for independence with the option of confederate union with other Yugoslav states - with 83 percent turnout, voters approved the referendum by 93 percent. On 25 June 1991, Croatia and Slovenia both declared their independence from Yugoslavia. As the JNA attempted unsuccessfully to suppress Slovenia's independence in the short ], clashes between revolting Croatian Serbs and Croatian security forces broke out almost immediately, leaving dozens dead on both sides. Serbs were supported by remnants of the JNA (whose members were now only from Serbia and Montenegro), which provided them weapons. Many Croatians fled their homes in fear or were forced out by the rebel Serbs. The ] and ] unsuccessfully attempted to broker ceasefires and peace settlements. | |||
According to testimony given by Babić in his subsequent war crimes trial, during the summer of 1991 the Serbian secret police — under Milošević's command — set up "a parallel structure of state security and the police of Krajina and units commanded by the state security of Serbia". Shadowy groups of paramilitaries with names such as the "Vukovi sa Vucjaka" ("Wolves from Wolftown") and the "Beli Orlovi" ("White Eagles"), funded by the Serbian secret police, were also a key component of this structure. A full-scale war was launched in which a large area of territory, amounting to a third of Croatia, was seized and the non-Serbian population was either massacred or ]. The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991, during which time approximately 80,000 Croats and Muslims were expelled or killed. Thousands more died and were deported in fighting in eastern ], but the JNA was the principal actor in that part of the conflict. | |||
] | |||
Around August 1991, the leaders of Serbian Krajina and Serbia allegedly agreed to embark on a campaign which the ICTY prosecutors described as a "]" whose purpose "was the forcible removal of the majority of the Croat and other non-Serb population from approximately one-third of the territory of the Republic of Croatia, an area he planned to become part of a new Serb-dominated state."<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527111122/http://www.icty.org/sid/7946 |date=27 May 2012 }}. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009.</ref> According to testimony given by Milan Babić in his subsequent war crimes trial, during the summer of 1991, the Serbian secret police (under Milošević's command) set up "a parallel structure of state security and the police of Krajina and units commanded by the state security of Serbia".<ref>Judith Armatta. Twilight of Impunity: The War Crimes Trial of Slobodan Milosevic. Duke University Press, 2010. Pp. 160–164.</ref> Paramilitary groups such as the ] and ], funded by the Serbian secret police, were also a key component of this structure.<ref name="Seselj indictment">{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/ses-ii030115e.htm|title=ICTY - TPIY|access-date=26 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307000520/http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/ses-ii030115e.htm|archive-date=7 March 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
A wider-scale war was launched in August 1991. Over the following months, a large area of territory, amounting to a third of Croatia, was controlled by the rebel Serbs. The Croatian population suffered heavily, fleeing or evicted with numerous killings, leading to ].<ref name="ICTY evidence"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109115648/https://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2004/Jan/29-319268.html |date=9 November 2006 }}</ref> The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991 when approximately 80,000 Croats were expelled (and some were killed).<ref name="Croatian refugees"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315041821/http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?id=822 |date=15 March 2008 }}</ref> Many more died and or were displaced in fighting in eastern ] (this territory along the Croatian/Serbian border was not part of the Krajina, and it was the JNA that was the principal actor in that part of the conflict). The total number of exiled Croats and other non-Serbs range from 170,000 (])<ref> | |||
Although it was less violent and so attracted much less attention from the international media, a parallel process of ethnic cleansing took place in the Croatian-held parts of the Krajina and in other parts of Croatia. Thousands of Serbs were forced to leave their homes through fear of reprisals, pressure from Croatian nationalists and paramilitary actions. Many took refuge in the Serbian Krajina, occupying homes vacated by Croats. Similarly, exiled Krajina Croats moved into homes vacated by Serbs elsewhere in Croatia. | |||
{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/10/world/milosevic-indicted-again-is-charged-with-crimes-in-croatia.html?scp=1&sq=milo%C5%A1evi%C4%87%20170000&st=cse|title=Milosevic, Indicted Again, Is Charged With Crimes in Croatia|author=Marlise Simons|access-date=26 December 2010|date=10 October 2001|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520112601/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/10/world/milosevic-indicted-again-is-charged-with-crimes-in-croatia.html?scp=1&sq=milo%C5%A1evi%C4%87%20170000&st=cse|archive-date=20 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> up to a quarter of a million people (]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2001/10/28/milosevic-important-new-charges-croatia|title=Milosevic: Important New Charges on Croatia|access-date=29 October 2010|date=21 October 2001|publisher=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225134329/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2001/10/28/milosevic-important-new-charges-croatia|archive-date=25 December 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In the latter half of 1991, Croatia was beginning to form an army and their main defenders, the local police, were overpowered by the JNA military who supported rebelled Croatian Serbs. The RSK was located entirely inland, but they soon started advancing deeper into Croatian territory.<ref name="ICTY evidence" /> Among other places, they shelled the Croatian coastal town of ] killing over 80 people in nearby areas and damaging the ] that connected northern and southern Croatia, in the ]. They also tried to overtake ], but the defenders successfully repelled the attack by JNA, in the ]. The main city theatre was also bombed by JNA forces.<ref name="Sibenik theatre"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609212406/http://www.sibenik.hr/vodic/kultura/sibensko_kazaliste.asp |date=9 June 2007 }}</ref> The city of ], however, was completely devastated by JNA attacks.<ref name="Tanner: Croatia">Tanner, Marcus (1997) ''Croatia: A Nation Forged in War''.</ref> The city of Vukovar that warded off JNA attacks for months eventually fell, ending the ]. 2,000 defenders of Vukovar and civilians were killed, 800 went missing and 22,000 were forced into exile.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=325671&apc_state=henh|title=Institute for War and Peace Reporting|access-date=26 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227004451/https://iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=325671&apc_state=henh|archive-date=27 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070117021118/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6162474.stm |date=17 January 2007 }}. BBC (18 November 2006). Retrieved 13 September 2009.</ref> The wounded were taken from Vukovar Hospital to ] near Vukovar where they were executed.<ref>Partos, Gabriel (13 June 2003). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809191257/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2988304.stm |date=9 August 2012 }}. BBC. Retrieved 13 September 2009.</ref> | |||
] | |||
==Formal proclamations== | |||
On ], 1991, the SAO Krajina proclaimed itself the Republic of Serbian Krajina. On ], ], the SAO Western Slavonia and SAO Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem joined the RSK, which initially had only encompassed the territories within the SAO Krajina. The RSK occupied an area of some 17,028 km² at its greatest extent. It was located entirely inland, although its southern portion came close to ] access because they controlled the ''Novigradsko more'', a small, protected bay located to the east of ]. The acquisition of coastline near Zadar and ], and a smaller town between these two, ], was a key strategic goal for the Krajina Serb authorities, as this would have given the republic a vital outlet; however, this objective was never realised. | |||
On 19 December 1991, the SAO Krajina proclaimed itself the Republic of Serbian Krajina. The Constitution of Serbian Krajina came into effect the same day.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013163458/http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Krajina-const.pdf |date=13 October 2012 }} {{in lang|sr}}</ref> On 26 February 1992, the SAO Western Slavonia and SAO Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia were added to the RSK, which initially had only encompassed the territories within the SAO Krajina. The ] (Srpska Vojska Krajine, SVK) was officially formed on 19 March 1992. The RSK occupied an area of some 17,028 km<sup>2</sup> at its greatest extent. | |||
==1992 ceasefire== | |||
A ceasefire agreement was signed by Presidents Tuđman and Milošević in January 1992, paving the way for the implementation of a United Nations peace plan put forward by ]. Under the ], four United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs) were established in the territory of the RSK. The Vance Plan called for the withdrawal of the JNA from Croatia and for the return of refugees to their homes in the UNPAs. The JNA officially withdrew from Croatia in May 1992 but much of its weaponry and many of its personnel remained in the Serb-held areas and were turned over to the RSK's security forces. Refugees were not allowed to return to their homes and the few Croats and other non-Serbs who had remained in the RSK were expelled in the following months. On ], 1992, the creation of the United Nations Protection Force (]) was authorised by the ] for an initial period of a year, to provide security to the UNPAs. | |||
] | |||
Under the ], signed in November 1991, Presidents Tuđman and Milošević agreed to a United Nations peace plan put forward by ]. | |||
A final ceasefire agreement, the ], was signed by representatives of the two sides in January 1992, paving the way for the implementation of the Vance plan. Four United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs) were established in Croatian territory which was claimed by RSK, and the plan called for the withdrawal of the JNA from Croatia and for the return of refugees to their homes in the UNPAs. | |||
The JNA officially withdrew from Croatia in May 1992 but much of its weaponry and many of its personnel remained in the Serb-held areas and were turned over to the RSK's security forces. Refugees were not allowed to return to their homes and many of the remaining Croats and other nationalities left in the RSK were expelled or killed in the following months.<ref name="Tanner: Croatia" /><ref name="Babic Guilty">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3433721.stm | work=BBC News | title=Babic admits persecuting Croats | date=27 January 2004 | access-date=22 May 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120171806/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3433721.stm | archive-date=20 November 2011 | url-status=live }}</ref> On 21 February 1992, the creation of the ] (UNPROFOR) was authorised by the ] for an initial period of a year, to provide security to the UNPAs. | |||
The agreement effectively froze the front lines for the next three years. Croatia and the RSK had effectively fought each other to a standstill, each side unable — for the moment — to defeat the other militarily. The ceasefire had little effect on the RSK's international standing. It was not recognized in the sense that it exchanged diplomatic credentials with other countries, but the republic's ''de facto'' independence had to be acknowledged by the countries of the region as a fact of life. It gained support from Serbia's traditional allies — ], ], and several other countries with ] majorities. | |||
The agreement effectively froze the front lines for the next three years. Croatia and the RSK had effectively fought each other to a standstill. The Republic of Serbian Krajina was not recognized '']'' by any other country or international organization. Nevertheless, it gained support from Serbia's allies, like ]. | |||
With the creation of new ] on ], 1992, the Croatian government also set aside two autonomous regions (''kotar'') for ethnic Serbs in the areas of Krajina. ] deployed throughout the region in order to maintain the ceasefire, although in practice its light armament and restricted rules of engagement meant that it was little more than an observer force. It proved wholly unable to ensure that refugees returned to the RSK. Indeed, the Krajina Serb authorities continued to make efforts to ensure that they could ''never'' return, destroying villages and cultural and religious monuments to erase the previous existence of the non-Serb inhabitants of the Krajina. Milan Babić later testified that this policy was driven from Belgrade through the Serbian secret police — and ultimately Milošević — who he claimed were in control of all the administrative institutions and armed forces in the Krajina. This would certainly explain why the Yugoslav National Army took the side of the Krajina Serbs in spite of its claims to be acting as a "peacekeeping" force. It should be noted that Milošević has denied this, claiming that Babić had made it up "out of fear". | |||
==After the ceasefire== | |||
===Demographics=== | |||
UNPROFOR was deployed throughout the region to maintain the ceasefire, although in practice its light armament and restricted rules of engagement meant that it was little more than an observer force. It proved wholly unable to ensure that refugees returned to the RSK. Indeed, the rebel Croatian Serb authorities continued to make efforts to ensure that they could ''never'' return, destroying villages and cultural and religious monuments to erase the previous existence of the Croatian inhabitants of the Krajina.<ref name="Tanner: Croatia" /> Milan Babić later testified that this policy was driven from Belgrade through the Serbian secret police—and ultimately Milošević—who he claimed was in control of all the administrative institutions and armed forces in the Krajina.<ref name="Babic testification">{{cite web|url=http://www.iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=164710&apc_state=henitri200407|title=Institute for War and Peace Reporting|access-date=26 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227011811/https://iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=164710&apc_state=henitri200407|archive-date=27 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> This would certainly explain why the Yugoslav National Army took the side of the rebelled Croatian Serbs in spite of its claims to be acting as a "peacekeeping" force. Milošević denied this, claiming that Babić had made it up "out of fear". | |||
By the start of the ], about two thirds of the Krajina population was Serb. Before the war, about 236,000 people (representing 40.6% of the total Serbian population in Croatia) lived in the Krajina. The increase in ethnic tensions caused the demographic proportions to shift markedly even before the fighting broke out. A ] held in the spring of 1991, just before the war began, showed that 555,540 people lived in the territory of what became the RSK. Of these, 331,619 (59,7%) were ], 168,026 (30,2%) were ] and 55,895 (10,1%) were other ], ], ], ] etc. The increase in the Krajina's Serbian population was almost certainly due to Serbs from other parts of Croatia moving to the Krajina to escape ethnic tensions in their home regions. | |||
The Army of Serbian Krajina frequently attacked neighboring ] enclave (then in the ]) with heavy artillery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RWFGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6084,4117396&dq=bihac+bosnia&hl=en|title=The Daily Gazette - Google News Archive Search|access-date=26 December 2014}}</ref> | |||
The allocation of the population in the different parts of the RSK was, according to the ICTY source, as follows: | |||
] | |||
{| align="center" | |||
With the creation of new ] on 30 December 1992, the Croatian government also set aside two autonomous regions (''kotar'') for ethnic Serbs in the areas of Krajina: | |||
! style="background:#F5F5DC;" | UNPA zones North and South | |||
* Autonomous District of Glina ({{langx|hr|Autonomni kotar Glina}}, {{lang-sr-Cyrl|Аутономни котар Глина}}) | |||
! style="background:#F5F5DC;" | UNPA sector West | |||
** Municipalities '']'' within the Autonomous District of Glina were ], ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1992_06_34_896.html | language = hr | title = Ustavni zakon o ljudskim pravima i slobodama i pravima etničkih i nacionalnih zajednica ili manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj | author = ] | journal = ] | issue = 34/92 | location = Zagreb | date = 3 June 1992 | access-date = 7 August 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150120212522/http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1992_06_34_896.html | archive-date = 20 January 2015 | url-status = live }}</ref> | |||
! style="background:#F5F5DC;" | UNPA sector East | |||
* Autonomous District of Knin ({{langx|hr|Autonomni kotar Knin}}, {{lang-sr-Cyrl|Аутономни котар Книн}}) | |||
|- | |||
|168,437 (67%) Serbs<BR>70,708 (28%) Croats<BR>13,101 (5%) Others | |||
|14,161 (60%) Serbs<BR>6,864 (29%) Croats<BR>2,577 (11%) Others | |||
|61,492 (32%) Serbs<BR>90,454 (47%) Croats<BR>40,217 (21%) Others | |||
|- | |||
|<small>(Source: )</small> | |||
|} | |||
However, Serbs considered this too late, as it was not the amount of autonomy they wanted, and by now they had declared '']'' independence. | |||
According to this data, the four UNPA zones had 168,026 Croats, 244,090 Serbs and 55,895 Croatian citizens of other nationalities. | |||
However, the cited figures differ from those published in official Croatian census, which gives the following data: | |||
The districts never actually functioned since they were located within the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. The existence of the Autonomous District of Glina was also provided in the draft of the ], that was rejected. | |||
{| align="center" | |||
After ], the application of the law which allowed autonomy would be temporarily suspended.<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1995_09_68_1192.html | language = hr | title = Ustavni zakon o privremenom neprimjenjivanju pojedinih odredbi Ustavnog zakona o ljudskim pravima i slobodama i o pravima etničkih i nacionalnih zajednica ili manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj | author = ] | journal = ] | issue = 68/95 | date = 21 September 1995 | access-date = 7 August 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140917103436/http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/1995_09_68_1192.html | archive-date = 17 September 2014 | url-status = live }}</ref> In 2000 this part of the law was formally repealed.<ref>{{cite journal | url = http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2000_05_51_1127.html | language = hr | title = Ustavni zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Ustavnog zakona o ljudskim pravima i slobodama i o pravima etničkih i nacionalnih zajednica ili manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj | author = ] | journal = ] | issue = 51/2000 | date = 19 May 2000 | access-date = 7 August 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150120212647/http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2000_05_51_1127.html | archive-date = 20 January 2015 | url-status = live }}</ref> | |||
! style="background:#F5F5DC;" | UNPA zones North and South | |||
! style="background:#F5F5DC;" | UNPA sector West | |||
! style="background:#F5F5DC;" | UNPA sector East | |||
|- | |||
|169,906 (66.7%) Serbs<BR>69,646 (28%) Croats<BR>13,183 (5.5%) Others | |||
|35,206 (35.4%) Serbs<BR>43,063 (43.3%) Croats<BR>21,183 (21.3%) Others | |||
|57,208 (30.4%) Serbs<BR>92,398 (49.1%) Croats<BR>35,578 (20.5%) Others | |||
|- | |||
|<small> | |||
|} | |||
==Decline== | |||
This gives the following pre-war figures: 205,107 Croats, 258,320 Serbs and 72,944 Croatian citizens of other national/ethnic affiliation.. | |||
].]] | |||
The partial implementation of the Vance Plan drove a wedge between the governments of the RSK and Serbia, the RSK's principal backer and supplier of fuel, arms, and money. Milan Babić strongly opposed the Vance Plan but was overruled by the RSK's assembly.<ref name="Tanner: Croatia" /> | |||
On 26 February 1992, Babić was deposed and replaced as President of the RSK by ], a Milošević loyalist. Babić remained involved in RSK politics but as a considerably weaker figure. | |||
Sources vary about the population numbers, and it was difficult to determine the exact population due to the war situation; many Serb refugees from elsewhere in Croatia and Bosnia settled in the Krajina and a steady stream of people left the region to escape its pervasive poverty. According to a local census by the RSK authorities from ], there were 480,000 people: 91% Serbs (433,595), 7% Croats and 2% others. In 1994, the RSK's government estimated the population at 430,000 people . The apparent fall in the population may have been due to the RSK authorities' efforts to drive out the non-Serb minorities as well as the ongoing exodus of Serbs. | |||
The position of the RSK eroded steadily over the following three years. On the surface, the RSK had all the trappings of a state: army, parliament, president, government and ministries, currency and stamps. However, its economy was wholly dependent on support from the rump Yugoslavia, which had the effect of importing that country's ]. | |||
==The fall of the RSK== | |||
The economic situation soon became disastrous. By 1994, only 36,000 of the RSK's 430,000 citizens were employed. The war had severed the RSK's trade links with the rest of Croatia, leaving its few industries idle. With few natural resources of its own, it had to import most of the goods and fuel it required. Agriculture was devastated, and operated at little more than a subsistence level.<ref name="svarm" /> Professionals went to Serbia or elsewhere to escape the republic's economic hardships. To make matters worse, the RSK's government was grossly corrupt and the region became a haven for black marketeering and other criminal activity. It was clear by the mid-1990s that without a peace deal or support from Yugoslavia the RSK was not economically viable.<ref name="Evidence">Milosevic and the JNA http://hrw.org/reports/2006/milosevic1206/4.htm# {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929152435/http://hrw.org/reports/2006/milosevic1206/4.htm |date=29 September 2007 }}</ref> This was especially evident in Belgrade, where the RSK had become an unwanted economic and political burden for Milošević. Much to his frustration, the rebel Croatian Serbs rebuffed his government's demands to settle the conflict.<ref name="Tanner: Croatia" /> | |||
], 5 million dinar note]] | |||
In July 1992 the RSK issued its own currency, the ] (HRKR), in parallel with the ]. This was followed by the "October dinar" (HRKO), first issued on 1 October 1993 and equal to 1,000,000 Reformed Dinar, and the "1994 dinar", first issued on 1 January 1994, and equal to 1,000,000,000 October dinar. | |||
The partial implementation of the Vance Plan drove a wedge between the governments of the RSK and Serbia, the RSK's principal backer and supplier of fuel, arms and money. Milan Babić strongly opposed the Vance Plan but was overruled by the RSK's assembly. On ], 1992 he was deposed and replaced as President of the RSK by ], a Milošević loyalist. Babić remained involved in RSK politics but as a considerably weaker figure. | |||
The RSK's weakness also adversely affected its armed forces, the ] (VSK). Since the 1992 ceasefire agreement, Croatia had spent heavily on importing weapons and training its armed forces with assistance from American contractors. In contrast, the VSK had grown steadily weaker, with its soldiers poorly motivated, trained and equipped.<ref name="Tanner: Croatia" /><ref name="National Security">Testimony from RSK generals http://www.nsf-journal.hr/issues/v3_n3-4/11.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707220538/http://www.nsf-journal.hr/issues/v3_n3-4/11.htm |date=7 July 2007 }}</ref> There were only about 55,000 of them to cover a front of some 600 km in Croatia plus 100 km along the border with the ] pocket in Bosnia. With 16,000 stationed in eastern Slavonia, only about 39,000 were left to defend the main part of the RSK. Overall, only 30,000 were capable of full mobilization, yet they faced a far stronger Croatian army. Also, political divisions between Hadžić and Babić occasionally led to physical and sometimes even armed confrontations between their supporters; Babić himself was assaulted and beaten in an incident in ].<ref name="Dokumenti"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522135646/http://www.profil.hr/index.php?cmd=show_proizvod&proizvod_id=30205 |date=22 May 2011 }} {{in lang|hr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.vjesnik.hr/Pdf/2005%5C10%5C22%5C30A30.PDF | title=U ljeto '91. pripremana i pobuna u Gorskom kotaru | work=] | date=22 October 2005 | first=Željko | last=Krušelj | language=hr | access-date=5 August 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> | |||
In January 1993 the revitalized Croatian army attacked the Serbian positions around ] in southern Croatia which curtailed their access to the sea via ]. | |||
The position of the RSK eroded steadily over the following three years. On the surface, the RSK had all the trappings of a state: an army, a parliament and president, a government with its own ministries and even its own currency and stamps. Its economy was, however, wholly dependent on support from the rump Yugoslavia, which had the effect of importing that country's ]. The RSK issued its own currency, the ] (HRKR), in parallel with the ] in July 1992. This issue was followed by the ] (HRKO), first issued on ], ] and equal to 1,000,000 Reformed Dinar, and the ], first issued on ], ] and equal to 1,000,000,000 October Dinar. | |||
In mid-1993, the RSK authorities started a campaign to formally create a United Serbian Republic. | |||
The economic situation in the Krajina soon became disastrous. By 1994, only 36,000 of its citizens were employed out of a population of 430,000 (an unemployment rate of over 92%). The war severed its trade links with the rest of Croatia, with its few industries left idle. It had few natural resources on which to rely and had to import most of its resources, goods and fuel. Its agriculture was devastated, operating at little more than a subsistence level. Professionals went abroad to Serbia or elsewhere to escape the Republic's grinding poverty. To make matters worse still, the RSK's government was grossly corrupt and the region became a haven for black market and other criminal activity. It was clear by the mid-1990s that the RSK was economically unviable without a peace deal and reintegration into Croatia. This was especially clear in Belgrade, where the RSK had become an unwanted economic and political burden for Milošević. His government sought to push the Krajina Serbs into settling the conflict but was rebuffed, much to its frustration. | |||
In a second offensive in mid-September 1993, the Croatian army overran the ] in southern Krajina in a push to regain Serb-held Croatian territory. The rebel Croatian Serbs brought reinforcements forward fairly quickly, but the strength of the Croatian forces proved superior. The Croatian offensive was halted by a combination of a battalion of Canadian peacekeepers from the second battalion of ] (PPCLI) reinforced by a Company of French peacekeepers, combined with international diplomacy. Hadžić sent an urgent request to Belgrade for reinforcements, arms, and equipment. In response, around 4,000 paramilitaries under the command of ] (the ]) and "]" (the ]) arrived to bolster the VSK. | |||
The republic's weakness also affected its armed forces, the ''Vojska Srpske Krajine'' (VSK). Since the 1992 ceasefire had been agreed, Croatia had spent large sums of money importing weapons and training its armed forces with the aid of American contractors. At the same time, the VSK had grown steadily weaker, with its soldiers poorly motivated, trained and equipped. The VSK had only about 55,000 soldiers available to cover a front of some 600km in Croatia plus 100km along the border with the ] pocket in Bosnia; 16,000 of these were stationed in eastern Slavonia, leaving only some 39,000 to defend the main part of the RSK. In reality, only 30,000 of the theoretical 55,000 were capable of being fully mobilised. The VSK had little mobility and faced a far stronger Croatian army. It was also politically divided between supporters of Hadžić and Babić. On occasion, this rivalry broke out into clashes between rival units, which left several people wounded. | |||
] on 12 December 1993, with a second round of the presidential election on 23 January 1994. Martić received 54,000 fewer votes than Babić in the first round, but went on to win the second round with 104,234 votes.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |date=2006-03-06 |title=Milan Babic: Croatian Serb leader |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4779362.stm |access-date=2022-12-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Logos |first=Aleksandar |url=https://www.academia.edu/42147440 |title=Istorija Srba 1 - Dopuna 4; Istorija Srba 5 |year=2019 |isbn=978-86-85117-46-6 |location=Belgrade |page=127}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1994/01/23 18:30 THE ELECTION SHOCK IN KRAJINA |url=http://www.aimpress.ch/dyn/trae/archive/data/199401/40123-021-trae-beo.htm |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=www.aimpress.ch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=January 17, 1994 Vreme News Digest Agency No 121 |url=http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/serbiandigest/121/t121-10.htm |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=www.scc.rutgers.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 1994 |title=Милан Мартић председник |url=https://arhivapdf.glassrpske.rs/novine/1994/01/GlasSrpske19940127.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706055358/https://arhivapdf.glassrpske.rs/novine/1994/01/GlasSrpske19940127.pdf |archive-date=6 July 2022 |access-date=15 August 2022 |website=www.glassrpske.com}}</ref> | |||
An early demonstration of the new Croatian capabilities came in January ] when the revitalised Croatian army launched an attack on Serbian positions around ] in southern Croatia (which prevented them from utilizing sea access via Novigradsko more). In a second offensive in September ], the revitalised Croatian army overran the ] in the southern Krajina. The Croatian action was halted by the successful intervention of ] UN peacekeepers. Although the Krajina Serbs were able to bring up reinforcements fairly quickly, the strength of the Croatian forces proved a shock. Hadžić sent an urgent request to Belgrade to send reinforcements, arms and equipment. In response, around 4,000 paramilitaries under the command of Vojislav Šešelj (the "White Eagles") and the notorious "]" (the "]") arrived to bolster the VSK. They found that the RSK's government and military was in a chaotic state. | |||
== Operation Flash and Storm == | |||
The RSK's end came in ], when Croatian forces retook western ] in ] (May) and overran the rest in ] (August). As a consequence, almost the entire Serbian population fled in what was in part an evacuation ordered by the Krajina Serb authorities and (allegedly) in part "a large-scale deportation and/or displacement" conducted by Croatian forces under the command of Colonel General ] (for which the latter has been indicted by the ]) . Serbia did not intervene, having earlier indicated in the state-controlled media that it was finally washing its hands of the Krajina Serbs. | |||
{{Main|Operation Flash|Operation Storm}} | |||
]; 4 August 1995]] | |||
Around 150,000–200,000 Serbs left the RSK in 1995, most of whom fled to Serbia (and are mostly still there). Of the Serb inhabitants that lived in the main part of the RSK (i.e. excluding eastern Slavonia), only 4,000 were left after the offensive. Some Serbs and most of the expelled Croats have since returned, but the Krajina Serb population is still only a fraction of its pre-1995 numbers. The autonomous regions planned by the government in 1992 were disbanded on ], ] and the areas were integrated into civic counties. At the time, the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from the Krajina was quietly accepted by Western governments as a means of ending the conflict quickly (rather like the ]). Since then, however, it has come under close scrutiny from war crimes investigators. Prosecutors have indicated that, had he not died, President Tuđman probably would have faced indictment for his actions in the expulsion of the Krajina Serbs. | |||
Following the rejection by both sides of the ] for reintegration, the RSK's end came in 1995, when Croatian forces gained control of ] in ] (May) followed by the biggest part of occupied Croatia in ] (August). The Krajina Serb Supreme Defence Council met under president ] to discuss the situation. A decision was reached at 16:45 to "start evacuating the population unfit for military service from the municipalities of ], ], ], ] and ]." The RSK was disbanded and most of its Serb population (from 150,000 to 200,000 people) fled.<ref name="Tanner: Croatia" /><ref name="amnesty">], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122060046/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur64/002/2005/en/ |date=22 November 2018 }} , 04.08.2005</ref> Only 5,000 to 6,000 people remained, mostly the elderly.<ref name="goldstein">Goldstein, Ivo (1999). ''Croatia: A History''. p. 253–254. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. {{ISBN|1-85065-525-1}}.</ref> Croatian historian ] wrote, "The reasons for the Serb exodus are complex. Some had to leave because the Serb army had forced them to, while others feared the revenge of the Croatian army or of their former Croat neighbors, whom they had driven away and whose homes they had mostly looted (and it was later shown that this fear was far from groundless)".<ref name="goldstein" /> | |||
Most of the refugees fled to today's Serbia, Bosnia, and eastern Slavonia. Some of those who refused to leave were murdered, tortured and forcibly expelled by the Croatian Army and police.<ref name="amnesty" /> | |||
==Later events== | |||
The parts of Krajina in eastern Croatia (along the ]) remained in place as the ''Republic of Eastern ], ] and western ]'' (previously the ''Srpska Autonomna Oblast Slavonija, Baranja i zapadni Srem'', or sometimes called ''Sremsko-Baranjska Oblast''). The national and local authorities signed the Erdut Agreement in 1995, sponsored by the ], that set up a transitional period during which the ] peacekeepers would oversee a peaceful reintegration of this territory into Croatia. This process was completed in ]. | |||
] | |||
The parts of the former RSK in eastern Croatia (along with the ]) remained in place, in what was previously the ]. | |||
==Government in exile== | |||
In 1995, Milan Milanović, formerly a Republic of Serbian Krajina official, signed the ] as a representative of the Serbian side. This agreement, co-signed by the representative of the Croatian Government, was sponsored by the United Nations, and it set up a transitional period during which the ] (UNTAES) peacekeeping mission would oversee a peaceful reintegration of this territory into Croatia, starting on 15 January 1996. In 1998, the UNTAES mission was complete and the territory was formally returned to Croatia. Based on the Erdut Agreement, the ] was established in the region in 1997. | |||
On ] ], a number of former legislators of the Republic of Serbian Krajina met in Belgrade at the city's Dom Sindikata (Trade Union Centre). More than half of the former legislators were not present (out of a former total of 83), with the president of the RSK being in The Hague and several currently being members of the ]. | |||
After the peaceful reintegration, two Croatian islands on the Danube, the ] and the ], remained under Serbian military control. In 2004, the Serbian military was withdrawn from the islands and replaced with Serbian police. The islands remain an open question as the Croatian side insists on applying ] decisions.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.novosti.rs/code/navigate.php?Id=1&status=jedna&vest=70384 | language = sr | newspaper = ] | title = Ko muti Dunav | date = 12 December 2004 | access-date = 2012-11-19}}</ref> | |||
At the Belgrade meeting, the former legislators declared themselves to be the legitimate continuation of the RSK government and called for the recreation of the RSK on the basis of the 1994 Z-4 plan, which had called for Krajina to have a status of "more than autonomy, less than independence" within Croatia. They announced that a parliamentary election would be held and that the new name of the self-proclaimed state would be "Republic of Serb-Krajina". The meeting elected Milorad Buha as prime minister as well as six ministers without portfolio whose names were not revealed. | |||
In 1995 a Croatian court sentenced former RSK president ] '']'' to 20 years in prison for rocket attacks on ] and ]. In 1999 he was sentenced to an additional 20 years for war crimes in ], near ],<ref name="rferl-hr-2011">{{cite web|url=http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/content/hadzic_ne_moze_biti_izrucen_hrvatskoj/24272781.html|language=hr|title=Hadžić ne može biti izručen Hrvatskoj|publisher=] – Croatian edition|date=21 July 2011|access-date=22 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812113821/http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/content/hadzic_ne_moze_biti_izrucen_hrvatskoj/24272781.html|archive-date=12 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 2002 Croatia's state attorney brought another indictment against him for the murder of almost 1,300 Croats in Vukovar, Osijek, Vinkovci, ] and elsewhere.<ref name="rferl-hr-2011" /> On 4 June 2004, the ICTY indicted him on 14 counts of war crimes and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2008/07/25/feature-02|title=War crimes fugitive: Goran Hadzic|publisher=Setimes.com|date=25 July 2008|access-date=21 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820162759/http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2008/07/25/feature-02|archive-date=20 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011 he was arrested and extradited to the Hague, where his initial trial hearing was held on 25 July the same year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/07/2011725143544135906.html|title=Serb war crimes suspect appears at UN court|work=Al Jazeera English|access-date=26 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726123100/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/07/2011725143544135906.html|archive-date=26 July 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2014 he was diagnosed with terminal ]; he died two years later at the age of 57.<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite web |date=13 July 2016 |title=Goran Hadžić, last Yugoslav war fugitive arrested, dies |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/jul/13/goran-hadzic-last-yugoslav-war-fugitive-arrested-dies |access-date=14 July 2016 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The ICTY trial was terminated upon his death.<ref>{{cite web |date=22 July 2016 |title=Order terminating the proceedings |url=https://www.icty.org/x/cases/hadzic/tord/en/160722.pdf |access-date=25 September 2022 |website=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia}}</ref> | |||
This move was criticized by many, including top Serbian and Croatian government officials, as well as senior representatives of Serbs in Croatia. They all stated that such a meeting would harm Serb-Croat reconciliation and relations between the communities in Croatia. It was pointed out that the Krajina Serb legislators had rejected the Z-4 proposal when it had originally been put forward. Some Serbian nationalists also criticized the move, saying that a government in exile should have been created as soon as possible after Operation Storm, not 10 years later. | |||
Former RSK president ] was indicted for war crimes by the ] (ICTY) in 2004 and was the first ever indictee to plead guilty and enter a plea bargain with the prosecution, after which he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was charged with five counts of ] and violations of the ]. After he was sentenced in 2004, Babić was found dead in his prison cell in The Hague in March 2006, in an apparent suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 9, 2006 |title=UN finds no foul play in Serb's death |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/09/world/europe/09iht-balkans.1940560.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> | |||
Critics have claimed that the meeting was actually organized by the hardline nationalist ] (SRS) under orders from party leader ]. This was denied by SRS official Dragan Todorović, who attended the meeting and expressed his party's "moral support to the Serbs to return to occupied territories, and when the Serbian Radicals come to power they will offer them a different support as well". It has been suggested that the meeting was a ] by the SRS. Milorad Buha, the man elected prime minister of the RSK at the meeting, represents the SRS in the ]. | |||
Former RSK president ] was indicted for war crimes by the ICTY in 2005 was convicted of war crimes on 12 June 2007 and sentenced to 35 years in prison<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-06-12 |title=Serb leader jailed for war crimes |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6743607.stm |access-date=2024-09-08 |language=en-GB}}</ref> where he was transferred to in 2009. He is serving his sentence in Estonia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War criminal transferred to Estonia |url=https://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/23143/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=www.baltictimes.com}}</ref> According to the ICTY, in the amended indictment, he "helped organize an ] campaign of Croats and other non-Serbs from Krajina and virtually the entire non-Serb population was forcibly removed, deported or killed".<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 June 2007 |title=Summary of Judgement for Milan Martić" (PDF) |url=https://www.icty.org/x/cases/martic/tjug/en/070612_summary_en.pdf |website=International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia}}</ref> | |||
Serbia-Montenegro's foreign minister ] criticised the RSK "government in exile" as an attempt, "founded by a handful of marginal individuals", to sabotage Serbia-Montenegro's bid to join the ]. The President of the association of Serb refugees from the Serbian Autonomous District (SAO) of Krajina, Milan Savrljuga, accused the former legislators of having corrupt financial motives; he claimed that the national bank of Yugoslavia possessed millions of dollars transferred there from the Krajina in accounts still held in the name of the RSK government. | |||
Between 2001 and 2012, the ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals ], ] and ] in the ] for their involvement in crimes committed during and in the aftermath of Operation Storm. The indictment and the subsequent trial on charges of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war described several killings, widespread arson and looting committed by Croatian soldiers.<ref name="Gotovina indictment">Gotovina indictment http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/cis/gotovina/cis-gotovina.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926145426/http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/cis/gotovina/cis-gotovina.pdf|date=26 September 2007}}</ref> In April 2011, Gotovina and Markač were convicted and given prison sentences, while Čermak was acquitted.<ref name="Gotovina indictment" /> Gotovina and Markač appealed the verdict and in November 2012 the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY overturned their convictions, acquitting them.<ref name="ABC News">{{cite news |date=16 November 2012 |title=Tribunal Overturns Convictions of Croat Generals |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/tribunal-overturns-convictions-croat-generals-17735745#.UKYFtGdL7cs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120023322/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/tribunal-overturns-convictions-croat-generals-17735745#.UKYFtGdL7cs |archive-date=20 November 2012 |access-date=2012-11-16 |publisher=] |agency=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-11-16 |title=Freed Croatian War Generals Return Home to Hero's Welcome - Businessweek |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-16/un-court-frees-croatian-war-generals-after-overturning-verdicts |access-date=2024-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116182115/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-16/un-court-frees-croatian-war-generals-after-overturning-verdicts |archive-date=16 November 2012 }}</ref> Both of them were accused of being part of the "criminal enterprise" but the Court concluded there was no such conspiracy.<ref name="BBC-2012-11-16">{{cite news |date=16 November 2012 |title=Hague war court acquits Croat Generals Gotovina and Markac |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20352187 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116131955/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20352187 |archive-date=16 November 2012 |access-date=16 November 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref> | |||
It has been reported that the ]n nationalist politician ] supports the government in exile, and that some Greek nationalist politicians have called for Greece to veto any Croatian attempt to join the EU if the RSK legislators' demands are not met. It is unlikely that either of these moves would have any effect whatsoever on Russian or Greek actual foreign policy, respectively. | |||
After the war, a number of towns and municipalities that had comprised the RSK were designated ]. | |||
The Serbian newspaper ''Gradjanski list'' reported that the RSK "government in exile" held its first meeting in secret in the northern Serbian city of ] on ]. Its programme was announced in a press conference in Belgrade on ], at which Milorad Buha stated that it would press for the adoption of Krajina Serb autonomy on the basis of the Vance plan and the Z-4 plan. The RSK delegates issued a document entitled "RSK government-in-exile programme tasks", which stated that "the fundamental condition for successful government performance will be the establishment of successful cooperation with nationally- oriented political parties and organizations in Serbia, the Serb Orthodox Church as well as with proven patriots." | |||
==Demographics== | |||
On ], Buha proposed a motion in the Serbian National Assembly saying that "the Serb national question and the survival of Serbs on the territory of the Republic of Serb Krajina and Croatia can only be solved by ending the 10-year occupation of the RSK". The Radicals also called for the Assembly to oppose Croatian accession to the EU without previously "initiat the settlement of the status of the expelled Serb people". | |||
According to the indictment of prosecutor ] against ] at the ICTY, the Croat and non-Serb population from the 1991 census was approximately as follows:<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615080838/http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/ind/en/mil-2ai020728e.htm |date=15 June 2012 }}. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009.</ref> | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||
!Census (1991) | |||
! class="background: red; color: purple" |] | |||
! class="background: red; color: white" |] | |||
! class="background: red; color: white" |Others | |||
! class="background: red; color: white" |Total | |||
|- | |||
| class="hintergrundfarbe6" | '''Later RSK total''' | |||
| align="right" width="100" | 245,800 (52.3%) | |||
| align="right" width="100" | 168,000 (35.8%) | |||
| align="right" width="100" | 55,900 (11.9%) | |||
| align="right" width="80" | 469,700 | |||
|- | |||
| class="hintergrundfarbe6" | ] Sector North and South | |||
| align="right" | 170,100 (67%) | |||
| align="right" | 70,700 (28%) | |||
| align="right" | 13,100 (5%) | |||
| align="right" | 253,900 | |||
|- | |||
| class="hintergrundfarbe6" | ] | |||
| align="right" | 14,200 (60%) | |||
| align="right" | 6,900 (29%) | |||
| align="right" | 2,600 (11%) | |||
| align="right" | 23,700 | |||
|- | |||
| class="hintergrundfarbe6" | ] | |||
| align="right" | 61,500 (32%) | |||
| align="right" | 90,500 (47%) | |||
| align="right" | 40,200 (21%) | |||
| align="right" | 192,200 | |||
|} | |||
Thus Serbs comprised 52.3% and Croats 35.8% of the population of SAO Krajina respectively in 1991. | |||
According to data set forth at the meeting of the Government of the RSK in July 1992, its ethnic composition was 88% Serbs, 7% Croats, 5% others.<ref name="Dokumenti" /> As of November 1993, less than 400 ethnic Croats still resided in UNPA Sector South,<ref> | |||
{{citation |url = http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Rights/93/Croatia93.html |title = CROATIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993; Section 2, part d. |author = U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE |date = 31 January 1994 |access-date = 26 December 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121110011237/http://hri.org/docs/USSD-Rights/93/Croatia93.html |archive-date = 10 November 2012 |url-status = live }} | |||
</ref> and between 1,500 and 2,000 remained in UNPA Sector North.<ref name="UNCHR">{{citation |url = http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/2848af408d01ec0ac1256609004e770b/5793c2d636a30ac9802566710057034c?OpenDocument |title = SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE TERRITORY OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, Section J, Points 147 and 150 |author = United Nations Economic and Social Council Commission on Human Rights |access-date = 26 December 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110426094130/http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/2848af408d01ec0ac1256609004e770b/5793c2d636a30ac9802566710057034c?OpenDocument |archive-date = 26 April 2011 |url-status = live }}</ref> | |||
===Towns=== | |||
Towns which were at one point part of RSK or occupied by the RSK's army:{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}} | |||
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==Status== | |||
Serbian Krajina has been described as a "]"<ref name="Crawford2007">{{cite book|author=B. Crawford|title=Power and German Foreign Policy: Embedded Hegemony in Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esGADAAAQBAJ&pg=PA84|date=28 September 2007|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-0-230-59833-1|pages=84–}}</ref><ref name="CohenDeng2010">{{cite book|author1=Roberta Cohen|author2=Francis M. Deng|title=The Forsaken People: Case Studies of the Internally Displaced|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEAK9vLEcjYC&pg=PA195|date=1 December 2010|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8157-1498-9|pages=195–}}</ref> and "]".<ref name="CigarWilliams2002">{{cite book|author1=Norman L. Cigar|author2=Paul Williams|title=Indictment at the Hague: The Milosevic Regime and Crimes of the Balkan Wars|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780814716267|url-access=registration|date=June 2002|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-1626-7|pages=–}}</ref> | |||
===Legal status=== | |||
] | |||
During its existence, this entity did not achieve international recognition. On 29 November 1991, the ] concluded that Yugoslavia was "in dissolution" and that the republics – including Croatia – should be recognized as independent states when they asked so.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lawreview.kentlaw.edu/articles/80-1/Hasani%20PDF3.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2008-01-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227044821/http://lawreview.kentlaw.edu/articles/80-1/Hasani%20PDF3.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008 }}</ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181749/http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol3/No1/art13.html |date=30 September 2007 }}</ref> They also assigned these republics territorial integrity. For most of the world, this was a reason to recognize Croatia. However, Serbia did not accept the conclusions of the commission in that period and recognized Croatia only after Croatian military actions (Oluja and Bljesak) and the Dayton agreement. | |||
On 20 November 1991 ] asked ]: "Does the ] population in ] and ], as one of the constituent peoples of Yugoslavia, have the right to ]?" The commission concluded on 11 January 1992 "that the Serbian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia is entitled to all the rights concerned to ] and ]s" and "that the Republics must afford the members of those minorities and ethnic groups all the ]s and fundamental ]s recognized in ], including, where appropriate, the right to choose their ]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://207.57.19.226/journal/Vol3/No1/art12-13.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-12-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529223410/http://207.57.19.226/journal/Vol3/No1/art12-13.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2011 }}</ref>] | |||
===Support and funding=== | |||
], former President of Serbian Krajina, testified to the ] (ICTY) that Krajina was provided with weapons by ]'s government in ], and that Krajina was economically and financially dependent upon Serbia.<ref>Judith Armatta. Twilight of Impunity: The War Crimes Trial of Slobodan Milosevic. Duke University Press, 2010. Pp. 160–163.</ref> Babić testified that Milošević held '']'' control over both the ] and the ] (JNA) during its actions in Krajina via an alternate chain of command through the Serbian police. | |||
==Government== | |||
===Presidents=== | |||
*] (19 December 1991 – 16 February 1992) | |||
*] (16 February 1992 – 26 February 1992) (''acting'') | |||
*] (26 February 1992 – 12 December 1993) | |||
*] (12 December 1993 – 23 January 1994) | |||
*] (23 January 1994 – 7 August 1995) | |||
===Prime ministers=== | |||
*] (19 December 1991 – 16 February 1992) | |||
*{{ill|Risto Matković|sr}} (16 February 1992 – 26 February 1992) (''acting'') | |||
*] (26 February 1992 – 21 April 1993) | |||
*] (21 April 1993 – 27 March 1994) | |||
*] (27 March 1994 – 27 July 1995) | |||
*] (27 July 1995 – 7 August 1995) | |||
===Speaker of the National Assembly=== | |||
*] | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* |
*] | ||
*] | |||
* ] | |||
*] | |||
==Annotations== | |||
{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=upper-alpha}} | |||
{{Cnote2|a|The proper translation from ] ''Srpska Krajina'' is "Serb Krajina".<ref>{{harvnb|Pavkovic|2000}}, {{harvnb|Rašković|1998}}</ref> }} | |||
{{Cnote2 End}} | |||
==References== | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
==Sources== | ==Sources== | ||
;Books | |||
* {{cite book |last=Baker |first=Catherine |date=2015 |title=The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s |publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education |isbn=9781137398994}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Barić|first=Nikica|title=Srpska pobuna u Hrvatskoj 1990-1995|publisher=Golden marketing, Tehnička knjiga|location=Zagreb|year=2005|isbn=953-212-249-4|language=hr}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Dakić|first1=M.|last2=Macura|first2=L.|last3=Žutić|first3=N.|year=1994|title=Српска Краjина: историjски темељи и настанак<!--Srpska Krajina: Istorijski temelji i nastanak-->|publisher=Iskra|location=Knin|isbn=86-82393-01-8}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Horvat |first=Rudolf |title=Najnovije doba hrvatske povijesti |location=Zagreb |date=1906}} | |||
* {{cite book|first=Jovan |last=Ilić|title=The Serbian question in the Balkans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1UtAQAAIAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade|isbn=9788682657019}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Krestić|first=V.|year=1996|title=Državno i istorijsko pravo Hrvatske: koreni zla i sukoba sa Srbima|chapter=Republika Srpska Krajina|location=Topusko|publisher=SKD Sava Mrkalj|pages=95–102}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Novaković|first=Kosta|year=2009|title=Српска Краjина: (успони, падови уздизања)<!--Srpska Krajina: (usponi, padovi, uzdizanja)-->|publisher=SKD Zora|location=Knin|isbn=978-86-83809-54-7}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Pavkovic|first=Aleksandar|title=The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia: Nationalism and War in the Balkans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u3paCwAAQBAJ|year=2000|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-28584-2}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Radan|first1=Peter|last2=Pavkovic|first2=Aleksandar|title=The Ashgate Research Companion to Secession|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-ahAgAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-7652-8}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Rašković|first=Jovo|title=Srpska Krajina, avgust 1995, izgon : žrtve agresije Hrvatske vojske na Republiku Srpsku Krajinu (Oluja) Sjeverna Dalmacija, Lika, Banija, i Kordun|trans-title=Serb Krajina, August 1995, exodus : victims of Croat aggression to the Republic of Serb Krajina (Operation "Storm"), North Dalmatia, Lika, Banija and Kordun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oy_LAAAACAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Svetigora|isbn=978-86-7092-003-3}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Sekulić|first=Milisav|title=Knin je pao u Beogradu|publisher=Nidda Verlag.|year=2000}} | |||
* {{cite book|last=Štrbac|first=Savo|author-link=Savo Štrbac|title=Gone with the Storm: A Chronicle of Ethnic Cleansing of Serbs from Croatia|year=2015|location=Knin, Banja Luka, Beograd|publisher=Grafid, DIC Veritas|isbn=9789995589806|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uSqBnQAACAAJ}} | |||
;Journals | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Pavlaković|first=V.|year=2013|title=Symbols and the culture of memory in Republika Srpska Krajina|journal=Nationalities Papers|volume=41|issue=6|pages=893–909|doi=10.1080/00905992.2012.743511|s2cid=153965465}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last1=Kolstø|first1=P.|last2=Paukovic|first2=D.|year=2014|title=The Short and Brutish Life of Republika Srpska Krajina: Failure of a De Facto State|journal=Ethnopolitics|volume=13|issue=4|pages=309–327|doi=10.1080/17449057.2013.864805|s2cid=144097806}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Vego|first=Marko|date=October 1993|title=The Army of Serbian Krajina|journal=Jane's Intelligence Review|volume=5|issue=10|pages=493–}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Cigar|first=N.|year=1993|title=The Serbo-Croatian war, 1991: Political and military dimensions|journal=The Journal of Strategic Studies|volume=16|issue=3|pages=297–338|doi=10.1080/01402399308437521}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last1=Grandits|first1=H.|last2=Leutloff|first2=C.|year=2003|title=Discourses, Actors, Violence: The Organisation of War-escalation in the Krajina region of Croatia 1990—91|journal=Potentials of Disorder: Explaining Conflict and Stability in the Caucasus and in the Former Yugoslavia|pages=23–45}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Doder|first=D.|year=1993|title=Yugoslavia: new war, old hatreds|journal=Foreign Policy|volume=91|issue=91|pages=3–23|doi=10.2307/1149057|jstor=1149057}} | |||
* {{cite journal|last1=Ashbrook|first1=J.|last2=Bakich|first2=S. D.|year=2010|title=Storming to Partition: Croatia, the United States, and Krajina in the Yugoslav War|journal=Small Wars & Insurgencies|volume=21|issue=4|pages=537–560|doi=10.1080/09592318.2010.518852|s2cid=143824950}} | |||
;Documents | |||
* {{cite book|editor=Jarčević, S.|year=2005|title=Republika Srpska Krajina: državna dokumenta|publisher=Agencija "Miroslav"; Kosmos}} | |||
* {{cite web|title=Final Report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, 28 December 1994: The military structure, strategy and tactics of the warring factions|publisher=UN|url=http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/III.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728082419/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/comexpert/ANX/III.htm|archive-date=28 July 2012}} | |||
;Cleanup | |||
* "Operation Storm – Attack on the Krajina", ''Jane's Intelligence Review'', 1 November 1995 | |||
* {{in lang|sr}} Дакић М. Крајина кроз вијекове: из историjе политичких, националних и људских права српског народа у Хрватскоj. — Београд, 2002. | |||
* {{in lang|sr}} Радуловиħ С. Судбина Краjине. — Београд: Дан Граф, 1996. — 189 с. | |||
* {{in lang|sr}} Радослав И. Чубрило, Биљана Р. Ивковић, Душан Ђаковић, Јован Адамовић, Милан Ђ. Родић и др. Српска Крајина. — Београд: Матић, 2011. — 742 с. | |||
* {{in lang|sr}} Република Српска Краjина: десет година послиjе / . — Београд: Добра Вольа, 2005. — 342 с. — {{ISBN|86-83905-04-7}} | |||
* {{in lang|sr}} Република Српска Краjина: десет година послиjе. Књ. 2 / . — Београд: Добра Вольа, 2005. — 250 с. — {{ISBN|86-83905-05-5}} | |||
* {{in lang|sr}} Штрбац, Саво Рат и ријеч. — Бања Лука: Графид, 2011. — 190 с. — {{ISBN|9789993853749}} | |||
==External links== | |||
* "The Army of Serbian Krajina", ''Jane's Intelligence Review'', ] ] | |||
{{commons category}} | |||
* ''] ]: The military structure, strategy and tactics of the warring factions]'' | |||
* | |||
* "Operation Storm - Attack on the Krajina", ''Jane's Intelligence Review'', ] ] | |||
*{{in lang|hr}} Granić kaže da Haag nema dokumente o agresiji na Hrvatsku? | |||
* '''', ], ] ] | |||
* (English) {{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} A/RES/49/43 The situation in the occupied territories of Croatia | |||
* '''', ] ] | |||
* {{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (from a site run by minister of intelligence of RSK) | |||
* The Thorny Issue of Ethnic Autonomy in Croatia: Serb Leaders and Proposals for Autonomy, Nina Caspersen,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/centres/richinst/profiles/nina-caspersen|title=Richardson Institute for Peace Studies at Lancaster University|access-date=26 December 2014}}</ref> ] (http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2003/nr3/Focus3-2003_Caspersen.pdf) | |||
==Notes== | |||
] | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
] | |||
{{Presidents of Republika Srpska Krajina}} | |||
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{{Prime ministers of Republika Srpska Krajina}} | |||
{{Serbs of Croatia}} | |||
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Republic of Serbian Krajina}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 15:42, 11 December 2024
Proto-state in Croatia (1991–1995)
Republic of Serbian KrajinaРепублика Српска Крајина Republika Srpska Krajina | |
---|---|
1991–1995 | |
Flag Coat of arms | |
Motto: Samo sloga Srbina spasava Само слога Србина спашава "Only Unity Saves the Serbs" | |
Anthem: Bože Pravde Боже правде "God of Justice" Unofficial anthem: Himna Krajini Химна Крајини "Anthem to Krajina" | |
The self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina in 1991 | |
Status | Unrecognized client state of Yugoslavia/Serbia |
Capital | Knin |
Largest city | Vukovar |
Common languages | Serbian |
Religion | Serbian Orthodox |
Government | Semi-presidential republic |
President | |
• 1991–1992 | Milan Babić |
• 1992–1993 | Goran Hadžić |
• 1993–1994 | Milan Babić |
• 1994–1995 | Milan Martić |
Prime Minister | |
• 1991–1992 (first) | Dušan Vještica |
• 1995 (last) | Milan Babić |
Legislature | National Assembly |
Historical era | Yugoslav Wars |
• Log Revolution | 17 August 1990 |
• Constitution adopted | 19 December 1991 |
• Operation Flash | 3 May 1995 |
• Operation Storm | 8 August 1995 |
• Erdut Agreement | 12 November 1995 |
Area | |
1991 | 17,028 km (6,575 sq mi) |
Population | |
• 1991 | 286,716 |
• 1993 | 435,595 |
• 1994 | 430,000 |
Currency | Krajina dinar (1992–1994) Yugoslav dinar (1994–1995) |
Today part of | Croatia |
Area source: Population source: |
The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina (Serbo-Croatian: Република Српска Крајина / Republika Srpska Krajina or РСК / RSK, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sr̩̂pskaː krâjina]), known as the Serbian Krajina (Српска Крајина / Srpska Krajina) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, a territory within the newly independent Republic of Croatia (formerly part of Socialist Yugoslavia), which it defied, and which was active during the Croatian War of Independence (1991–95). It was not recognized internationally. The name Krajina ("Frontier") was adopted from the historical Military Frontier of the Habsburg monarchy (Austria-Hungary), which had a substantial Serb population and existed up to the late 19th century. The RSK government waged a war for ethnic Serb independence from Croatia and unification with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Republika Srpska (in Bosnia and Herzegovina).
The government of Krajina had de facto control over central parts of the territory while control of the outskirts changed with the successes and failures of its military activities. The territory was legally protected by the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR).
Its main portion was overrun by Croatian forces in 1995 and the Republic of Serbian Krajina was ultimately disbanded as a result; a rump remained in eastern Slavonia under UNTAES administration until its peaceful reintegration into Croatia in 1998 under the Erdut Agreement.
Background
The name Krajina (meaning "frontier") stemmed from the Military Frontier which the Habsburg monarchy carved out of parts of the crown lands of Croatia and Slavonia between 1553 and 1578 with a view to defending itself against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. The population was mainly Croats, Serbs and Vlachs who immigrated from nearby parts of the Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Bosnia and Serbia) into the region and helped bolster and replenish the population as well as the garrisoned troops in the fight against the Ottomans. The Austrians controlled the Frontier from military headquarters in Vienna and did not make it a crown land, though it had some special rights in order to encourage settlement in an otherwise deserted, war-ravaged territory. The abolition of the military rule took place between 1869 and 1871. In order to attract Serbs to become part of Croatia, on 11 May 1867, the Sabor solemnly declared that "the Triune Kingdom recognizes the Serbs living in it as a nation identical and equal with the Croatian nation". Subsequently, the Military Frontier was incorporated into Habsburg Croatia on 1 August 1881 when the Ban of Croatia Ladislav Pejačević took over from the Zagreb General Command.
Following the end of World War I in 1918, the regions formerly forming part of the Military Frontier came under the control of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, where they formed part of the Sava Banovina, along with most of the old Croatia-Slavonia. Between the two World Wars, the Serbs of the Croatian and Slavonian Krajina, as well as those of the Bosnian Krajina and of other regions west of Serbia, organized a notable political party, the Independent Democratic Party under Svetozar Pribićević. In the new state there existed much tension between the Croats and Serbs over differing political visions, with the campaign for Croatian autonomy culminating in the assassination of a Croatian leader, Stjepan Radić, in the parliament, and repression by the Serb-dominated security structures.
Between 1939 and 1941, in an attempt to resolve the Croat-Serb political and social antagonism in first Yugoslavia, the Kingdom established an autonomous Banovina of Croatia incorporating (amongst other territories) much of the former Military Frontier as well as parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1941, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia and in the aftermath the Independent State of Croatia (which included the whole of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of Serbia (Eastern Syrmia) as well) was declared. The Germans installed the Ustaše (who had allegedly plotted the assassination of the Serbian King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1934) as rulers of the new country; the Ustaše authorities promptly pursued a genocidal policy of persecution of Serbs, Jews and Croats (from opposition groups), leading to the deaths of over 300,000. During this period, individual Croats coalesced around the ruling authorities or around the communist anti-fascist Partisans. Serbs from around the Knin area tended to join the Chetniks, whilst Serbs from the Banovina and Slavonia regions tended to join the Partisans. Various Chetnik groups also committed atrocities against Croats across many areas of Lika and parts of northern Dalmatia.
At the end of World War II in 1945, the communist-dominated Partisans prevailed and the Krajina region became part of the People's Republic of Croatia until 7 April 1963, when the federal republic changed its name to the Socialist Republic of Croatia. Josip Broz Tito suppressed the autonomous political organizations of the region (along with other movements such as the Croatian Spring); however, the Yugoslav constitutions of 1965 and 1974 did give substantial rights to national minorities - including to the Serbs in SR Croatia.
The Serbian "Krajina" entity to emerge upon Croatia's declaration of independence in 1991 would include three kinds of territories:
- a large section of the historical Military Frontier, in areas with a majority Serbian population;
- areas such as parts of northern Dalmatia, that never formed part of the Frontier but had a majority or a plurality of Serbian population, including the self-proclaimed entity's capital, Knin;
- areas that bordered with Serbia and where Serbs formed a significant minority (Baranya, Vukovar).
Large sections of the historical Military Frontier lay outside of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and contained a largely Croat population - these including much of Lika, the area centered around the city of Bjelovar, central and south-eastern Slavonia.
Creation
See also: Croatian War of IndependenceThe Serb-populated regions in Croatia were of central concern to the Serbian nationalist movement of the late 1980s, led by Slobodan Milošević. In September 1986 the Serbian Academy's memorandum on the status of Serbia and Serbs was partially leaked by a Serbian newspaper. It listed a series of grievances against the Yugoslav federation, claiming that the situation in Kosovo was genocide, and complained about alleged discrimination of Serbs at the hands of the Croatian authorities. Among the claims that it makes is that 'except for the time under the Independent State of Croatia, the Serbs in Croatia have never been as jeopardized as they are today'. Tension was further fueled by the overthrow of Vojvodina and Montenegro's government by Milošević's loyalists, and the abrogation of Kosovo's and Vojvodina's autonomy in 1989, which gave Milošević 4 out of 8 votes on the Yugoslav Federal Presidency, thus gaining the power to block every decision made by the Presidency. Furthermore, a series of Serb nationalist rallies were held in Croatia during 1989, under pressure from Serbia. On 8 July 1989, a large nationalist rally was held in Knin, during which banners threatening JNA intervention in Croatia, as well as Chetnik iconography was displayed. The Croatian pro-independence party victory in 1990 made matters more tense, especially since the country's Serb minority was supported by Milošević. At the time, Serbs comprised about 12.2% (581,663 people) of Croatia's population (1991 census).
Serbs became increasingly opposed to the policies of Franjo Tuđman, elected president of Croatia in April 1990, due to his overt desire for the creation of an independent Croatia. On 30 May 1990, the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) of Jovan Rašković broke all ties to the Croatian parliament. The following June in Knin, the SDS-led Serbs proclaimed the creation of the Association of Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika. In August 1990, the Serbs began what became known as the Log Revolution, where barricades of logs were placed across roads throughout the South as an expression of their secession from Croatia. This effectively cut Croatia in two, separating the coastal region of Dalmatia from the rest of the country. The Constitution of Croatia was passed in December 1990, which reduced the status of Serbs from "constituent" to a "national minority" in the same category as other groups such as Italians and Hungarians. Some would later justify their claim to an independent Serb state by arguing that the new constitution contradicted the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, because, in their view, Croatia was still legally governed by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, although this ignores the fact that Serbia's constitution, promulgated three months before Croatia's, also contained several provisions violating the 1974 Federal Constitution.
Serbs in Croatia had established a Serbian National Council in July 1990 to coordinate opposition to Croatian independence. Their position was that if Croatia could secede from Yugoslavia, then the Serbs could secede from Croatia. Milan Babić, a dentist by profession from the southern town of Knin, was elected president. At his ICTY trial in 2004, he claimed that "during the events , and in particular at the beginning of his political career, he was strongly influenced and misled by Serbian propaganda, which repeatedly referred to the imminent threat of a Croatian genocide perpetrated on the Serbs in Croatia, thus creating an atmosphere of hatred and fear of Croats." The rebel Croatian Serbs established a number of paramilitary militia units under the leadership of Milan Martić, the police chief in Knin.
In August 1990, a referendum was held in Krajina on the question of Serb "sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia. The resolution was confined exclusively to Serbs so it passed by an improbable majority of 99.7%. As expected, it was declared illegal and invalid by the Croatian government, who stated that Serbs had no constitutional right to break away from Croatian legal territory - as well as no right to limit the franchise to one ethnic group.
Babić's administration announced the creation of a Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina (or SAO Krajina) on 21 December 1990. On 16 March 1991, another referendum was held which asked: "Are you in favor of the SAO Krajina joining the Republic of Serbia and staying in Yugoslavia with Serbia, Montenegro and others who wish to preserve Yugoslavia?". With 99.8% voting in favor, the referendum was approved and the Krajina assembly declared that "the territory of the SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified state territory of the Republic of Serbia". On 1 April 1991, it declared that it would secede from Croatia. Other Serb-dominated communities in eastern Croatia announced that they would also join SAO Krajina and ceased paying taxes to the Zagreb government, and began implementing its own currency system, army regiments, and postal service.
Croatia held a referendum on independence on 19 May 1991, in which the electorate—minus many Serbs, who chose to boycott it—voted overwhelmingly for independence with the option of confederate union with other Yugoslav states - with 83 percent turnout, voters approved the referendum by 93 percent. On 25 June 1991, Croatia and Slovenia both declared their independence from Yugoslavia. As the JNA attempted unsuccessfully to suppress Slovenia's independence in the short Slovenian War, clashes between revolting Croatian Serbs and Croatian security forces broke out almost immediately, leaving dozens dead on both sides. Serbs were supported by remnants of the JNA (whose members were now only from Serbia and Montenegro), which provided them weapons. Many Croatians fled their homes in fear or were forced out by the rebel Serbs. The European Union and United Nations unsuccessfully attempted to broker ceasefires and peace settlements.
Around August 1991, the leaders of Serbian Krajina and Serbia allegedly agreed to embark on a campaign which the ICTY prosecutors described as a "joint criminal enterprise" whose purpose "was the forcible removal of the majority of the Croat and other non-Serb population from approximately one-third of the territory of the Republic of Croatia, an area he planned to become part of a new Serb-dominated state." According to testimony given by Milan Babić in his subsequent war crimes trial, during the summer of 1991, the Serbian secret police (under Milošević's command) set up "a parallel structure of state security and the police of Krajina and units commanded by the state security of Serbia". Paramilitary groups such as the Wolves of Vučjak and White Eagles, funded by the Serbian secret police, were also a key component of this structure.
A wider-scale war was launched in August 1991. Over the following months, a large area of territory, amounting to a third of Croatia, was controlled by the rebel Serbs. The Croatian population suffered heavily, fleeing or evicted with numerous killings, leading to ethnic cleansing. The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991 when approximately 80,000 Croats were expelled (and some were killed). Many more died and or were displaced in fighting in eastern Slavonia (this territory along the Croatian/Serbian border was not part of the Krajina, and it was the JNA that was the principal actor in that part of the conflict). The total number of exiled Croats and other non-Serbs range from 170,000 (ICTY) up to a quarter of a million people (Human Rights Watch).
In the latter half of 1991, Croatia was beginning to form an army and their main defenders, the local police, were overpowered by the JNA military who supported rebelled Croatian Serbs. The RSK was located entirely inland, but they soon started advancing deeper into Croatian territory. Among other places, they shelled the Croatian coastal town of Zadar killing over 80 people in nearby areas and damaging the Maslenica Bridge that connected northern and southern Croatia, in the Operation Coast-91. They also tried to overtake Šibenik, but the defenders successfully repelled the attack by JNA, in the Battle of Šibenik. The main city theatre was also bombed by JNA forces. The city of Vukovar, however, was completely devastated by JNA attacks. The city of Vukovar that warded off JNA attacks for months eventually fell, ending the Battle of Vukovar. 2,000 defenders of Vukovar and civilians were killed, 800 went missing and 22,000 were forced into exile. The wounded were taken from Vukovar Hospital to Ovčara near Vukovar where they were executed.
Formal proclamations
On 19 December 1991, the SAO Krajina proclaimed itself the Republic of Serbian Krajina. The Constitution of Serbian Krajina came into effect the same day. On 26 February 1992, the SAO Western Slavonia and SAO Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia were added to the RSK, which initially had only encompassed the territories within the SAO Krajina. The Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina (Srpska Vojska Krajine, SVK) was officially formed on 19 March 1992. The RSK occupied an area of some 17,028 km at its greatest extent.
1992 ceasefire
Under the Vance plan, signed in November 1991, Presidents Tuđman and Milošević agreed to a United Nations peace plan put forward by Cyrus Vance. A final ceasefire agreement, the Sarajevo Agreement, was signed by representatives of the two sides in January 1992, paving the way for the implementation of the Vance plan. Four United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs) were established in Croatian territory which was claimed by RSK, and the plan called for the withdrawal of the JNA from Croatia and for the return of refugees to their homes in the UNPAs.
The JNA officially withdrew from Croatia in May 1992 but much of its weaponry and many of its personnel remained in the Serb-held areas and were turned over to the RSK's security forces. Refugees were not allowed to return to their homes and many of the remaining Croats and other nationalities left in the RSK were expelled or killed in the following months. On 21 February 1992, the creation of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was authorised by the UN Security Council for an initial period of a year, to provide security to the UNPAs.
The agreement effectively froze the front lines for the next three years. Croatia and the RSK had effectively fought each other to a standstill. The Republic of Serbian Krajina was not recognized de jure by any other country or international organization. Nevertheless, it gained support from Serbia's allies, like Russia.
After the ceasefire
UNPROFOR was deployed throughout the region to maintain the ceasefire, although in practice its light armament and restricted rules of engagement meant that it was little more than an observer force. It proved wholly unable to ensure that refugees returned to the RSK. Indeed, the rebel Croatian Serb authorities continued to make efforts to ensure that they could never return, destroying villages and cultural and religious monuments to erase the previous existence of the Croatian inhabitants of the Krajina. Milan Babić later testified that this policy was driven from Belgrade through the Serbian secret police—and ultimately Milošević—who he claimed was in control of all the administrative institutions and armed forces in the Krajina. This would certainly explain why the Yugoslav National Army took the side of the rebelled Croatian Serbs in spite of its claims to be acting as a "peacekeeping" force. Milošević denied this, claiming that Babić had made it up "out of fear".
The Army of Serbian Krajina frequently attacked neighboring Bihać enclave (then in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina) with heavy artillery.
With the creation of new Croatian counties on 30 December 1992, the Croatian government also set aside two autonomous regions (kotar) for ethnic Serbs in the areas of Krajina:
- Autonomous District of Glina (Croatian: Autonomni kotar Glina, Serbian Cyrillic: Аутономни котар Глина)
- Autonomous District of Knin (Croatian: Autonomni kotar Knin, Serbian Cyrillic: Аутономни котар Книн)
However, Serbs considered this too late, as it was not the amount of autonomy they wanted, and by now they had declared de facto independence.
The districts never actually functioned since they were located within the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. The existence of the Autonomous District of Glina was also provided in the draft of the Z-4 plan, that was rejected. After Operation Storm, the application of the law which allowed autonomy would be temporarily suspended. In 2000 this part of the law was formally repealed.
Decline
The partial implementation of the Vance Plan drove a wedge between the governments of the RSK and Serbia, the RSK's principal backer and supplier of fuel, arms, and money. Milan Babić strongly opposed the Vance Plan but was overruled by the RSK's assembly.
On 26 February 1992, Babić was deposed and replaced as President of the RSK by Goran Hadžić, a Milošević loyalist. Babić remained involved in RSK politics but as a considerably weaker figure.
The position of the RSK eroded steadily over the following three years. On the surface, the RSK had all the trappings of a state: army, parliament, president, government and ministries, currency and stamps. However, its economy was wholly dependent on support from the rump Yugoslavia, which had the effect of importing that country's hyperinflation.
The economic situation soon became disastrous. By 1994, only 36,000 of the RSK's 430,000 citizens were employed. The war had severed the RSK's trade links with the rest of Croatia, leaving its few industries idle. With few natural resources of its own, it had to import most of the goods and fuel it required. Agriculture was devastated, and operated at little more than a subsistence level. Professionals went to Serbia or elsewhere to escape the republic's economic hardships. To make matters worse, the RSK's government was grossly corrupt and the region became a haven for black marketeering and other criminal activity. It was clear by the mid-1990s that without a peace deal or support from Yugoslavia the RSK was not economically viable. This was especially evident in Belgrade, where the RSK had become an unwanted economic and political burden for Milošević. Much to his frustration, the rebel Croatian Serbs rebuffed his government's demands to settle the conflict. In July 1992 the RSK issued its own currency, the Krajina dinar (HRKR), in parallel with the Yugoslav dinar. This was followed by the "October dinar" (HRKO), first issued on 1 October 1993 and equal to 1,000,000 Reformed Dinar, and the "1994 dinar", first issued on 1 January 1994, and equal to 1,000,000,000 October dinar. The RSK's weakness also adversely affected its armed forces, the Vojska Srpske Krajine (VSK). Since the 1992 ceasefire agreement, Croatia had spent heavily on importing weapons and training its armed forces with assistance from American contractors. In contrast, the VSK had grown steadily weaker, with its soldiers poorly motivated, trained and equipped. There were only about 55,000 of them to cover a front of some 600 km in Croatia plus 100 km along the border with the Bihać pocket in Bosnia. With 16,000 stationed in eastern Slavonia, only about 39,000 were left to defend the main part of the RSK. Overall, only 30,000 were capable of full mobilization, yet they faced a far stronger Croatian army. Also, political divisions between Hadžić and Babić occasionally led to physical and sometimes even armed confrontations between their supporters; Babić himself was assaulted and beaten in an incident in Benkovac.
In January 1993 the revitalized Croatian army attacked the Serbian positions around Maslenica in southern Croatia which curtailed their access to the sea via Novigrad.
In mid-1993, the RSK authorities started a campaign to formally create a United Serbian Republic.
In a second offensive in mid-September 1993, the Croatian army overran the Medak pocket in southern Krajina in a push to regain Serb-held Croatian territory. The rebel Croatian Serbs brought reinforcements forward fairly quickly, but the strength of the Croatian forces proved superior. The Croatian offensive was halted by a combination of a battalion of Canadian peacekeepers from the second battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) reinforced by a Company of French peacekeepers, combined with international diplomacy. Hadžić sent an urgent request to Belgrade for reinforcements, arms, and equipment. In response, around 4,000 paramilitaries under the command of Vojislav Šešelj (the White Eagles) and "Arkan" (the Serb Volunteer Guard) arrived to bolster the VSK.
General elections were held in the RSK on 12 December 1993, with a second round of the presidential election on 23 January 1994. Martić received 54,000 fewer votes than Babić in the first round, but went on to win the second round with 104,234 votes.
Operation Flash and Storm
Main articles: Operation Flash and Operation StormFollowing the rejection by both sides of the Z-4 plan for reintegration, the RSK's end came in 1995, when Croatian forces gained control of SAO Western Slavonia in Operation Flash (May) followed by the biggest part of occupied Croatia in Operation Storm (August). The Krajina Serb Supreme Defence Council met under president Milan Martić to discuss the situation. A decision was reached at 16:45 to "start evacuating the population unfit for military service from the municipalities of Knin, Benkovac, Obrovac, Drniš and Gračac." The RSK was disbanded and most of its Serb population (from 150,000 to 200,000 people) fled. Only 5,000 to 6,000 people remained, mostly the elderly. Croatian historian Ivo Goldstein wrote, "The reasons for the Serb exodus are complex. Some had to leave because the Serb army had forced them to, while others feared the revenge of the Croatian army or of their former Croat neighbors, whom they had driven away and whose homes they had mostly looted (and it was later shown that this fear was far from groundless)". Most of the refugees fled to today's Serbia, Bosnia, and eastern Slavonia. Some of those who refused to leave were murdered, tortured and forcibly expelled by the Croatian Army and police.
Later events
The parts of the former RSK in eastern Croatia (along with the Danube) remained in place, in what was previously the SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia.
In 1995, Milan Milanović, formerly a Republic of Serbian Krajina official, signed the Erdut Agreement as a representative of the Serbian side. This agreement, co-signed by the representative of the Croatian Government, was sponsored by the United Nations, and it set up a transitional period during which the United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) peacekeeping mission would oversee a peaceful reintegration of this territory into Croatia, starting on 15 January 1996. In 1998, the UNTAES mission was complete and the territory was formally returned to Croatia. Based on the Erdut Agreement, the Joint Council of Municipalities was established in the region in 1997.
After the peaceful reintegration, two Croatian islands on the Danube, the Island of Šarengrad and the Island of Vukovar, remained under Serbian military control. In 2004, the Serbian military was withdrawn from the islands and replaced with Serbian police. The islands remain an open question as the Croatian side insists on applying Badinter Arbitration Committee decisions.
In 1995 a Croatian court sentenced former RSK president Goran Hadžić in absentia to 20 years in prison for rocket attacks on Šibenik and Vodice. In 1999 he was sentenced to an additional 20 years for war crimes in Tenja, near Osijek, and in 2002 Croatia's state attorney brought another indictment against him for the murder of almost 1,300 Croats in Vukovar, Osijek, Vinkovci, Županja and elsewhere. On 4 June 2004, the ICTY indicted him on 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2011 he was arrested and extradited to the Hague, where his initial trial hearing was held on 25 July the same year. In 2014 he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer; he died two years later at the age of 57. The ICTY trial was terminated upon his death.
Former RSK president Milan Babić was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2004 and was the first ever indictee to plead guilty and enter a plea bargain with the prosecution, after which he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. He was charged with five counts of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. After he was sentenced in 2004, Babić was found dead in his prison cell in The Hague in March 2006, in an apparent suicide.
Former RSK president Milan Martić was indicted for war crimes by the ICTY in 2005 was convicted of war crimes on 12 June 2007 and sentenced to 35 years in prison where he was transferred to in 2009. He is serving his sentence in Estonia. According to the ICTY, in the amended indictment, he "helped organize an ethnic cleansing campaign of Croats and other non-Serbs from Krajina and virtually the entire non-Serb population was forcibly removed, deported or killed".
Between 2001 and 2012, the ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač and Ivan Čermak in the Trial of Gotovina et al for their involvement in crimes committed during and in the aftermath of Operation Storm. The indictment and the subsequent trial on charges of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war described several killings, widespread arson and looting committed by Croatian soldiers. In April 2011, Gotovina and Markač were convicted and given prison sentences, while Čermak was acquitted. Gotovina and Markač appealed the verdict and in November 2012 the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY overturned their convictions, acquitting them. Both of them were accused of being part of the "criminal enterprise" but the Court concluded there was no such conspiracy.
After the war, a number of towns and municipalities that had comprised the RSK were designated Areas of Special State Concern.
Demographics
According to the indictment of prosecutor Carla Del Ponte against Slobodan Milošević at the ICTY, the Croat and non-Serb population from the 1991 census was approximately as follows:
Census (1991) | Serbs | Croats | Others | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Later RSK total | 245,800 (52.3%) | 168,000 (35.8%) | 55,900 (11.9%) | 469,700 |
UNPA Sector North and South | 170,100 (67%) | 70,700 (28%) | 13,100 (5%) | 253,900 |
SAO Western Slavonia | 14,200 (60%) | 6,900 (29%) | 2,600 (11%) | 23,700 |
SAO SBWS | 61,500 (32%) | 90,500 (47%) | 40,200 (21%) | 192,200 |
Thus Serbs comprised 52.3% and Croats 35.8% of the population of SAO Krajina respectively in 1991.
According to data set forth at the meeting of the Government of the RSK in July 1992, its ethnic composition was 88% Serbs, 7% Croats, 5% others. As of November 1993, less than 400 ethnic Croats still resided in UNPA Sector South, and between 1,500 and 2,000 remained in UNPA Sector North.
Towns
Towns which were at one point part of RSK or occupied by the RSK's army:
- Beli Manastir
- Benkovac
- Biskupija
- Boričevac
- Borovo
- Cetingrad
- Donji Lapac
- Drniš
- Dubica
- Dvor
- Erdut
- Ervenik
- Glina
- Gračac
- Gvozd
- Jagodnjak
- Jasenovac
- Kistanje
- Knin
- Korenica
- Kostajnica
- Krnjak
- Lovinac
- Majur
- Markušica
- Maslenica
- Negoslavci
- Nunić
- Obrovac
- Okučani
- Petrinja
- Plitvička Jezera
- Plaski
- Rakovica
- Saborsko
- Slunj
- Sveti Rok
- Šodolovci
- Strmica
- Sunja
- Topusko
- Trpinja
- Udbina
- Vojnić
- Vrhovine
- Vrlika
- Vukovar
Status
Serbian Krajina has been described as a "proto-state" and "parastate".
Legal status
During its existence, this entity did not achieve international recognition. On 29 November 1991, the Badinter commission concluded that Yugoslavia was "in dissolution" and that the republics – including Croatia – should be recognized as independent states when they asked so. They also assigned these republics territorial integrity. For most of the world, this was a reason to recognize Croatia. However, Serbia did not accept the conclusions of the commission in that period and recognized Croatia only after Croatian military actions (Oluja and Bljesak) and the Dayton agreement.
On 20 November 1991 Lord Carrington asked Badinter commission: "Does the Serbian population in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as one of the constituent peoples of Yugoslavia, have the right to self-determination?" The commission concluded on 11 January 1992 "that the Serbian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia is entitled to all the rights concerned to minorities and ethnic groups" and "that the Republics must afford the members of those minorities and ethnic groups all the human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized in international law, including, where appropriate, the right to choose their nationality".
Support and funding
Milan Babić, former President of Serbian Krajina, testified to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) that Krajina was provided with weapons by Slobodan Milošević's government in Serbia, and that Krajina was economically and financially dependent upon Serbia. Babić testified that Milošević held de facto control over both the Army of Serbian Krajina and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) during its actions in Krajina via an alternate chain of command through the Serbian police.
Government
Presidents
- Milan Babić (19 December 1991 – 16 February 1992)
- Mile Paspalj (16 February 1992 – 26 February 1992) (acting)
- Goran Hadžić (26 February 1992 – 12 December 1993)
- Milan Babić (12 December 1993 – 23 January 1994)
- Milan Martić (23 January 1994 – 7 August 1995)
Prime ministers
- Dušan Vještica (19 December 1991 – 16 February 1992)
- Risto Matković [sr] (16 February 1992 – 26 February 1992) (acting)
- Zdravko Zečević (26 February 1992 – 21 April 1993)
- Đorđe Bjegović (21 April 1993 – 27 March 1994)
- Borislav Mikelić (27 March 1994 – 27 July 1995)
- Milan Babić (27 July 1995 – 7 August 1995)
Speaker of the National Assembly
See also
Annotations
- The proper translation from Serbian Srpska Krajina is "Serb Krajina".
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- Ashbrook, J.; Bakich, S. D. (2010). "Storming to Partition: Croatia, the United States, and Krajina in the Yugoslav War". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 21 (4): 537–560. doi:10.1080/09592318.2010.518852. S2CID 143824950.
- Documents
- Jarčević, S., ed. (2005). Republika Srpska Krajina: državna dokumenta. Agencija "Miroslav"; Kosmos.
- "Final Report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, 28 December 1994: The military structure, strategy and tactics of the warring factions". UN. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012.
- Cleanup
- "Operation Storm – Attack on the Krajina", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 November 1995
- (in Serbian) Дакић М. Крајина кроз вијекове: из историjе политичких, националних и људских права српског народа у Хрватскоj. — Београд, 2002.
- (in Serbian) Радуловиħ С. Судбина Краjине. — Београд: Дан Граф, 1996. — 189 с.
- (in Serbian) Радослав И. Чубрило, Биљана Р. Ивковић, Душан Ђаковић, Јован Адамовић, Милан Ђ. Родић и др. Српска Крајина. — Београд: Матић, 2011. — 742 с.
- (in Serbian) Република Српска Краjина: десет година послиjе / . — Београд: Добра Вольа, 2005. — 342 с. — ISBN 86-83905-04-7
- (in Serbian) Република Српска Краjина: десет година послиjе. Књ. 2 / . — Београд: Добра Вольа, 2005. — 250 с. — ISBN 86-83905-05-5
- (in Serbian) Штрбац, Саво Рат и ријеч. — Бања Лука: Графид, 2011. — 190 с. — ISBN 9789993853749
External links
- The Homeland War
- (in Croatian) Slobodna Dalmacija Granić kaže da Haag nema dokumente o agresiji na Hrvatsku?
- (English) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations A/RES/49/43 The situation in the occupied territories of Croatia
- Map (from a site run by minister of intelligence of RSK)
- The Thorny Issue of Ethnic Autonomy in Croatia: Serb Leaders and Proposals for Autonomy, Nina Caspersen, London School of Economics and Political Science (http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2003/nr3/Focus3-2003_Caspersen.pdf)
Notes
- "Richardson Institute for Peace Studies at Lancaster University". Retrieved 26 December 2014.
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