10-Day War

The 10-Day War is also known as the Slovenian independence war. Fought between Slovenia and JNA(Yugoslavia) this quick war in 1991 was a turning point in the downfall of Yugoslavia. From June 26 to July 7 the most powerful force in that area of the world became its own country. In Slovenia the local population voted 96% in favor of leaving with a 92% voter turnout. Between May and October 1990 some 21,000 Slovenian military personnel secretly began receiving information from an organization called the MSNZ. This dictated the strategy for war as well as departure strategies. The Slovenians decided to fight a guerilla type war on their own territory disabling the first and last tank on narrow mountain roads to stop the advance of JNA troops. Then using anti tank and anti air weapons the guerilla fighters could stop a much more organized fighting force. On June 25 1991 the Slovenians declared independence and all military units in Yugoslavia began to head home. Slovenia had already been reinforcing their border positions meaning that the JNA would have to be the first to open fire. Slovenia told the JNA if they began to fly helicopters over the mountains they would be shot down. The JNA ignored this bulletin and two helicopters were shot down giving the war its first casualties. Despite this the JNA completed most of its mission; capturing all but three of the border crossings with Italy and Croatia. The next day Slovenia began a general offensive and over the next several days captured all of its positions lost. Finally they signed a ceasefire giving Slovenia its independence. The war was a major defeat to the JNA and caused it great embarrassment. Croatia also declared independence and it was accepted along with the Slovenian independence. No human rights were broken in this war although it did begin the rights violations in the following two war.