THE SECOND KRAJINA CORPS OF THE ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA AND THE FALL OF THE MUNICIPALITIES IN WESTERN KRAJINA IN 1995

Abstract

The division of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina between the warring parties, imposed by the international community, in the ratio of 49% for the Serbian side and 51% for the Muslim-Croatian side, as a condition for the start of peace negotiations, according to many analyses and expert opinions, determined the fate of the Second Krajina Corps of the Army of the Republic of Srpska. When the Army of the Republic of Srpska was formed in May 1992, the Second Krajina Corps was formed on the territory of municipalities with limited human and material potential, even though these were the municipalities with the almost 100% of Serbian population. This organization, staffing and the area of ​​responsibility of the Second Corps in the period 1994-1995, would also have a significant impact on the defense of the Republic of Srpska. In several Croatian-Muslim offensives, carried out in the period from August until September of that year, the Corps completely lost its territory. The general conclusion that emerged immediately after the end of the war in late 1995, in the analysis of the outcome of combat operations on the Western Krajina battlefield, was the defeat of the Second Krajina Corps and the parts of the First Krajina Corps on that battlefield. The paper was written on the basis of available archival material, literature and statements of prominent participants in the war from the composition of the Second Krajina Corps.