storm - Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog ...

Th e overthrow of the political leadership of Montenegro in January 1989 marked the end
of tolerance. Th e Slovenes reacted strongly and the rest of Yugoslavia found itself in a
position where it had to opt for one of the sides in the confl ict. 31 In such circumstances,
the Serbian attempt to destabilize Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina, the republics with
a substantial number of Serbs, failed to produce the desired results. In mid-1990 the
Serbian rebellion broke out in Croatia; the (then) Croatian militia was unable to nip
it in the bud because it was prevented to do so by the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA).
Th anks to the JNA the Serbs were able to spread the rebellion, and by the end of 1990
this led to the creation of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina. 32 During 1991 two
similar regions appeared in Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem: the Serbian Region of Slavonia,
Baranja and Srem on 26 February 1991, and SAO Western Slavonia in August 1991. By
the very end of 1991 they united into the Republic of Serbian Krajina (Republika Srpska
Krajina, RSK), a self-proclaimed para-state entity. 33
In accordance with the 1990 Constitution of the Republic of Croatia the Serbs were
granted all civil rights, but also the status of an ethnic minority, which did not please
them. 34 During 1991, aft er a series of crises and failed attempts to reach an agreement
about a new Yugoslavia, the SAO Krajina began to expand to areas with a majority Serbian
population or with a high percentage of Serbs. Th e open war of the JNA and the rebel
Serbs against Croatia started in the summer of 1991. By the end of 1991 the JNA managed
to gain control, i.e., occupy almost one-fourth of the territory of the Republic of Croatia.
Th e Republic of Serbian Krajina was proclaimed in that territory on 19 December 1991.
Th e rebel Serbs were faced with the problem of retaining control over these areas. A
solution was found in the international community and its peace-keeping forces. Th e
truce signed between the JNA and the Republic of Croatia in Sarajevo on 2 January 1992
permitted the deployment of UN peace-keeping forces. It soon became obvious that the
Croats had entertained excessive and unrealistic expectations with respect to the “blue
31 D. Jović, «Jugoslavija: država koja je odumrla» (Yugoslavia: Th e State that Withered Away).
32 Davor Marijan, «Smrt oklopne brigade» (Death of the Armoured Brigade), Naklada Zoro, Zagreb-Sara-
jevo, 2002, 6-7.
33 M.M., «Proglašena Republika Srpska Krajina» (Th e Republic of Serbian Krajina has been Proclaimed),
Srpski glas, Glina, 29 December 1991, 1.
34 Th e Historical Foundations of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia of 22 December 1990 state that
“the Republic of Croatia is hereby established as the national state of the Croatian nation and the state of
members of other nations and minorities who are its citizens: Serbs, Muslims, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks,
Italians, Hungarians, Jews and others, who are guaranteed equality with citizens of Croatian nationality and
the realization of ethnic rights in accordance with the democratic norms of the United Nations Organization
and the free world countries”. In commenting the claims of some authors that the Constitution in question
was the fi rst “to remove overtones of dual sovereignty and unequivocally proclaimed the Croatian nation as
the holder of the sovereignty of Croatia”, Z. Radelić notes that already the wording of the 1974 Constitution
of the Socialist Republic of Croatia - “the Socialist Republic of Croatia is the national state of the Croatian
nation, the state of the Serbian nation in Croatia and the state of other nations and minorities living in it”
does not permit the unequivocal interpretation that the Serbs were elevated to the status of a constituent
nation in Croatia, and that it is obvious “only that they were recognized a special status in relation to other
nations and minorities”. Cf. Zdenko Radelić, Davor Marijan, Nikica Barić, Albert Bing and Dražen Živić,
“Stvaranje hrvatske države i Domovinski rat” (Th e Creation of the Croatian State and the Homeland War),
Školska knjiga, Hrvatski institut za povijest, Zagreb, 2006, 94.
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