Editing Slavonia (section)

===Federal Yugoslavia and the independence of Croatia===
{{see also|Socialist Republic of Croatia|Croatian War of Independence}}
[[File:Mailath Castle in Donji Miholjac (3).jpg |thumb|left|Castle Mailáth, [[Donji Miholjac]].]]
After World War II, Croatia—including Slavonia—became a [[single-party]] [[Socialist Republic of Croatia|Socialist federal unit]] of the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], ruled by the [[League of Communists of Croatia|Communists]], but enjoying a degree of autonomy within the federation. The autonomy effectively increased after the [[1974 Yugoslav Constitution]], basically fulfilling a goal of the [[Croatian Spring]] movement, and providing a legal basis for independence of the federative constituents.<ref name="Rich">{{cite journal|author=Roland Rich|title=Recognition of States: The Collapse of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union|journal=European Journal of International Law|year=1993|issue=1|volume=4|pages=36–65|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.ejil.a035834|url=http://www.ejil.org/article.php?article=1207&issue=67|access-date=18 October 2011}}</ref> In 1947, when all borders of the former Yugoslav constituent republics had been defined by demarcation commissions, pursuant to decisions of the [[AVNOJ]] of 1943 and 1945, the federal organization of ''Yugoslav Baranya'' was defined as Croatian territory allowing its integration with Slavonia. The commissions also set up the present-day {{convert|317.6|km|adj=on}} border between Serbia and Croatia in Syrmia, and along the [[Danube]] River between [[Ilok]] and mouth of the Drava and further north to the Hungarian border, the section south of confluence of the Drava matching the border between the [[Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia]] and the [[Bács-Bodrog County]] that existed until 1918 and the end of World War I.<ref name="Kraljević-Razgraničenje-1947">{{cite journal|author=Egon Kraljević|publisher=[[Croatian State Archives]]|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=41791|language=hr|title=Prilog za povijest uprave: Komisija za razgraničenje pri Predsjedništvu Vlade Narodne Republike Hrvatske 1945.-1946|trans-title=Contribution to the history of public administration: commission for the boundary demarcation at the government's presidency of the People's Republic of Croatia, 1945–1946 (English language summary title)|date=November 2007|journal=Arhivski vjesnik|volume=50|issue=50|issn=0570-9008|access-date=10 December 2010}}</ref>

The [[1964 Slavonia earthquake]] caused widespread devastation and several human casualties. A large area of the region entered a period of several years of reconstruction afterwards.{{sfn|Josipović Batorek|2013|p=195}}

In the 1980s the political situation in Yugoslavia deteriorated with national tension fanned by the 1986 Serbian [[Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts|SANU Memorandum]] and the [[1989 coups in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro]].<ref name="frucht433">Frucht 2005, p. 433</ref><ref>{{cite news|agency=[[Reuters]]|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE7D9123FF931A25752C0A96F948260&scp=2&sq=Titograd&st=nyt|title=Leaders of a Republic in Yugoslavia Resign|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=12 January 1989|access-date=7 February 2010|archive-date=6 November 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106113747/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/12/world/leaders-of-a-republic-in-yugoslavia-resign.html}}</ref> In January 1990, the Communist Party fragmented along national lines, with the Croatian [[Political faction|faction]] demanding a looser federation.<ref name="Pauković-14Congress-2009">{{cite journal|author=Davor Pauković|publisher=Centar za politološka istraživanja|url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=55640|language=hr|title=Posljednji kongres Saveza komunista Jugoslavije: uzroci, tijek i posljedice raspada|trans-title=Last Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia: Causes, Consequences and Course of Dissolution|date=1 June 2008|journal=Časopis Za Suvremenu Povijest|volume=1|issue=1|pages=21–33|issn=1847-2397|access-date=11 December 2010}}</ref> In the same year, the [[Croatian parliamentary election, 1990|first multi-party elections]] were held in Croatia, with [[Franjo Tuđman]]'s win raising nationalist tensions further.<ref name="Independent-Tuđman-Obituary">{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-franjo-tudjman-1132142.html|title=Obituary: Franjo Tudjman|author=Branka Magas|date=13 December 1999|access-date=17 October 2011|archive-date=10 November 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110024351/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-franjo-tudjman-1132142.html}}</ref> The [[Serbs of Croatia|Serbs in Croatia]], intent on achieving independence from Croatia, left the Sabor and declared the autonomy of areas that would soon become the unrecognized self-declared [[Republic of Serbian Krajina]] (RSK).<ref name="NYTimes-Autonomy-AUG1990">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/02/world/croatia-s-serbs-declare-their-autonomy.html|author=[[Chuck Sudetic]]|title=Croatia's Serbs Declare Their Autonomy|date=2 October 1990|access-date=11 December 2010|archive-date=12 November 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112065457/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/02/world/croatia-s-serbs-declare-their-autonomy.html}}</ref><ref name="EE-CIS-book">{{cite book|title=Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmN95fFocsMC|pages=272–278|isbn=978-1-85743-058-5|year=1998|publisher=[[Routledge]]|access-date=16 December 2010}}</ref> As tensions rose, Croatia [[Croatian independence referendum, 1991|declared independence]] in June 1991; however the declaration came into effect on 8 October 1991.<ref name="NYTimes-Declaration-26June1991">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/2-yugoslav-states-vote-independence-to-press-demands.html|title=2 Yugoslav States Vote Independence To Press Demands|author=Chuck Sudetic|date=26 June 1991|access-date=12 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110162855/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/world/2-yugoslav-states-vote-independence-to-press-demands.html|archive-date=10 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Sabor-Independence-8Oct1991">{{cite web|work=Official web site of the Parliament of Croatia|publisher=Sabor|url=http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?art=20091&sec=2462|title=Ceremonial session of the Croatian Parliament on the occasion of the Day of Independence of the Republic of Croatia|date=7 October 2004|access-date=29 July 2012|archive-date=14 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314021206/http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?art=20091&sec=2462}}</ref> Tensions escalated into the [[Croatian War of Independence]] when the [[Yugoslav National Army]] and various Serb [[Paramilitary|paramilitaries]] attacked Croatia.<ref name="NYTimes-Otkos10">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/04/world/army-rushes-to-take-a-croatian-town.html?ref=croatia|title=Army Rushes to Take a Croatian Town|author=[[Chuck Sudetic]]|date=4 November 1991|access-date=29 July 2012|archive-date=29 July 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729183641/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/04/world/army-rushes-to-take-a-croatian-town.html}}</ref> By the end of 1991, a high intensity war fought along a wide front reduced Croatia to controlling about two-thirds of its territory.<ref name="NYTimes-Iceland">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/20/world/croatia-clashes-rise-mediators-pessimistic.html|title=Croatia Clashes Rise; Mediators Pessimistic|date=19 December 1991|access-date=29 July 2012|archive-date=15 November 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115174401/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/20/world/croatia-clashes-rise-mediators-pessimistic.html}}</ref><ref name="LATimes-OccupiedPct-1Aug91">{{cite news|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-01-mn-177-story.html|title=Serbian Forces Press Fight for Major Chunk of Croatia|author=[[Charles T. Powers]]|date=1 August 1991|access-date=29 July 2012|archive-date=16 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516054837/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-08-01/news/mn-177_1_defense-force}}</ref>

[[File:Vukovar Memorial Cemetery, 20150429160343.jpg|thumb|right|[[Vukovar]] memorial cemetery]]
In Slavonia, the first armed conflicts were clashes in [[Pakrac clash|Pakrac]],<ref name="NYTimes-Pakrac-3Mar1991">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/03/world/belgrade-sends-troops-to-croatia-town.html?ref=croatia | author= Stephen Engelberg | title = Belgrade Sends Troops to Croatia Town | date = 3 March 1991 | access-date=11 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Pakrac-4Mar1991">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/04/world/serb-croat-showdown-in-one-village-square.html?ref=croatia | title = Serb-Croat Showdown in One Village Square | author= Stephen Engelberg | date = 4 March 1991 | access-date=11 December 2010}}</ref> and [[Borovo Selo killings|Borovo Selo]] near Vukovar.<ref name="NYTimes-Borovo-5May1991">{{cite news | newspaper= The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/world/one-more-dead-as-clashes-continue-in-yugoslavia.html?ref=croatia | title = One More Dead as Clashes Continue in Yugoslavia | author= Stephen Engelberg | date =5 May 1991 | access-date=11 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="WarInBalkans-CraigNation-105">Nation 2004, p. 5.</ref> [[SAO Western Slavonia|Western Slavonia was occupied]] in August 1991, following an advance by the [[Yugoslav People's Army|Yugoslav forces]] north from [[Banja Luka]] across the Sava River.<ref name="Bjelajac-Žunec-245">{{cite book | editor1-first= Charles W. | editor1-last= Ingrao | editor2-first= Thomas Allan | editor2-last= Emmert | title= Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: a Scholars' Initiative | year= 2009 | publisher= [[Purdue University Press]] | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=t0nYdgFrdG8C | isbn=978-1-55753-533-7 | chapter= The War in Croatia, 1991–1995 | last1= Bjelajac | first1= Mile | last2= Žunec | first2= Ozren | first3= Mieczyslaw |last3=Boduszynski|first4=Raphael|last4=Draschtak|first5=Igor|last5=Graovac|first6=Sally|last6=Kent|first7= Rüdiger|last7=Malli|first8=Srdja|last8=Pavlović|first9=Jason|last9=Vuić | chapter-url= http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/history/facstaff/Ingrao/si/Team_7_Full_Text_Report.pdf|page=245|access-date=15 May 2012}}</ref> This was partially pushed back by the [[Croatian Army]] in operations named [[Operation Otkos 10|Otkos 10]],<ref name="NYTimes-Otkos10"/> and [[Operation Orkan 91|Orkan 91]], which established a front line around [[Okučani]] and south of Pakrac that would hold virtually unchanged for more than three years until [[Operation Flash]] in May 1995.<ref name="NYTimes-Flash-May2">{{cite news | newspaper= The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/02/world/croatia-hits-area-rebel-serbs-hold-crossing-un-lines.html?ref=croatia | title = CROATIA HITS AREA REBEL SERBS HOLD, CROSSING U.N. LINES | author= Roger Cohen | author-link= Roger Cohen | date = 2 May 1995 | access-date=18 December 2010}}</ref> Armed conflict in the [[SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia|eastern Slavonia]], culminating in the [[Battle of Vukovar]] and a subsequent [[Vukovar massacre|massacre]],<ref name="NYT-Vukovar-Captured">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/18/world/croats-concede-danube-town-s-loss.html?ref=croatia | title = Croats Concede Danube Town's Loss | author= Chuck Sudetic | author-link= Chuck Sudetic | date =18 November 1991 | access-date=15 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="Independent-Vukovar-Massacre">{{cite news | newspaper = The Independent | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/croats-bury-victims-of-vukovar-massacre-1168387.html | title = Croats bury victims of Vukovar massacre | author= Eugene Brcic | date =29 June 1998 | access-date=15 December 2010}}</ref> also included heavy fighting and the successful defence of Osijek and Vinkovci. The front line stabilized and a ceasefire was agreed to on 2 January 1992, coming into force the next day.<ref name="NYTimes-Jan3-Ceasefire">{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/03/world/yugoslav-factions-agree-to-un-plan-to-halt-civil-war.html?ref=croatia | title = Yugoslav Factions Agree to U.N. Plan to Halt Civil War | author= Chuck Sudetic | author-link= Chuck Sudetic | date = 3 January 1992 | access-date=16 December 2010}}</ref> After the ceasefire, [[United Nations Protection Force]] was deployed to the occupied areas,<ref name="UN-deployment-29Jan91">{{cite news | url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-29-mn-906-story.html |title= Roadblock Stalls U.N.'s Yugoslavia Deployment | newspaper= Los Angeles Times | author= Carol J. Williams | date= 29 January 1992 | access-date =16 December 2010}}</ref> but intermittent artillery and rocket attacks, launched from [[Republika Srpska|Serb-held areas of Bosnia]], continued in several areas of Slavonia, especially in Slavonski Brod and [[Županja]].<ref name="SlavonskiBrod-Bombardment">{{cite journal | author= Antun Jelić | publisher = [[BMJ Group]] | title= Child casualties in a Croatian community during the 1991-2 war |date=December 1994 | journal= Archives of Disease in Childhood | volume= 71 | issue= 6 | pages= 540–2 | pmc= 1030096 | issn= 0003-9888 | pmid=7726618 | doi=10.1136/adc.71.6.540}}</ref><ref name="Hrvatsko kulturno vijeće">{{cite web| url=http://hakave.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5652:strah-od-istine&catid=44:prilozi-graana&Itemid=82 | publisher= Hrvatsko kulturno vijeće | title= Strah od istine |trans-title=Fear of the Truth | language= hr | author= Zdravko Tomac | author-link= Zdravko Tomac | date=15 January 2010 | access-date=7 February 2010 | work= Portal of Croatian Cultural Council}}</ref> The war effectively ended in 1995 with Croatia achieving a [[Operation Storm|decisive victory]] over the RSK in August 1995.<ref name="LATimes-Storm-Complete">{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-08-mn-32662-story.html|title=Croats Declare Victory, End Blitz|author=Dean E. Murphy|date=8 August 1995|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=12 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012140454/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-08-08/news/mn-32662_1_serb-refugees}}</ref> The remaining occupied areas—eastern Slavonia—were restored to Croatia pursuant to the [[Erdut Agreement]] of November 1995, with the process concluded in mid-January 1998.<ref name="NYTimes-UNTAES-16Jan98">{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/16/world/an-ethnic-morass-is-returned-to-croatia.html|title=An Ethnic Morass Is Returned to Croatia|author=[[Chris Hedges]]|date=16 January 1998|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-date=18 May 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518201803/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/16/world/an-ethnic-morass-is-returned-to-croatia.html?ref=croatia}}</ref>

After the war, a number of towns and municipalities in the region were designated [[Areas of Special State Concern (Croatia)|Areas of Special State Concern]].