Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina (Republika Srpska Krajina, RSK) was a Serbian republic that existed between 1991 and 1995 and partially until 1998 in Croatia.The original Krajina was carved out of the crownlands of Croatia and Slavonia by Austria in 1553/1578 in order to form the Military Frontier with the Ottoman Empire. The Serbs who immigrated in the region liberated it from the Ottomans in 1659, and agreed to join the Austrian Empire in 1669, because the Austrians offered them the status of a crownland, greater autonomy and special rights. The area was not a true crownland; it had most of the rights of crownlands and some that crownlands didn't have. They had a local parliament, but any decision made in Vienna was unquestionable. The abolition of the military rule took place between 1869 and 1871. After that, the areas were returned to their previous crownlands.
Following World War II, Partisan leaders made it part of the republic of Croatia, though the map on their original declaration showed it as being part of Serbia. A rough draft of this declaration showed it as being part of a separate republic.
At the beginning of the Yugoslav wars in 1990, a group of Serbian Autonomous Regions (SAOs) were proclaimed, mainly occupying territories where the Serbs were in a majority in the old Slavonian and Croatian Military Frontier regions. The Yugoslav People's Army and Serbian paramilitary formations waged war against the Croatian government forces to secure Krajina's secession. The Republic as such was proclaimed in December 1991.
Sources vary about the population numbers, and it was difficult to determine exactly due to the war. Some put the number between 450,000 to 600,000. According to a local census by the RSK authorities from 1993, there were 480,000 people: 91% Serbs (433,595), 7% Croats and 2% others.
Almost the entire Croatian population of the region was expelled or fled in a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" for which the Krajina Serb leader, Milan Babić, was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in January 2004.
By signing the final cease fire of 1992, Croatia recognized the status quo — Krajina's de facto independence — though this didn't have much relevance on its international standing. It was recognized by Serbia's traditional allies: Greece, Russia, and several other countries with Orthodox Christian majority. With the creation of new Croatian counties on December 30, 1992, the Croatian government also set aside two autonomous regions (kotar) for ethnic Serbs in the areas of Krajina.
The RSK lasted until 1995, when Croatian forces retook western Slavonia in Operation Flash (May) and overran the rest in Operation Storm (August). As a consequence, almost the entire Serbian population fled in what was in part an evacuation ordered by the Krajina Serb authorities and (allegedly) in part "a large-scale deportation and/or displacement" conducted by Croatian forces under the command of Colonel General Ante Gotovina (for which the latter has been indicted by the ICTY) [1].
Around 150,000 — 200,000 Serbs left Krajina in 1995. Of the Serb inhabitants that lived in the Serbian Krajina not bordering the Danube only 4000 were left. Some Serbs and most of the expelled Croats have since returned, but the Krajina Serb population is still only a fraction of its pre-1995 numbers. The autonomous regions planned by the government in 1992 were disbanded on February 7, 1997 and the areas were integrated into civic counties.
The parts of Krajina in eastern Croatia (along the Danube) remained in place as the Republic of Eastern Slavonia, Srem and Baranja until 1998, when they were peacefully reintegrated into Croatia. This area was also known as the Republic of Vukovar, the Krajina Oblast, the Republic of Eastern Slavonia, and the Serbian Administered Slavonia.