1980-1991






Croatia within Yugoslavia since 1991



In 1990 the first multiparty elections were held. The HDZ, headed by Franjo Tudjman, an ex-Communist converted to nationalist, emerged victorious. Meanwhile, the Yugoslav presidency was, in violation of the constitution, not handed over to moderate Croat politician Stipe Mesic. Croatia declared independence in 1991. International recognition of Croatia's independence came in 1992 (the FRG the first country to recognize it); immediately after, the Yugoslav War of Disintegration broke out. While the nascent Republic of Croatia did not have an army yet, the Yugoslav army sided with Rest-Yugoslavia, i.e. with Serbia-Montenegro and the organizations of ethnic Serbs living in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Three regions with a strong ethnic Serb population element were carved out of Croatia - Baranya & Eastern Slavonia, the Krajina and a Serb territory in Western Slavonia around Danuvar (1991). In the initial stage (1991-1992), fighting was the most intense at Vukovar (prewar 80 % Croat); both sides pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing. United Nations forces (UNPROFOR) were charged with observing a truce (1992-1996). In 1994-1995 Croat forces occupied the previously Serb-held territories in Western Slavonia and the Krajina. A large part of the ethnic Serb popultion emigrated.
Baranya and Eastern Slavonia has been restored to Croatia by the Dayton Agreements (1998), which also provide for the displaced population to return to their homes, and for war criminals to be persecuted. Croatia and Rest-Yugoslavia established diplomatic relations in 1996.

Croatia had joined the UN in 1992.
Elections in 2000 replaced President Franjo Tudjman by Stipe Mesic. Croatia in 2003 applied for EU membership and was accepted as a candidate in 2004.

The Croatian National Olympic Committee was formed in 1991 and received recognition by the I.O.C. in 1993.
In the Soccer World Cup in 1998 in France, the Croatian football team took the third place.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Note : The links listed below are intended to lead users to sites which provide more detailed information. The webmaster of WHKMLA is neither responsible for the information given nor for the views expressed there.

Croatia, History of, from Discover Croatia, from croatia.net , from dalmatia.net, illustrated
Article UNPROFOR, from Wikipedia
Timeline Croatia, from BBC News
Article Croatian War of Independence, from Wikipedia
Article Franjo Tudjman, from Wikipedia
Article Stjepan (Stipe) Mesic, from Wikipedia
Article Vukovar, from Wikipedia
Article Republic of Serbian Krajina, from Wikipedia
Article National Olympic Committee, from Wikipedia
DOCUMENTS Ethnic map of the Krajina, from Wikipedia
Flag of Republic of Serbian Krajina, from FOTW
REFERENCE Fred Singleton, A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples, Cambridge University Press (1985) 1999
Ivo Goldstein, Croatia - a History, (1999) McGill-Queen's UP 2001 [G]
Article : Croatia, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1993, pp.429-430, 591, 1994, pp.428-429, 591, 1995, pp.397, 591, 1996 pp.395-396, 591, 1997 pp.411, 589, 2002 pp.412-413, 587 [G]
Article : Croatia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1992-1993 pp.457-459, 1993-1994 pp.463-466, 1994-1995 pp.453-456, 1995-1996 pp.447-450, 1996-1997 pp.386-389, 1997-1998 pp.395-399, 1998-1999 pp.437-441, 2000 pp.505-509, 2001 pp.491-495, 2002 pp.511-516, 2003 pp.509-514, 2004 pp.510-515, 2005 pp.508-513, 2006 pp.502-508 [G]
Entry : Background Notes - Croatia pp.103-108; Travel Warning - Croatia, pp.461-462, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2000, Supplement [G]
Entry : Republic of Croatia, Cabinet p.31, Background Notes : Croatia, pp.461-464, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Entry : Croatia, pp.394-397 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]
Article : The Breakup of Yugoslavia, in : Americana Annual 1993 pp.38-47 (on events of 1992) [G]
Article : The Yugoslav War of Secession, in : Americana Annual 1994 pp.26-35 (on events of 1993) [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on October 17th 2006, last revised on March 9th 2007

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