Demographic War Losses as a Determinant of the Population Development of Eastern Croatia in the Period 1991–2001

The subject of study in this paper are demographic losses in Eastern Croatia during Croatia’s Homeland war. The goal of the research was to determine or assess the direct migration losses of this area in the period 1991–2002, and evaluate their effect on changes in the number of inhabitants, on the age-gender structure and on the ethnic structure of the population of Eastern Croatia in the most recent inter-census period (1991–2001). The effect of inherited destabilising factors on the development of East Croatia’s population (two world wars, emigration, the “white plague”, a dropping birth rate, the rural exodus, demographic ageing…) has been notably increased through demographic losses and the effects of Serbian military aggression, especially in the migrational aspect (domain) of war effects. In line with a series of indicators, it is more than apparent that demographic war losses can be highlighted as the most important determinant of modern population development in the East Croatian region. Over ten thousand losses of life, and expellees, refugees and emigrants numbering in the tens of thousands, substantially deranged basic dynamic structural processes in the population development of this area of Croatia