Fighting in Yugoslavia 1991 1995. What do we know about the Yugoslav war

inter-ethnic war in Yugoslavia and NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The reason for the war was the destruction of Yugoslav statehood (by mid-1992, the federal authorities had lost control of the situation), caused by the conflict between the federal republics and various ethnic groups, as well as attempts by the political "top" to revise the existing borders between the republics.

War in Croatia (1991-1995). In February 1991, the Sabor of Croatia adopted a resolution on “disengagement” from the SFRY, and the Serbian National Council of the Serbian Krajina (an autonomous Serbian region within Croatia) adopted a resolution on “disengagement” from Croatia and remaining within the SFRY. Mutual forcing of passions, persecution of the Serbian Orthodox Church caused the first wave of refugees - 40 thousand Serbs were forced to leave their homes. In July, a general mobilization was announced in Croatia, and by the end of the year, the number of Croatian armed formations reached 110 thousand people. Ethnic cleansing began in Western Slavonia. Serbs were completely expelled from 10 cities and 183 villages, and partially from 87 villages.

On the part of the Serbs, the formation of a system of territorial defense and the armed forces of Krajina began, a significant part of which were volunteers from Serbia. Units of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) entered the territory of Croatia and by August 1991 drove out volunteer Croatian units from the territory of all Serbian regions. But after the signing of a truce in Geneva, the JNA stopped helping the Krajina Serbs, and a new offensive by the Croats forced them to retreat. From spring 1991 to spring 1995. Krajina was partially taken under the protection of the Blue Helmets, but the demand of the UN Security Council for the withdrawal of Croatian troops from the zones controlled by peacekeepers was not fulfilled. The Croats continued to take active military actions with the use of tanks, artillery, rocket launchers. As a result of the war in 1991-1994. 30 thousand people died, up to 500 thousand people became refugees, direct losses amounted to more than 30 billion dollars. In May-August 1995, the Croatian army carried out a well-prepared operation to return Krajina to Croatia. Several tens of thousands of people died during the hostilities. 250 thousand Serbs were forced to leave the republic. In total for 1991-1995. more than 350 thousand Serbs left Croatia.

War in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991-1995). On October 14, 1991, in the absence of Serb deputies, the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed the independence of the republic. On January 9, 1992, the Assembly of the Serbian People proclaimed the Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the SFRY. In April 1992, a "Muslim putsch" took place - the seizure of police buildings and the most important objects. Muslim armed formations were opposed by the Serbian Volunteer Guard and volunteer detachments. The Yugoslav army withdrew its units, and then was blocked by the Muslims in the barracks. For 44 days of the war, 1320 people died, the number of refugees amounted to 350 thousand people.

The United States and a number of other states have accused Serbia of fomenting the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the OSCE ultimatum, the Yugoslav troops were withdrawn from the territory of the republic. But the situation in the republic has not stabilized. A war broke out between Croats and Muslims with the participation of the Croatian army. The leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into independent ethnic groups.

On March 18, 1994, with the mediation of the United States, a Muslim-Croat federation and a well-armed joint army were created, which began offensive operations with the support of NATO air forces, inflicting bombing attacks on Serbian positions (with the authorization of the UN Secretary General). The contradictions between the Serbian leaders and the Yugoslav leadership, as well as the blockade of heavy weapons by the "blue helmets" of the Serbs, put them in a difficult situation. In August-September 1995, NATO air strikes, which destroyed Serbian military installations, communications centers and air defense systems, prepared a new offensive for the Muslim-Croatian army. On October 12, the Serbs were forced to sign a ceasefire agreement.

By Resolution 1031 of December 15, 1995, the UN Security Council instructed NATO to form a peacekeeping force to end the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was the first ever NATO-led ground operation outside its area of ​​responsibility. The role of the UN was reduced to the approval of this operation. The composition of the peacekeeping multinational force included 57,300 people, 475 tanks, 1,654 armored vehicles, 1,367 guns, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, 200 combat helicopters, 139 combat aircraft, 35 ships (with 52 carrier-based aircraft) and other weapons. It is believed that by the beginning of 2000 the goals of the peacekeeping operation were basically achieved - a ceasefire had come. But the full agreement of the conflicting parties did not take place. The problem of refugees remained unresolved.

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina claimed more than 200,000 lives, of which more than 180,000 were civilians. Germany alone spent 320,000 refugees (mostly Muslims) on maintenance from 1991 to 1998. about 16 billion marks.

War in Kosovo and Metohija (1998-1999). Since the second half of the 1990s, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began to operate in Kosovo. In 1991-1998 There were 543 clashes between Albanian militants and Serbian police, 75% of which took place in five months of last year. To stop the wave of violence, Belgrade sent police units numbering 15 thousand people and about the same number of military personnel, 140 tanks and 150 armored vehicles to Kosovo and Metohija. In July-August 1998, the Serbian army managed to destroy the main strongholds of the KLA, which controlled up to 40% of the region's territory. This predetermined the intervention of NATO member states, who demanded the cessation of the actions of Serbian forces under the threat of bombing Belgrade. Serbian troops were withdrawn from the province and KLA militants re-occupied a significant part of Kosovo and Metohija. The forcible expulsion of the Serbs from the region began.

In March 1999, in violation of the UN Charter, NATO launched a "humanitarian intervention" against Yugoslavia. In Operation Allied Force, 460 combat aircraft were used at the first stage; by the end of the operation, the figure had increased by more than 2.5 times. The strength of the NATO ground grouping was increased to 10 thousand people with heavy armored vehicles and tactical missiles in service. Within a month from the beginning of the operation, the NATO naval grouping was increased to 50 ships equipped with sea-based cruise missiles and 100 carrier-based aircraft, and then increased several times more (for carrier-based aviation - 4 times). In total, 927 aircraft and 55 ships (4 aircraft carriers) participated in the NATO operation. NATO troops were served by a powerful group of space assets.

Yugoslav ground troops By the beginning of the NATO aggression, there were 90 thousand people and about 16 thousand people of the police and security forces. The Yugoslav army had up to 200 combat aircraft, about 150 air defense systems with limited combat capabilities.

NATO used 1,200-1,500 high-precision sea and air-based cruise missiles to attack 900 targets in the Yugoslav economy. During the first stage of the operation, these means destroyed oil industry Yugoslavia, 50% of the ammunition industry, 40% of the tank and automobile industries, 40% of oil storage facilities, 100% of strategic bridges across the Danube. From 600 to 800 sorties per day were carried out. In total, 38,000 sorties were made during the operation, about 1,000 air-launched cruise missiles were used, more than 20,000 bombs and guided missiles were dropped. 37,000 uranium projectiles were also used, as a result of which 23 tons of depleted uranium-238 were sprayed over Yugoslavia.

An important component of aggression was information war, including a powerful effect on Information Systems Yugoslavia in order to destroy information sources and undermine the combat control system and information isolation not only of the troops, but also of the population. The destruction of television and radio centers cleared information space for broadcasting station "Voice of America".

According to NATO, the bloc lost 5 aircraft, 16 unmanned aircraft in the operation. aircraft and 2 helicopters. According to the Yugoslav side, 61 NATO aircraft, 238 cruise missiles, 30 unmanned aerial vehicles and 7 helicopters ( independent sources give the numbers 11, 30, 3 and 3 respectively).

The Yugoslav side in the first days of the war lost a significant part of its aviation and air defense systems (70% of mobile air defense systems). The forces and means of air defense were preserved due to the fact that Yugoslavia refused to conduct an air defensive operation.

More than 2,000 people died as a result of NATO bombing civilians, more than 7,000 people were injured, 82 bridges were destroyed and damaged, 422 assignments of educational institutions, 48 ​​medical facilities, the most important objects life support and infrastructure, more than 750 thousand inhabitants of Yugoslavia became refugees, without necessary conditions life left 2.5 million people. The total material damage from NATO aggression amounted to over $100 billion.

June 10, 1999 general secretary NATO suspended operations against Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav leadership agreed to withdraw military and police forces from Kosovo and Metohija. On June 11, the NATO Rapid Response Force entered the territory of the region. By April 2000, 41,000 KFOR troops were stationed in Kosovo and Metohija. But this did not stop inter-ethnic violence. In the year after the end of NATO aggression, more than 1,000 people were killed in the region, more than 200,000 Serbs and Montenegrins and 150,000 representatives of other ethnic groups were expelled, about 100 churches and monasteries were burned or damaged.

In 2002, the NATO Prague Summit was held, which legalized any operations of the alliance outside the territories of its member countries "wherever it is required." The summit documents did not mention the need to authorize the UN Security Council to use force.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Accused of war crimes committed during the armed conflict on the territory of Croatia in 1991-1995.

The collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in the early 1990s was accompanied by civil wars and ethnic conflicts with intervention foreign states. Fighting in varying degrees and in different time affected all six republics former Yugoslavia. Total number The number of victims of conflicts in the Balkans since the early 1990s has exceeded 130,000. The material damage amounts to tens of billions of dollars.

Conflict in Slovenia(June 27 - July 7, 1991) became the most transient. The armed conflict, known as the Ten-Day War or the Slovenian War of Independence, began after the declaration of independence by Slovenia on June 25, 1991.

Units of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), which launched an offensive, faced fierce resistance from local self-defense units. According to the data of the Slovenian side, the losses of the JNA amounted to 45 people killed and 146 wounded. About five thousand military personnel and employees federal services were taken prisoner. The losses of the Slovenian Self-Defense Forces amounted to 19 killed and 182 wounded. Also killed 12 citizens of foreign countries.

The war ended with the signing of the EU-brokered Brioni Agreement on July 7, 1991, by which the JNA pledged to end fighting on the territory of Slovenia. Slovenia suspended for three months the entry into force of the declaration of independence.

Conflict in Croatia(1991-1995) is also associated with the declaration of independence by this republic on June 25, 1991. During the armed conflict, which in Croatia is called the Patriotic War, Croatian forces opposed the JNA and formations of local Serbs, supported by the authorities in Belgrade.

In December 1991, the independent Republic of Serbian Krajina was proclaimed with a population of 480 thousand people (91% - Serbs). Thus, Croatia lost a significant part of its territory. In the next three years, Croatia intensively strengthened its regular army, participated in civil war in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995) and carried out limited military operations against Serbian Krajina.

In February 1992, the UN Security Council sent a UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to Croatia. Initially, UNPROFOR was seen as a temporary formation to create the conditions necessary for negotiations on a comprehensive settlement of the Yugoslav crisis. In June 1992, after the conflict intensified and spread to BiH, the mandate and strength UNPROFOR has been expanded.

In August 1995, the Croatian army deployed large-scale operation"Storm" and in a matter of days broke through the defense of the Krajina Serbs. The fall of Krajina resulted in the exodus from Croatia of almost the entire Serbian population, which was 12% before the war. Having achieved success on their territory, the Croatian troops entered Bosnia and Herzegovina and, together with the Bosnian Muslims, launched an offensive against the Bosnian Serbs.

The conflict in Croatia was accompanied by mutual ethnic cleansing of the Serbian and Croatian populations. During this conflict, according to estimates, 20-26 thousand people died (mostly Croats), about 550 thousand became refugees, with a population of about 4.7 million people in Croatia. The territorial integrity of Croatia was finally restored in 1998.

The largest and fiercest was war in Bosnia and Herzegovina(1992-1995) with the participation of Muslims (Boshnak), Serbs and Croats. The escalation of tension followed the independence referendum held in that republic on February 29-March 1, 1992, with a boycott by the majority of Bosnian Serbs. The conflict involved the JNA, the Croatian army, mercenaries from all sides, as well as NATO armed forces.

The Dayton Agreement, initialed on November 21, 1995 at the US military base in Dayton, Ohio, and signed on December 14, 1995 in Paris by Bosnian Muslim leader Aliya Izetbegovic, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman put an end to the conflict. The agreement determined the post-war structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina and provided for the entry of an international peacekeeping contingent under NATO command of 60,000 people.

Immediately prior to the development of the Dayton Agreement, in August-September 1995, NATO aircraft carried out the "Deliberate Force" air operation against the Bosnian Serbs. This operation played a role in changing the military situation in favor of the Muslim-Croat forces, who launched an offensive against the Bosnian Serbs.

The Bosnian war was accompanied by mass ethnic cleansing and reprisals against civilians. During this conflict, about 100 thousand people (mostly Muslims) died, another two million became refugees, out of the pre-war population of BiH of 4.4 million people. Before the war, Muslims made up 43.6% of the population, Serbs 31.4%, Croats 17.3%.

The damage from the war amounted to tens of billions of dollars. Economy and social sphere BiH were almost completely destroyed.

armed conflict in southern edge Serbia Kosovo and Metohija(1998-1999) was associated with a sharp aggravation of contradictions between Belgrade and Kosovo Albanians (now 90-95% of the population of the province). Serbia launched a large-scale military operation against the militants of the Albanian Liberation Army Kosovo (KLA), seeking independence from Belgrade. After the failure of the attempt to reach peace agreements in Rambouillet (France), in early 1999, NATO countries led by the United States began massive bombardments of the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). The NATO military operation, undertaken unilaterally, without the sanction of the UN Security Council, lasted from March 24 to June 10, 1999. Large-scale ethnic cleansing was cited as the reason for the intervention of NATO troops.

On June 10, 1999, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1244, which put an end to hostilities. The resolution provided for the entry of the UN administration and the international peacekeeping contingent under NATO command (49.5 thousand people at the initial stage). The document provided for the determination at a later stage of the final status of Kosovo.

During the Kosovo conflict and NATO bombing, an estimated 10,000 people (mostly Albanians) died. About a million people became refugees and displaced persons, out of a pre-war population of Kosovo of 2 million people. Most Albanian refugees, unlike Serb refugees, have returned to their homes.

On February 17, 2008, Kosovo's parliament unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. The self-proclaimed state was recognized by 71 countries out of 192 UN member countries.

In 2000-2001 there was a sharp aggravation of the situation in southern Serbia, in the communities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medveja, the majority of whose population is Albanian. The clashes in southern Serbia are known as the Presevo Valley conflict.

Albanian fighters from the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedzhi and Buyanovac fought for the separation of these territories from Serbia. The escalation took place in a 5-kilometer "ground security zone" created in 1999 on the territory of Serbia as a result of the Kosovo conflict in accordance with the Kumanovo military-technical agreement. Under the agreement, the Yugoslav side did not have the right to keep army and security forces in the NZB, with the exception of the local police, who were allowed to carry only small arms.

The situation in southern Serbia stabilized after Belgrade and NATO reached an agreement in May 2001 on the return of the Yugoslav army contingent to the "ground security zone." Agreements were also reached on an amnesty for militants, the formation of a multinational police force, and the integration of the local population into public structures.

During the crisis in southern Serbia, several Serbian military personnel and civilians are estimated to have died, as well as several dozen Albanians.

In 2001 there was armed conflict in Macedonia with the participation of the Albanian National Liberation Army and the regular army of Macedonia.

In the winter of 2001, Albanian militants began military guerrilla actions, seeking independence. northwestern regions country populated predominantly by Albanians.

The confrontation between the Macedonian authorities and the Albanian militants was put to an end by the active intervention of the European Union and NATO. The Ohrid Agreement was signed, which provided Albanians in Macedonia (20-30% of the population) with limited legal and cultural autonomy(official status of the Albanian language, amnesty for militants, Albanian police in Albanian areas).

Died as a result of the conflict different estimates, more than 70 Macedonian troops and 700 to 800 Albanians.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti

Civil war in the former Socialist Republic Yugoslavia was a series of armed ethnic conflicts that eventually led to the complete collapse of the country in 1992. Territorial claims different peoples, which were part of the republic until that moment, and the sharp interethnic confrontation demonstrated a certain artificiality of their unification under the socialist banner of the power, which was called Yugoslavia.

Yugoslav Wars

It is worth noting that the population of Yugoslavia was very diverse. Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Hungarians, Romanians, Turks, Bosnians, Albanians, Montenegrins lived on its territory. All of them were unevenly distributed among the 6 republics of Yugoslavia: Bosnia and Herzegovina (one republic), Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia.

The so-called "10-day war in Slovenia", unleashed in 1991, laid the foundation for prolonged hostilities. The Slovenes demanded recognition of the independence of their republic. During the hostilities from the Yugoslav side, 45 people were killed, 1.5 hundreds were injured. From Slovenian - 19 killed, about 2 hundred wounded. 5 thousand soldiers of the Yugoslav army were taken prisoner.

This was followed by a longer (1991-1995) war for the independence of Croatia. Its secession from Yugoslavia was followed by armed conflicts already within the new independent republic between the Serb and Croat populations. The Croatian war claimed the lives of more than 20 thousand people. 12 thousand - from the Croatian side (moreover, 4.5 thousand are civilians). Hundreds of thousands of buildings were destroyed, and all material damage is estimated at 27 billion dollars.

Almost in parallel with this, another civil war broke out inside Yugoslavia, which was falling apart into its components - the Bosnian (1992-1995). Several ethnic groups took part in it at once: Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims and the so-called autonomist Muslims living in the west of Bosnia. Over 100 thousand people were killed in 3 years. The material damage is colossal: 2,000 km of roads were blown up, 70 bridges were demolished. The railroad has been completely destroyed. 2/3 of the buildings are destroyed and unusable.

In the war-torn territories, concentration camps were opened (on both sides). During the hostilities, egregious cases of terror occurred: mass rape Muslim women, ethnic cleansing, during which several thousand Bosnian Muslims were killed. All those killed were civilians. Croatian militants shot even 3-month-old children.

Crisis in the countries of the former socialist bloc

If you do not go into the intricacies of all interethnic and territorial claims and grievances, then you can give approximately the following description of the described civil wars: the same thing happened with Yugoslavia that happened at the same time with Soviet Union. The countries of the former socialist bloc experienced an acute crisis. The socialist doctrine of "friendship of fraternal peoples" ceased to operate, and everyone wanted independence.

The Soviet Union in terms of armed clashes and the use of force in comparison with Yugoslavia literally "got off with a slight fright." The collapse of the USSR was not as bloody as it was in the Serb-Croat-Bosnian region. Following the Bosnian War, protracted armed confrontations began in Kosovo, Macedonia and Southern Serbia (or the Presevo Valley) on the territory of the former Republic of Yugoslavia. In total, the civil war in the former Yugoslavia lasted 10 years, until 2001. The victims number in the hundreds of thousands.

The reaction of the neighbors

This war was characterized by exceptional cruelty. Europe, guided by the principles of democracy, initially tried to keep aloof. The former "Yugoslavs" had the right to find out their territorial claims themselves and to sort things out within the country. At first, the Yugoslav army tried to resolve the conflict, but after the collapse of Yugoslavia itself, it was abolished. In the first years of the war, the Yugoslav armed forces also showed inhuman cruelty.

The war has dragged on too long. Europe and, above all, the United States decided that such a tense and prolonged confrontation could threaten the security of other countries. The mass ethnic cleansings, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people, caused particular indignation in the world community. In response to them, in 1999, NATO began to bomb Yugoslavia. The Russian government was unambiguously opposed to such a solution to the conflict. President Yeltsin said that NATO aggression could push Russia to take more decisive action.

But after the collapse of the Union, only 8 years have passed. Russia itself was greatly weakened. The country simply did not have the resources to unleash the conflict, and there were no other levers of influence yet. Russia was not able to help the Serbs, and NATO was well aware of this. The opinion of Russia was simply ignored then, because it weighed too little in the political arena.

The political confrontation between such superpowers as the USA and the USSR, which lasted from the mid-40s to the early 90s of the last century, and never developed into a real military conflict, led to the emergence of such a term as the Cold War. Yugoslavia is a former socialist which began to disintegrate almost simultaneously with main reason, which served as an impetus for the beginning of the military conflict, was the desire of the West to establish its influence in those territories that previously belonged to the USSR.

The war in Yugoslavia consisted of a whole series of armed conflicts that lasted for 10 years - from 1991 to 2001, and eventually led the state to disintegration, as a result of which several independent states were formed. Here the hostilities were of an interethnic nature, where Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Macedonia participated. The war in Yugoslavia began because of ethnic and religious considerations. These events that took place in Europe became the bloodiest since 1939-1945.

Slovenia

The war in Yugoslavia began with an armed conflict on June 25 - July 4, 1991. The course of events originates from the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Slovenia, as a result of which hostilities broke out between it and Yugoslavia. The leadership of the republic took control of all borders, as well as air space over the country. Local military units began to prepare to capture the JNA barracks.

The Yugoslav People's Army met fierce resistance from local troops. Barricades were hastily erected and the paths followed by the JNA units were blocked. Mobilization was announced in the republic, and its leaders turned to some European countries for help.

The war ended as a result of the signing of the Brioni Agreement, which obliged the JNA to end the armed conflict, and Slovenia had to suspend the signing of a declaration of independence for three months. Losses from the Yugoslav army amounted to 45 people killed and 146 wounded, and from the Slovenian, respectively, 19 and 182.

Soon the administration of the SFRY was forced to admit defeat and come to terms with an independent Slovenia. In conclusion, the JNA withdrew troops from the territory of the newly formed state.

Croatia

After Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia, the Serbian part of the population living in this territory tried to create a separate country. They motivated their desire to secede by the fact that human rights were allegedly constantly violated here. To do this, the separatists began to create the so-called self-defense units. Croatia regarded this as an attempt to join Serbia and accused its opponents of expansion, as a result of which large-scale hostilities began in August 1991.

Over 40% of the country's territory was covered by war. The Croats pursued the goal of freeing themselves from the Serbs and expelling the JNA. Volunteers, wishing to gain the long-awaited freedom, united in detachments of guards and did their best to achieve independence for themselves and their families.

Bosnian War

1991-1992 marked the beginning of the path of liberation from the crisis of Bosnia and Herzegovina, into which Yugoslavia dragged it. This time the war affected not only one republic, but also neighboring lands. As a result, this conflict has attracted the attention of NATO, the EU and the UN.

This time, hostilities took place between Bosnian Muslims and their co-religionists who are fighting for autonomy, as well as Croats and Serb armed groups. At the beginning of the uprising, the JNA was also involved in the conflict. A little later, NATO forces joined, mercenaries and volunteers from different sides.

In February 1992, a proposal was put forward to divide this republic into 7 parts, two of which were to go to Croats and Muslims, and three to Serbs. This agreement was not approved by the head of the Bosnian forces. Croatian and Serbian nationalists said that this was the only chance to end the conflict, after which the Civil War in Yugoslavia continued, attracting the attention of almost all international organizations.

The Bosnians united with the Muslims, thanks to which Bosnia and Herzegovina was created. In May 1992, the ARBiH became the official armed forces of the future independent state. Gradually, hostilities ceased due to the signing of the Dayton Agreement, which predetermined the constitutional structure of a modern independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Operation Deliberate Force

It received this code name aerial bombardment positions of the Serbs in the military conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was carried out by NATO. The reason for the start of this operation was the explosion in 1995 on the territory of the Markale market. It was not possible to determine the perpetrators of terrorism, but NATO blamed the Serbs for what happened, who categorically refused to withdraw their weapons from Sarajevo.

Thus, the history of the war in Yugoslavia continued with Operation Deliberate Force on the night of August 30, 1995. Its purpose was to reduce the possibility of a Serbian assault on the safe zones that NATO had established. Aviation of Great Britain, the USA, Germany, France, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands began to strike at the positions of the Serbs.

Within two weeks, more than three thousand sorties of NATO aircraft were made. The result of the bombing was the destruction of radar installations, warehouses with ammunition and weapons, bridges, telecommunications links and other vital infrastructure. And, of course, the main goal was achieved: the Serbs left the city of Sarajevo along with heavy equipment.

Kosovo

The war in Yugoslavia continued with the armed conflict that broke out between the FRY and the Albanian separatists in 1998. The inhabitants of Kosovo sought to gain independence. A year later, NATO intervened in the situation, as a result of which an operation called "Allied Force" began.

This conflict was systematically accompanied by human rights violations, which led to numerous casualties and a massive flow of migrants - a few months after the start of the war, there were about 1 thousand dead and wounded, as well as more than 2 thousand refugees. The result of the war was a UN resolution in 1999, according to which the prevention of a resumption of fire and the return of Kosovo to Yugoslav rule were guaranteed. The Security Council ensured public order, oversight of demining, demilitarization of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) and Albanian armed groups.

Operation Allied Force

The second wave of the invasion of the North Atlantic Alliance in the FRY took place from March 24 to June 10, 1999. The operation took place during the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Later confirmed the responsibility of the security services of the FRY for committed crimes against the Albanian population. In particular, during the first operation "Deliberate Force".

Yugoslav authorities testified to 1.7 thousand dead citizens, 400 of whom were children. About 10 thousand people were seriously injured, and 821 were missing. The signing of the Military-Technical Agreement between the JNA and the North Atlantic Alliance put an end to the bombing. NATO forces and the international administration took control of the region. A little later, these powers were transferred to ethnic Albanians.

Southern Serbia

Conflict between an illegal armed group called the "Liberation Army of Medveji, Presev and Bujanovac" and FR Yugoslavia. The peak of activity in Serbia coincided with the aggravation of the situation in Macedonia.

The wars in the former Yugoslavia almost stopped after some agreements were reached between NATO and Belgrade in 2001, which guaranteed the return of Yugoslav troops to the ground security zone. In addition, agreements were signed on the formation of police forces, as well as on amnesty for militants who decided to voluntarily surrender.

The confrontation in the Presevo Valley claimed the lives of 68 people, 14 of whom were police officers. Albanian terrorists carried out 313 attacks, the victims of which were 14 people (9 of them were saved, and the fate of four remains unknown to this day).

Macedonia

The cause of the conflict in this republic is no different from previous clashes in Yugoslavia. The confrontation took place between the Albanian separatists and the Macedonians throughout almost the entire 2001.

The situation began to escalate in January, when the government of the republic witnessed frequent cases of aggression against the military and police. Since the Macedonian security service did not take any action, the population threatened to purchase weapons on their own. After that, from January to November 2001, constant clashes between Albanian groups and Macedonians took place. The bloodiest events took place on the territory of the city of Tetovo.

As a result of the conflict, Macedonian casualties numbered 70, and Albanian separatists - about 800. The battle ended with the signing of the Ohrid Agreement between Macedonia and Albanian forces, which led the republic to victory in the struggle for independence and the transition to establishing a peaceful life. The war in Yugoslavia, the chronicle of which officially ends in November 2001, actually continues to this day. Now it has the character of all sorts of strikes and armed clashes in former republics FRY.

The results of the war

AT post-war period The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was created. This document restored justice to the victims of conflicts in all republics (except Slovenia). Specific individuals, and not groups, who were directly involved in crimes against humanity were found and punished.

During 1991-2001 about 300 thousand bombs were dropped throughout the territory of the former Yugoslavia and about 1 thousand rockets were fired. In the struggle of individual republics for their independence, NATO played a big role, which intervened in time in the arbitrariness of the Yugoslav authorities. The war in Yugoslavia, the years and events of which claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, should serve as a lesson for society, since even in our modern life it is necessary not only to appreciate, but also to maintain such a fragile world peace with all our might.

The collapse of Yugoslavia. Causes of the Serbo-Croatian conflict

Naturally, the enmity between the Serbs did not arise by itself; Serbs in the territory of modern Croatia lived compactly with early XIV century. The sharp increase in the number of Serbs in these territories was caused by the settlement of Serb refugees from the territories occupied by Ottoman Empire and the formation of the Military Frontier by the Austrian Habsburgs. After the abolition of the "military border" and the inclusion of "krajina" in the Croatian and Hungarian lands, interethnic strife began to grow, especially between Serbs and Croats, and soon the chauvinist movement "Frankivists" (according to their founder Frank) appeared. Since 1918, Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, although during the Second World War there was an Independent State of Croatia, which collaborated with Nazi Germany and carried out the genocide of the Serbs. The Serbian issue was resolved according to the principle: "destroy a third of the Serbs, expel a third, rebaptize a third." All this led to the death of hundreds of thousands of Serbs, the vast majority of whom died not at the hands of foreign occupiers, but from the Croatian-Muslim troops of the NDH (primarily in the NDH camps in the largest of which - Jasenovets - several hundred thousand Serbs who gathered by the Ustasha died all over villages and towns of the NDH) At the same time, detachments of Serbian Chetnik nationalists, created in May 1941, in a number of cases acted on the side of the Third Reich and were engaged in ethnic cleansing of Balkan Muslims and Croats.

Against the background of the aggravation of interethnic relations, changes were made to the Constitution of Croatia, according to which "Croatia is the state of the Croatian people." In response to this, the Serbs living within the administrative boundaries of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, fearing a repetition of the 1941-1945 genocide, plan to create the Serbian Autonomous Region - SAO (Srpska Autonomous Region). It was created under the leadership of Milan Babich - SDS Krajina. In April 1991, the Krajina Serbs decided to secede from Croatia and join the Republika Srpska, which was then confirmed in a referendum held in Krajina (August 19). Serbian National Council of the Serbian Krajina - creates a resolution on "disarmament" with Croatia and preservation as part of the SFRY. On September 30, this autonomy is proclaimed, and on December 21, its status of SAO (Serbian Autonomous region) - Krajina with its center in Knin. On January 4, the SAO Krajina creates its own department of internal affairs, while the Croatian government dismisses all policemen who obey it.

The mutual incitement of passions, the persecution of the Serbian Orthodox Church caused the first wave of refugees - 40 thousand Serbs were forced to leave their homes. In July, a general mobilization was announced in Croatia, and by the end of the year, the number of Croatian armed formations reached 110 thousand people. Ethnic cleansing began in Western Slavonia. Serbs were completely expelled from 10 cities and 183 villages, and partially from 87 villages.

In Croatia, there was practically a war between Serbs and Croats, whose actual beginning came in the battles for Borovo Selo. This Serbian village was the target of an attack by Croatian forces from Vukovar. The situation for the local Serbs was difficult and they could not wait for help from the JNA. Nevertheless, the local Serbian leadership, primarily the head of the TO, Vukashin Shoshkovchanin, himself turned to a number of opposition parties SNO and SRS with a request to send volunteers, which for those times was a revolutionary step. For the then society, the consciousness of some kind of volunteers fighting outside the ranks of the JNA and the police with the Croatian forces under the Serbian national banner turned out to be a shock, but this was precisely what served as one of the most important factors in the rise of the Serbian, national movement. The authorities in Belgrade hastened to abandon the volunteers, and the Minister of the Interior of Serbia called them adventurers, but in fact there was support from the authorities, or rather from the special services. Thus, the volunteer detachment "Stara Srbia", assembled in Nis under the command of Branislav Vakic, was provided with uniforms, food and transport by the local mayor Mile Ilic, one of the leading people at that time. SPS (Socialist Party of Serbia), created by Slobodan Milosevic from the republican organization of the SKJ (Union of Communists of Yugoslavia) in Serbia, and naturally, former party authorities. These and other groups of volunteers who gathered in Borovoye Selo, numbering about a hundred people, as well as local Serbian fighters, received weapons through the TO (territorial defense) network, which was organizationally part of the JNA and was under the complete control of Belgrade, who even managed to partially take out stockpiles of TO weapons from purely Croatian territories.

All this, however, did not mean the complete subordination of the volunteers to the authorities of Serbia, but only that the latter, having provided them with support, relieved itself of responsibility for their actions and, in fact, expected a further outcome.

The Croatian forces then, thanks to their own commanders, were practically ambushed by the Serbs, whom they clearly underestimated. At the same time, the Croatian command waited all April, when the attention of the Serbian defense of Borovo village would weaken, and indeed some volunteers were already returning home. A scenario was prepared for the establishment of Croatian power - the occupation of the village, the murders and arrests of the Serbs most irreconcilable towards the Croatian authorities. On May 2, the offensive began. It was unsuccessful for the Croats, who immediately came under fire from the Serbs.

At this time, the war begins in the "Knin Krajina" (as the Serbs of the region of Lika, Kordun, Bania and Dalmatia, which were under Serbian rule, then began to be called) with battles on June 26-27 for the town of Glina. This military operation was also unsuccessful for the Croats.

The course of hostilities

In June-July 1991, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) was involved in a short military action against Slovenia, which ended in failure. After that, she was involved in hostilities against the militia and police of the self-proclaimed Croatian state. A large-scale war began in August. The JNA had an overwhelming advantage in armored vehicles, artillery, and an absolute advantage in aviation, but acted generally ineffectively, as it was created to repel external aggression and not for hostilities within the country. Most famous events of this period are the siege of Dubrovnik and the siege of Vukovar. In December, at the height of the war, the independent Republic of Serbian Krajina was proclaimed. The battle for Vukovar On August 20, 1991, Croatian territorial defense detachments blocked two garrisons of the Yugoslav army in the city. On September 3, the Yugoslav People's Army launched an operation to liberate the blockaded garrisons, which escalated into a siege of the city and protracted battles. The operation was carried out by units of the Yugoslav People's Army with the support of Serbian paramilitary volunteer formations (for example, the Serbian Volunteer Guard under the command of Zeljko Razhnatovic "Arkan") and lasted from September 3 to November 18, 1991, including about a month, from mid-October to mid-November, the city was completely surrounded. The city was defended by parts of the Croatian National Guard and Croatian volunteers. Separate armed conflicts the city has been flaring up periodically since May 1991, even before the declaration of independence by Croatia. The regular siege of Vukovar began on 3 September. Despite the multiple advantage of the attackers in manpower and equipment, the defenders of Vukovar successfully resisted for almost three months. The city fell on November 18, 1991, and as a result of street fighting, bombing and rocket attacks, it was almost completely destroyed.

Losses during the battle for the city, according to official Croatian data, amounted to 879 killed and 770 wounded (data from the Croatian Ministry of Defense, published in 2006). The death toll on the JNA side is not precisely established, according to unofficial data from the Belgrade military observer Miroslav Lazanski, the death toll was 1,103 killed and 2,500 wounded.

After the end of the fighting for the city, a peace agreement was signed, leaving Vukovar and part of eastern Slavonia for the Serbs. In January 1992, another ceasefire agreement was concluded between the warring parties (the 15th in a row), which finally completed the main hostilities. In March, UN peacekeepers were introduced into the country (. As a result of the events of 1991, Croatia defended its independence, but lost territories inhabited by Serbs. In the next three years, the country intensively strengthened its regular army, participated in the civil war in neighboring Bosnia and conducted a number of small armed actions against Serbian Krajina.

May 1995 armed forces The Croatians took control of western Slavonia during Operation Lightning, which was accompanied by a sharp escalation of hostilities and Serbian rocket attacks on Zagreb. In August, the Croatian army launched Operation Storm and broke through the defenses of the Krajina Serbs in a matter of days. Reasons: The reason for the operation was the breakdown of negotiations known as "Z-4" on the inclusion of the Republic of Serbian Krajina into Croatia as a cultural autonomy. According to the Serbs, the provisions of the proposed treaty did not guarantee the Serb population protection from harassment based on ethnicity. Having failed to integrate the territory of the RSK politically, Croatia decided to do it militarily. In the battles, the Croats involved in the operation about 200 thousand soldiers and officers. A Croatian website reports 190,000 soldiers involved in the operation. The military observer Ionov writes that the four Croatian corps that took part in the operation numbered 100,000 soldiers and officers. But these figures do not include the Bielovar and Osijek corps. Overall control of the operation was in Zagreb. The field headquarters, headed by Major General Marjan Marekovich, was located in the town of Ogulin, southeast of Karlovac. Operation progress: The progress of the operation.

At 3 am on August 4, the Croats officially notified the UN of the start of the operation. The operation itself began at 5:00. Croatian artillery and aviation dealt a massive blow to the troops, command posts and communications of the Serbs. Then the attack began along almost the entire front line. At the beginning of the operation, Croatian troops captured the posts of UN peacekeepers, killed and wounded several peacekeepers from Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Nepal. The tactics of the Croatian offensive was to break through the defense guards units, who, without getting involved in battles, were supposed to develop the offensive, and the so-called. Household regiments. By the middle of the day, the Serbian defenses had been broken through in many places. At 4 p.m., the order to evacuate was given. civilian population from Knin, Obrovac and Benkovac. Order for the evacuation of the Serbian population. By the evening of August 4, the Serb 7th Corps was under the threat of encirclement, and the Croatian special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a battalion of the 9th Guards Brigade defeated the 9th motorized brigade of the 15th Lich Corps and captured the key Mali Alan pass. From here, an offensive was launched on Grachats. The 7th Corps retreated to Knin. At 19.00, 2 NATO aircraft from the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt attacked Serbian missile positions near Knin. Two more planes from the Italian air base bombed the Serbian air base in Udbina. At 23.20, the headquarters of the armed forces of the Serbian Krajina was evacuated to the city of Srb, 35 kilometers from Knin. On the morning of August 5, Croatian troops occupied Knin and Gracac.

On the night of August 5, the forces of the 5th Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina entered the battle. The 502nd mountain brigade hit the rear of the 15th Serb Lich Corps northwest of Bihac. At 8.00, having overcome the weak resistance of the Serbs, the 502nd brigade entered the Plitvice Lakes region. By 11 o'clock, a detachment from the 1st Guards Brigade of the Croatian Army, led by General Marjan Marekovich, came out to join them. Thus, the territory of the Serbian Krajina was cut into two parts. The 501st Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina captured the radar on Mount Plesevica and approached Korenica. The advance of Croatian troops to Udbina forced the Serbs to redeploy the remnants of aviation to the Banja Luka airfield. The Croat offensive in the Medak area made it possible to break the Serb defenses in this area and the 15th corps was divided into three parts: the 50th brigade in Vrkhovina, the remnants of the 18th brigade in Bunic and the 103rd light infantry brigade in the Donji Lapac-Korenica area. In the north, the 39th Bansky Corps of the Serbs defended Glina and Kostajnitsa, however, under the pressure of enemy troops, it began to retreat to the south.

At this time, the 505th brigade of the 5th corps of the army of Bosnia and Herzegovina struck in the rear of the corps in the direction of Zhirovac. During the offensive, the commander of the 505th brigade, Colonel Izet Nanich, was killed. The commander of the 39th corps, General Torbuk, used his last reserves to repel the attack of the 505th brigade. The corps continued to retreat. The 21st Kordun Corps continued to defend the city of Slun and repelled attacks south of Karlovac. On the night of August 5-6, parts of the Split Corps of the Croatian army entered Benkovac and Obrovac. On August 6, the defense of the units of the 7th and 15th corps fell apart and after the connection of the Croats and Bosnians near Korenica, the last pockets of Serb resistance in this sector were crushed. Under attacks from the south and west, the 21st Corps fought back towards Karlovac. On the evening of August 6, the Croats occupied Glina, jeopardizing the encirclement of the 21st Corps. Serbian General Mile Novakovic, who led the entire Task Force "Spider" in the north, requested a truce from the Croatian side in order to carry out the evacuation of soldiers of the 21st and 39th Corps and refugees. The truce lasted only one night.

On August 7, units of the 21st and 39th Corps retreated east towards Bosnia in order to avoid encirclement. In the afternoon, the 505th and 511th brigades of the army of Bosnia and Herzegovina connected with the 2nd guards brigade of the Croatian army advancing from Petrini. Two Serbian infantry brigades of the 21st Corps and the remnants of the Corps of Special Units (about 6,000 people) were surrounded in the city of Topusko. The rearguard of the 39th Corps was pushed into Bosnia. After that, parts of the 5th Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina entered Western Bosnia, occupied its capital Velika Kladusa almost without resistance, expelling Fikret Abdić and thirty thousand of his supporters, who fled to Croatia. At 18:00 on August 7, Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak announced the end of Operation Oluya. During the evening of August 7, Croatian troops took control of the last strip of territory along the border with Bosnia - Srb and Donji Lapac. In the north, in the Topusko region, Colonel Chedomir Bulat signed the surrender of the remnants of the 21st Corps. Losses: Croatians - According to the Croatian side, 174 soldiers were killed and 1,430 were wounded. Serbs - According to the organization of Krajina Serbs in exile "Veritas", the number of dead and missing civilians in August 1995 (that is, during the operation and immediately after it) is 1042 people, 726 military personnel and 12 policemen. The number of wounded is approximately 2,500 to 3,000.

Results of the war. Dayton Agreement

The fall of Serbian Krajina caused a mass exodus of Serbs. Having achieved success on their territory, the Croatian troops entered Bosnia and, together with the Muslims, launched an offensive against the Bosnian Serbs. NATO intervention led to a truce in October, and on December 14, 1995, the Dayton Accords were signed, ending hostilities in the former Yugoslavia.

The Dayton Agreement is an agreement on a ceasefire, the separation of the warring parties and the separation of territories, which put an end to the civil war in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995. Agreed in November 1995 at the US military base in Dayton (Ohio), signed on December 14, 1995 in Paris by Bosnian leader Alija Izetbegovic, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman.

US initiative. Peace negotiations took place at active participation The United States, which many believe has taken an anti-Serb stance. [Source not specified 28 days The United States proposed the creation of a Bosnian-Croat federation. The treaty to end the Croatian-Bosnian conflict and establish the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed in Washington and Vienna in March 1994 by Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Haris Silajdzic, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic and President of Herzeg-Bosna Kresimir Zubak. The Bosnian Serbs refused to join this treaty. Immediately prior to the signing of the Dayton Agreement, in August-September 1995, NATO aviation conducted an air operation "Deliberate Force" against the Bosnian Serbs, which played a role in stopping the Serbian offensive and somewhat changing the military situation in favor of the Bosnian-Croat forces. The Dayton talks were held with the participation of the guarantor countries: the USA, Russia, Germany, Great Britain and France.

The essence of the agreement: The agreement consisted of a general part and eleven annexes. A contingent of NATO troops was introduced into the territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina - 60,000 soldiers, half of which were Americans. It was envisaged that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina should consist of two parts - the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. Sarajevo remained the capital. A resident of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina could be a citizen of both the united republic and one of the two entities. Serbs received 49% of the territory, Bosnians and Croats - 51%. Gorazde retreated to the Bosnians, it was connected to Sarajevo by a corridor controlled by international forces. Sarajevo and the Serbian regions adjacent to it passed into the Bosnian part. The exact course of the border within the Brcko district was to be determined by the Arbitration Commission. The agreement forbade the accused International Tribunal in the former Yugoslavia, hold public office on the territory of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thus, Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, Dario Kordic and other leaders of the Bosnian Serbs and Croats were removed from power.

The functions of the head of state were transferred to the Presidium, consisting of three people- one from each nation. Legislative power was to be vested in the Parliamentary Assembly, consisting of the House of Nations and the House of Representatives. One third of the deputies are elected from the Republika Srpska, two thirds from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, a “veto of the people” was introduced: if the majority of deputies elected from one of the three peoples voted against a particular proposal, it was considered rejected, despite the position of the other two peoples. In general, powers central authorities, by convention, were very limited. Real power was transferred to the bodies of the Federation and the Republika Srpska. The entire system was to operate under the supervision of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

More than 26 thousand people died during the war. The number of refugees from both sides was great - hundreds of thousands of people. Almost the entire Croatian population was expelled from the territory of the Republic of Serbian Krajina in 1991-1995 - about 160 thousand people. The Red Cross of Yugoslavia in 1991 counted 250,000 Serb refugees from Croatia. Croatian troops in 1995 carried out ethnic cleansing in Western Slavonia and Knin Krajina, as a result, another 230-250 thousand Serbs left Krajina.