DUBROVNIK - Croatia and Slovenia - page 459

young locals lost their lives when they slung old hunting rifles over their shoulders
and, under cover of darkness, climbed the hills above Dubrovnik to meet Yugoslav
soldiers face-to-face.
After eight months of bombing, Dubrovnik was liberated by the Croatian army,
which attacked Yugoslav positions from the north. By the end of the siege, 100 civil-
ians were dead, as well as more than 200 Dubrovnik citizens who lost their lives act-
ivelyfightingfortheirhometown(muchreveredtodayas“DubrovnikDefenders”);in
the greater Dubrovnik area, 420 “Defenders” were killed, and another 900 wounded.
More than two-thirds of Dubrovnik's buildings had been damaged, and more than
30,000 people had to flee their homes—but the failed siege was finally over.
Why was Dubrovnik—so far from the rest of the fighting—dragged into the con-
flict? Yugoslavia wanted to catch the city and surrounding region off-guard, gain-
ing a toehold on the southern Dalmatian Coast so they could push north to Split.
They also hoped to ignite pro-Serb passions in the nearby Serb-dominated areas of
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. But perhaps most of all, Yugoslavia wanted to
hitCroatiawhereithurt—itsproudest,mosthistoric,andmostbeautifulcity,thetour-
istcapitalofanationdependentontourism.Itseemstheirplanbackfired.Localsnow
say, “When Yugoslavia attacked Dubrovnik, they lost the war”—because images of
the historic city under siege swayed international public opinion against Yugoslavia.
The war initially devastated the tourist industry. Now, to the casual observer,
Dubrovnik seems virtually back to normal. Aside from a few pockmarks and bright,
new roof tiles, there are scant reminders of what happened here more than two dec-
ades ago. But even though the city itself has been repaired, the people of Dubrovnik
are forever changed. Imagine living in an idyllic paradise, a place that attracted and
awed visitors from around the world...and then watching it gradually blown to bits.
It's understandable if Dubrovnik's citizens are a little less in love with life than they
once were.
It's clear that in the case of this siege, the Croats of Dubrovnik were the largely
innocentvictimsofabrutalsurpriseattack.Butkeepinmindthelargercontextofthe
war: The cousins of these Croats, who were defending the glorious monument that is
Dubrovnik, bombarded another glorious monument—the Old Bridge of Mostar (see
here ) . It's just another reminder that the “good guys” and “bad guys” in these wars
are far from clear-cut.
Dubrovnik has several low-key attractions related to its recent war, including the
museumintheruinedfortressatopMountSr đ andtheMemorialRoomofDubrovnik
Defenders in the Sponza Palace on Luža Square. Another sight, War Photo Limited,
expands the scope to war photography from around the world.