The Battle of Vukovar: The Battle That Saved Croatia

The key battle in the Croatian Homeland War that led to Croatia independence was the Battle of Vukovar Despite its importance very little has been written about this battle from a professional military perspective. Despite the fact that the Croatians ultimately were forced to give up the city which meant a tactical Croatian defeat at a strategic level Vukovar represented a victory for Croatia. It was a decisive moment in the war in the sense that the battle forced Serbia and the Yugoslav People's Army (the JNA) to reduce their expectations to more realistic level. Although this study discusses why the Battle of Vukovar was so important at both the operational and strategic levels, much of the focus will be at the tactical level, because events at this level naturally had an impact on and are the key to understand the battle at higher levels.