Читать книгу The Islands of Croatia. 30 walks on 14 Adriatic islands онлайн

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In June 1991 heavy fighting broke out in the Krajina and eastern Slavonia, after which the Serb-dominated JNA increasingly intervened on its own authority in support of Serbian irregulars. European Community mediation persuaded Croatia to freeze its declaration of independence to prevent the country spiralling into further bloodshed, but in the three months following 25 June a quarter of Croatian territory fell to Serb militias and the JNA. In September, the Croatian government ordered the blockade of federal military installations within Croatia; in response the JNA blockaded the Adriatic and laid siege to the historic town of Vukovar on the Danube. The United Nations declared an arms embargo on all republics of the former Yugoslavia.

In October the JNA and Montenegrin militia positioned themselves on the hills above Dubrovnik, beginning a siege that would last until June the following year and draw widespread international media attention. In November Vukovar finally fell, having been almost razed to the ground by relentless air and artillery bombardment, and many of the surviving inhabitants were massacred. By December, thousands of people had died in the fighting in Croatia, and more than half a million fled their homes.