Yugoslavia War : Slovenia 21.6.1991

submitted by europelmbh on 03/09/16 1

The Ten-Day War, sometimes called the Slovenian War, was a brief military conflict between Slovenia and Yugoslavia that took place in 1991 following Slovenia's declaration of independence. Slovenia and Croatia passed the acts about their independence on 25 June 1991. This "advance" on the date of independence was a critical element of the Slovenian plan to gain an early advantage in the expected conflict. The Slovenian government fully expected the Yugoslav military to respond with force on the day of the declaration of independence or shortly afterwards. By secretly advancing the date by 24 hours, the Slovenians wrongfooted the Yugoslav government, which had set 26 June as the date for its move. Although the Yugoslav army was adamantly opposed to Slovenian independence, it was divided about what to do. The YPA Chief of Staff, Colonel-General Blagoje Adžić, advocated a large-scale military operation to remove the Slovenian government and bring "healthy forces" to power in the republic. His political superior, the Yugoslav Defence Minister General of the Army Veljko Kadijević, insisted on a more cautious approach – essentially a show of force that would convince the Slovenian government to back down on its declaration of independence. After some debate, Kadijević got his way. It is unclear how much the civilian members of the Yugoslav government were involved in the decision to resort to force in Slovenia. Ante Marković, the President of the Federal Executive Council (equivalent to Prime Minister) is reported to have said that the federal government had not been informed of the Army's actions. Due to the short duration and low intensity of the war, casualties were not high. According to Slovenian estimates, the YPA suffered 44 fatalities and 146 wounded, while the Slovenians had 18 killed and 182 wounded. Twelve foreign nationals were killed in the conflict, principally journalists and Bulgarian truck drivers who had strayed into the line of fire. 4,692 YPA soldiers and 252 federal police officers were captured by the Slovenian side. According to post-war assessments made by the YPA, its material losses amounted to 31 tanks, 22 armoured personnel carriers, 6 helicopters, 6,787 infantry weapons, 87 artillery pieces and 124 air defence weapons damaged, destroyed or confiscated. Property damage was not heavy, due to the scattered and short-term nature of the fighting.

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