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History
Slavic Croatian tribes settled in the area in the
early 7th century (arriving from present day
Poland), accepting Christianity in around 800
A.D., and soon establishing their own state ruled
by princes or dukes. In 925, Croatia became a
kingdom under the rule of King Tomislav. In 1102
the country formed a union with Hungary which
lasted until 1918. After the end of the First
World War, Croatia joined Serbia, and Yugoslavia
(the land of South Slavs) was formed, until its
demise in 1991. The first Yugoslavia (1918-1941)
was ruled by the Serbian royal family,
Karadjordjevic, which naturally favoured the Serbs
and caused enormous resentment in Croatia. The
country was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1941,
which gave Croatia independence under the fascist
dictator Ante Pavelic. This regime was known for
its harsh rule and for committing numerous
atrocities, and therefore many Croats (over
200,000) actively joined the resistance movement
under Tito which liberated the country in May
1945. (Winston Churchill was so impressed with the
Croatian resistance that in 1944 he sent his son
Randolph and the writer Evelyn Waugh to Croatia as
his personal emissaries.) Croatia became one of
the Yugoslav republics ruled by the communist
government until 1991 when Croatia declared its
independence, prompting Serbian invasion. Almost
all Croats rose to defend their country under the
leadership of its first president, the late Franjo
Tudjman (who died in December 1999), and after
five years the country was liberated.
Croatia
Today
The country is now a parliamentary democracy. The
last general elections were held in November 2003,
in which the ruling socialist SPD (and its
coalition partners) lost, forcing Prime Minister
Ivica Racan to resign. HDZ (the Croatian
Democratic Union), under the leadership of Ivo
Sanader, polled most of the votes of the
electorate although they did not get an overall
majority. They joined in coalition with some
smaller parties and formed a government.
The initial reaction in Croatia to the new
government's first moves was positive: many like
Sanader's assertive action in getting Croatia into
NATO and the EU as soon as possible. Croatia will
start negotiations to join the EU on March 17th
2005, and most experts predict that it will join
in 2008.
In January 2005, presidential elections were held.
The incumbent, President Stipe Mesic, was
re-elected to another five year term. Presidential
powers in Croatia are limited, but he is still
influential in making domestic and foreign policy
issues.
Croats and Croatian cultura, heritage in Croatia,
democracy and assurance |
