The Croatian War of Independence was a defensive war for independence and integrity of Croatia against the aggression of the united Serbian forces - extremists in Croatia, JNA, as well as Serbia and Montenegro. The war was preceded by a rebellion from a part of the Serbian population in Croatia, which broke out in August 1990. Shortly after, a military aggression was committed on Croatia, which was forced to defend. Croatia was exposed to direct aggression by Serbia and JNA. The first armed conflict took place on May 2, 1991 in Borovo Selo in East Slavonia, when 12 Croatian police officers were massacred and killed. After that, the situation in East Slavonia, and in Croatia overall, was only deteriorating, which brought to a war in which a lot of civilians and defenders were killed. East Slavonia was a battlefield; a lot of crimes were committed over civilians, villages were burned, churches and many other buildings were destroyed. A large number of residents were banished, and their houses were robbed and destroyed. Vukovar was destroyed to the point of being unrecognizable. It was the biggest destruction of a city in Europe since World War II. With signing The Implementation Agreement and the International recognition of the Republic of Croatia, the aggression in East Slavonia did not stop, however it was different because of the cognition that no one could take Croatia from the people that had died for their country. The people of Croatia took a great sacrifice in the war that lasted from 1991 to 1995 while defending its fatherland from the Serbian aggression, and ultimately managed to gain the long-desired independence. With a peaceful reintegration which started on 15th of January 1996 and ended on 15th of January 1998, East Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia where ultimately returned to Republic of Croatia.