Flowers for the tanks heading toward Vukovar

The tanks were heading toward the city that would become a symbol of Croatian resistance. In Vukovar, they were met by the courage of the city’s defenders.

That day, the famous scene of people throwing flowers in front of tanks took place in Belgrade, as the First Guards Armored Division of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), known as the elite Tito Division, set out toward Vukovar.

Flowers for the Tanks Heading to Croatia

It was one of a series of events known as “people’s rallies” held in the Serbian capital. Since 1987, large numbers of Belgrade residents had repeatedly taken part in rallies that contributed to a nationalist and warmongering atmosphere ahead of the aggression against Croatia and other countries, amid efforts to establish a Greater Serbia.

Thousands of people took to the streets to enthusiastically see off JNA tanks heading toward Croatia.

Vukovar Defenders Resist the JNA

Despite the JNA’s military superiority, Vukovar’s defenders put up fierce resistance against its forces and halted the advance of one of its most elite armored units.

Vukovar was devastated, while Croats were killed and displaced. The images of flowers and the crowds enthusiastically seeing off the tanks in Belgrade, however, remain permanently etched in the collective memory of the Croatian people.