Review article
Insurgency as directed political violence: Serbian insurgency in Croatia in the 1990s
Tin Guštin
; Hrvatsko vojno učilište "Dr. Franjo Tuđman"
Abstract
The article examines the political violence and insurgency led by the Serbian population in Croatia during the 1990s, which developed under the influence of Slobodan Milošević and a historical, ideological framework advocating for a "Greater Serbia." This article outlines the insurgency's ideological roots in Serbian nationalism, which date back to 19th-century doctrines advocating territorial expansion and Serbian unity across the Balkans. With the dissolution of Yugoslavia imminent, Milošević leveraged Serbian grievances to incite the Serbian minority in Croatia, leading to an armed rebellion that escalated into widespread violence. The Croatian leadership, framing the conflict as a defensive struggle for national survival, mobilised against
what it saw as both Serbian insurgency and broader Yugoslav military aggression. The analysis highlights how Serbian nationalists strategically used misinformation, political mobilisation, and support from the Yugoslav People’s Army to escalate the conflict, ultimately destabilising the region. This work emphasises that the resulting war was rooted not merely in ethnic divisions, but also competing nationalisms and the instrumentalisation of historical narratives.
Keywords
insurgency; nationalism; Great Serbia projects; Milošević; political violence; ideology
Hrčak ID:
324038
URI
Publication date:
13.12.2024.
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