Day of Remembrance of the Vukavarian Events 1991.

Every year on November 18, the events in Vukovar in 1991 are remembered in Croatia. During the war, which began immediately after the declaration of Croatian independence in 1991, the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), which by then consisted mainly of Serbs, with the support of local Serbian military formations, began a siege of the city.

Despite the twenty-fold superiority of the Serbs in manpower and the overwhelming advantage in heavy equipment and weapons, the city fell only three months later, on November 18, 1991. During the fighting, it was almost completely destroyed. About 1,000 Croats and several thousand Serbs were killed in the fighting.

Despite the city’s eventual fall, Vukovar’s defenses played a crucial role in thwarting the Yugoslav government’s plans for a quick takeover of Croatia. The battle sparked a huge patriotic upsurge in Croatia, with Vukovar being called “Croatian Stalingrad” and now almost every Croatian city has a street named after him.

Vukovar remained under Serbian control until 1998, when the non-Serb population was expelled. In 1998, after diplomatic negotiations, the city was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia, and the process of rebuilding the city and returning refugees began. The reconstruction of the city continues to this day.