In the first years of the Homeland War, the area of eastern Herzegovina and southern Croatia, known as the Southern Front, suffered heavily as a result of Great Serbian and Montenegrin aggression. Although that area is separated by the administrative border of the states of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, the aggressors decided to ignore it, so newly independent Croatia was attacked from the official territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During 1991, the Yugoslav National Army managed to occupy a large part of the territory inhabited by the majorly Croatian population, justifying its actions by defending the endangered Serbian people. However, the Croatian defense managed to organize and professionalize itself by 1992, and by the end of the same year, all occupied territories were liberated. Numerous units of the Croatian Army, the Croatian Defense Council, the Croatian Defense Forces, local police stations and volunteers participated in the defense. After several months of occupation, Dubrovnik was unblocked, the Croatian villages in Popovo polje were liberated, as were the Dubrovnik coast, Konavle and Cavtat.