Croatian War for Independence
| Croatian War of Independence | |||||||||
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| Part of the Yugoslav Wars | |||||||||
 Clockwise from top left: the central street of Dubrovnik, the Stradun, in ruins during the Siege of Dubrovnik; the damaged Vukovar water tower, a symbol of the early conflict, flying the Croatian tricolour; soldiers of the Croatian Army preparing to destroy a Serbian tank; the Vukovar Memorial Cemetery; a Serbian T-55 tank destroyed on the road to Drniš |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) (controlled by  Serbia)(1991–92) Republika Srpska(1992–95)
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 Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina (1994–95) |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Slobodan Milošević Milan Martić Milan Babić Goran Hadžić Mile Mrkšić Veljko Kadijević Jovica Stanišić Franko Simatović Radovan Karadžić Ratko Mladić
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Franjo Tuđman Gojko Šušak Anton Tus Janko Bobetko Zvonimir Červenko Petar Stipetić Atif Dudaković
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| Strength | |||||||||
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JNA 145,000 (1991) RSK50,000 (1995) |
Croatia 70,000 (1991) 200,000 (1995) |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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RSK 4,177 soldiers and 2,650 civilians killed or missing 300,000 displaced JNA1,279 soldiers killed |
Croatia 6,788–8,784 soldiers and 4,508–7,186 civilians killed or missing 220,000 displaced |
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Croatian victory
The 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). In Serbian sources, "War in Croatia" (Рат у Хрватској / Rat u Hrvatskoj) and "War in Krajina" (Рат у Крајини / Rat u Krajini) are used.
A majority of Croats wanted Croatia to leave Yugoslavia and become a sovereign country, while many ethnic Serbs living in Croatia, supported by Serbia, opposed the secession and wanted Serb-claimed lands to be in a common state with Serbia. Most Serbs effectively sought a new Serb state within a Yugoslav federation, including areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with ethnic Serb majorities or significant minorities, and attempted to conquer as much of Croatia as possible. Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, but agreed to postpone it with the Brioni Agreement and cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia on 8 October 1991.
The JNA initially tried to keep Croatia within Yugoslavia by occupying all of Croatia. After this failed, Serb forces established the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) within Croatia. After the ceasefire of January 1992 and international recognition of the Republic of Croatia as a sovereign state, the front lines were entrenched, the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was deployed, and combat became largely intermittent in the following three years. During that time, the RSK encompassed 13,913 square kilometers (5,372 sq mi), more than a quarter of Croatia. In 1995, Croatia launched two major offensives known as Operation Flash and Operation Storm, which would effectively end the war in its favor. The remaining United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) zone was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia by 1998.
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