SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia
Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia
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1991–1992 | |||||||||
Status | Self-proclaimed insurgent entity | ||||||||
Capital | Vukovar | ||||||||
Government | Interim authority | ||||||||
Speaker of the People's Assembly | |||||||||
• 1991–1992 | Ilija Končarević | ||||||||
Historical era | Breakup of Yugoslavia | ||||||||
• Broke away from Croatia | 25 June 1991 | ||||||||
• Incorporated into the Republic of Serbian Krajina | 26 February 1992 | ||||||||
Currency | Krajina dinar | ||||||||
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Sources: WorldStatesmen.org |
History of Slavonia |
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The Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (
The entity was formed on June 25, 1991, the same day the
After the fall of the western main portion of RSK in 1995 during the
History
Background
Contrary to western parts of Croatia nationalist
The Croatian parliamentary election, 1990 was organized in an atmosphere of ethnic tensions between
The local HDZ on the other hand organized rallies in Croat-populated villages, advocated for being seen as a representative of all Croats, and represented a grass-roots, less educated section of the population of the municipality, with a relatively inexperienced leadership composed of people outside the intelligentsia, which also made overtures towards reassessing the legacy of the
SKH-SDP representative Slavko Dokmanović, a Serb of Trpinja, became the President of the Municipality Assembly of Vukovar following the 1990 election.[8] In July 1990, Dokmanović appeared on the rally organized by the SDS in Srb, and joined their newly-founded Serbian National Council (SNV).[9] This was met with widespread condemnation, and he was forced to leave that position.[10] Nevertheless, in August 1990, SDS organized a referendum in Serb-populated villages in the region about establishing a Serbian autonomy, that passed overwhelmingly.[10]
Founding
Following a growth in activities by and support for the SDS in the region throughout the latter part of 1990, they sponsored the founding of a Serbian National Council of Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia at an assembly in
After the Pakrac clash of March 1991, SDS and SNV publicly encouraged a state of psychosis amongst the Serbs in the region, starting a refugee wave from Serb-inhabited villages, following public claims by Goran Hadžić about how their expulsion was imminent.[10] Later the same month, Hadžić was also involved in the 31 of March 1991 Plitvice Lakes incident, which escalated into a crisis in the Serb-inhabited villages in the region.[11] Goran Hadžić and Boro Savić were arrested during the Plitvice Lakes incident when they suffered police abuse during their transport to Zagreb where they ended up in prison hospital.[12] The news of the arrest caused escalation in rural majority Serb villages with violence and minor clashes being reported in Bobota, Borovo, Bršadin and Negoslavci.[12] Goran Hadžić and Boro Savić were released three days later and on their return to eastern Croatia they became the most prominent leaders of the local Serb Democratic Party.[13]
On 31 of March 1991 Serbian National Council of Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia organized a meeting in Borovo where the body declared unification of the region with Vojvodina calling for an urgent extraordinary meeting of the Assembly of Vojvodina and National Assembly of Serbia to confirm the decision.[14] Both assemblies received the request but never formally decided on it.[14] The return of Hadžić temporarily deescalated situation with most of road barricades being removed till the end of the first week of April.[13] Social Democratic Party of Croatia, which as a successor SKH-SDP remained in power but distanced from the SDP headquarters in Zagreb, was at the time was critical of both the Serb Democratic Party and Croatian Democratic Union in their letters to the President of Croatia Franjo Tuđman.[15] Slavko Dokmanović decided to leave the SNV and distance himself from the Serb Democratic Party but at the same time he warned that without the intervention of the federal bodies of the Presidency of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav People's Army he will also join the barricade keepers in his own village.[15]
The escalation went further, however, when on April 8, 1991 the story was published about high-ranking Croatian officials shooting towards the village of Borovo.
The SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was declared on June 25, 1991, and on June 26 its first president was declared to be Goran Hadžić.[18]
Inclusion into the RSK
Initially, it was a separate Serb autonomous region (oblast), but it subsequently joined the
Geography
The territory of the former SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was part of the Central European
Other boundaries were not natural boundaries: the border with
Eastern Slavonia is a mostly flat area, with the best type of soil where agriculture is highly developed, particularly on wheat fields, and it also has several forests as well as vineyards.
The Đeletovci Oil fields are located between the villages of Đeletovci, Banovci and Nijemci.
Traffic over the Brotherhood and Unity Highway (today the A3) was interrupted with the formation of the ESBWS. The water transport over the Danube river continued unobstructed. The Drava river was not navigated at the time. The railway line between Zagreb and Belgrade and the transport between the Budapest and Sarajevo passing through the area were also closed.
Population
The population of this area was ethnically mixed. Before the war, the total population of the area numbered 192,163 inhabitants, and was composed of:
- 90,454 (47%) Croats,
- 61,492 (32%) Serbs, and
- 40,217 (21%) others (Hungarians, Roma, Yugoslavs, Germans, Rusyns, Slovaks, etc.).
During the
War crimes charges brought by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia against Croatian Serb leader in the region, Goran Hadžić, indicate that virtually all Croat and other non-Serb population of the region was either killed, deported or otherwise forcibly removed from the area.[22]
Municipalities and Inhabited places
During the existence of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, the region was divided into five municipalities:
The main cities in the area were
.Legacy
After the RSK's demise in August 1995, the region was reconstituted again as Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia. Following the November 1995 Erdut Agreement, it was subsequently controlled by the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium. After the war, all the towns and municipalities in the region were designated Areas of Special State Concern. Today the ethnic Serb interests in the region are advocated by the Joint Council of Municipalities.
See also
- Breakup of Yugoslavia
- Croatian War of Independence
- Republic of Serbian Krajina
- SAO Krajina
- SAO Western Slavonia
- Serb Autonomous Regions
- Socialist Republic of Croatia
Further reading
- The Thorny Issue of Ethnic Autonomy in Croatia: Serb Leaders and Proposals for Autonomy, Nina Caspersen,London School of Economics and Political Science (http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2003/nr3/Focus3-2003_Caspersen.pdf)
References
- ^ Filipović 2022.
- ^ Lobell & Mauceri 2004, pp. 79–81.
- ^ Filipović 2019, p. 89.
- ^ Filipović 2019, p. 98.
- ^ Filipović 2019, p. 100-101.
- ^ Filipović 2019, p. 102.
- ^ a b Filipović 2019, pp. 102–103.
- ^ Filipović 2019, pp. 103.
- ^ Filipović 2019, pp. 104.
- ^ a b c d Filipović 2019, pp. 105.
- ^ Filipović 2019, pp. 110.
- ^ a b Filipović 2022, pp. 303.
- ^ a b Filipović 2022, pp. 305.
- ^ a b Filipović 2022, pp. 304.
- ^ a b c d e Filipović 2022, pp. 306.
- ^ Filipović 2022, pp. 307.
- ^ Filipović 2022, pp. 306–308.
- ^ Bartrop 2012, p. 121.
- ^ "Croatia".
- ^ a b c Barić 2011, p. 395.
- ^ "Croatia".
- ^ "The Prosecutor of the Tribunal Against Goran Hadžić - Indictment". International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 21 May 2004.
- ^ "Home".
Sources
- Barić, Nikica (2011). "Srpska oblast Istočna Slavonija, Baranja i Zapadni Srijem – od "Oluje" do dovršetka mirne reintegracije hrvatskog Podunavlja (prvi dio)". Scrinia Slavonica. 11. Zagreb: Hrvatski institut za povijest: 393–451.
- Bartrop, Paul Robert (2012). "Hadžić, Goran (b. 1958)". A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide: Portraits of Evil and Good. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313386787.
- Lobell, Steven; Mauceri, Philip (2004). Ethnic Conflict and International Politics: Explaining Diffusion and Escalation. Springer. ISBN 978-1-40398-141-7.
- Filipović, Vladimir (2019). "Stranačka politika u Vukovaru 1990-1991" [Party Politics in the Vukovar in 1990-1991]. Annals of the Croatian Political Science Association (in Croatian). 16 (1). Croatian Political Science Association: 97–115. Hrčak.
- Filipović, Vladimir (2022). "Srpska pobuna u selima vukovarske općine 1990. - 1991" [Serb Rebelion in the Villages of Vukovar Municipality 1990. - 1991.]. Scrinia Slavonica (in Croatian). 22 (1). Department for the History of Slavonia, Srijem and Baranja of the Croatian Institute of History: 291–319. Hrčak.
External links
- Maps:
- http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect20_files/yugoslavprovinces.jpg Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
- https://web.archive.org/web/20070212183735/http://www.croatianforces.co.uk/Eastern_slavonia_91-92_map.jpg
- http://terkepek.adatbank.transindex.ro/kepek/netre/292.gif
- http://www.pointernet.pds.hu/touristinfo/croatia/image/g.jpg Archived 2008-09-10 at the Wayback Machine