Croatian War of IndependenceThe Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat operations in Croatia by 1992. In Croatia, the war is primarily referred to as the "Homeland War" (Domovinski rat) and also as the "Greater-Serbian Aggression" (Velikosrpska agresija).
Breakup of YugoslaviaAfter a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart, but the unresolved issues caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav Wars. The wars primarily affected Bosnia and Herzegovina, neighbouring parts of Croatia and, some years later, Kosovo. After the Allied victory in World War II, Yugoslavia was set up as a federation of six republics, with borders drawn along ethnic and historical lines: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Serbs of CroatiaThe Serbs of Croatia (Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs (hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croatia. The community is predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christian by religion, as opposed to the Croats who are Catholic. In some regions of modern-day Croatia, mainly in southern Dalmatia, ethnic Serbs possibly have been present from the Early Middle Ages. Serbs from modern-day Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina started actively migrating to Croatia in several migration waves after 1538 when the Emperor Ferdinand I granted them the right to settle on the territory of the Military Frontier.
Split, CroatiaSplit (ˈsplɪt; splît; historically known as Spalato (from Venetian: Spàlato, and Italian: ˈspalato); see other names) is the second-largest city of Croatia after the capital Zagreb, the largest city in Dalmatia and the largest city on the Croatian coast. It lies on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and is spread over a central peninsula and its surroundings. An intraregional transport hub and popular tourist destination, the city is linked to the Adriatic islands and the Apennine Peninsula.
ŠibenikŠibenik (ʃîbeniːk), historically known as Sebenico (sebeˈniːko), is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the third-largest city in the Dalmatian region. As of 2011, the city has 34,302 inhabitants, while the municipality has 46,332 inhabitants. There are multiple interpretations of how Šibenik was named.
ZadarZadar (USˈzɑːdɑːr , zâdar; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ˈdzaːra; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serves as the seat of Zadar County and of the wider northern Dalmatian region. The city proper covers with a population of 75,082 , making it the second-largest city of the region of Dalmatia and the fifth-largest city in the country.
Operation StormOperation Storm (Операција Олуја) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), and a strategic victory for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH). The HV was supported by the Croatian special police advancing from the Velebit Mountain, and the ARBiH located in the Bihać pocket, in the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina's (ARSK) rear.
CroatsThe Croats (ˈkroʊæts; Hrvati xr̩ʋǎːti) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
VukovarVukovar (ʋûkoʋaːr) (Вуковар, Vukovár, Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern regions of Syrmia and Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of Vukovar-Syrmia County and the second largest city in the county after Vinkovci. The city's registered population was 22,616 in the 2021 census, with a total of 23,536 in the municipality. The name Vukovar means 'town on the Vuka River' (Vuko from the Vuka River, and vár from the Hungarian word for 'fortress').
ChetniksThe Chetniks (Četnici, tʃɛ̂tniːtsi; Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist movement and guerrilla force in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. Although it was not a homogeneous movement, it was led by Draža Mihailović. While it was anti-Axis in its long-term goals and engaged in marginal resistance activities for limited periods, it also engaged in tactical or selective collaboration with Axis forces for almost all of the war.