The Bridge Digital newspapers Croatian edition 1990s | Page 5

When Vukovar fell on 18 November 1991, several hundred soldiers
and civilians were massacred by Serb forces and at least 20,000 inhabitants
were expelled. Most of Vukovar was ethnically cleansed of its non-Serb
population and became part of the self-declared Republic of Serbian
Krajina. Several Serb military and political officials, including Milošević,
were later indicted and in some cases jailed for war crimes committed
during and after the battle.
The battle exhausted the JNA and proved a turning point in the
Croatian war. A ceasefire was declared a few weeks later. Vukovar
remained in Serb hands until 1998, when it was peacefully reintegrated
into Croatia. It has since been rebuilt but has less than half of its pre-war
population and many buildings are still scarred by the battle. Its two
principal ethnic communities remain deeply divided and it has not
regained its former prosperity.
BREAKUP OF YUGOSLAVIA
April 1992
Between June 1991 and April
1992, four Yugoslavian republics
declared independence: Croatia,
Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Only Serbia and
Montenegro remaine federated.
Picture: Socialist Federal Yugoslavia with its six republics