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00:00In Michigan, a top-secret Air Force base, embroiled in controversy.
00:06It's possible there was some form of cover-up.
00:09The official documentation does have some redacted sections.
00:14In Italy, an entrepreneur's dream shattered by links to organized crime.
00:20Was he guilty? Or was this just a huge miscarriage of justice?
00:26And a California transportation hub that inspired lasting change.
00:34Oakland has always had a secret sauce in people fighting for greater justice and a better way to live.
00:49In northern Michigan, on the edge of Lake Superior, remnants of a global conflict conceal a tale of intrigue.
01:03A dirt track leads to a clearing dotted with large, industrial-looking buildings.
01:09This is a site built for function, not beauty.
01:12On the edge of this place are what look like just normal suburban streets.
01:17There's a basketball court and a baseball field and what looks like the remains of a bowling alley.
01:23This has all the amenities of any small town, but why are they out here?
01:31There's only 2,000 permanent residents in this entire area.
01:34And so to have this little city just up here on the top of a mountain, popping out of nowhere,
01:40is just very unusual.
01:43But this was not a normal town.
01:46When constructed, this was a covert facility with one objective, to protect America.
01:53At the top of the hill, two large constructions stand out.
01:58This is a clue to the place's true function.
02:01The U.S. Air Force is using this technology to defend the country from what they thought was a real
02:07existential threat.
02:09Yet this site would become infamous because of its connection to an alleged government cover-up that involved the disappearance
02:17of two American aviators.
02:20The jet and its occupants vanished, and the mystery has never been solved.
02:30So I first visited this site about 10 years ago with my cousin, and we made kind of the joke
02:38that everybody makes.
02:39If we ever had the opportunity to purchase this, then we had to try and purchase it.
02:44Come on right here.
02:46In 2021, Zachary Garner did buy this property.
02:50He's been working hard to uncover its secrets ever since.
02:55We wanted to save it, preserve the history, tell the story.
02:59This place and most of the others like it were always surrounded with an air of mystery because everything that
03:05happened up here was classified during the times when it was active.
03:10There was a good reason this site was clandestine.
03:14It was built as a reaction to the rising threat of communist activity.
03:20On August 29, 1949, in the very early part of the Cold War, the Soviet Union detonated their first atomic
03:29bomb, codename Joe-1.
03:32Even more terrifying news was to follow.
03:35The Soviets also created long-range aircraft capable of delivering nuclear bombs to the United States.
03:41This new reality caught the United States off guard.
03:46They were unprepared, and they were nervous.
03:50If America was to regain the upper hand, they needed a system that would provide early detection of any incoming
03:58threat from the Soviet Union.
04:00The United States takes action by setting up radar stations all across the country.
04:05Calumet Air Force Station was part of this radar network.
04:12So they built a lot of these stations further north in the U.S. and Canada because they were specifically
04:17monitoring for bombers coming over the Arctic Circle from the Soviet Union.
04:22That was the quickest or shortest flight path from primarily to Soviet Air Force bases.
04:29Should a Soviet aircraft approach, Calumet would be able to detect it and help guide American fighters to intercept and
04:36destroy it.
04:38This station in particular was right in the flight path if they would have sent bombers to either Chicago or
04:45New York.
04:47By April of 1951, Calumet was fully operational.
04:53Less than two years later, it was called into action.
04:56On the evening of November 23rd, 1953, the radar operators here noticed a flight that was coming through Lake Superior
05:05that was not registered on any particular flight plan.
05:10If this was a Soviet bomber, they needed to act fast.
05:16The operators noted the coordinates and sent them to Kinross Air Force Base, located 190 miles southeast of Calumet.
05:26From there, an F-89 Scorpion jet was immediately scrambled to intercept.
05:33First Lieutenant Felix Monclaw, an experienced airman who clocked 811 hours, took the pilot's seat.
05:41Behind him was the navigator, Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson.
05:47On that day, the weather was pretty typical for late November.
05:51It was cold, low visibility, cloudy, and of course dark.
05:55Operators at Calumet were tracking the object and then sending directions to navigator Robert Wilson.
06:02For the next 30 minutes, a high-speed game of cat and mouse played out in the skies above Lake
06:08Superior.
06:10Every time the radar would spin around, they would get an updated location on the bogey and tell them a
06:16new heading.
06:18Yet reports claim the unidentified entity moved with alarming irregularity, in ways that shouldn't be possible.
06:26The blip was changing course, changing airspeed, changing altitude, and they just weren't sure what it was.
06:34At 6.52 p.m., the operators let the crew know that the object was, at their 11 o'clock,
06:4210 miles out.
06:44The two men would have, by now, had the unknown object in their sights.
06:49At 6.55 p.m., the radar signature of the Scorpion jet converged with that of the unknown object, forming
06:57a single dot on the radar screen.
07:00They assumed that the fighter jet was flying in formation with the bogey and making contact with the pilot.
07:07Then, the unthinkable happened.
07:10When radio operators tried to hail Monclaw, they heard nothing back.
07:16Next, the jet's transponder signal was lost, and its radar signature disappeared from their screens.
07:22The staff at Calumet urgently tried to reestablish contact with the missing Scorpion jet, but to no avail.
07:30The Scorpion jet had vanished.
07:35According to the official reports from the Air Force, the dot of the aircraft that was still in the air
07:40continued on its original flight path, flying east.
07:45In the following days, a number of aircraft joined the search from all over the country, but no trace of
07:52the plane or the two airmen was ever found.
07:55During this period, the American public was increasingly fascinated by the phenomena of UFOs, after a number of high-profile
08:04sightings occurred across the country.
08:07The incident quickly became a source of various conspiracy theories.
08:11Many of the most extraordinary revolved around alien abduction.
08:15As we were researching, we interviewed several different people that had intimate knowledge,
08:20and slowly we were able to put together what we believed to be the whole story.
08:27In the 1950s, radar operators at a top-secret military site spotted an unidentified object flying in restricted airspace.
08:38An F-89 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept, but mysteriously vanished.
08:46Wild theories soon began to surface.
08:48The conspiracy that has formed from the blips merged is that the UFO ate the aircraft or absorbed it, and
08:59that's why it was never seen or heard from again.
09:03The Air Force put forward a very different explanation.
09:07When they looked on the screen and saw those two blips merge, that simply meant that they were within half
09:13a mile of one another, not that they actually ran into each other.
09:18And while no conclusive evidence has ever been found to explain the aircraft's disappearance,
09:25the most plausible theory is some type of mechanical failure.
09:30The F-89 Scorpion had known issues.
09:33Just a year before, all F-89s had been grounded to fix a wing problem.
09:40Yet respected UFO researcher Major Donald Kehoe believed the government was trying to hide the truth.
09:48He claimed the wife of Felix Monclaw was given two different stories by the U.S. Air Force as to
09:54how her husband died.
09:56At first, she was told his jet crashed into Lake Superior.
10:00Then she was told his jet exploded in mid-air.
10:05Kehoe also suggested certain details were left out of the official record to cover it up.
10:11The official documentation does have some redacted sections that we've been unable to figure out what it says.
10:17But ultimately, the puzzle was never solved.
10:22My personal opinion is that the fighter jet got too close to the other aircraft during intercept,
10:29made some maneuver to avoid hitting it, and crashed into Lake Superior.
10:35But this all still leaves a crucial question unanswered,
10:39which is, what was that original radar signature that the Calumet Station detected?
10:45It remains a mysterious footnote to the Cold War, which claimed the lives of two American airmen.
10:58Calumet continued to operate in secrecy for the next 35 years,
11:03until communism collapsed and the threat of nuclear war subsided.
11:08In September 1988, the station was closed, and the remaining personnel were transferred elsewhere.
11:17Zachary now has big plans to open Calumet to the public, so its story can continue to be told.
11:25The entire top of the mountain here that we're standing on now will be turned into a museum
11:28dedicated to radar stations in the Cold War.
11:32We expect this to be kind of a lifetime project, and we're here for it. It's really exciting.
11:40In central Italy, 40 miles from Florence, is the site of a fallen stronghold, besieged by personal tragedy.
11:52We are in the foothills of Tuscany, famous for its glorious countryside, incredible wines, and centuries-old towns.
12:02So it's no great surprise when you come across what appear to be ancient remains, concealed in dense forest.
12:11The structure has thick stone walls, a crenellated tower, and a drawbridge.
12:17All the hallmarks of a medieval castle.
12:21But look closer, and you start to see problems with that theory.
12:27All around are clues that suggest not everything is what it seems.
12:32Some of the features are more recent.
12:35Like there's a gazebo with a plastic canvas roof.
12:41Inside, it gets even stranger.
12:44There are bars, stages, and even the artwork appears as if made to look old.
12:50All sorts of people used to come here from all over Italy.
12:55VIPs, celebrities, politicians, and it was a great success.
13:01But the question is, who killed the party?
13:05This place would be engulfed by scandal.
13:08We're talking links to organized crime, a wrongful arrest, and lives torn apart.
13:19The last time I came here, it was about 10 years ago, and now the building, everything is completely covered
13:27with trees and plants.
13:29It looks so strange and even sad.
13:32When Daisy Vanelli was young, this enchanted setting was her family's business, and it played a very important role in
13:41her life.
13:42I remember my childhood here with my sister and my brothers.
13:49When we were younger, it was like our playground.
13:52The construction was inspired by my father's passion for castles.
13:59Like many good stories, this one begins with an ambitious vision to build something magical.
14:05And the person behind everything we see here, a man named Walter Vanelli.
14:13So, Walter is a local entrepreneur.
14:17And back in the 80s, he had this idea that he wanted to create a beautiful hotel in the mountains.
14:25But then my father came up with the idea of opening a nightclub.
14:30He discussed this idea with my two brothers, who were in their 20s at that time, and who enthusiastically opted
14:38for the nightclub idea.
14:41It wasn't long before the wacky concept that we see today emerged.
14:48Walter funded the project using his own money, that of investors, and by loaning around $750,000 from the bank.
14:58In 1987, construction began.
15:01But bringing his dream to life proved to be a difficult task.
15:06Walter changed his mind constantly about what it should look like.
15:12One day, he'd ask the builders to build something, then the next day, knock it down, start over again from
15:19scratch.
15:21Honestly, we all thought we'd never get the club finished.
15:26But finally, we did it.
15:30In the end, the club had three dance floors, two restaurants, four bars.
15:36It took six years and cost around $5 million.
15:42The Vanellis called their labor of love the Excalibur.
15:47On December 23rd, 1993, it opened for business.
15:52And on that night, there were 3,000 people.
15:57Up there was the DJ booth.
15:59I remember flag bearers, fire eaters, fireworks, yes, champagne, a lot of drinking, a lot of dancing, a lot of
16:10fun.
16:11Everything that made it a night to remember.
16:15As the months passed, the club's reputation continued to grow.
16:20There were politicians, celebrities, soccer players, and even royalty in the form of Princess Stephanie of Monaco,
16:29the rebellious youngest daughter of Grace Kelly.
16:32Everything was looking really good.
16:35We were making good money.
16:37And everything was just perfect.
16:39The Excalibur was a huge hit.
16:42What could possibly go wrong?
16:44The answer was everything.
16:50When the Excalibur nightclub first opened in 1993, it was a resounding success.
16:57But two and a half years later, Walter Vanelli's dream turned into a nightmare.
17:04In July 1996, around 5 a.m., a police helicopter swooped in and landed next to the club.
17:14Armed officers streamed out and raided the house that Walter was living in.
17:20He was handcuffed, hooded, and taken to a high-security prison.
17:28Walter had no idea why he'd been arrested.
17:33But it turns out he was being accused of being a key player in the Brenta Mafia.
17:40The Brenta Mafia was a ruthless criminal organization, founded by career criminal Felicia Maniero.
17:49His illicit empire made millions from, you know, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering.
17:59But in 1994, his criminal dealings caught up with him after a crackdown on Mafia gangs.
18:06He was arrested and became an informant to save his own skin.
18:12He gave up over 400 mob bosses, corrupt judges, corrupt policemen, and he named Walter as part of the operation.
18:26Walter had met Maniero 20 years earlier, but this was long before the Mafia boss had founded his criminal enterprise.
18:35Since then, there had been no further dealings and Walter was given no explanation of why he had been implicated.
18:45Prosecutors insisted he be kept in isolation and refused to tell him when a trial date would be set.
18:51Walter chose to take matters into his own hands.
18:55My father had to go on a hunger strike because they gave him no possibility to tell his side of
19:03the story.
19:04And so he had to do that in order to be heard.
19:08Only then did the authorities start to listen.
19:12After this, the anti-Mafia prosecutor, Dr. Fogliadelli, conducted more investigations and interviewed people from the Mafia clan.
19:23His findings eventually found that Walter had no Mafia involvement and he was cleared of all charges completely.
19:32In June 1997, Walter was finally released after almost a year in prison.
19:39The reason Maniero originally named him remained a mystery.
19:44But he always kept his dignity and he always maintained a positive attitude, really.
19:52He's an incredible person for this.
19:55It was a terrible miscarriage of justice, but there was even worse news to come.
20:02Following Walter's initial arrest, local newspapers and TV stations relentlessly covered the event.
20:10They linked his suspected mob affiliation to the Excalibur.
20:15Which inevitably led to a significant drop in attendances.
20:21This, coupled with a landslide that blocked the main road leading to the club, signalled its demise.
20:28And so from the 2,500 people crossing the nights, the attendance dropped to only a few hundred.
20:40In July 1996, while Walter was still locked up, the Excalibur was forced to close.
20:51Today, the future of the Excalibur is uncertain.
20:56It's up for sale.
20:58So perhaps one day, the hills surrounding this medieval discotheque will once again be alive with the sound of music.
21:07I'd love to see it getting back to his original glory.
21:14It will be so nice to see it full of people having fun and dancing.
21:24In Oakland, California, is a faded relic that fostered a movement whose impact is still felt to this day.
21:37This area has an industrial feel to it.
21:40There are freeways, rail lines, and an active port.
21:44Then on the edge of a pretty residential neighborhood, you see this building unlike the rest.
21:49It's majestic and imposing with these three huge arch windows.
21:54Once you get inside, you've got light flooding in, illuminating the marble floors.
22:00You've got ornate plaster work.
22:02And then in other parts of the structure, there's a more utilitarian space.
22:06Yet the interior reveals little about this building's original purpose.
22:12The big giveaway is Outback.
22:15You see this set of railroad tracks heading out of the structure.
22:20So clearly, it's a railroad station.
22:24This grand site was built at a time when Oakland was a city on the rise.
22:30The people that worked here were viewed as very important people in the community.
22:36That's because they did so much more than just keep the wheels turning.
22:41Their actions would help bring change to America.
22:45This place is related to the civil rights struggle, particularly on the West Coast,
22:50because so much of the organizing happened here.
22:53Their battle would inspire leaders for generations to come.
23:02In Oakland is the run-down shell of a once-majestic railway building.
23:09David Peters is the founder of the Black Liberation Walking Tour.
23:14This long-forgotten station is an important stop on his route.
23:19What a sense of awe and wonder I'm feeling right now
23:23to be able to be in this place that has so much history.
23:27You know, many people think that the resistance movement in Oakland
23:31started with the Black Panthers.
23:32And there's a reason for that.
23:33But they didn't just spring out of nowhere.
23:35And this place is integral to that.
23:38I can feel goosebumps on my arms right now as I talk about it.
23:43The story of struggle that unfolded within these walls
23:47all began with a marvel of American engineering.
23:52Originally, Oakland was just a small town at the edge of the bay.
23:55But its fortunes massively changed
23:58with the arrival of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.
24:02One thing a lot of people don't realize
24:04is that it didn't go all the way to San Francisco.
24:06It actually ended here in Oakland.
24:09Passengers would get off the trains
24:11and go to a nearby ferry terminal
24:13to take a ferry across the bay to the city of San Francisco.
24:18By the early 1900s,
24:20the existing wooden railway station
24:22couldn't support the increasing number of travelers or their baggage.
24:27In 1912, the Southern Pacific Railroad
24:31unveiled a grand new terminus.
24:35This is Oakland's 16th Street Station.
24:39Driven by the railroad industry,
24:41Oakland's economy was booming
24:42and its population was skyrocketing.
24:45Many of those migrating to the city
24:47were African Americans
24:48looking for a new life
24:50away from the racism and segregation
24:52of the Jim Crow South.
24:55But finding work was no easy task.
24:59One area that did become a good opportunity
25:01for black workers
25:03was in serving the clientele
25:06that rode these railroads
25:08on long-distance trips.
25:11The Transcontinental Railroads here
25:13had ultra-luxury sleeper cars
25:15called Pullman cars.
25:17These cars were an important part of the history here.
25:21It took an army of employees
25:23to deliver the indulgence
25:24that the company's founder, George Pullman,
25:26wanted to achieve.
25:28They were employed almost entirely
25:30from the African American community.
25:32They were called the Pullman Porters,
25:35and they carried out their duties with pride.
25:38Because of its vital position
25:40at one end of the Transcontinental Railroad,
25:42Oakland and this station
25:43became a very important hub
25:45for the Pullman Porters.
25:48We're in the historic baggage wing.
25:50This is the place
25:51where the Pullman Porters
25:54would have handled the servicing
25:55thousands of passengers
25:57on the trains that came through this station,
26:00dozens of trains on a daily basis.
26:03But it was difficult work
26:05and not as well-paid
26:06as comparable white workers would be.
26:10They often worked
26:11as many as 400 hours a month
26:14with little time off
26:15and no overtime.
26:18In 1923,
26:20a man named C. L. Dellums
26:22moved from Texas to Oakland.
26:25His arrival would herald
26:27a brighter future
26:28for the Pullman Porters.
26:29When Dellums came to Oakland,
26:32he hoped to enroll in law school.
26:34To make money,
26:35he took a job as a Pullman porter.
26:38But he quickly realized
26:40that between the long hours
26:41and the low wage,
26:42he couldn't actually afford school.
26:45So, unfortunately for him
26:46and his law school dreams,
26:48but so fortunately for us,
26:49he continued to work as a porter.
26:52And C. L. Dellums
26:53immediately distinguished himself
26:54by demanding better conditions
26:57for the black workers.
26:59But the Pullman Company
27:01was resistant to change.
27:04Fortunately,
27:05Dellums wasn't on his own.
27:07In 1925,
27:10the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
27:13and Maids
27:13was founded in New York City.
27:15This was a group
27:17that wanted to unionize the porters,
27:19give them some negotiating power
27:22to demand better pay
27:24and better conditions.
27:26They clearly knew
27:28that it was going to be a struggle.
27:29The union's motto
27:30was fight or be slaves.
27:33When Dellums learned
27:35about the founding
27:36of the Brotherhood Union,
27:38he knew that this was something
27:40that he really wanted to embrace.
27:41And he helped organize
27:43the Oakland porters and maids
27:45to join the organization.
27:47Certainly here in this baggage room
27:49would have been a place
27:50where the porters were organizing.
27:52and talking about their frustrations.
27:55The Pullman Company
27:56was strongly opposed
27:58to this fledgling union
27:59and refused to recognize them.
28:02They did everything in their power
28:04to stop Dellums in his tracks.
28:07Dellums himself got fired in 1927.
28:11The company claimed
28:12that he'd been found sleeping on the job,
28:14but in fact,
28:15this was a common tactic
28:17they used to get rid of people
28:20that they saw as troublemakers.
28:22So the Pullman Car Company,
28:24they used every dirty tactic,
28:27every dirty trick in the book
28:28to be able to squash this union.
28:31The company encouraged
28:33African-American staff
28:34to tell on their fellow workers
28:36and would dismiss employees
28:38if they joined the union.
28:40The company also transferred work
28:42away from Oakland
28:43so they could make do
28:44with fewer porters at that station.
28:48Dellums wasn't deterred
28:49and he continued the fight.
28:50But then disaster struck.
28:55In the 1920s,
28:57after working at the 16th Street station
29:00in Oakland,
29:01C.L. Dellums became a key member
29:03of one of America's first
29:05African-American unions.
29:07He fought tirelessly
29:09for better working conditions
29:10on behalf of its members,
29:12who regularly worked
29:13400 hours a month for low pay.
29:16In 1929,
29:18Dellums became vice president
29:19of the entire labor union.
29:21It was a long fight
29:23and they didn't win initially,
29:25but they kept at it.
29:28It would take
29:29one of the worst economic disasters
29:31in American history
29:32to transform the union's fortunes.
29:35In 1929,
29:37the Wall Street stock market crashed,
29:40ushering in the start
29:41of the Great Depression.
29:43The American economy
29:45had hit rock bottom
29:46and something needed to be done
29:48to ease the population's suffering.
29:51During the New Deal
29:52under Roosevelt,
29:53laws were passed
29:54that made it easier
29:55for workers to unionize
29:57and required companies
29:58to give workers
30:00the right to bargain collectively.
30:04In 1935,
30:06the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
30:09began negotiations
30:10with the Pullman Company
30:11for union recognition
30:12and a fairer contract.
30:15The Depression had led
30:16to a decline
30:17in the company's prosperity
30:18and they stood vehemently opposed.
30:21But in 1937,
30:23the Porters finally won.
30:26The contract improved wages
30:28and limited hours
30:29to a maximum of 240 hours a month,
30:32which is still a lot.
30:35This was the first time
30:37in U.S. history
30:38that a black union
30:39reached a bargaining agreement
30:41with a major American company.
30:45This is a huge, huge win
30:47for the Porters.
30:48But this is not only
30:49important for the Porters,
30:50this is particularly important
30:52for black Americans.
30:54After the Brotherhood's
30:55monumental victory,
30:56the 16th Street Station
30:57continued to provide jobs
30:59for Porters, maids,
31:00and other staff.
31:01But the winds of change
31:02were blowing.
31:03In the 1950s and 60s,
31:05with the rise of the automobile
31:06and airplane,
31:08fewer people relied on passenger trains
31:10for long-distance travel.
31:11And the number of Porters
31:13steadily declined.
31:15Yet the impact
31:17of the men and women
31:18that worked
31:18at the 16th Street Station
31:20would not be forgotten.
31:22The legacy of the Porters
31:24is impossible to overestimate.
31:27The fight for civil rights
31:29in C.L. Dellums
31:30went so far
31:31just beyond
31:31the organizing of the union.
31:33Oakland is known to many
31:35as birthplace to movements
31:37like the Black Panther Party,
31:38but those movements
31:39are part of a much
31:40longer tradition
31:41that stretches back
31:42to the incredible work
31:44of C.L. Dellums
31:45and the Pullman Porters.
31:52C.L. Dellums
31:54continued to live
31:55in West Oakland
31:55until his death
31:56in 1989.
31:58But that same year,
32:00a natural disaster struck
32:02that meant
32:03the 16th Street Station
32:04had reached
32:05the end of the line.
32:06The 1989
32:08Loma Prieta earthquake
32:10was the final blow
32:11and in fact
32:12it sustained
32:12significant damage
32:14and had to be closed.
32:15Currently,
32:16greatly concerned
32:16about the future
32:17of this station.
32:18It's essential
32:19that this space
32:20be preserved.
32:21It's so important
32:22to Oakland
32:23and so important
32:23to the Bay Area.
32:25It's critical
32:26to understand our past
32:27to know where we're going
32:29in the future.
32:34In southern Croatia
32:36is an overgrown compound
32:38that became embroiled
32:39in the fate
32:40of a nation.
32:45At the tip
32:46of this peninsula
32:47is a really dramatic sight,
32:49this great stone building.
32:50It looks like
32:51it's been standing watch
32:52for hundreds of years.
32:54But as we move
32:55along the coastline,
32:57we can see much more
32:59modern structures.
33:01So obviously
33:02this has been
33:03an important place
33:04for a long time.
33:05But why?
33:07This is a tiny point
33:09of land,
33:10but it's a point
33:11of power.
33:12It controls
33:13access
33:14to the bay beyond.
33:16In the 1990s,
33:18that access
33:19was violently fought over
33:21and this cliffside citadel
33:23played a crucial role
33:25in the chaos
33:26that followed.
33:27This was a time
33:29when neighbors,
33:31literal neighbors,
33:33became sworn enemies.
33:36A foreign force
33:37was sent to keep
33:38the entire region
33:39from going up in flames.
33:41They came
33:42to be peacekeepers.
33:44But there was
33:46no peace
33:47to keep.
33:55Croatia
33:56used to be
33:57part of
33:58the Austro-Hungarian
34:00Empire.
34:01And Croatia
34:02was where
34:04the Austro-Hungarian
34:06Empire
34:07based
34:08its
34:09Mediterranean
34:10fleet.
34:12The Austrians
34:14built a series
34:14of fortifications
34:15along the Bay
34:16of Couture,
34:17including this
34:18grand stone fortress
34:19at the tip
34:20of Kravlaka.
34:22For almost
34:23100 years,
34:24this fort
34:25stood guard
34:26over the mouth
34:26of the bay.
34:28But in the wake
34:29of the Austro-Hungarian
34:31Empire's collapse
34:32after the First World War,
34:33a new country
34:35called Yugoslavia
34:36was formed
34:37in this region.
34:38It was comprised
34:40of six republics,
34:41including
34:42Croatia,
34:43Slovenia,
34:44Montenegro,
34:45and Serbia.
34:48Yugoslavia
34:48was created
34:49on the theory
34:50that all
34:52of the Slavic
34:53states in the
34:54Balkans
34:55were all
34:57brethren.
34:58But it was a
34:59diverse and tenuous
35:00coalition.
35:01For years,
35:03Yugoslavia
35:04was held
35:05together
35:05by the
35:07dictator
35:08of Yugoslavia,
35:10Josip Broj,
35:12Tito.
35:13Tito
35:14was sufficiently
35:15powerful
35:16to keep it
35:17all together.
35:19By the
35:201950s,
35:21the old
35:22fortress
35:23at Kravlaka
35:23was obsolete,
35:25and Tito
35:26decided he needed
35:27to modernize
35:28and expand
35:29the stronghold.
35:31Yugoslavia's
35:32geographical position
35:33made it
35:34a potential
35:35target for
35:35Cold War rivals
35:36on both sides
35:38of the globe.
35:39Tito
35:40was always
35:41concerned
35:42that either
35:44the West
35:45or the
35:46Soviet Union
35:47would try
35:48to attack
35:49Yugoslavia
35:51to control
35:52Yugoslavia.
35:54And Tito
35:56had to prepare
35:58to defend
35:59his Adriatic
36:00coast
36:01against all
36:03comers.
36:05The Tito
36:06regime
36:07then fits
36:08these fortifications
36:09out with a
36:10helipad,
36:11new bunkers,
36:11and new radar
36:13stations to
36:14detect incoming
36:15threats.
36:17It was called
36:18the Prevlaka
36:19military base.
36:21But as it
36:22turned out,
36:23the enemy that
36:24endangered
36:25Yugoslavia's borders
36:26didn't come
36:28from east
36:28or west.
36:30The threat
36:32instead came
36:32from within,
36:34and it would send
36:34shockwaves
36:35across this
36:36entire region.
36:42In Croatia
36:43is the site
36:44of a run-down
36:45military base.
36:47In the 1990s,
36:49it would be drawn
36:49into a conflict
36:51that tore
36:51this region
36:52apart.
36:53Tito died
36:55in 1980.
36:56At that point,
36:58there was
36:59nothing holding
37:00Yugoslavia
37:02together anymore.
37:04Slovenia,
37:05Croatia,
37:06they secede.
37:10Yugoslavia
37:11starts to
37:11disintegrate.
37:13But the
37:14powerful
37:15Serbian
37:15President
37:16Slavodon
37:16Milosevic
37:17still controlled
37:18the Yugoslav
37:19people's army
37:20and retained
37:21the support
37:22of Montenegro.
37:23Together,
37:24they were not
37:25going to let
37:26Croatia
37:26and Slovenia
37:28leave the Union
37:29without a fight.
37:31And so,
37:32instead of
37:33a peaceful
37:34departure,
37:36there was going
37:37to be a war.
37:39And of course,
37:40the Serbs
37:41and the Croats
37:41and the Montenegrins
37:42battle over
37:43these forts
37:44at the southern
37:44tip of Croatia.
37:46If Croatia
37:48controls
37:49Pravlaqa,
37:51then Croatia
37:53is going
37:53to control
37:54the biggest
37:56natural harbor
37:57in the former
37:58Yugoslavia.
38:00On September
38:0123rd,
38:021991,
38:03the Yugoslav
38:04People's Army
38:05advanced
38:06into southern
38:07Croatia.
38:08Their aim
38:10was to crush
38:11the Croatian
38:11drive for
38:12independence
38:12and to seize
38:14control of
38:15strategically important
38:16sites,
38:16like the
38:17Pravlaqa
38:18military base.
38:21Historian
38:21Ivan Vigin
38:22is an expert
38:24on this facility.
38:26So this area
38:27saw a lot
38:28of military action
38:29in autumn
38:291991
38:30because
38:31Serbian
38:32and Montenegrin
38:32forces
38:33invaded
38:33south of
38:34Croatia.
38:35Unfortunately,
38:37a lot of
38:37heavy bombing
38:38and a lot
38:39of atrocities
38:39have been
38:40done
38:41in this area.
38:43European countries
38:44quickly realized
38:45they had to
38:46stop the war.
38:48An intervention
38:49was needed
38:50and it would
38:50take place
38:51here on
38:52the peninsula
38:52of Pravlaqa.
38:55Montenegro
38:56and Serbia
38:57say that they
38:58should control
38:59Pravlaqa
39:00peninsula.
39:01The Croats
39:02say no,
39:02it's part of
39:03Croatia.
39:03And the answer
39:05was demilitarize
39:07the Pravlaqa
39:09peninsula.
39:10On October
39:1120th,
39:121992,
39:13United Nations
39:15peacekeepers
39:15descended
39:16on Pravlaqa
39:17in an attempt
39:18to restore
39:19order
39:19at this
39:20contested
39:21site.
39:23The main
39:24reason for
39:25sending this
39:25mission here
39:26was to
39:27at first
39:28ease the
39:29conflict
39:29and then
39:30to
39:31transform
39:32a military
39:32question
39:33into a
39:34diplomatic
39:34one.
39:34At that
39:35moment,
39:36the UN
39:36military
39:37mission
39:37was a
39:38success
39:38because
39:38the
39:39Yugoslav
39:40army
39:40evacuated
39:40the
39:41peninsula
39:41and then
39:42the
39:43international
39:43political
39:44community
39:45recognized
39:46this
39:46part
39:47of
39:47Croatian
39:48territory
39:48as
39:49undisputably
39:50Croatian.
39:51In theory,
39:53Pravlaqa is
39:54Croatian
39:55territory,
39:56country, but
39:57there are
39:58no Croatian
40:00soldiers
40:00in the
40:01garrison.
40:04Demilitarizing
40:05the Pravlaqa
40:06peninsula
40:06doesn't make
40:07anybody happy,
40:09but it
40:10keeps the
40:11peninsula
40:12peaceful.
40:14The Croatian
40:15War of
40:16Independence
40:16raged on
40:18until
40:18November
40:191995.
40:21Across the
40:22region,
40:23tens of
40:24thousands
40:24lost
40:25their
40:25lives.
40:26The
40:27Pravlaqa
40:27peninsula
40:28remained a
40:29source of
40:29dispute
40:30throughout the
40:31conflict and
40:32beyond.
40:33In 2002,
40:34Croatia and
40:34Montenegro
40:35finally agreed on
40:36a temporary
40:37solution.
40:38It stipulated
40:38that Croatia
40:39received control
40:40of the entire
40:41peninsula as
40:42well as some
40:42of the
40:42waters around
40:43it.
40:44Following the
40:45settlement,
40:46the United
40:47Nations
40:47peacekeepers
40:48were finally
40:49able to
40:50leave.
40:51Pravlaqa
40:52has been
40:53abandoned
40:54ever since.
40:58Today,
41:00the Pravlaqa
41:00peninsula still
41:01belongs to
41:02Croatia,
41:03but debate
41:04continues to
41:05rage over
41:06their right
41:06to control
41:07this
41:08controversial
41:09area.
41:10It's
41:11still
41:11grit in
41:13the gears
41:13between
41:14Croatia,
41:16Serbia,
41:17and
41:17Montenegro,
41:18but because
41:20it's still
41:21demilitarized,
41:22Pravlaqa is
41:24no longer
41:25a potential
41:26battlefield.
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