Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.47960/2712-1844.2026.12.133
The Battles for Kupres in April 1992 – A Contribution to Research
Davor Marijan
; Hrvatski institut za povijest, Zagreb
Sažetak
The battles for Kupres in April 1992 were among the first major clashes between Croats and Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, between their armed formations that would later become known as the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS) respectively. After the referendum on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbs began accelerated preparations for war, in which some of their strategic objectives, formally adopted in the first half of May 1992, can already be identified. The engagement in Kupres corresponded to the first of these objectives: the establishment of a territorial unit and demarcation from the other two peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most participants had no prior combat experience and were partly organised within the structures of the Territorial Defence and the light (partisan) brigades of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). Croats and Serbs disputed the position of Kupres within the future territorial unit as delineated by the plan for the internal reorganisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been negotiated on behalf of the European Community by the Portuguese diplomat José Cutileiro. The conflict on the Kupres Plateau began on 3 April and concluded on 10 April with a Serbian victory and a major defeat of the Croatian forces. The outcome of the fighting was largely determined by the material and technical resources of the JNA, which had been financed for decades by all citizens of Yugoslavia but ultimately transferred predominantly into Serbian hands. The Croats mitigated the consequences of their defeat and the Serbian pre-emptive attack by disrupting Serbian plans in southwestern Bosnia and establishing a continuous defensive line in that sector of the front. Ultimately, the battles for Kupres cannot be separated from the three Croatian defensive operations of April 1992, which proved crucial for the survival of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ključne riječi
Kupres; Serbo-Croatian relations; the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Yugoslav People's Army; military operations.
Hrčak ID:
351185
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.10.2026.
Posjeta: 0 *