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Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Western Slavonia Srpska autonomna oblast Zapadna Slavonija Српска аутономна област Западна Славонија | |||||||||
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| 1991 | |||||||||
%2c_Flag_of_Serbia_(1947%25E2%2580%25931992).svg) .svg) Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 SAO Western Slavonia (central blue area) withinSR Croatia (red). | |||||||||
| Status | Self-proclaimedautonomous oblast | ||||||||
| Capital | Pakrac | ||||||||
| Government | Provisional government | ||||||||
• Military Commander | Rade Čakmak | ||||||||
| Historical era | Breakup of Yugoslavia | ||||||||
• Established | 12 August 1991 | ||||||||
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| History ofSlavonia |
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Antiquity |
20th century |
TheSerbian Autonomous Oblast of Western Slavonia (Serbo-Croatian:Srpska autonomna oblast Zapadna Slavonija,Српска аутономна област Западна Славонија) was a Serbian self-proclaimedSerb Autonomous Region (oblast) withinCroatia. It was formed on 12 August 1991[1] and was subsequently included into theRepublic of Serbian Krajina. It was eliminated and reintegrated into Croatia in May 1995, duringOperation Flash.
Shortly after the proclamation of the SAO Western Slavonia, rebel Serb forces, assisted by the Serb-ledYugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serb paramilitary forces (from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina), tookOkučani andDaruvar, threatening to severSlavonia from Croatia proper. At this time, the area under Serbian control was relatively large, although the majority of the region was hilly and forested with poor infrastructure. During the next months, there was fierce battle forPakrac as paramilitaries ethnically cleansed Croats from newly captured Western Slavonic districts. Most of the region was patrolled by poorly equipped Serbian militias drawn from the local Serb villages, and with JNA resources widely distributed at a precarious time, they were not in position to effectively dissect Croatia.
On October 31, 1991, Croatian forces launchedOperation Otkos 10 securing theBilogora hills. Following this success, the CroatOperation Orkan 91, on December 12, pushed back the Serb/Yugoslav forces into a small pocket only a fraction of the initial territory controlled. In the operation,Daruvar was liberated. During their retreat, Serbian paramilitaries committed theVoćin massacre. On January 2, 1992, the UN brokered a ceasefire in Sarajevo, it is possible that this stopped the Croatian forces from eliminating the rebel Serb presence in Western Slavonia.
On February 18, 1993, Croatian and local Serb leaders signed theDaruvar Agreement. The Agreement was kept secret and was working towards normalising life for the locals on the battlefield line. However, the rebel Serb authorities from Knin learned of the deal and arrested the rebel Serb leaders responsible for it.[2]
The Serb enclave of Western Slavonia was eliminated and the area reintegrated into Croatia in two days in May 1995, duringOperation Flash. In retaliation for this thorough defeat,Milan Martić launchedrockets at Zagreb.
The territory of Western Slavonia under protection by theUnited Nations included four municipalities:Okučani,Pakrac,Daruvar andGrubišno Polje. TheArmy of the Republic of Serbian Krajina had controlled the municipalities of Okučani and Pakrac.
The population of municipalities of Western Slavonia according to the population census in 1991 (note that these did not correspond SAO Slavonia which mostly included Serb settlements of the municipalities, not one of them wholly):
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