GetWiki
Republic of Serbian Krajina
ARTICLE SUBJECTS
being →
database →
ethics →
fiction →
history →
internet →
language →
linux →
logic →
method →
news →
policy →
purpose →
religion →
science →
software →
truth →
unix →
wiki →
ARTICLE TYPES
essay →
feed →
help →
system →
wiki →
ARTICLE ORIGINS
critical →
forked →
imported →
original →
Republic of Serbian Krajina
please note:
- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
{{Short description|Proto-state in Croatia (1991â1995)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
factoids | |
---|---|
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.NEWS, Kolar-DimitrijeviÄ, Mira, 2018, The history of Money in Croatia (1527-1941), 38, Croatian National Bank,weblink The population was mainly Croats, Serbs and VlachsBOOK, Frucht, Richard, Eastern Europe, An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture, 2004, ABC-CLIO, 1576078000, 422, BOOK, Stoianovich, Traian, Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe, 1992, Routledge, 1563240335, 152, Traian Stoianovich, BOOK, Hálfdanarson, Guðmundur,weblink Racial Discrimination and Ethnicity in European History, 2003, PLUS, Università di Pisa, 9788884922809, 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 PejaÄeviÄ took over from the Zagreb General Command.{{sfn|Horvat|1906|pp=289â290}}File: Militargrenze, Wojwodowena und Banat.jpg|left|thumb|Map of original Krajina, the Military FrontierMilitary FrontierFollowing 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 PribiÄeviÄ. 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 RadiÄ, 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 UstaÅ¡e (who had allegedly plotted the assassination of the Serbian King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1934) as rulers of the new country; the UstaÅ¡e authorities promptly pursued a genocidal policy of persecution of Serbs, Jews 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 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.BOOK, Cooke, Philip, Shepherd, Ben H., European Resistance in the Second World War, Pen and Sword, 2013, 9781473833043,weblink 222, 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).
Creation
{{see also|Croatian War of Independence}}
(File:CroatianSerbs.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Serb-populated areas in Croatia (according to the 1981 census))
(File:Map of Republika Srpska Krajina.png|thumb|200px|right|Map of Serbian Krajina.)
(File:Republika srpska krajina regije.png|right|thumb|200px|Geographical regions, including main cities and towns, of Serbian Krajina.)
The Serb-populated regions in Croatia were of central concern to the Serbian nationalist movement of the late 1980s, led by Slobodan MiloÅ¡eviÄ. 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'.BOOK, Glaurdic, Josip, The Hour of Europe: Western Powers and the Breakup of Yugoslavia, 2011, Yale University Press, London, 978-0300166293, 17â18, Tension was further fuelled by the overthrow of Vojvodina and Montenegro's government by MiloÅ¡eviÄ's loyalists, and the abrogation of Kosovo's and Vojvodina's autonomy in 1989, which gave MiloÅ¡eviÄ 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, stunning the Croatian public.BOOK, Glaurdic, Josip, The Hour of Europe: Western Powers and the Breakup of Yugoslavia, 2011, Yale University Press, London, 978-0300166293, 51, The Croatian pro-independence party victory in 1990 made matters more tense, especially since the country's Serb minority was supported by MiloÅ¡eviÄ. At the time, Serbs comprised about 12.2% (581,663 people) of Croatia's population (1991 census).JOURNAL, KovjaniÄ, Aleksandar,weblink 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, Nationalities Papers, 2023, 51, 2, 370â386, AleksandarKovjaniÄ, Cambridge University Press, 10.1017/nps.2021.72, 245363869, English, Serbs became increasingly opposed to the policies of Franjo TuÄman, 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 RaÅ¡koviÄ 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.BOOK, Ramet, Sabrina, The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building And Legitimation, 1918-2005, 2006, Indiana University Press, 0253346568, 383â384, 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 BabiÄ, 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 [of 1990â1992], 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."Milan Babic â Sentencing Judgement {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312040615weblink |date=12 March 2009 }}. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 8 July 2009. The rebel Croatian Serbs established a number of paramilitary militia units under the leadership of Milan MartiÄ, 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.BabiÄ'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".Prosecutor v. Milan MartiÄ Judgement {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804015846weblink |date=4 August 2012 }}. p. 46. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009.Prosecutor v. Milan MartiÄ Judgement. 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".)Prosecutor v. Milan MartiÄ Judgement {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804015846weblink|date=4 August 2012}}. p. 46. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009. On 1 April 1991, it declared that it would secede from Croatia.NEWS, The New York Times,weblink Rebel Serbs Complicate Rift on Yugoslav Unity, Chuck Sudetic, 2 April 1991, 11 December 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130518205440weblink">weblink 18 May 2013, live, 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 electorateâminus many Serbs, who chose to boycott itâvoted 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.
(File:Map of Republika Srpska Krajina.png|thumb|200px|right|Map of Serbian Krajina.)
(File:Republika srpska krajina regije.png|right|thumb|200px|Geographical regions, including main cities and towns, of Serbian Krajina.)
(File:Demographics of RSK.jpg|left|thumb|280px|Change in the ethnic composition of Krajina from April 1991 to July 1992. Serbs increased from 52.3% to 88% of the total population)
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."Judge Rodrigues confirms Indictment charging Slobodan Milosevic with Crimes committed in Croatia {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527111122weblink |date=27 May 2012 }}. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009. According to testimony given by Milan BabiÄ in his subsequent war crimes trial, during the summer of 1991, the Serbian secret police (under MiloÅ¡eviÄ's command) set up "a parallel structure of state security and the police of Krajina and units commanded by the state security of Serbia".Judith Armatta. Twilight of Impunity: The War Crimes Trial of Slobodan Milosevic. Duke University Press, 2010. Pp. 160â164. Paramilitary groups such as the Wolves of VuÄjak and White Eagles, funded by the Serbian secret police, were also a key component of this structure.WEB,weblink ICTY - TPIY, 26 December 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090307000520weblink">weblink 7 March 2009, live, 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.ICTY evidence; Babic pleads guilty to crimes {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109115648weblink |date=9 November 2006 }} The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991 when approximately 80,000 Croats were expelled (and some were killed).Croatian refugees {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315041821weblink |date=15 March 2008 }} 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)NEWS,weblink Milosevic, Indicted Again, Is Charged With Crimes in Croatia, Marlise Simons, 26 December 2010, 10 October 2001, The New York Times,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130520112601weblink">weblink 20 May 2013, live, up to a quarter of a million people (Human Rights Watch).WEB,weblink Milosevic: Important New Charges on Croatia, 29 October 2010, 21 October 2001, Human Rights Watch,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20101225134329weblink">weblink 25 December 2010, live, 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 Å ibenik, but the defenders successfully repelled the attack by JNA, in the Battle of Å ibenik. The main city theatre was also bombed by JNA forces.Sibenik theatre destroyed {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609212406weblink |date=9 June 2007 }} The city of Vukovar, however, was completely devastated by JNA attacks.Tanner, Marcus (1997) Croatia: A Nation Forged in War. 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.WEB,weblink Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 26 December 2014,weblink 27 December 2014, live, Croatia marks massacre in Vukovar {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070117021118weblink |date=17 January 2007 }}. BBC (18 November 2006). Retrieved 13 September 2009. The wounded were taken from Vukovar Hospital to OvÄara near Vukovar where they were executed.Partos, Gabriel (13 June 2003). Vukovar massacre: What happened {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809191257weblink |date=9 August 2012 }}. BBC. Retrieved 13 September 2009.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.Text of the Constitution {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013163458weblink |date=13 October 2012 }} {{in lang|sr}} 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 km2 at its greatest extent.1992 ceasefire
(File:Map of war in Yugoslavia, 1993.png|thumb|300px|right|War in former Yugoslavia, 1993)Under the Vance plan, signed in November 1991, Presidents TuÄman and MiloÅ¡eviÄ 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.NEWS,weblink BBC News, Babic admits persecuting Croats, 27 January 2004, 22 May 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111120171806weblink">weblink 20 November 2011, live, 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 BabiÄ later testified that this policy was driven from Belgrade through the Serbian secret policeâand ultimately MiloÅ¡eviÄâwho he claimed was in control of all the administrative institutions and armed forces in the Krajina.WEB,weblink Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 26 December 2014,weblink 27 December 2014, live, 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. MiloÅ¡eviÄ denied this, claiming that BabiÄ had made it up "out of fear".The Army of Serbian Krajina frequently attacked neighboring BihaÄ enclave (then in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina) with heavy artillery.WEB,weblink The Daily Gazette - Google News Archive Search, 26 December 2014, (File:Kotar Glina i Knin.jpg|right|thumb|Two proposed autonomous districts of Croatia are shown in dark green.)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 (, )
- Municipalities de jure within the Autonomous District of Glina were Glina, Vrginmost, Hrvatska Kostajnica, Dvor and VojniÄ.JOURNAL,weblink hr, Ustavni zakon o ljudskim pravima i slobodama i pravima etniÄkih i nacionalnih zajednica ili manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj, Parliament of Croatia, Narodne novine, 34/92, Zagreb, 3 June 1992, 7 August 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150120212522weblink">weblink 20 January 2015, live,
- Autonomous District of Knin (, )
Decline
File:Goran Hadzic 1992 2.jpg|right|150px|thumb|1992: RSK president Goran HadžiÄGoran HadžiÄThe 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 BabiÄ strongly opposed the Vance Plan but was overruled by the RSK's assembly.On 26 February 1992, BabiÄ was deposed and replaced as President of the RSK by Goran HadžiÄ, a MiloÅ¡eviÄ loyalist. BabiÄ 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.Milosevic and the JNAweblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929152435weblink |date=29 September 2007 }} This was especially evident in Belgrade, where the RSK had become an unwanted economic and political burden for MiloÅ¡eviÄ. 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.Testimony from RSK generalsweblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707220538weblink |date=7 July 2007 }} 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 BihaÄ 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 HadžiÄ and BabiÄ occasionally led to physical and sometimes even armed confrontations between their supporters; BabiÄ himself was assaulted and beaten in an incident in Benkovac.Republika Hrvatska i Domovinski rat 1990. â 1995. dokumenti {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522135646weblink |date=22 May 2011 }} {{in lang|hr}}WEB,weblink U ljeto '91. pripremana i pobuna u Gorskom kotaru, Vjesnik, 22 October 2005, Željko, KruÅ¡elj, hr, 5 August 2009, {{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}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. HadžiÄ sent an urgent request to Belgrade for reinforcements, arms, and equipment. In response, around 4,000 paramilitaries under the command of Vojislav Å eÅ¡elj (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. MartiÄ received 54,000 fewer votes than BabiÄ in the first round, but went on to win the second round with 104,234 votes.NEWS, 2006-03-06, Milan Babic: Croatian Serb leader, en-GB,weblink 2022-12-10, BOOK, Logos, Aleksandar,weblink Istorija Srba 1 - Dopuna 4; Istorija Srba 5, 2019, 978-86-85117-46-6, Belgrade, 127, WEB, 1994/01/23 18:30 THE ELECTION SHOCK IN KRAJINA,weblink 2022-12-10, www.aimpress.ch, WEB, January 17, 1994 Vreme News Digest Agency No 121,weblink 2022-12-10, www.scc.rutgers.edu, WEB, 27 January 1994, Ðилан ÐаÑÑÐ¸Ñ Ð¿ÑедÑедник,weblink dead,weblink 6 July 2022, 15 August 2022, www.glassrpske.com,Operation Flash and Storm
File:Martic-order1995.jpg|thumb|left|The order to evacuate ethnic Serbs from RSK territory, issued by the Krajina Defence Council and signed by Milan MartiÄMilan MartiÄFollowing 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 MartiÄ 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, DrniÅ¡ and GraÄac." The RSK was disbanded and most of its Serb population (from 150,000 to 200,000 people) fled.Amnesty International, Croatia: Operation "Storm" â still no justice ten years on {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122060046weblink |date=22 November 2018 }} , 04.08.2005 Only 5,000 to 6,000 people remained, mostly the elderly.Goldstein, Ivo (1999). Croatia: A History. p. 253â254. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. {{ISBN|1-85065-525-1}}. 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.Between 2001 and 2012, the ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen MarkaÄ and Ivan Äermak 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 MarkaÄ were convicted and given prison sentences, while Äermak was acquitted.Gotovina indictmentweblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926145426weblink |date=26 September 2007 }} Gotovina and MarkaÄ appealed the verdict and in November 2012 the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY overturned their convictions, acquitting them.NEWS,weblink Associated Press, ABC News, Tribunal Overturns Convictions of Croat Generals, 16 November 2012, 2012-11-16,weblink 20 November 2012, live,Later events
(File:Hrvatsko Podunavlje.png|thumb|right|Map of the remaining Krajina territory in eastern Croatia)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 MilanoviÄ, 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 Å arengrad 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.NEWS,weblink sr, VeÄernje novosti, Ko muti Dunav, 12 December 2004, 2012-11-19, In 1995 a Croatian court sentenced former RSK president Goran HadžiÄ in absentia to 20 years in prison for rocket attacks on Å ibenik and Vodice. In 1999 he was sentenced to an additional 20 years for war crimes in Tenja, near Osijek,WEB,weblink hr, HadžiÄ ne može biti izruÄen Hrvatskoj, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty â Croatian edition, 21 July 2011, 22 July 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110812113821weblink">weblink 12 August 2011, live, 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.WEB,weblink War crimes fugitive: Goran Hadzic, Setimes.com, 25 July 2008, 21 July 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110820162759weblink">weblink 20 August 2011, live, In 2011 he was arrested and extradited to the Hague, where his initial trial hearing was held on 25 July the same year.WEB,weblink Serb war crimes suspect appears at UN court, Al Jazeera English, 26 December 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110726123100weblink">weblink 26 July 2011, live, 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 MiloÅ¡eviÄ at the ICTY, the Croat and non-Serb population from the 1991 census was approximately as follows:The Prosecutor of the Tribunial Against Slobodan Milosevic {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615080838weblink |date=15 June 2012 }}. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 13 September 2009.{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"!Census (1991)! class="background: red; color: purple" |Serbs! class="background: red; color: white" |Croats! class="background: red; color: white" |Others! class="background: red; color: white" |Total
and between 1,500 and 2,000 remained in UNPA Sector North.{{citation |url =weblink |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 =weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110426094130weblink">weblink |archive-date = 26 April 2011 |url-status = live }}
Towns
Towns which were at one point part of RSK or occupied by the RSK's army:{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}{{Div col|colwidth=10em}}- Beli Manastir
- Benkovac
- Biskupija
- BoriÄevac
- Borovo
- Cetingrad
- Donji Lapac
- Drniš
- Dubica
- Dvor
- Erdut
- Ervenik
- Glina
- GraÄac
- Gvozd
- Jagodnjak
- Jasenovac
- Kistanje
- Knin
- Korenica
- Kostajnica
- Krnjak
- Lovinac
- Majur
- Markušica
- Maslenica
- Negoslavci
- NuniÄ
- Obrovac
- OkuÄani
- Petrinja
- PlitviÄka Jezera
- Plaski
- Rakovica
- Saborsko
- Slunj
- Sveti Rok
- Å odolovci
- Strmica
- Sunja
- Topusko
- Trpinja
- Udbina
- VojniÄ
- Vrhovine
- Vrlika
- Vukovar
Status
Serbian Krajina has been described as a "proto-state"BOOK, B. Crawford, Power and German Foreign Policy: Embedded Hegemony in Europe,weblink 28 September 2007, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 978-0-230-59833-1, 84â, BOOK, Roberta Cohen, Francis M. Deng, The Forsaken People: Case Studies of the Internally Displaced,weblink 1 December 2010, Brookings Institution Press, 978-0-8157-1498-9, 195â, and "(wikt:parastate|parastate)".BOOK, Norman L. Cigar, Paul Williams, Indictment at the Hague: The Milosevic Regime and Crimes of the Balkan Wars,weblink registration, June 2002, NYU Press, 978-0-8147-1626-7, 15â,Legal status
(File:Takozvana Republika Srpska Krajina.JPG|thumb|Republic of Serbian Krajina documents)
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 â including Croatia â should be recognized as independent states when they asked so.WEB,weblink Archived copy, 2008-01-12, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080227044821weblink">weblink 27 February 2008, The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee: A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181749weblink |date=30 September 2007 }} 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".WEB,weblink Archived copy, 2011-12-18, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110529223410weblink">weblink 29 May 2011, (File:Krajinski dinar.JPG|thumb|Krajina dinar)Support and funding
Milan BabiÄ, former President of Serbian Krajina, testified to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) that Krajina was provided with weapons by Slobodan MiloÅ¡eviÄ's government in Serbia, and that Krajina was economically and financially dependent upon Serbia.Judith Armatta. Twilight of Impunity: The War Crimes Trial of Slobodan Milosevic. Duke University Press, 2010. Pp. 160â163. BabiÄ testified that MiloÅ¡eviÄ 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 BabiÄ (19 December 1991 â 16 February 1992)
- Mile Paspalj (16 February 1992 â 26 February 1992) (acting)
- Goran HadžiÄ (26 February 1992 â 12 December 1993)
- Milan BabiÄ (12 December 1993 â 23 January 1994)
- Milan MartiÄ (23 January 1994 â 7 August 1995)
Prime Ministers
- DuÅ¡an VjeÅ¡tica (19 December 1991 â 16 February 1992)
- Risto MatkoviÄ (16 February 1992 â 26 February 1992) (acting)
- Zdravko ZeÄeviÄ (26 February 1992 â 21 April 1993)
- ÄorÄe BjegoviÄ (21 April 1993 â 27 March 1994)
- Borislav MikeliÄ (27 March 1994 â 27 July 1995)
- Milan BabiÄ (27 July 1995 â 7 August 1995)
Speaker of the National Assembly
See also
Annotations
{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=upper-alpha}}{{Cnote2|a|The proper translation from Serbian Srpska Krajina is "Serb Krajina".{{harvnb|Pavkovic|2000}}, {{harvnb|RaÅ¡koviÄ|1998}} }}{{Cnote2 End}}References
{{reflist}}Sources
- Books
- BOOK, Baker, Catherine, 2015, The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, Macmillan International Higher Education, 9781137398994,
- BOOK, BariÄ, Nikica, Srpska pobuna u Hrvatskoj 1990-1995, Golden marketing, TehniÄka knjiga, Zagreb, 2005, 953-212-249-4, hr,
- BOOK, DakiÄ, M., Macura, L., ŽutiÄ, N., 1994, СÑпÑка ÐÑаjина: иÑÑоÑиjÑки ÑемеÑи и наÑÑанак, Iskra, Knin, 86-82393-01-8,
- BOOK, Horvat, Rudolf, Najnovije doba hrvatske povijesti, Zagreb, 1906,
- BOOK, Jovan, IliÄ, The Serbian question in the Balkans,weblink 1995, Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, 9788682657019,
- BOOK, KrestiÄ, V., 1996, Državno i istorijsko pravo Hrvatske: koreni zla i sukoba sa Srbima, Republika Srpska Krajina, Topusko, SKD Sava Mrkalj, 95â102,
- BOOK, NovakoviÄ, Kosta, 2009, СÑпÑка ÐÑаjина: (ÑÑпони, падови ÑздизаÑа), SKD Zora, Knin, 978-86-83809-54-7,
- BOOK, Pavkovic, Aleksandar, The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia: Nationalism and War in the Balkans,weblink 2000, Springer, 978-0-230-28584-2,
- BOOK, Radan, Peter, Pavkovic, Aleksandar, The Ashgate Research Companion to Secession,weblink 2013, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 978-1-4094-7652-8,
- BOOK, RaÅ¡koviÄ, Jovo, Srpska Krajina, avgust 1995, izgon : žrtve agresije Hrvatske vojske na Republiku Srpsku Krajinu (Oluja) Sjeverna Dalmacija, Lika, Banija, i Kordun, Serb Krajina, August 1995, exodus : victims of Croat aggression to the Republic of Serb Krajina (Operation "Storm"), North Dalmatia, Lika, Banija and Kordun,weblink 1998, Svetigora, 978-86-7092-003-3,
- BOOK, SekuliÄ, Milisav, Knin je pao u Beogradu, Nidda Verlag., 2000,
- BOOK, Å trbac, Savo, Savo Å trbac, Gone with the Storm: A Chronicle of Ethnic Cleansing of Serbs from Croatia, 2015, Knin, Banja Luka, Beograd, Grafid, DIC Veritas, 9789995589806,weblink
- Journals
- JOURNAL, PavlakoviÄ, V., 2013, Symbols and the culture of memory in Republika Srpska Krajina, Nationalities Papers, 41, 6, 893â909, 10.1080/00905992.2012.743511, 153965465,
- JOURNAL, Kolstø, P., Paukovic, D., 2014, The Short and Brutish Life of Republika Srpska Krajina: Failure of a De Facto State, Ethnopolitics, 13, 4, 309â327, 10.1080/17449057.2013.864805, 144097806,
- JOURNAL, Vego, Marko, October 1993, The Army of Serbian Krajina, Jane's Intelligence Review, 5, 10, 493â,
- JOURNAL, Cigar, N., 1993, The SerboâCroatian war, 1991: Political and military dimensions, The Journal of Strategic Studies, 16, 3, 297â338, 10.1080/01402399308437521,
- JOURNAL, Grandits, H., Leutloff, C., 2003, Discourses, Actors, Violence: The Organisation of War-escalation in the Krajina region of Croatia 1990â91, Potentials of Disorder: Explaining Conflict and Stability in the Caucasus and in the Former Yugoslavia, 23â45,
- JOURNAL, Doder, D., 1993, Yugoslavia: new war, old hatreds, Foreign Policy, 91, 91, 3â23, 10.2307/1149057, 1149057,
- JOURNAL, Ashbrook, J., Bakich, S. D., 2010, Storming to Partition: Croatia, the United States, and Krajina in the Yugoslav War, Small Wars & Insurgencies, 21, 4, 537â560, 10.1080/09592318.2010.518852, 143824950,
- Documents
- BOOK, JarÄeviÄ, S., 2005, Republika Srpska Krajina: državna dokumenta, Agencija "Miroslav"; Kosmos,
- WEB, Final Report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, 28 December 1994: The military structure, strategy and tactics of the warring factions, UN,weblink dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120728082419weblink">weblink 28 July 2012,
- Cleanup
- "Operation Storm â Attack on the Krajina", Jane's Intelligence Review, 1 November 1995
- {{in lang|sr}} ÐÐ°ÐºÐ¸Ñ Ð. ÐÑаÑина кÑоз виÑекове: из иÑÑоÑиjе полиÑиÑÐºÐ¸Ñ , наÑÐ¸Ð¾Ð½Ð°Ð»Ð½Ð¸Ñ Ð¸ ÑÑдÑÐºÐ¸Ñ Ð¿Ñава ÑÑпÑког наÑода Ñ Ð¥ÑваÑÑкоj. â ÐеогÑад, 2002.
- {{in lang|sr}} РадÑловиħ С. СÑдбина ÐÑаjине. â ÐеогÑад: Ðан ÐÑаÑ, 1996. â 189 Ñ.
- {{in lang|sr}} РадоÑлав Ð. ЧÑбÑило, ÐиÑана Ð . ÐвковиÑ, ÐÑÑан ÐаковиÑ, Ðован ÐдамовиÑ, Ðилан Ð. Ð Ð¾Ð´Ð¸Ñ Ð¸ дÑ. СÑпÑка ÐÑаÑина. â ÐеогÑад: ÐаÑиÑ, 2011. â 742 Ñ.
- {{in lang|sr}} РепÑблика СÑпÑка ÐÑаjина: деÑÐµÑ Ð³Ð¾Ð´Ð¸Ð½Ð° поÑлиjе / [ÑÑедник ÐеÑко ÐÑÑÐ¸Ñ ÐиÑина]. â ÐеогÑад: ÐобÑа ÐолÑа, 2005. â 342 Ñ. â {{ISBN|86-83905-04-7}}
- {{in lang|sr}} РепÑблика СÑпÑка ÐÑаjина: деÑÐµÑ Ð³Ð¾Ð´Ð¸Ð½Ð° поÑлиjе. ÐÑ. 2 / [ÑÑедник ÐеÑко ÐÑÑÐ¸Ñ ÐиÑина]. â ÐеогÑад: ÐобÑа ÐолÑа, 2005. â 250 Ñ. â {{ISBN|86-83905-05-5}}
- {{in lang|sr}} ШÑÑбаÑ, Саво Ð Ð°Ñ Ð¸ ÑиÑеÑ. â ÐаÑа ÐÑка: ÐÑаÑид, 2011. â 190 Ñ. â {{ISBN|9789993853749}}
External links
{{commons category}}- The Homeland War
- {{in lang|hr}} Slobodna Dalmacija GraniÄ kaže da Haag nema dokumente o agresiji na Hrvatsku?
- (English) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} A/RES/49/43 The situation in the occupied territories of Croatia
- Map{{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,WEB,weblink Richardson Institute for Peace Studies at Lancaster University, 26 December 2014, London School of Economics and Political Science weblink
Notes
{{Reflist}}{{Presidents of Republika Srpska Krajina}}{{Prime ministers of Republika Srpska Krajina}}{{Serbs of Croatia}}{{Yugoslav Wars}}{{Authority control}}{{coord missing|Croatia}}- content above as imported from Wikipedia
- "Republic of Serbian Krajina" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 2:28pm EDT - Wed, May 15 2024
- "Republic of Serbian Krajina" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 2:28pm EDT - Wed, May 15 2024
[ this remote article is provided by Wikipedia ]
LATEST EDITS [ see all ]
GETWIKI 23 MAY 2022
The Illusion of Choice
Culture
Culture
GETWIKI 09 JUL 2019
Eastern Philosophy
History of Philosophy
History of Philosophy
GETWIKI 09 MAY 2016
GetMeta:About
GetWiki
GetWiki
GETWIKI 18 OCT 2015
M.R.M. Parrott
Biographies
Biographies
GETWIKI 20 AUG 2014
GetMeta:News
GetWiki
GetWiki
© 2024 M.R.M. PARROTT | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED