One day after Operation Storm began, the Croatian military took control of the Serbian stronghold of Knin on August 5, 1995, effectively sealing the Croatian victory in their War of Independence. Knin had been the capital city of the unrecogized Republic of Serbian Krajina, an enclave of Serbian rebels inside the territory of the Republic of Croatia. Recapturing Knin and driving the remaining Serb forces from Croatia allowed the Croatian forces to continue into Bosnia and Herzegovina and aid the BiH forces in defeating the Serbs there as well. The leaders of the Republic of Serbian Krajina were later tried and convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague. Today in Croatia, August 5 is celebrated as the important holiday Victory Day, marking the end of the conflict known locally as the “Homeland War.”
The Croatian band Thompson takes its name from the nickname (and now stage name) of lead singer/songwriter Marko Perkovic. During the Homeland War, Perkovic was given the name, after the submachine gun. “Anica-Kninska Kraljica” (“Anica, Queen of Knin”) was written after the fall of Knin, and was first released on Thompson’s 1995 album Vrijeme skorpiona.