Plitvice Lakes incident

Part of the Croatian War of Independence

Plitvice Lakes

Date	31 March 1991
Location	Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
Result	Croatian victory

Belligerents

Croatia

SAO Krajina

Commanders and leaders

Josip Lucić

Milan Martić

Strength

c. 300 troops

c. 100 troops

Casualties and losses

1 killed
7 wounded

1 killed
13 wounded
29 captured

The Plitvice Lakes incident (Croatian: Krvavi Uskrs na Plitvicama or Plitvički krvavi Uskrs, both translating as "Plitvice Bloody Easter") was an armed clash at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence. It was fought between Croatian police and armed forces from the Croatian Serb-established SAO Krajina at the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, on 31 March 1991. The fighting followed the SAO Krajina's takeover of the Plitvice Lakes National Park and resulted in Croatia recapturing the area. The clash resulted in one killed on each side and contributed to the worsening ethnic tensions.

The fighting prompted the Presidency of Yugoslavia to order the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija – JNA) to step in and create a buffer zone between the opposing forces. The JNA arrived at the scene the following day and presented Croatia with an ultimatum requesting the police to withdraw. Even though the special police units which captured the Plitvice Lakes area did pull out on 2 April, a newly established Croatian police station, staffed by 90 officers, remained in place. The police station was blockaded by the JNA three months later, and captured in late August 1991.

In 1990, following the electoral defeat of the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, ethnic tensions worsened. The Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija – JNA) confiscated Croatia's Territorial Defence (Teritorijalna obrana – TO) weapons to minimize resistance. On 17 August, the tensions escalated into an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs, centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin, parts of the Lika, Kordun, Banovina regions and eastern Croatia. They established a Serbian National Council in July 1990, to coordinate opposition to Croatian President Franjo Tuđman's policy of pursuing independence for Croatia. Milan Babić, a dentist from the southern town of Knin, was elected president. Knin's police chief, Milan Martić, established paramilitary militias. The two men eventually became the political and military leaders of the SAO Krajina, a self-declared state incorporating the Serb-inhabited areas of Croatia.

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