Nationalism has been prevalent in Croatia since before World War II.
Ante Pavelic, a military dictator and Croatian fascist, founded the ultranationalist movement known as the Ustase and governed the independent state of Croatia (a fascist Nazi puppet state built out of Yugoslavia and collaborating with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy). During the Second World War the Ustase persecuted many racial minorities including Serbs, Jews and anti-fascist Croats. The Ustase supported the creation of a Greater Croatia, emphasizing the need for a racially pure Croatia and promoting genocide for those who did not fit in with this ideal.
However, it remained largely dormant following the Second World War until the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Croatian War of Independence. The perceived threat from Milosevic’s Serbian nationalist agenda and the idea of a strongly centralized Yugoslavia resulted in the reawakening of Croatian nationalism. Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 leading to the Croatian War of Independence from 1991 – 1995.
The reawakening of Croatian nationalism was led in the late 1980’s by Franjo Tudjman. Tudjman was an authoritarian leader with a communist past, his obsession with nationalism fuelled the ruthless pursuit of an independent Croatia. On leaving the military he devoted himself to historical studies in a shift that resulted in his conversion from communism to nationalism. He became convinced that reports of the Utashe crimes had been wildly exaggerated. His feelings matched the growing sentiment at the time growing in Croatia; a nationalist revival which eventually led to his expulsion from the Communist party as he was branded fascist for defying the official party line.
Sandwiched between the uncompromising Milosevic to the east and Slovenia to the west, eager for secession, it was time for Croatia to make its move. The last Communist Party congress in January 1990, and the crucial event in the collapse of Yugoslavia, saw Slovenia walk out of the union followed immediately by Croatia. Three months later in the first free elections Tudjman and his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party were in power. Tudjman became the President of the Presidency of the republic of Croatia.
The campaign message was one of uncompromising nationalism, with no gestures of goodwill to the Serb minority. Tudjman spearheaded and exploited the surge in nationalist sentiment that had seized Yugoslavia and played a pivotal role in the bloody division for both Croatia and Bosnia to follow. Milosevic and Tudjman both had grand plans to carve up Bosnia and eventually wipe it off the map.
Tudjman’s nationalist agenda mimicked Milosevic’s own regime in many ways, however Tudjman managed to do it without attracting widespread condemnation. He achieved this by keeping the west happy with the pretence of creating a multi-party democracy at home. In reality his domestic policy saw the closing down of media that offended him and the manipulation of the electoral process. He was quick to restore Croatia’s flags and other Utashe symbols from World War II. He also refused to endorse the Serb’s traditional place in the Croat constitution which enraged Serbs in Croatia resulting in many Serbs being removed from their jobs.
By August 1990, Serbs in the Serb-majority districts such as Krajina, loyal to Belgrade, fought back against Tudjman’s fascist regime and the partition of Croatia was already beginning. In May 1991 a referendum for independence saw a majority vote of 93% in favour, leading to Croatia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25th June 1991 and war erupted. Areas of Croatia with a Serb majority revolted to the declaration of independence, wishing to remain in Yugoslavia. Naturally with the support of the Yugoslav Army they seized a third of Croatia and declared themselves the Republic of Serb Krajina.
The war was eventually lost to the Serbs yet Tudjman had won international recognition. He played the waiting game and slowly built the army up, smuggled weapons and launched the strikes in 1995 with western backing, to recover his lost territory.
Croatian and Serbian nationalist movement triumphed politically leading to the collapse of Yugoslavia. The notion of the centralised state became impossible. The tragedy here is that ethnic cleansing became the logical result.
