All language subtitles for A.E.S15E06.1080p.WEB.h264-CODSWALLOP_track3_[eng]

In Michigan,

a top secret air force base
embroiled in controversy...

It's possible there was some form
of cover-up.

The official documentation does have
some redacted sections.

..in Italy,

an entrepreneur's dream shattered
by links to organised crime.

Was he guilty or was this just
a huge miscarriage of justice?

..a Croatian compound
drawn into a devastating conflict.

A foreign force landed on
these shores

but it was not an invasion force.

It was a peacekeeping force.

..and a California transportation hub
that inspired lasting change.

Oakland has always had
a secret sauce

and people fighting for greater
justice and a better way to live.

In northern Michigan,
on the edge of Lake Superior,

remnants of a global conflict
conceal a tale of intrigue.

A dirt track leads to a clearing

dotted with large
industrial-looking buildings.

This is a site built for function
not beauty.

On the edge of this place

there are what look like
just normal suburban streets.

There's a basketball court

and a baseball field

and what looks like the remains
of a bowling alley.

This has all the amenities
of any small town

uh, but why are they out here?

Uh, there's only 2,000 permanent
residents in this entire area

and so, to have this little city
just up here on the top
of a mountain

popping out of nowhere

is just very unusual.

But this was not a normal town.

When constructed, this was a
covert facility with one objective,

to protect America.

At the top of the hill,

two large constructions stand out.

This is a clue to
the place's true function.

The US Air Force is using
this technology

to defend the country
from what they thought

was a real existential threat.

Yet, this site became infamous

because of its connection to
an alleged government cover-up

that involved the disappearance
of two American aviators.

The jet and its occupants vanished

and the mystery has never
been solved.

So, I first visited this site about
ten years ago

with my cousin

and we made kind of the joke
that everybody makes.

If we ever had the opportunity
to purchase this,

then we had to try and purchase it.

Come on, Radar.

In 2021,

Zachary Garner did buy this property.

He's been working hard
to uncover its secrets ever since.

We wanted to save it,
preserve the history,

tell the story.

This place and most of
the others like it

were always surrounded
with a...an air of mystery

because everything that
happened up here was classified,

uh, during the...the times
when it was active.

There was a good reason
the site was clandestine.

This place was built as a reaction

to the rising threat of
communist activity.

On August 29 1949

in the very early part of
the Cold War,

the Soviet Union detonated
their first atomic bomb,

code name, Joe-1.

Even more terrifying news
was to follow,

The Soviets also created
long-range aircraft

capable of delivering nuclear bombs
to the United States.

This new reality caught
the United States

off guard,

They were unprepared
and they were nervous.

If America was to regain
the upper hand,

it needed a system that provided
an early warning

of any incoming attacks
from the Soviet Union.

The United States takes action
by setting up radar stations

all across the country.

Calumet Air Force Station
was part of this radar network.

So, they built a lot
of these stations further north

in the US and Canada because
they were specifically monitoring

for bombers coming over the
Arctic Circle from the Soviet Union,

That was the quickest or shortest
flight path

from primarily two
Soviet air force bases.

Should a Soviet aircraft approach,

Calumet would be able to detect it

and help guide American fighters
to intercept and destroy it.

Uh, this station in particular
was right in the flight path,

if they would have sent bombers
to either Chicago or New York.

By April of 1951,

Calumet was fully operational.

Less than two years later,
it was called into action.

On the evening of
November 23rd 1953,

the radar operators here noticed

a flight that was coming through
Lake Superior

that was not registered
on any particular flight plan.

If this was a Soviet bomber,

they needed to act fast.

The operators noted the coordinates

and sent them to
Kinross Air Force Base

located 190 miles
southeast of Calumet.

From there, an F89 Scorpion jet was
immediately scrambled to intercept.

First Lieutenant Felix Moncla,

an airman who'd clocked up
811 flying hours,

took the pilot seat.

Behind him was the navigator,

Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson.

On that day, the weather

was pretty typical for
late November. It was cold,

low visibility, cloudy,
of course, dark.

Operators at Calumet were tracking
the object

and then sending directions
to navigator Robert Wilson.

For the next 30 minutes,

a high-speed game of cat and mouse

played out in the skies
above Lake Superior.

Every time the radar
would spin around,

they would get an updated location
on the bogey

and tell them a new heading.

But reports claim that
the unidentified object

moved in strange ways that
shouldn't have been possible.

The blip was changing course,
changing air speed,

changing altitude

and they just weren't sure
what it was.

At 6.52pm, the operators
let the crew know that

the object was at their 11 o'clock,
ten miles out.

The two men would have, by now, had
the unknown object in their sights.

At 6.55pm, the radar signature
of the Scorpion jet

converged with that
of the unknown object,

forming a single dot
on the radar screen.

They assumed that the fighter jet
was flying in formation with
the bogey

and making contact with the pilot.

Then, the unthinkable happened.

When radio operators
tried to hail Moncla

they heard nothing back.

Then, the jet's transponder signal
was lost

and its radar signature disappeared
from their screens.

The staff at Calumet urgently tried
to reestablish contact

with the missing Scorpion jet

but to no avail.

The Scorpion jet had vanished.

According to the official reports
from the Air Force,

the dot of the aircraft
that was still in the air

continued on its original
flight path, flying east.

In the following days,

a number of aircraft joined the
search from all over the country

but no trace of the plane or
the two airmen was ever found.

During this period,

the American public had become
increasingly fascinated

by the phenomena of UFOs

after a number of high-profile
sightings across the country.

The incident quickly became a source
of various conspiracy theories.

Many of the most extraordinary
revolved around alien abduction.

The conspiracy that has formed
from "the blips merged,"

is that the UFO ate the aircraft

or absorbed it

and that's why it was never
seen or heard from again.

The Air Force put forward
a very different explanation.

When they looked on the screen

and saw those two blips merge,

that simply meant that they were
within half a mile of one another,

not that they actually
ran into each other.

And while no conclusive evidence
has ever been found

to explain the aircraft's
disappearance

the most plausible theory is
some type of mechanical failure.

The F89 Scorpion had known issues.

Just a year before,

all F89's had been grounded
to fix a wing problem.

Yet, the respected UFO researcher,
Major Donald Keyhoe,

believed the government was trying
to hide the truth.

He claimed that Felix Moncla's wife

was given two conflicting stories
by the US Air Force

about how her husband died.

At first, she was told that his jet
had crashed into Lake Superior.

Then, she was told
it had exploded in midair.

Keyhoe also suggested certain details

were left out of the official record
to cover it up.

The official documentation does
have some redacted sections

that we've been unable to figure out
what it says.

But ultimately,
the puzzle was never solved.

My personal opinion

is that the fighter jet,

uh, got too close to the other
aircraft during intercept,

made some manoeuvre
to avoid hitting it,

and crashed into Lake Superior.

But this all still leaves
a crucial question unanswered,

which is what was that
original radar signature

that the Calumet station detected?

A Canadian aircraft was flying
a similar flight path that evening

but it reported no interceptions and
not having seen the Scorpion jet.

It remains a mysterious footnote
to the Cold War

which claimed
the lives of two American airmen.

Calumet continued to operate
in secrecy for the next 35 years

until the Soviet bloc collapsed

and the threat of nuclear war
subsided.

In September 1988,

the station was closed

and the remaining personnel
were transferred elsewhere.

Zachary now has big plans
to open Calumet to the public

so its story can continue to be told.

The entire top of the mountain here
that we're standing on now

will be turned into a museum
dedicated to radar stations

and the Cold War.

We're doing as much of the work
as we can ourselves.

We're seeking help where we need it

but we expect this to be kind of
a lifetime project

and we're here for it.
It's really exciting.

In Central Italy,

40 miles from Florence

is the site of a fallen stronghold

besieged by personal tragedy.

We are in the foothills of Tuscany,

famous for its glorious
countryside,

incredible wines
and centuries-old towns.

So, it's no great surprise when
you come across what appear to be

ancient remains concealed
in dense forest.

The structure has thick
stone walls,

a crenulated tower
and a drawbridge,

all the hallmarks of
a medieval castle.

But look closer and you start to see
problems with that theory.

All around are clues that suggest
not everything is what it seems.

Some of the features are
more recent, uh,

like, there's a gazebo with
a plastic canvas roof.

Inside, it gets even stranger.

There are bars,

stages

and even the artwork
appears as if made to look old.

All sorts of people used to
come here from all over Italy,

VIPs, celebrities, politicians

and it was a great success.

But the question is,

who killed the party?

This place would be
engulfed by scandal.

We're talking links
to organised crime,

a wrongful arrest and
lives torn apart.

The last time I came here,
it was about ten years ago

and now the building,

everything is completely covered
with trees and plants.

It looks so strange and even sad.

For many years, I avoided
to come back here

because of the memories.

When Daisy Vannelli was young,

this enchanted setting was
her family's business

and it played a very important role
in her life.

I remember
my childhood here

with my sister
and my brothers.

When we were younger,
it was like our playground.

The construction was inspired by
my father's passion for castles.

Like many good stories,

this one begins with
an ambitious vision

to build something magical

and the person behind
everything we see here,

a man named Walter Vannelli.

So, Walter is a local entrepreneur

and back in the '80s

he had this idea that he wanted
to create

a beautiful hotel in the mountains.

But then, my father came up with
the idea of opening a nightclub.

He discussed this idea
with my two brothers

who were in their 20s at that time

and who enthusiastically opted
for the nightclub idea.

One reason might have been
because part of their job

was to party at Italy's top clubs
for inspiration.

It wasn't long before the, uh,

the wacky concept that we see today
emerged.

Walter funded the project
using his own money,

that of investors

and by borrowing around £500,000
from the bank.

In 1987, construction began.

But bringing his dream to life
proved to be a difficult task.

Walter changed his mind constantly
about what it should look like.

One day he'd ask the builders
to build something,

then the next day knock it down,
start over again from scratch.

Honestly, we all thought
we'd never get the club finished...

..but finally, we did it.

In the end, the club had three
dance floors,

two restaurants, four bars.

It took six years

and cost around $5 million.

The Vannelli's called
their labour of love

the Excalibur.

On the 23rd of December 1993,

it opened for business.

And on that night,
there were 3,000 people.

Up there was the DJ booth.

I remember flag bearers,
fire-eaters, fireworks,

yes, champagne,

a lot of drinking, a lot of dancing,

a lot of fun,

everything that made it
a night to remember.

As the months passed,

the club's reputation
continued to grow.

There were politicians,

celebrities,

soccer players

and even royalty

the form of Princess Stephanie
of Monaco,

the rebellious youngest daughter
of Grace Kelly.

During the week,
you'd have lectures,

fashion shows and concerts

and then four nights a week,

you could come
and dance the night away.

Everything was looking really good.

We were making good money
and everything was just perfect.

What could possibly go wrong?

The answer

was, "Everything."

In July 1996,

around 5am

a police helicopter swooped in

and landed next to the club.

Armed officers streamed out

and raided the house
that Walter was living in.

He was handcuffed,

hooded and taken to
a high-security prison.

Walter had no idea
why he'd been arrested.

But it turns out, he was being
accused of being a key player

in the Brenta mafia.

The Brenta mafia was
a ruthless organisation,

founded by career criminal,
Felice Maniero.

His illicit empire made millions,

uh, from, you know,
drug trafficking, extortion,

money laundering.

But in 1994,

his criminal dealings
caught up with him

after a crackdown on mafia gangs.

He was arrested
and became an informant

to save his own skin.

He gave up over 400 mob bosses,

uh, corrupt judges,
corrupt policemen

and he named Walter
as part of the operation.

Walter had met Maniero
20 years earlier

but this was long before the
mafia boss had founded
his criminal enterprise.

Since then, they'd had no
further dealings

and Walter was given no explanation
about why he had been implicated.

Prosecutors insisted
he be kept in isolation

and refused to tell him
when a trial date would be set.

Walter chose to take matters
into his own hands.

He remained in prison
without being interrogated.

My father had to go on
a hunger strike

because they gave him no possibility
to tell his side of the story

and so he had to do that
in order to be heard.

Only then did the authorities
start to listen.

After this, the anti-mafia
prosecutor, Dr Fojadelli,

conducted more investigations
and interviewed people

from the mafia clan.

His findings eventually found that
Walter had no mafia involvement

and he was cleared
of all charges completely.

In June 1997,

after almost a year in prison,

Walter was finally released.

The reason Maniero originally
named him remained a mystery.

But he always kept his dignity

and he always maintained
a positive attitude, really.

He's an incredible person for this.

It was a terrible miscarriage
of justice

but there was even worse news
to come.

Following Walter's arrest,

local newspapers and TV stations
had relentlessly covered the story.

They linked his suspected mob
connections to the Excalibur...

..which inevitably led to
a significant drop in attendances.

This, coupled with a landslide

that blocked the main road
leading to the club,

signalled its demise.

And so,

from the 2,500 people
crowding the nights,

the attendance dropped
to only a few hundred.

In July 1996,

while Walter was still locked up

the Excalibur was forced to close.

The closure was a huge shock.

Excalibur was completely created,
built and managed by our family.

Today, the future of the
Excalibur is...is uncertain.

It's up for sale.
So, perhaps one day

the hills surrounding this
medieval discotheque

will once again be alive
with the sound of music.

I'd love to see it getting back
to its original glory.

It will be so nice
to see it full of people

having fun and dancing.

In Oakland, California

is a faded relic that
fostered a movement

whose impact is still felt
to this day.

This area has
an industrial feel to it.

There are freeways,

rail lines

and an active port.

Then, on the edge of
a pretty residential neighbourhood,

you see this building
unlike the rest.

It's majestic and imposing

with these three huge
arched windows.

Once you get inside,
you've got light flooding in,

illuminating the marble floors.

You've got ornate plasterwork

and then, in other parts
of the structure,

there's a more utilitarian space.

Yet the interior reveals little about
this building's original purpose.

The big giveaway is out back.

You see this set of railroad tracks
heading out of the structure.

So, clearly it's a railroad station.

This grand site was built at a time
when Oakland was a city on the rise.

The people that worked here

were viewed as very important people
in the community.

That's because they did so much more
than just keep the wheels turning.

Their actions helped bring
real change to America.

This place is related to
the civil rights struggle,

particularly on the West Coast,

because so much of
the organising happened here.

Their battle would inspire leaders
for generations to come.

I am a third generation
West Oakland resident.

So, I've got deep, deep roots
in this community

and I'm incredibly proud of it.

David Peters is the founder of
the Black Liberation Walking Tour.

This long-forgotten station is
an important stop on his route.

What a sense of awe and
wonder I'm feeling right now

to be able to be in this place
that has so much history.

You know, many people think that
the resistance movement in Oakland

started with the Black Panthers
and there's a reason for that,

but they didn't just spring
out of nowhere

and this place is integral to that.

I can feel goosebumps on my arms
right now as I talk about it.

The story of struggle
that unfolded within these walls

all began with a marvel
of American engineering.

Originally, Oakland was just
a small town

at the edge of the bay.

But its fortunes massively changed

with the arrival of the
transcontinental railroad in 1869.

One thing a lot of people
don't realise is that

it didn't go all the way
to San Francisco.

It actually ended here in Oakland.

Passengers would get off the trains
and go to a nearby ferry terminal

to take a ferry across the bay
to the city of San Francisco.

By the early 1900s,
the existing wooden railway station

couldn't support the
increasing number of travellers

or their baggage.

In 1912,

the Southern Pacific Railroad
unveiled a grand new terminus.

This is Oakland's
16th Street Station.

Driven by the railroad industry,
Oakland's economy was booming

and its population was skyrocketing.

Many of those migrating to the city
were African-Americans

looking for a new life

away from the racism and segregation
of the Jim Crow South.

But finding work was no easy task.

One area that did become
a good opportunity for black workers

was in serving the clientele
that rode these railroads

on long-distance trips.

The transcontinental railroads here

had ultra-luxury sleeper cars
called Pullman cars.

These cars were an important part
of the history here.

It took an army of employees

to deliver the indulgence
that the company's founder,

George Pullman, wanted to achieve.

They were employed almost entirely
from the African-American community.

They were called the Pullman porters

and they carried out their duties
with pride.

Because of its vital position

at one end of the
transcontinental railroad,

Oakland and this station
became a very important hub

for the Pullman porters.

We're in the historic baggage wing.

This is the place
where the Pullman porters

would have handled the servicing
thousands of passengers

on the trains that came through
this station,

dozens of trains on a daily basis.

But it was difficult work

and not as well paid as
comparable white workers would be.

The porters were expected
to show up for work

long before the trains departed

to help passengers with their bags
and to get the cars ready

and that work wasn't compensated.

They often worked as many as
400 hours a month

with little time off and
no overtime.

In 1923,

a man named CL Dellums
moved from Texas to Oakland.

His arrival heralded a brighter
future for the Pullman porters.

When Dellums came to Oakland,

he hoped to enrol in law school.

To make money,
he took a job as a Pullman porter.

But he quickly realised

that between the long hours
and the low wage

he couldn't actually afford school.

So, unfortunately for him
and his law school dreams,

but so fortunately for us

he continued to work as a porter

and CL Dellums immediately
distinguished himself

by demanding better, uh,
conditions for the black workers.

But the Pullman Company
was resistant to change.

Fortunately,
Dellums wasn't on his own.

In 1925,

the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters and Maids

was founded in New York City.

This was a group that wanted
to unionise the porters,

give them some negotiating power

to demand better pay
and better conditions.

They clearly knew that
it was going to be a struggle.

The union's motto was
"Fight or be slaves."

When Dellums learned about the
founding of the Brotherhood union,

he knew that this was something
that he really wanted to embrace

and he helped organise the
Oakland porters and maids

to join the organisation.

Certainly here,
in this baggage room,

would have been a place
where the porters were organising

and talking about their frustrations
as they sweated,

carrying these bags under the
pressure of time and the demand,

great demands
for them to hustle and move faster

that they certainly would
have been very dissatisfied

in this space and talking about
the need for better conditions.

The Pullman Company was strongly
opposed to the fledgling union

and refused to recognise it.

It did everything in its power
to stop Dellums in his tracks.

Dellums himself got fired in 1927.

The company claimed that
he'd been found sleeping on the job

but, in fact, this was
a common tactic they used

to get rid of people that
they saw as troublemakers.

So, the Pullman Car Company,

they used every dirty tactic,
every dirty trick in the book,

to be able to squash this union.

The company encouraged
African-American staff

to tell on their fellow workers

and sacked employees
if they joined the union.

The company also transferred work
away from Oakland

so they could make do
with fewer porters at that station.

Dellums wasn't deterred
and he continued the fight.

In 1929,

he became vice-president
of the entire labour union.

They knew it was gonna be
an uphill battle

and they didn't win initially

but they kept at it.

It seemed that the more pressure,
the more oppression,

the more dirty tricks that were
put on them by the rail company,

the more determined they were
to make this union be born.

It would take one of the worst
economic disasters in
American history

to transform the union's fortunes.

In 1929,

the Wall Street stock market crashed,

ushering in the start of the
Great Depression.

The American economy hit rock bottom

and something had to be done
to help ordinary workers.

During the New Deal
under Roosevelt,

laws were passed that made it
easier for workers to unionise

and required companies
to give workers the right

to bargain collectively.

In 1935,

the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters

began negotiations
with the Pullman Company,

demanding union recognition
and a fairer contract.

The Depression had hit
the company profits hard

and it stood vehemently opposed.

But in 1937,

the porters finally won.

The contract improved wages and
limited hours to a maximum of

240 hours a month,

which is still a lot.

This was the first time
in US history

that a black union reached
a bargaining agreement

with a major American company.

This is a huge, huge win
for the porters

but this is not only important
for the porters.

This is important for America.

This is particularly important
for black America

and so many workers who had
their aspirations for better lives

tied up in this fight.

You know, this freedom, this ability
for this first black union

to stand up to such a powerful
corporation, to be recognised,

is amazing.

After the Brotherhood's
monumental victory,

the 16th Street Station
continued to provide jobs

for porters, maids and other staff

but the winds of change
were blowing.

In the 1950s and '60s,

with the rise of the automobile
and aeroplane,

fewer people relied on passenger
trains for long-distance travel

and the number of porters
steadily declined.

Yet, the impact of the men and women
who worked at the 16th Street Station

would never be forgotten.

The legacy of the porters
is impossible to overestimate.

The fight for civil rights of
CL Dellums went so far,

just beyond
the organising of the union.

Oakland is known to many
as birthplace to movements

like the Black Panther Party

and as a centre of grassroots
activism and black nationalism

to this very day.

But those movements
are part of a much

longer tradition that stretches back
to the incredible work of CL Dellums

and the Pullman porters.

CL Dellums continued
to live in West Oakland

until his death in 1989.

But that same year,
a natural disaster struck

that meant the 16th Street Station
had reached the end of the line.

The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
was the final blow

and, in fact, it sustained
significant damage

and had to be closed.

Currently, I'm greatly concerned
about the future of the station.

It's essential that
the space be preserved.

It's so important to Oakland.
It's so important to the bay area.

It's critical to understand our past

to know where we're going
in the future.

In Southern Croatia

is an overgrown compound that became
embroiled in the fate of a nation.

At the tip of this peninsula

is a really dramatic site,

this great stone building.

It looks like it's been standing
watch for hundreds of years.

But as we move along
the coastline, we can see

much more modern structures.

So, obviously this has been
an important place for a long time.

But why?

This is a tiny point of land
but it's a point of power.

it controls access

to the bay beyond.

In the 1990s,

that access was violently fought over

and this cliffside citadel
played a vital role

in the chaos that followed.

This was a time when neighbours,

literal neighbours,

became sworn enemies.

A foreign force was sent to keep
the entire region

from going up in flames.

They came to be peacekeepers

but there was no peace to keep.

Croatia used to be part
of the Austro-Hungarian

Empire and Croatia

was where
the Austro-Hungarian Empire

based its Mediterranean fleet.

The Austrians built a series

of fortifications
along the Bay of Kotor

including this grand stone fortress
at the tip of Prevlaka.

For almost 100 years,

this fort stood guard
over the mouth of the bay.

But when the Austro-Hungarian Empire
collapsed after the First World War,

a new country called Yugoslavia
was formed in the region.

It was comprised of six republics

including Croatia, Slovenia,
Montenegro and Serbia.

Yugoslavia was created

on the theory that all of the
Slavic states in the Balkans

were all brethren.

But it was a diverse and tenuous
coalition.

For years,

Yugoslavia was held together

by the dictator of Yugoslavia,

Josip Broz, "Tito."

Tito was sufficiently powerful
to keep it all together.

By the 1950s,

the old fortress at Prevlaka
had become obsolete

and Tito decided
he needed to modernise

and expand the stronghold.

Yugoslavia's geographical position

made it a potential target
for Cold War rivals

on both sides of the globe.

Tito was always concerned
that either

the West or the Soviet Union
would try to attack Yugoslavia

to control Yugoslavia...

..and Tito had to prepare
to defend his Adriatic coast

against all comers.

The Tito regime then

fits these fortifications out

with a helipad,

new bunkers

and new radar stations
to detect incoming threats.

It was called the
Prevlaka Military Base.

As it turned out,

the enemy that threatened
Yugoslavia's borders

didn't come from East or West.

The threat instead came from within

and it would send shockwaves
across this entire region.

Tito died in 1980.

At that point,

there was nothing holding

Yugoslavia together anymore.

Slovenia, Croatia, they secede.

Yugoslavia starts to disintegrate.

But the powerful Serbian president,

Slobodan Milosevic,

still controlled the
Yugoslav People's Army

and retained the support
of Montenegro.

Together,

they were not going to let
Croatia leave the union

without a fight.

And so, instead of

a peaceful departure...

.there was going to be a war.

And of course,

the Serbs and the Croats
and the Montenegrins

battle over these forts
at the southern tip of Croatia.

If Croatia controls Prevlaka...

..then Croatia is going to control

the biggest natural harbour
in the former Yugoslavia.

On the 23rd of September 1991

the Yugoslav People's Army
advanced into southern Croatia.

Their aim was to crush the
Croatian drive for independence

and to seize control of
strategically important sites

like the Prevlaka Military Base.

Historian Ivan Viden is
an expert on this facility.

So, this area saw

a lot of military action
in autumn 1991

because Serbian
and Montenegrin forces

invaded south of Croatia.

Unfortunately, a lot of heavy
bombing and a lot of atrocities

have been done in this area.

European countries quickly realised
that if they did

not stop the conflict in the
former Yugoslavia in its tracks,

there would be massive refugee flows

out of Yugoslavia
and the Yugoslav states

into the rest of Europe.

They had to stop the war.

An intervention was needed
and it would take place

here on the peninsula of Prevlaka.

Montenegro and Serbia
say that they should control

Prevlaka Peninsula.

The Croats say,
"No, it's part of Croatia,"

and the answer was, "Demilitarise

the Prevlaka Peninsula."

On the 20th of October 1992,

the United Nations peacekeepers
descended on Prevlaka

in an attempt to restore order.

The main reason for sending
this mission here was to, at first,

ease the conflict and then,

to transform a military question
into a diplomatic one.

At that moment,

the UN military mission was
a success

because the Yugoslav army
evacuated the peninsula

and then, the international
political community

recognised this part
of Croatian territory

as undisputedly Croatian.

In theory,

Prevlaka is Croatian territory

but there are no Croatian soldiers

in the garrison.

Demilitarising
the Prevlaka Peninsula

doesn't make anybody happy

but it keeps the peninsula peaceful.

The Croatian War of Independence
raged on until November 1995.

Tens of thousands lost their lives.

The Prevlaka Peninsula
remained a source of dispute

throughout the conflict and beyond.

In 2002, Croatia and Montenegro

finally agreed on
a temporary solution.

It stipulated that Croatia receive
control of the entire peninsula

as well as some of the waters
around it.

Following the settlement,

the United Nations peacekeepers
were finally able to leave.

Prevlaka has been abandoned
ever since.

Today, the Prevlaka Peninsula
still belongs to Croatia

but debate continues to rage
over its right to control the area.

It's still grit in the gears

between Croatia,
Serbia and Montenegro.

But because it's still
demilitarised,

Prevlaka is no longer
a potential battlefield.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media