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|map_caption=Dalj on the map of Croatia |location= Dalj, Croatia |target=Croatian police and Croatian National Guard prisoners of war, Croat civilians |date=1 August 1991 |time= |timezone= |type=Mass murder |fatalities=56–57 |injuries= |perps= SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia Territorial Defence Forces, supported by the Yugoslav People's Army and the Serb Volunteer Guard paramilitaries }} The Dalj massacre was the killing of 56 or 57 Croats in Dalj, Croatia on 1 August 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. In addition to civilian victims, the figure includes 20 Croatian policemen, 15 Croatian National Guard (''Zbor narodne garde'' – ZNG) troops and four civil defencemen who had been defending the police station and water supply building in the village. While some of the policemen and the ZNG troops died in combat, those who surrendered were killed after they became prisoners of war. They tried to fight off an attack by the Croatian Serb SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (SAO SBWS) Territorial Defence Forces, supported by the Yugoslav People's Army (''Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija'' – JNA) and the Serb Volunteer Guard paramilitaries. The SAO SBWS was declared an autonomous territory in eastern Croatia following the Battle of Borovo Selo just to the south of Dalj. After the attack, the non-Serb civilian population in the village and the surrounding area was persecuted. They were forced to flee their homes, as they would have been imprisoned, physically abused or killed if they did not. After the war, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) charged high ranking SAO SBWS and Serbian officials, including Slobodan Milošević and Goran Hadžić, with war crimes committed in Dalj. The killings were extensively covered by German media leading to forming of a public opinion in support of Croatia. By the end of 1991, Germany adopted support for diplomatic recognition of Croatia as its policy and duty. ==Background== In 1990, following the electoral defeat of the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, ethnic tensions in the republic worsened. The Yugoslav People's Army (''Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija'' – JNA) confiscated Croatia's Territorial Defence (''Teritorijalna obrana'' – TO) weapons to miminize the possibility of resistance following the elections. On 17 August, the tensions escalated into an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs, centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin, parts of the Lika, Kordun, Banovina and eastern Croatia. They established a Serbian National Council in July 1990 to coordinate opposition to Croatian President Franjo Tuđman's policy of pursuing independence for Croatia. Milan Babić, a dentist from the southern town of Knin, was elected president. Knin's police chief, Milan Martić, established paramilitary militias. The two men eventually became the political and military leaders of the SAO Krajina, a self-declared state incorporating the Serb-inhabited areas of Croatia. In March 1991, the SAO Krajina authorities backed by the Serbian government started to consolidate control over Serb-populated areas of Croatia. The move resulted in a bloodless skirmish in Pakrac and the first fatalities in the Plitvice Lakes incident. By early May, the conflict also escalated in the region of eastern Slavonia, culminating in the Battle of Borovo Selo, just to the south of the village of Dalj. On 25–26 June, Croatian Serbs in the eastern Slavonia established the SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (SAO SBWS), declaring it an autonomous political entity. In the beginning of 1991, Croatia had no regular army and in an effort to bolster its defence, it doubled the number of police personnel to about 20,000. The most effective part of the force was the 3,000-strong special police deployed in twelve battalions adopting military organisation. In addition there were 9,000–10,000 regionally organised reserve police. The reserve police was set up in 16 battalions and 10 companies, but they lacked weapons. By July, the Croatian National Guard (''Zbor narodne garde'' – ZNG) was established, absorbing a part of the special police force reorganised into four professional brigades, and police reserve force of 40,000 ZNG troops. The reserve units did not possess sufficient heavy or small arms to arm all of their personnel. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dalj massacre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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