page_title: History of Dalmatia
section_title: Breakup of Yugoslavia
hierarchical_section_title: History of Dalmatia / 20th century / Breakup of Yugoslavia
caption_attribution_description: Balkan War/Croatia War/Map of Operation Storm (hr: Operacija Oluja)
context_page_description: The History of Dalmatia concerns the history of the area that covers eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland regions, from the 2nd century BC up to the present day.
  The earliest mention of Dalmatia as a province came after its establishment as part of the Roman Empire. Dalmatia was ravaged by barbaric tribes in the beginning of the 4th century. Slavs settled in the area in the 6th century, the White Croats settled Dalmatia the following century. In 1527 the Kingdom of Croatia became a Habsburg crown land, in 1812 the Kingdom of Dalmatia is formed. In 1918, Dalmatia was a part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, Dalmatia became part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in SR Croatia.
context_section_description: In 1990, when Yugoslavia began to disintegrate, Croatian leadership announced their intention to declare independence, which they would indeed declare in 1991. The first Dalmatian battlefields of what would later be called the Homeland war (Domovinski rat) appeared in sections of northern Dalmatia, where there lived a significant population of Serbs. They rebelled, under encouragement and with assistance from a variety of Serbian nationalist circles, and organized their own SAO Kninska Krajina and started the so-called Log Revolution. The center of this restive area was in the northern Dalmatian town of Knin.
  This Serb-held region later morphed into the SAO Krajina, and later yet it would become the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), combined with other Serb-held regions across Croatia.
  The establishment of the RSK was helped by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), as well as paramilitary troops that came from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. The Serbian forces had a prevalence in equipment and munitions because of JNA support, and they proceeded to commit various acts of terrorism, including shelling attacks on civilian targets.
  The Yugoslav People's Army operated from their barracks, that were mostly positioned in bigger cities and strategically important points. In some bigger cities JNA had built large residential blocs, and in the opening stages of the war it was believed that those buildings would be used by sharpshooters or for reconnaissance purposes.
  The battle for the control of Dalmatia during the Croatian War of Independence was fought on three main fronts:
  the land front between Knin and the cities of Zadar, Šibenik and Sinj - see Operation Coast-91
  the sea front near the city of Split - see Battle of the Dalmatian channels
  the land front near the border with Montenegro and Herzegovina - see Siege of Dubrovnik
  First attempts to take over JNA facilities occurred in August in Sinj and failed, but the major action took place in September 1991. Croatian Army and police were then more successful, although most of the objects taken were repair shops, warehouses and similar facilities, either poorly defended or commanded by officers sympathetic to the Croatian cause. Major bases, commanded by die-hard officers and manned by reservists from Montenegro and Serbia, became the object of standoffs that usually ended with JNA personnel and equipment being evacuated under supervision of EEC observers. This process was completed shortly after the Sarajevo armistice in January 1992.
  All non-Serb population was ethnically cleansed from controlled areas, notably the villages of Škabrnja (Škabrnja massacre) and Kijevo (siege of Kijevo). Croatian refugees, tens of thousands of them, found shelter in many of the Dalmatian coastal towns where they were placed in empty tourist facilities.
  On 2 May 1991, the 1991 anti-Serb riot in Zadar happened, in which 168 Serb-owned shops were looted by Croatian civilians to stop new Serbian terrorist actions against non-Serb population on that area.
  By early 1992, the military positions were mostly entrenched, and further expansion of the RSK was stopped. The Serbian forces continued terrorist actions by way of random shelling of Croatian cities, and this continued occasionally over the next four years.
  Besides the northern hinterland that bordered with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Yugoslav People's Army also occupied sections of southern Dalmatia around Dubrovnik, as well as the islands of Vis and Lastovo. These lasted until 1992.
  The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was deployed throughout the UNPA zones, including those in northern Dalmatia, as well as on Prevlaka.
  The Croatian government gradually restored control over all of Dalmatia, in the following military operations:
  September 1991: September War for Šibenik - successful defence of Šibenik from JNA onslaught and takeover of JNA bases in the area.
  May and July 1992: Operation Tiger, JNA was forced to retreat from Vis, Lastovo, Mljet and areas around Dubrovnik.
  July 1992: Miljevci Heights in Šibenik hinterland, near
caption: Operation Storm restored Croatian control over northern Dalmatia.
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