Croatia/History

The Croats are believed to be a purely Slavic people who migrated from Ukraine, although newer theories hold they may have been nomadic Sarmatians. The Croats settled in present-day Croatia in the 6th century. They were Christianized in the 9th century, but preserved autonomy from Rome until the 1000s. The first King of Croatia, Tomislav?, was crowned in 925, having created a sizeable state, including most of Croatia, Slavonia?, Dalmatia?, and Bosnia? and Herzegovina?. The state was destroyed by attacks from Bulgarians, Byzantines, Venetians, and Magyars. The 1102 pacta conventa recognized a common king for Croatia and Hungary. The two crowns would remain connected until the end of World War I.

After the 1526 [Battle of Mohacs]?, the Hungarian dynasty was extinguished, and Croatian nobility elected the Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg king. During the next 200 years, the Ottoman Empire was a constant threat, and the Military Frontier was created in 1578, an area carved out of Croatia and ruled directly from Vienna. Austria encouraged settlement of Germans, Hungarians, Serbs, and other Slavs in the Military Frontier, creating an ethnic patchwork. The Ottoman Empire was driven out of Hungary and Croatia by the 1700s, and Austria brought the empire under central control.

As Austrians pushed germanization and Hungarians magyarization, Croatian nationalism emerged. The Croatian national revival began in the 1830s with the Illyrian Movement. By the 1840s, the movement had moved from cultural goals to resisting Hungarian political demands. In 1868, Croatia was given domestic autonomy, but the governor was appointed by Hungary. Croatian leadership divided between proponents of a South Slav union and supporters of a Greater Croatia. Croatian and Serbian parties began to cooperate in 1905, with the Croato-Serb Coalition.

Shortly before the end of World War I, on October 29, 1918, the Croatian Parliament proclaimed Croatia's administrative relations with Austria and Hungary void. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was created December 1. The Croats were not happy with rule from Belgrade? by a Serbian king, however. Croatia gained autonomy in 1939, but the [Axis powers]? dismantled Yugoslavia in 1941. The Croatian radical-right Ustase was brought from Italy and installed as the government of the Independent State of Croatia. Antifascist and communist Croats joined Tito?'s Partisans.

Croatia became part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945. Decentralization in 1965 led to a resurgence of nationalism in the Croatian spring of 1970-71. In 1980, after Tito's death, political and economic difficulties mounted. The federal government began to crumble. Inflation soared, and reforms failed. In 1990, the Croatian Democratic Union won the first free postwar elections on a platform of nationalism, anticommunism, and privatization.

Conflict between Serbs and Croats in Croatia escalated, and 1 month after Croatia declared independence June 25, 1991, a civil war fueled by Serbian invasion broke out in Krajina?. January 1992 brought a UN-sponsored cease-fire, but hostilities resumed the next year when Croatia fought to regain territory taken by Serbs. A second cease-fire was enacted in May 1993, and Croatia and Yugoslavia signed a joint declaration the next January. In September 1993, however, the Croatian Army led an offensive against the Serb-held "Republic of Krajina." A third cease-fire was signed in March 1994, but it was broken the next May when Croatian forces again attempted to reclaim lost territory. In early August, Croatian forces recaptured Krajina with a major offensive, and some 150,000 Serbs fled the region, many to Serb-held areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina.