From August 1990 to November 1991, during the

breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

, several Serb Autonomous Regions, Districts (literally Oblasts; / ) were proclaimed in the Yugoslav republics of

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

and

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

in light of the possible secession of the republics from the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. These were autonomous

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

-inhabited entities that subsequently united in their respective republic to form the

Republic of Serbian Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Република Српска Крајина, Republika Srpska Krajina, separator=" / ", ; abbr. РСК / RSK), known as the Serbian Krajina ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српск� ...

in Croatia and the

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SAOs in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

The so-called anti-bureaucratic revolution of Serbian leader

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

aimed at strengthening of Yugoslav federal institutions triggered condemnations and separatist response in

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. This in turn provoked

security dilemma In international relations, the security dilemma (also referred to as the spiral model) is when the increase in one state's security (such as increasing its military strength) leads other states to fear for their own security (because they do not k ...

among at the time numerous

Serbs of Croatia The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in C ...

community which strongly opposed any move towards Croatian independence if it will separate them from the other parts of Yugoslavia. The dilemma was rooted in historical experience of the

Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia The Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Genocid nad Srbima u Nezavisnoj Državi Hrvatskoj, separator=" / ", Геноцид над Србима у Независној Држави Хрватској) was the sy ...

stirred up by rising Serb and Croat nationalism. Croatian Serb political leaders of the nationalist Serb Democratic Party advocated for the partition of Croatia in case of independence which would enable Serb inhabited areas to remain in Yugoslavia. Croatian Serb politician

Jovan Rašković Jovan Rašković ( sr-cyr, Јован Рашковић, ; 5 July 1929 – 28 July 1992) was a Serbs of Croatia, Croatian Serb psychiatrist, academic and politician. Early life Rašković was born in Knin in 1929. During World War II in Yugoslavia ...

argued for the creation of the "integral region" by bringing together predominantly Serb municipalities in Croatia into an Association of Municipalities which would act as one of the first-level administrative units within the republic. While the Croatian legal system at the time formally permitted such a form of municipal organization the move was perceived as highly controversial and led to some of the first clashes. The first such association was formed around the town of

Knin Knin () is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka (Croatia), Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagreb and Split, Croatia, Split. ...

leading to the establishment of SAO Krajina on 21 December 1990.

SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia The Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srpska autonomna oblast Istočna Slavonija, Baranja i Zapadni Srem, Српска аутономна област Источна Славонија, ...

was formed on 25 June 1991 while SAO Western Slavonia was formed on 12 August 1991. On 19 December 1991, the SAO Krajina proclaimed itself the

with SAO Western Slavonia and SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia joining it subsequently. At that stage the self-proclaimed autonomy was transformed into request for full independence with political leadership subsequently rejecting any autonomy proposal with notable case including Z-4 Plan. At the same time both the

Government of Croatia The Government of Croatia (), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia (), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (), is the main executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the Prime Minister of Croatia, president o ...

and international mediators now contemplated peace settlements that would indeed include the establishment of some sort of predominantly Serb autonomous regions within Croatia. With the creation of new Croatian counties on 30 December 1992, the Croatian government also set aside two autonomous regions (''kotar'') for ethnic Serbs in the areas of Krajina known as the Autonomous District of Glina and Autonomous District of Knin. After

Operation Storm Operation Storm ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Operacija Oluja, separator=" / ", Операција Олуја) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory f ...

, the application of the law which allowed autonomy would be temporarily suspended. In 2000 this part of the law was formally repealed. The process of creation of the self-proclaimed Serb Autonomous Regions in Croatia included inter-ethnic clashes and violence as well as widespread

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

of non-Serb population from the areas that those regions ended up controlling. Some of the highest ranking political and military leaders involved in this process were prosecuted by the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

for their direct or command responsibility for a number of

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

committed. In the effort to preserve the peace in the region

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

limited the recognition of post-Yugoslav entities exclusively to previously established Yugoslav federal units (republics) in their administrative borders and explicitly discouraged it in case of any new secessionist region while at the same time it conditioned recognition of republics with credible minority rights guarantees. Serb Autonomous Regions in Croatia therefore failed to ever gain any formal international recognition.

SAOs in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

The Serb Democratic Party established SAOs in Serb-inhabited territories. Between September–November 1991, six entities had been proclaimed. The Serbs set up their own parliament, having left the Bosnian parliament in October 1991. The Serb parliament proclaimed the "Serb Republic" (

) on 27 March 1992. * SAO Bosnian Krajina, (first formed as the Autonomous Region of Krajina) in April 1991. It was the largest region, but after failure to merge with SAO Krajina in Croatia, it was renamed SAO Bosanska Krajina in September 1991. * SAO North-Eastern Bosnia formed in September 1991; renamed SAO Semberija in November 1991, and SAO Semberija i Majevica in December 1991. * SAO Northern Bosnia, formed in November 1991, never fully controlled its proclaimed territory. * SAO Ozren-Posavina, planned from predominantly Bosniak and Croat municipalities in northern Bosnia, but not fully established. * SAO Romanija, formed in September 1991, and SAO Birač, formed November 1991; combined in November 1991 as SAO Romanija-Birač. * SAO Herzegovina (also known as SAO Eastern Herzegovina), formed in September 1991. Srpske autonomne oblasti u Bosni i Hercegovini.png, SAOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Autumn 1991) SAO BIH 1991 1992.png, SAOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (September 1991) Srpske autonomne oblasti u Bosni i Hercegovini u studenome 1991.png, SAOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina (November 1991)

SAOs in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

SAOs in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

References

Further reading

See also

SAOs in Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

SAOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

References

Further reading

See also

SAOs in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

SAOs in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...