In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

233 The War in CroaTia, 1991-1995 ◆ Mile Bjelajac and Ozren Žunec ◆ Introductory Remarks Methodology and Sources Military organizations produce large quantities of documents covering all aspects of their activities, from strategic plans and decisions to reports on spending for small arms. When archives are open and documents accessible, it is relatively easy for military historians to reconstruct events in which the military participated . When it comes to the military actions of the units in the field, abundant documentation provides for very detailed accounts that sometimes even tend to be overly microscopic. But there are also military organizations, wars, and individual episodes that are more difficult to reconstruct. Sometimes reliable data are lacking or are inaccessible, or there may be a controversy regarding the meaning of events that no document can solve. Complicated political factors and the simple but basic shortcomings of human nature also provide challenges for any careful reconstruction. The armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia has become the subject of a vast literature. This includes several memoirs or “documentary materials” written by both key figures and lesser participants in the conflict, ranging from international intermediaries and local politicians to soldiers, civilians, and journalists who were witnesses to events. Scholarly research is also expanding. However, many of the books and articles reflect the subjective perspectives of their authors. In the memoirs of participants who served in either the political or military apparatus , there is usually a strong apologetic effort to vindicate one’s own assessments and actions. The publication of such works often provokes discussions in which former opponents or adversaries of the author push for their views. This 234 ◆ MiLe BJeLaJac anD Ozren Žunec rarely brings a balanced result; more frequently it just renews old disputes without opening new perspectives. The war in Croatia from 1990 to 1995 is no exception to this. Beside obvious reasons why it is difficult to expect that a scholarly, nonpartisan, objective, and balanced historical account could be written only a decade after the end of the conflict, there are also many specific obstacles and impediments that make it hard to achieve such results. These obstacles continue to influence many current views among the public and in academic communities. First, some of the most important developments in the war were never documented in the first place; many far-reaching and crucial actions were the results of deliberations that were made by decision makers and discussed in small circles without any written record. Given the nature of these decisions and the fact that many important power centers consisted essentially of nonstate actors without proper administrative infrastructure and culture, this poses very serious problems for historical reconstruction. Moreover, basic hard data—as, for example, the precise number, type, and structure of casualties, especially on the Serbian side— do not exist. Second, many documents were simply lost or deliberately destroyed because of wartime circumstances or because authorities or individuals wanted to destroy the evidence of their activities and intentions.1 Some participants, such as the wartime Croatian Serb civil and military authorities and organizations, vanished altogether in the war, and their documentation was only partially salvaged. Third, the archives of former belligerents are for the most part still closed to scholars, and important documents are still inaccessible. On the other hand, many individuals for various reasons took possession of documents that would normally be part of the official archives (in Croatia, archivists estimate that at least the same number of original documents is in private hands as in the state archives). Access to the archives is still subject to the discretion of authorities who carefully weigh whom to admit; eligibility is not formally proscribed, but it is decided on an individual basis. Without being able to work systematically in archives, scholars will not be able to achieve precise insights into what happened and why. Fourth, the war has left some smoldering fires. In the first place, there is the question of protracted prosecutions of war crimes. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established by the UN in 1993, is still prosecuting violations of international humanitarian law. Extraditions of key inductees from their home countries to the ICTY were processes that took a very long time. Political elites feared that their regimes would be destabilized by the indictments or by the extraditions of persons considered to be national heroes in some circles, and heated political discussions ensued in all ethnic communities. On the other hand, many war participants were reluctant to write or...

Share