Bosnian War :
87-760: The Croatian Army ( Croatian : Hrvatska kopnena vojska or HKoV ) is the land force branch of the Croatian Armed Forces . It is numerically the largest of the three branches of the Croatian Armed Forces. The HKoV is the main force for the defense of the country against external threats, and in addition to the task of defending the Republic of Croatia , the HKoV also has the task of participating in peace support operations and humanitarian operations as part of international forces, as well as
174-461: A common polycentric standard language is used, consisting of several standard varieties , similar to the existing varieties of German , English or Spanish . The aim of the new Declaration is to stimulate discussion on language without the nationalistic baggage and to counter nationalistic divisions. The terms "Serbo-Croatian", "Serbo-Croat", or "Croato-Serbian", are still used as a cover term for all these forms by foreign scholars, even though
261-582: A handful of heavy weapons, while the ARBiH was largely unprepared with nearly 100,000 troops, small arms for less than a half of their number and virtually no heavy weapons. Arming of the various forces was hampered by a United Nations (UN) arms embargo that had been introduced in September 1991. By mid-May 1992, when those JNA units which had not been transferred to the VRS withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina to
348-490: A joint offensive in the region. The main portion of the offensive was codenamed Operation Maestral (Croatian name for maestro wind ), or more accurately Operation Maestral 2. Within a month, the HV and HVO had planned an operation to capture the towns of Jajce , Šipovo and Drvar, and position their forces to threaten Banja Luka. Major General Ante Gotovina was placed in command of the combined HV and HVO forces earmarked for
435-739: A military balance of power in the region, and the opposing side had to directly recognize Croatian military power, and this balance of power forced the opposing side to peacefully resolve the reintegration of the Croatian Danube region. Numerous Croatian army units arose from the Croatian National Guard, including: With the end of the Homeland War, the ground forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia begin their transformation, reduction and transition to
522-597: A new Bosnian Serb army, which was later renamed the Army of Republika Srpska ( Vojska Republike Srpske – VRS). This re-organisation followed the declaration of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 January 1992, ahead of the referendum on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina that took place between 29 February and 1 March 1992. This declaration would later be cited by the Bosnian Serbs as
609-557: A peacetime organization with the territorial principle of defense. At the end of 2002, the formation of the Croatian Land Army as one of the branches of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia began. The head of the formation is Lieutenant General Marijan Mareković, who is also its first commander and held this position until March 19, 2007. Shortly after the organization of the HKov unit, in addition to their basic tasks in
696-428: A point within 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) south of the town by the end of the day. Its advance was supported by the 22nd Sabotage Detachment and the special police. On 13 September, as the 2nd Guards Brigade was approaching Jajce, the VRS withdrew from Donji Vakuf to avoid being surrounded, and the ARBiH captured the town. The 5th Corps of the ARBiH, on the left flank of the HV and HVO offensive, began its assault against
783-670: A pretext for the Bosnian War . Bosnian Serbs began fortifying the capital, Sarajevo , and other areas on 1 March 1992. On the following day, the first fatalities of the war were recorded in Sarajevo and Doboj . In the final days of March, Bosnian Serb forces bombarded Bosanski Brod with artillery, resulting in a cross-border operation by the Croatian Army ( Hrvatska vojska – HV) 108th Brigade. On 4 April 1992, JNA artillery began shelling Sarajevo. There were other examples of
870-523: A separate language that is considered key to national identity, in the sense that the term Croatian language includes all language forms from the earliest times to the present, in all areas where Croats live, as realized in the speeches of Croatian dialects, in city speeches and jargons, and in the Croatian standard language. The issue is sensitive in Croatia as the notion of a separate language being
957-493: Is a formation of a 3rd (reserve) mechanized brigade which will need to be fully equipped and ready to be deployed at moment's notice. Croatian language North America South America Oceania Croatian ( / k r oʊ ˈ eɪ ʃ ən / ; hrvatski [xř̩ʋaːtskiː] ) is the standardised variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by Croats . It
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#17327908289501044-447: Is also official in the regions of Burgenland (Austria), Molise (Italy) and Vojvodina (Serbia). Additionally, it has co-official status alongside Romanian in the communes of Carașova and Lupac , Romania . In these localities, Croats or Krashovani make up the majority of the population, and education, signage and access to public administration and the justice system are provided in Croatian, alongside Romanian. Croatian
1131-399: Is no doubt of the near 100% mutual intelligibility of (standard) Croatian and (standard) Serbian, as is obvious from the ability of all groups to enjoy each others' films, TV and sports broadcasts, newspapers, rock lyrics etc.", writes Bailyn. Differences between various standard forms of Serbo-Croatian are often exaggerated for political reasons. Most Croatian linguists regard Croatian as
1218-640: Is no regulatory body that determines the proper usage of Croatian. However, in January 2023, the Croatian Parliament passed a law that prescribes the official use of the Croatian language, regulates the establishment of the Council for the Croatian language as a coordinating advisory body whose work will be focused on the protection and development of the Croatian language. State authorities, local and regional self-government entities are obliged to use
1305-1099: Is officially used and taught at all universities in Croatia and at the University of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Studies of Croatian language are held in Hungary (Institute of Philosophy at the ELTE Faculty of Humanities in Budapest ), Slovakia (Faculty of Philosophy of the Comenius University in Bratislava ), Poland ( University of Warsaw , Jagiellonian University , University of Silesia in Katowice , University of Wroclaw , Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan ), Germany ( University of Regensburg ), Australia (Center for Croatian Studies at
1392-612: Is represented by the editions of " Adrianskoga mora sirena " ("The Siren of the Adriatic Sea") by Petar Zrinski and " Putni tovaruš " ("Traveling escort") by Katarina Zrinska . However, this first linguistic renaissance in Croatia was halted by the political execution of Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I in Vienna in 1671. Subsequently, the Croatian elite in
1479-602: Is still used now in parts of Istria , which became a crossroads of various mixtures of Chakavian with Ekavian, Ijekavian and Ikavian isoglosses . The most standardised form (Kajkavian–Ikavian) became the cultivated language of administration and intellectuals from the Istrian peninsula along the Croatian coast, across central Croatia up into the northern valleys of the Drava and the Mura . The cultural apex of this 17th century idiom
1566-573: Is the national official language and literary standard of Croatia , one of the official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina , Montenegro , the Serbian province of Vojvodina , the European Union and a recognized minority language elsewhere in Serbia and other neighbouring countries. In the mid-18th century, the first attempts to provide a Croatian literary standard began on the basis of
1653-474: Is to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia. The Croatian Army is responsible for implementing war operations independently and with the support of other branches, leading the fight on land, on the coast and on the islands. In an assumed war or crisis situation, the land forces will act as the backbone and main force for the successful implementation of the defense of their own territory and for participation in operations outside
1740-653: Is written in Gaj's Latin alphabet . Besides the Shtokavian dialect, on which Standard Croatian is based, there are two other main supradialects spoken on the territory of Croatia, Chakavian and Kajkavian . These supradialects, and the four national standards, are usually subsumed under the term "Serbo-Croatian" in English; this term is controversial for native speakers, and names such as "Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian" (BCMS) are used by linguists and philologists in
1827-671: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Croatian (2009 Croatian government official translation): Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: Operation Mistral 2 1993 1994 1995 Operation Mistral 2 , officially codenamed Operation Maestral 2 , was a Croatian Army (HV) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) offensive in western Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8–15 September 1995 as part of
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#17327908289501914-738: The Battle of Orašje in May and June 1995. After recapture of the bulk of the Republic of Serb Krajina (the Croatian Serb -controlled areas of Croatia) in Operation Storm in August 1995, the HV shifted its focus to western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The shift was motivated by a desire to create a security zone along the Croatian border, establish Croatia as a regional power and gain favours with
2001-557: The Bosnian War . Its objective was to create a security buffer between Croatia and positions held by the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The operation also spearheaded a Herzeg-Croat led move to compromise the occupation of the largest Bosnian Serb-held city, Banja Luka , by capturing the towns of Jajce , Šipovo and Drvar . Thus jeopardizing the operations capacity of Banja Luka and ultimately leading to its recapture. The combined HV and HVO forces were under
2088-767: The Croatian Defence Council ( Hrvatsko vijeće obrane – HVO), reporting to the Bosniak -dominated central government and the Bosnian Croat leadership respectively, as well as the HV, which occasionally supported HVO operations. In late April 1992, the VRS was able to deploy 200,000 troops, hundreds of tanks , armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and artillery pieces. The HVO and the Croatian Defence Forces ( Hrvatske obrambene snage – HOS) could field approximately 25,000 soldiers and
2175-608: The Homeland War were the backbone and main bearers of all operations carried out by the Croatian Army. Members of the guard brigades fought on the battlefields throughout the Republic of Croatia during the most difficult battles and decisive moments in the Homeland War, and together with the members of the reserve infantry brigades, which were also founded in 1991, they participated in the battles for Vukovar , Dubrovnik , Zadar , Karlovac, Gospić , Novska and Okučane, in
2262-566: The Latin alphabet and are living in parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina , different parts of Croatia , southern parts (inc. Budapest ) of Hungary as well in the autonomous province Vojvodina of Serbia . The Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics added the Bunjevac dialect to the List of Protected Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia on 8 October 2021. Article 1 of
2349-982: The Macquarie University ), Northern Macedonia (Faculty of Philology in Skopje ) etc. Croatian embassies hold courses for learning Croatian in Poland, United Kingdom and a few other countries. Extracurricular education of Croatian is hold in Germany in Baden-Württemberg , Berlin , Hamburg and Saarland , as well as in North Macedonia in Skopje , Bitola , Štip and Kumanovo . Some Croatian Catholic Missions also hold Croatian language courses (for. ex. CCM in Buenos Aires ). There
2436-591: The second Markale massacre of 28 August, which came on the heels of the Srebrenica massacre . Airstrikes began on 30 August, initially targeting VRS air defences, and striking targets near Sarajevo. The campaign was briefly suspended on 1 September and its scope was expanded to target artillery and storage facilities around the city. The bombing resumed on 5 September, and its scope extended to VRS air defences near Banja Luka by 9 September as NATO had nearly exhausted its list of targets near Sarajevo. On 13 September,
2523-537: The 18th century gradually abandoned this combined Croatian standard. The Illyrian movement was a 19th-century pan- South Slavic political and cultural movement in Croatia that had the goal to standardise the regionally differentiated and orthographically inconsistent literary languages in Croatia, and finally merge them into a common South Slavic literary language. Specifically, three major groups of dialects were spoken on Croatian territory, and there had been several literary languages over four centuries. The leader of
2610-887: The 21st century. In 1997, the Croatian Parliament established the Days of the Croatian Language from March 11 to 17. Since 2013, the Institute of Croatian language has been celebrating the Month of the Croatian Language , from February 21 ( International Mother Language Day ) to March 17 (the day of signing the Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian Literary Language ). In
2697-557: The 4th and 7th Guards Brigades moved into reserve. They were replaced with the 1st and the 2nd Guards Brigades of the HVO, which became the spearhead of OG North. A probing attack by the 2nd Guards Brigade achieved some gains towards Jajce along the rim of the Kupres Plateau. OGs South and West made another effort to capture Drvar, but were beaten back by VRS infantry supported by artillery and M-87 Orkan rockets. The second stage of
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2784-619: The 50th anniversary of the Declaration, at the beginning of 2017, a two-day meeting of experts from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro was organized in Zagreb, at which the text of the Declaration on the Common Language of Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs and Montenegrins was drafted. The new Declaration has received more than ten thousand signatures . It states that in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro
2871-446: The 60th Guards Battalion and the special police in attacks against the VRS positions on Vitorog. The farthest advance achieved on the initial day of the offensive was achieved by the 4th Guards Brigade, which advanced 5 kilometres (3.1 miles). The 7th Guards Brigade and the 1st HGZ advanced considerably less distance, while the supporting efforts of OG South and OG West launched that day against Drvar made little progress. On 9 September,
2958-425: The ARBiH to be a greater threat in the area and only deployed between 5,000 and 6,000 troops directly against the HV, consisting of one motorised and six infantry or light infantry brigades fielded along the frontline and one brigade in reserve. The first stage of the offensive was planned to overcome VRS defences extending across mountains north of Glamoč, guarding southern approaches to Šipovo and Jajce. The attack
3045-452: The Bosnian Serbs accepted NATO's demand for the establishment of an exclusion zone around Sarajevo and the campaign ceased. As the NATO bombing generally targeted VRS around Sarajevo, western Bosnia remained relatively calm following Operation Storm, except for probing attacks launched by the VRS, HVO or ARBiH near Bihać , Drvar and Glamoč . At the time the HV, HVO and ARBiH were planning
3132-626: The Chief of Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Robert Hranj, spoke about plans to establish a certain operational reserve in the coming period whose units will be smaller, but will be characterized by a higher degree of readiness and develop the ability to perform all types of tasks, from supporting civilian institutions in the entire territory of the Republic of Croatia to combat tasks. Due to Russo-Ukrainian War and intense regional security it has become apparent current Army organization requires significant re-organization. What this re-organization entails
3219-535: The Croatian Minister of Defence , Damir Krstičević , alleging that he and other high-ranking Croatian officials had committed war crimes during the offensive. Bosnian authorities were also investigating Krstičević for crimes committed in Jajce and Donji Vakuf. On 13 September 1995, a bus convoy of Serb civilian refugees moving towards Jajce were fired upon in the village of Bravnice , before being hit with
3306-482: The Croatian Armed Forces, the Home Guard was abolished. After Croatia had only active units of a total of about 16,000 people for several years after joining NATO, in 2014 it was decided to start re-organizing the reserve component. In 2018 six reserve units were first formed: 2 artillery and missile regiments, 1 air defence regiment, 1 logistics regiment, and 1 battalion engineering and communications each. In 2020,
3393-929: The Croatian Army are the Guards Armoured Mechanized Brigade which in turn is divided into one tank battalion equipped with M-84A4 Sniper main battle tanks, one armoured battalion supplemented by M-84A4 Sniper main battle tanks as well as M80A1 infantry fighting vehicles and two mechanized battalions armed with M80A1 IFVs. Second major combat units of the Army are Guards Mechanized Brigade divided by three mechanized battalions equipped with Patria CRO armoured personnel carriers and one motorized battalion equipped with Oshkosh M-ATV vehicles. Both Brigades come equipped with one Artillery Battalion, Air Defence Battalion, Engineer Battalion, one Reconnaissance Company, Signals Company, as well as one Logistics Company. Such unique organizational structure of
3480-600: The Croatian language. The current standard language is generally laid out in the grammar books and dictionaries used in education, such as the school curriculum prescribed by the Ministry of Education and the university programmes of the Faculty of Philosophy at the four main universities . In 2013, a Hrvatski pravopis by the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics received an official sole seal of approval from
3567-471: The HV and HVO defeated the bulk of the main VRS defences of the 3rd Serbian and 7th Motorised Brigades, achieving a key breakthrough. The 1st HGZ pushed back the VRS from Vitorog, and the 7th Guards Brigade advanced 8 kilometres (5.0 miles), capturing the Mlinište Pass, while the 4th Guards Brigade secured Jastrebnjak Hill. The next day, the HV and the HVO were only able to advance 2 kilometres (1.2 miles), as
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3654-546: The HVO 1st Guards Brigade was able to reach Šipovo and capture the town. Its advance was also supported by the 1st HGZ, which advanced to outflank the VRS near Šipovo. The assault was also supported by the 60th Guards Battalion, the General Staff Reconnaissance Sabotage Company, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers . As the VRS positions around Šipovo began to give way, the 2nd Guards Brigade advanced against Jajce, reaching
3741-542: The Holy Widow Judith Composed in Croatian Verses ". The Croatian–Hungarian Agreement designated Croatian as one of its official languages. Croatian became an official EU language upon accession of Croatia to the European Union on 1 July 2013. In 2013, the EU started publishing a Croatian-language version of its official gazette. Standard Croatian is the official language of the Republic of Croatia and, along with Standard Bosnian and Standard Serbian , one of three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina . It
3828-452: The Illyrian movement Ljudevit Gaj standardized the Latin alphabet in 1830–1850 and worked to bring about a standardized orthography. Although based in Kajkavian-speaking Zagreb , Gaj supported using the more populous Neo-Shtokavian – a version of Shtokavian that eventually became the predominant dialectal basis of both Croatian and Serbian literary language from the 19th century on. Supported by various South Slavic proponents, Neo-Shtokavian
3915-456: The JNA directly supported the VRS, such as during the capture of Zvornik in early April 1992, when the JNA provided artillery support from Serbia, firing across the Drina River. At the same time, the JNA attempted to defuse the situation and arrange negotiations elsewhere in the country. The JNA and the VRS in Bosnia and Herzegovina faced the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine – ARBiH) and
4002-411: The Ministry of Education. The most prominent recent editions describing the Croatian standard language are: Also notable are the recommendations of Matica hrvatska , the national publisher and promoter of Croatian heritage, and the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography , as well as the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts . Numerous representative Croatian linguistic works were published since
4089-433: The NATO air campaign did not degrade VRS combat capability as much as was expected, because the airstrikes were never primarily directed at field-deployed units but at command and control infrastructure. This analysis noted that, while the NATO air campaign did degrade VRS capabilities, the final offensives by the HV, HVO and the ARBiH did the most damage. The analysis further concluded that the ground offensives, rather than
4176-419: The NATO bombardment, were responsible for bringing the Bosnian Serbs to the negotiation table and the war to its end. However, author Robert C. Owen argues that the HV would not have advanced as rapidly as it did had NATO not intervened and hampered the VRS defence by denying it long-range communications. Operation Mistral 2, along with the near-concurrent Operation Sana, created a large number of refugees from
4263-405: The Neo-Shtokavian dialect that served as a supraregional lingua franca – pushing back regional Chakavian , Kajkavian , and Shtokavian vernaculars . The decisive role was played by Croatian Vukovians , who cemented the usage of Ijekavian Neo-Shtokavian as the literary standard in the late 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, in addition to designing a phonological orthography. Croatian
4350-467: The VRS 2nd Krajina Corps, moving south from Bihać towards Bosanski Petrovac . The HV 81st Guards Battalion was inserted into the operation to support the HVO exploitation forces, and when it approached Mrkonjić Grad it clashed with the VRS 7th Motorised Brigade defending the town. By the end of the day the 2nd Guards Brigade had reached Jajce. The civilian population of Jajce was evacuated when its capture appeared imminent. The 2nd Guards Brigade entered
4437-415: The VRS deployed a battalion of M-84 tanks detached from the 1st Armoured Brigade. At this point, the HV and the HVO had achieved the objectives of the first stage of the offensive. That day, the 7th Corps of the ARBiH launched its attack on the right flank of the HV and the HVO assault. It engaged VRS elements tenaciously defending Donji Vakuf . On 11 September, OG North paused offensive operations while
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#17327908289504524-507: The VRS withdrew from the town. The ARBiH 5th Corps captured Kulen Vakuf on 14 September, and Bosanski Petrovac the next day. It linked up with HV forces at the Oštrelj Pass, 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) southeast of the town on the road to Drvar. The link-up was not smooth, as a friendly fire incident occurred, resulting in casualties. The combined HV and HVO force penetrated VRS defences by up to 30 kilometres (19 miles) capturing 2,500 square kilometres (970 square miles), and demonstrating
4611-417: The West by forcing an end to the Bosnian War. The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina welcomed the move as it contributed to their goal of gaining control over western Bosnia and the city of Banja Luka —the largest city in the Bosnian Serb-held territory. In the final days of August 1995, NATO launched Operation Deliberate Force —an air campaign targeting the VRS. This campaign was launched in response to
4698-405: The area of the combined HV and HVO offensive, the VRS had its 2nd Krajina Corps, commanded by Major General Radivoje Tomanić , and the 30th Infantry Division of the 1st Krajina Corps, commanded by Major General Momir Zec . Tomanić, who set up his headquarters in Drvar, was in overall command in western Bosnia. Tomanić and Zec commanded a combined force of approximately 22,000 troops. They considered
4785-462: The areas previously controlled by the VRS. Their number was variously reported and the estimates range from 655 killed civilians and 125,000 refugees, reported by Radio-Television Republika Srpska in 2010, to approximately 40,000 refugees reported in 1995—both by Bosnian Serb sources. The latter figure was reported to encompass the entire contemporary populations of the towns of Jajce, Šipovo, Mrkonjić Grad and Donji Vakuf fleeing or being evacuated. At
4872-436: The battles for the preservation of state borders in Posavina, Banovina, Lika, in the east in Slavonia and in the south in the hinterland of Zadar, Sibenik and Dubrovnik. Professional and reserve members of the ground forces of the Croatian Army participated and were the main force and support in the preparation and implementation of operations such as the "Spaljena Zemlja" operation in 1992, the " Maslenica " operation in 1993, and
4959-413: The capture of Drvar, the secondary objective of the overall offensive. VRS defences around the town held until 14 September, when Gotovina detached a reinforced battalion from the 7th Guards Brigade held in the reserve of OG North and deployed it against Drvar. A renewed push by OGs West and South, combined with a rapid advance by the ARBiH 5th Corps against Bosanski Petrovac threatened to isolate Drvar, and
5046-439: The commanding officer of the 7th Guards Brigade, Brigadier Ivan Korade , had ordered the killing of VRS prisoners of war during the offensive. Charges of war crimes were brought against seven soldiers of the brigade, specifying that they executed Korade's orders to kill one VRS prisoner and one unknown man in the village of Halapić near Glamoč, and four VRS prisoners in the village of Mlinište. Five defendants were convicted and
5133-413: The country in the collective defense system of the NATO alliance. In war situations, the Croatian Army is responsible for the implementation of joint defensive and offensive operations in the defense of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia and participation in the defense of the state and allies in accordance with Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty. The Croatian Army has contributed to
5220-622: The defense of the sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia, they also receive the tasks of participating in NATO-led international operations and UN missions. In 2007, the Croatian Army abandoned the corps structure and the territorial principle of defense through a reorganization, and from four brigades two were established with their commands in Vinkovci and Knin. The Croatian Army is an all-volunteer force numbering 7,000 active-duty personnel and 150 civil servants and employees as of 2020. The Army can also call on 6,000 reserve personnel who serve up to 30 days every year. Two major combat formations of
5307-411: The deserted town, recapturing the town which had been lost to the VRS in Operation Vrbas '92 , nearly three years before. Its capture prevented the 7th Corps of the ARBiH from advancing any further as its frontline facing the VRS all but disappeared. The 7th Corps then detached a substantial part of its force and sent them as reinforcements to the 5th Corps. The third stage of the operation centred on
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#17327908289505394-502: The first units of the ZNG followed the "Bloody Easter" in 1991, when it became obvious that the Republic of Croatia would have to defend itself with organized military forces. The first units of the National Guard Corps are considered to be the first units of the ground forces of the Croatian Army, and from their active cores came the guard brigades: 1st Guards Brigade "Tigrovi" , 2nd Guards Brigade "Gromovi" , 3rd Guards Brigade "Kune" and 4th Guards Brigade "Pauci" , units which during
5481-449: The following NATO missions since 2015: Source: The Croatian Army was involved in the following UN missions since 2017: In the past, the Croatian Army has also contributed to: The Croatian Army celebrates its day on May 28 in commemoration of the day when members of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th brigades of the Croatian National Guard were lined up and sworn in at the NK Zagreb stadium in Kranjčevićeva Street in Zagreb. The organization of
5568-561: The frequency of use. However, as professor John F. Bailyn states, "an examination of all the major 'levels' of language shows that BCS is clearly a single language with a single grammatical system." Croatian, although technically a form of Serbo-Croatian , is sometimes considered a distinct language by itself. This is at odds with purely linguistic classifications of languages based on mutual intelligibility ( abstand and ausbau languages ), which do not allow varieties that are mutually intelligible to be considered separate languages. "There
5655-475: The improved skill of HV planners. More significantly, Operation Mistral 2, as well as Operation Sana, as the first in a string of offensives launched shortly before the end of the Bosnian War, were crucial in applying pressure on the Bosnian Serbs. They also set the stage for further HV and HVO advances in Operation Southern Move . The Central Intelligence Agency analysed the effects of Operation Deliberate Force and Operations Maestral 2 and Sana, and noted that
5742-451: The independence of Croatia, among them three voluminous monolingual dictionaries of contemporary Croatian. In 2021, Croatia introduced a new model of linguistic categorisation of the Bunjevac dialect (as part of New-Shtokavian Ikavian dialects of the Shtokavian dialect of the Croatian language) in three sub-branches: Dalmatian (also called Bosnian-Dalmatian), Danubian (also called Bunjevac), and Littoral-Lika. Its speakers largely use
5829-644: The late medieval period up to the 17th century, the majority of semi-autonomous Croatia was ruled by two domestic dynasties of princes ( banovi ), the Zrinski and the Frankopan , which were linked by inter-marriage. Toward the 17th century, both of them attempted to unify Croatia both culturally and linguistically, writing in a mixture of all three principal dialects (Chakavian, Kajkavian and Shtokavian), and calling it "Croatian", "Dalmatian", or "Slavonian". Historically, several other names were used as synonyms for Croatian, in addition to Dalmatian and Slavonian, and these were Illyrian (ilirski) and Slavic (slovinski) . It
5916-451: The liberation operations in 1995 which finally led to the liberation of the occupied territory and the establishment of the integrity of the Republic of Croatia. With their strength and the art of warfare, they made the main effort and celebrated as winners in operations " Flash ", "Summer '95" and "Storm" . After the brilliant victory in "Storm", operations " Mistral " and " Southern Move " followed. The final operations in 1995 established
6003-682: The major combat formations, to be organized as a small, highly capable force with an emphasis on mobility, versatility and quality, has as a clear aim of being able to be deployed rapidly and operate with high degree of flexibility as part of a larger multinational combat force. For such an organizational structure to work, it must be deployed with high level of training and equipped with modern weapons systems that put emphasis on precision, quick mobility and interoperability with other NATO partners. To that end, Croatian Army has also been extensively training with its NATO partners in number of yearly exercises such as "SHIELD", “Immediate response”, “SAVA STAR” among
6090-405: The most important characteristic of a nation is widely accepted, stemming from the 19th-century history of Europe. The 1967 Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Literary Language , in which a group of Croatian authors and linguists demanded greater autonomy for Croatian, is viewed in Croatia as a linguistic policy milestone that was also a general milestone in national politics. On
6177-511: The newly declared Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , the VRS controlled approximately 60 percent of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The extent of VRS control was extended to about 70 percent of the country by the end of 1992. By 1995, the ARBiH and the HVO had developed into better-organised forces employing comparably large numbers of artillery pieces and good defensive fortifications. The VRS was not capable of penetrating their defences even where its forces employed sound military tactics, for instance in
6264-495: The offensive commenced on 12 September. Its objective was the capture of Šipovo and Jajce by OG North after it successfully breached the VRS defences north of Glamoč. As the 7th Motorised Brigade of the VRS was forced to withdraw from positions near Vitorog in order to defend Šipovo, the rapid advance of the HV and the HVO meant the VRS could not consolidate a defensive line. On the same day, the HV deployed three Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunship sorties against VRS armour and artillery, and
6351-551: The offensive. The forces were deployed in three groups. Operational Group (OG) North, tasked with capturing Šipovo and Jajce, consisted of 11,000 troops and included the best units available to Gotovina—the 4th Guards and the 7th Guards Brigades , the 1st Croatian Guards Brigade ( 1. hrvatski gardijski zdrug – 1st HGZ) of the HV and three HVO guards brigades. The rest of the force was organised into OG West and OG South, and consisted of five HV Home Guard regiments and three reserve infantry brigades. These two groups were to pin down
6438-569: The operation. In 2016, Bosnian Serb officials filed a criminal complaint against the Croatian Minister of Defence , Damir Krstičević , alleging that he had committed war crimes during the offensive. As the Yugoslav People's Army ( Jugoslovenska narodna armija – JNA) withdrew from Croatia following the acceptance and start of implementation of the Vance plan , its 55,000 officers and soldiers born in Bosnia and Herzegovina were transferred to
6525-420: The others, as well as being part of NATO Enhanced Forward Presence . Reserve units were one of the foundations on which the Croatian Army was built in the Homeland War. The Home Guard was restored and became a separate part of the Croatian Army as a reserve unit and was subjected to a unique command system. After the war, the Home Guard was disbanded and demobilized, and in 2003, with the reorganization of
6612-410: The overall command of HV Major General Ante Gotovina . The operation commenced during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air campaign against the VRS codenamed Operation Deliberate Force , targeting VRS air defences, artillery positions and storage facilities largely in the area of Sarajevo , but also elsewhere in the country. Days after commencement of the offensive, the VRS positions to
6699-433: The prosecution. Theunens pointed out that civilian property and infrastructure at less risk in the aftermath of Operation Mistral 2, as Gotovina had issued much more strict orders in that respect, establishing companies specifically tasked with security and imposing a curfew in Jajce. The HV and the HVO sustained losses of 74 killed and 226 wounded in the operation. In 2007, Croatian authorities received information that
6786-477: The remaining two acquitted in October 2011. Two of them were sentenced to six years in prison, one of them to five years and the remaining two to two years' imprisonment. Korade was never tried, as he committed suicide following a standoff with police officers who sought to apprehend him in relation to a quadruple murder committed in late March 2008. In 2016, Bosnian Serb officials filed a criminal complaint against
6873-471: The resolution of the Bosnian War, and to what extent ARBiH, HVO and HV advances were aided by NATO airstrikes. Operation Mistral 2 resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Bosnian Serb civilians, as well as the displacement of tens of thousands of others. In 2011, five former Croatian military personnel were convicted of war crimes for the summary execution of five Bosnian Serb soldiers and a civilian during
6960-529: The right and to the left of the HV and the HVO advance were also attacked by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) in Operation Sana . The offensive achieved its objectives and set the stage for further advances of the HV, HVO and ARBiH towards Banja Luka, contributing to the resolution of the war. There is disagreement among scholars as to whether the offensive, together with Operation Sana, or NATO airstrikes contributed more towards
7047-426: The speakers themselves largely do not use it. Within ex-Yugoslavia, the term has largely been replaced by the ethnopolitical terms Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian. The use of the name "Croatian" for a language has historically been attested to, though not always distinctively. The first printed Croatian literary work is a vernacular Chakavian poem written in 1501 by Marko Marulić , titled " The History of
7134-500: The task of preventing and eliminating the consequences of emergency situations in the country caused by natural and technical accidents and disasters. The HKoV has units of combat branches (Mechanized and Armoured Mechanized infantry), combat support branches (artillery, air defense, engineering, communications, nuclear-biological-chemical defense, military police and military intelligence units) and services support (supply, transport, maintenance and sanitation). The basic mission of HKoV
7221-704: The time, the UN spokesman in Sarajevo estimated the number of refugees at 20,000. The refugees fled to VRS-controlled areas around Brčko and Banja Luka, adding to the 50,000 refugees who had been sheltering in Banja Luka since Operation Storm. During the Trial of Gotovina et al before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia , Reynaud Theunens compared Operations Mistral 2 and Storm in his capacity as an expert witness for
7308-438: The troops of the VRS 2nd Krajina Corps in the vicinity of Drvar, and attempt to advance on the town. Once OG North had completed its tasks, it was to turn back and capture Drvar. Gotovina's forces were deployed between the ARBiH 5th Corps on their left, and the 7th Corps on their right. The ARBiH forces were to advance on the flanks of the HV and the HVO, in a separate but coordinated offensive codenamed Operation Sana . In
7395-640: Was adopted after an Austrian initiative at the Vienna Literary Agreement of 1850, laying the foundation for the unified Serbo-Croatian literary language. The uniform Neo-Shtokavian then became common in the Croatian elite. In the 1860s, the Zagreb Philological School dominated the Croatian cultural life, drawing upon linguistic and ideological conceptions advocated by the members of the Illyrian movement. While it
7482-608: Was dominant over the rival Rijeka Philological School and Zadar Philological Schools , its influence waned with the rise of the Croatian Vukovians (at the end of the 19th century). Croatian is commonly characterized by the ijekavian pronunciation (see an explanation of yat reflexes ), the sole use of the Latin alphabet, and a number of lexical differences in common words that set it apart from standard Serbian. Some differences are absolute, while some appear mainly in
7569-408: Was launched in the morning of 8 September. The 7th and the 4th Guards Brigades spearheaded the attack, striking towards the Mlinište Pass and Jastrebnjak Hill respectively. The first line of VRS defences was breached by 10:00, which allowed the 1st HGZ to push through the 4th Guards Brigade and outflank Mount Vitorog and the particularly strong VRS defences there. The 1st HGZ was quickly reinforced by
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