Anatolii Demeshchuk
Graduate student, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
UDС 930(477): 336.74:33.021.8 “1922/1924”
DOI http://doi.org/10.17721/2524-048X.2017.06.107-119
Abstract
In this article the author regards a history of creating and organizing the regular Armed Forces of Croatian Republic in 1991. The main attention is focused on a land army – the Croatian Army, which was formed in September 1991 on the basis of the National Guard, Territorial defense and different volunteer formations united. The focus has been made on a decisive role of the land forces during the war in Croatia in 1991-1995. The warfare spectrum has been almost entirely overland. However, creating the Croatian navy and air forces has also been shortly described in the article, although the role thereof has been rather insignificant, especially in 1991. Also the article deals with the issue of the Croatian special police forces which played an important role in all the periods of war in Croatia (1991-1995). The issues of Croatian forces’ material provision, ways of armament, their organizational structure and military quality have been analyzed. The course of the Croatian regular army’s forming has been overviewed in chronological and logical sequence. It is concluded that the matter and outcomes of own armed forces’ building by Croatia during its war for independence has been crucial. It is argued that the effective Croatian government’s decisions in a domain of the armed forces in 1991 significantly assisted Croatia to win the war in 1995. The article is based mostly on the Croatian and English academiic and op-ed literature and sources.
Keywords
Croatian army, National guard, Yugoslav People’s Army.
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