History of Croatia

Building the Croatian nationhood
Croats� arrival in the territory of their present homeland is acknowledged to date back to the 7th century. The first recorded date of their presence is 679 when Croats entered into a treaty with Pope Agatho accepting Christianity whereas the first international recognition of a Croatian Kingdom came from Pope John VII who blessed in 879 the Croatian Prince Branmir, the Croatian clergy and the whole Croatian people.

The special arrangement entered in the 12th century with the Hungarian Kingdom preserved Croats� formal independence, but imposed recognition of the Hungarian sovereignty. At the time of the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans, the majority of the Croatian nobility swore loyalty to King Ferdinand of Habsburg who offered respect for the Croatian laws and customs and protection against the invaders.

Four centuries of Austro-Hungarian influence did not extinguish the Croatian national feelings that strongly re-emerged in the 19th century. Following demands of reorganization of the Habsburg Empire into federal units put forward by Croatians led by Ban Josip Jelacic, a new Croatian-Hungarian Treaty was signed in 1868 to regulate inter-state relations. The treaty gave political recognition to the right to self-determination of the Croatian people: a local parliament was set up and the Ban was given the title of Viceroi. Croatians enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy in the administration of justice and education.

The World Wars
World War I greatly reduced the sphere of influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and marked the passage of the Croatian territory to a new state entity. Croatia being integrated in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, ended its prolonged period of self-rule: the activity of the Croatian Parliament was suspended and Croatia was divided into different regions within the Kingdom. It was not until 1939 that the Banovina of Croatia was restored and Croatia regained its state identity within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

With the occupation by the Axis forces in 1941 the Kingdom of Yugoslavia came to an end. Croatia was granted a symbolic independence in the form of the �Independent State of Croatia� under the command of the Usta�a government led by Ante Pavelic, controlled by Nazi Germany.
In spite of the recognition of the Croatian statehood, the majority of the population opposed the Axis forces and showed large support to the resistance movement.

Croatia in and after Yugoslavia
During the Socialist Yugoslav period, Croatia received recognition within the federal organization of the state. New national upraise in 1971, the �Croatian Spring� was quashed and local leadership removed. Yet the system started to collapse after Tito�s death in 1980.

Free elections in Croatia took place in April and May 1990 which brought Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Franjo Tudjman to leadership. Following the May 1991 Referendum�s results (in which 94% of Croatians had expressed their support for an independent and sovereign state) a declaration of independence was issued on June 25 1991.

First part of 90� Croatia was involved in war on the territory of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two regions were at Serbian control in 1992 until 1995 (Krajina and a part of Slavonia). In December 1995 the Dayton Peace Agreement convened the leaders of the three warring parties (Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks) and put an end to the Bosnian conflict.

President Tuđman died in late 1999 and the country underwent many liberal reforms beginning in 2000. Elections put Socialist Democratic Party (SDP) in leadership with Stjepan Mesić as a president. Since it is dominate two party political system of more right HDZ and more left SDP orientated. The November 2003 Elections, however, brought about another change of Government, with the win of now reformed HDZ installing in office the Cabinet of Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. In the January 2005 Presidential Elections, Stipe Mesic won another term in office, winning convincingly over HDZ candidate Jadranka Kosor.

The country is currently in process of joining the European Union, and expects to start the negotiations with Brussels in late March 2005.

Useful links:

Croatian lands before the Croats (until 7th c.) to Modern Croatia (from 1991)
click here

Basic historical data from around 400BC until 2003
click here

The history of the Republic of Croatia
The retrospective history of the Republic of Croatia
The contemporary political history of the Republic of Croatia
The working-class history of the Republic of Croatia
click here.