The 1960 bombing of Karlovac University was a mass-casualty terrorist attack carried out by the Bosken separatist group BRC-21. The detonation of a large bomb in the university’s Faculty of Divinity resulted in the deadliest single attack of the Kresimir-Bosken conflict. The immense loss of civilian life caused unprecedented public revulsion and is considered the primary catalyst that forced both the Kresimirian government and the BRC-21 leadership to abandon their hardline stances and enter the negotiations that led to the 1961 Treaty of Brod Moravice.
Background
The late 1950s saw a significant escalation in the insurgency waged by BRC-21. The 1954 assassination of Kresimir Basic and the failed 1953 attempt on Chancellor Kresimirovic II had been met with a harsh crackdown, deepening the cycle of violence. The appointment of the more moderate Chancellor Kresimir Kresimirovic III in 1958 and the rise of the pragmatic Leon Rukavin as leader of Blue Dawn in 1959 created tentative signs of a potential shift in government strategy, though no formal change in policy had been announced.
The Attack
On the morning of Monday, September 12, 1960, a large explosive device, estimated to be 25 kilograms of industrial-grade explosives packed into a metal container and surrounded by nails and ball bearings, was detonated in the main atrium of the Faculty of Divinity building at Karlovac University. The bomb had been concealed inside a large wooden planter that had been placed in the atrium over the weekend by BRC-21 operatives posing as maintenance workers.
The timing, 10:45 AM, was deliberately chosen to coincide with the busiest period between morning lectures. The atrium, a grand, two-story hall with marble floors and glass ceilings, was crowded with hundreds of students and faculty. The explosion was catastrophic. The blast wave shattered the glass roof, sending deadly shards raining down, while the shrapnel tore through the assembled crowd. The force of the explosion caused a partial collapse of a second-floor balcony, creating further casualties.
The target was highly symbolic. Karlovac University is one of the Republic’s most prestigious academic institutions, and the Faculty of Divinity was seen as the theological and intellectual heart of the Kresimirian state religion.
Casualties and Victims
The immediate aftermath caused local emergency services were overwhelmed. The initial blast killed 17 people instantly. In the following days and weeks, another 11 people succumbed to their injuries, bringing the final death toll to 28. A total of 112 people were injured, many of them permanently disabled.
The deceased included 23 students of the university, 4 senior professors of Divinity, including the highly respected theologian Professor Jon Harj, and one university staff member.
Aftermath and Political Impact
State Response and Investigation
The government declared a three-day period of national mourning. Chancellor Kresimirovic III condemned the attack as an “act of unimaginable barbarism.” The Council for Internal Affairs launched the largest manhunt in the Republic’s history, codenamed Operation Divine Justice. Over the next three months, more than 400 suspected BRC-21 sympathizers were arrested in sweeping raids across Moraviskameja and other southern districts. While the key bomb-makers were never identified with certainty, several low-level accomplices were convicted and imprisoned. The university was closed for twelve weeks, reopening on December 8 after extensive repairs and the implementation of new security measures. A memorial to the victims was later erected in the university’s main garden.
BRC-21’s Miscalculation
Two days after the attack, BRC-21’s leadership, in a communiqué sent via the Boskenmark state news agency, formally claimed responsibility. The statement celebrated the bombing as a successful strike against the “theological heart of the occupation.” This proved to be a catastrophic strategic and public relations blunder.
The sheer scale of the civilian casualties and the targeting of a university provoked widespread and unambiguous condemnation. Crucially, this revulsion was not limited to Kresimirians; moderate Boskens, who may have been sympathetic to the cause of autonomy, were horrified by the attack. International media, which had sometimes portrayed the conflict as a legitimate struggle for self-determination, now universally labeled BRC-21 as a terrorist organization. The bombing effectively isolated BRC-21, cutting it off from any mainstream or international support.
The Path to Peace
The attack created an unprecedented political moment. For the Kresimirian government, it was definitive proof that the existing policy of suppression was failing and leading to an unacceptable escalation. For the BRC-21 leadership, it was a clear sign that their campaign of violence had cost them all political legitimacy.
With both sides facing a strategic dead end, Chancellor Kresimirovic III and Blue Dawn leader Leon Rukavin seized the opportunity. They used the national outcry to override hardliners within the government who were demanding a full-scale military invasion of Moraviskameja. Sanctioned by the Chancellor, secret talks between a delegation led by Rukavin and the BRC-21 leadership, represented by Neda Orlak and Nadja Vrasch, began in late 1960. These negotiations, held in the shadow of the Karlovac tragedy, would continue for months, ultimately culminating in the signing of the Treaty of Brod Moravice in 1961.