Vukovar is a town in Eastern Croatia (Slavonia), at the border between Croatia and Serbia. During the ex-Yugoslavia war, it was one of the most intense war zones. It was under siege for three months during the fall of 1991. The city and its population were torn apart by this horrible experience.
The town was an important strategic objective for the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army. It was designed to consolidate Serb control over the region of Croatia known as Eastern Slavonia. That objective was achieved, even though there was little left, apart from than ruins, following the siege.
The siege was also accompanied by the ethnic cleansing of Croats who, prior to the war, were present in roughly the same numbers as Serbs. When Serbian forces took control of Vukovar on 19 November 1991, several hundred people took refuge in the town's hospital with the hope that they would be evacuated in the presence of neutral observers.
Instead of the hoped-for evacuation, about 400 individuals including wounded patients, soldiers, hospital staff and Croatian political activists were removed from the hospital by the Yugoslav Army and Serb Paramilitary Forces.
The town was an important strategic objective for the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army. It was designed to consolidate Serb control over the region of Croatia known as Eastern Slavonia. That objective was achieved, even though there was little left, apart from than ruins, following the siege.
The siege was also accompanied by the ethnic cleansing of Croats who, prior to the war, were present in roughly the same numbers as Serbs. When Serbian forces took control of Vukovar on 19 November 1991, several hundred people took refuge in the town's hospital with the hope that they would be evacuated in the presence of neutral observers.
Instead of the hoped-for evacuation, about 400 individuals including wounded patients, soldiers, hospital staff and Croatian political activists were removed from the hospital by the Yugoslav Army and Serb Paramilitary Forces.