Croatia
(Serbo-Croatian Hrvatska)
Country in central Europe, bounded N by Slovenia and Hungary,
W by the Adriatic Sea, and E by Bosnia- Herzegovina and the Yugoslavian
republic of Serbia.
Government
Under the 1990 constitution, there is a bicameral legislature, the
Sabor, consisting of an 80-member chamber of deputies (lower house)
and a 63- seat chamber of districts (upper house). Deputies to
the lower house, which is the most influential of the two, are
popularly elected for a four- year term; three upper-house representatives
are elected for each of the republic's 21 counties. The president,
who serves as head of state and supreme commander of the armed
forces, is popularly elected for a five-year term, with the power
to appoint the prime minister (who must be able to command a majority
in the lower house) and other members of government. The president
also has the power to call referenda, call elections, and at times
of crisis, has decree powers. A proportional- representation electoral
system was adopted in the republic 1993.
History
Part of Pannonia in Roman times, the region was settled by Carpathian
Croats in the 7th century. Roman Catholicism was adopted 1054.
For most of the 800 years from 1102 Croatia was an autonomous
kingdom under the Hungarian crown, but often a battleground between
Hungary, Byzantium, and Venice. After 1524, most of the country
came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, returning to the Hungarian
crown only after the Peace of Karlovitz 1699.
Croatia was briefly an Austrian crownland 1849 and again a Hungarian
crownland 1868. It was included in the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats,
and Slovenes formed 1918 (called Yugoslavia from 1929). During
World War II a Nazi puppet state, `Greater Croatia´, was established
April 1941 under Ante Pavelic (1889-1959). As many as 100,000
Serbs and 55,000 Jews were massacred by this Croatian regime,
which sought to establish a ` pure´ Croatian Catholic republic.
In Nov 1945 it became a constituent republic within the Yugoslav
Socialist Federal Republic, whose dominant figure was Marshal
Tito.
Serb-Croat separatism
From the 1970s, resentful of perceived Serb dominance of the Yugoslav
Federation, a violent separatist movement began to gain ground.
Nationalist agitation continued through the 1980s and there was
mounting industrial unrest from 1987 as spiralling inflation caused
a sharp fall in living standards. In an effort to court popularity
and concerned at the Serb chauvinism of Slobodan Milosevic, the
Croatia League of Socialists (communists), later renamed the Party
of Democratic Renewal (PDR), adopted an increasingly anti-Serb
line from the mid-1980s. Following Slovenia's lead, it allowed
the formation of rival political parties from 1989. In the multiparty
republic elections of April-May 1990, the PDR was comprehensively
defeated by the right-wing nationalist Croatian Democratic Union
(CDU). Led by Franjo Tudjman, who had been imprisoned in 1972
for his nationalist activities, the CDU secured almost a two-thirds
assembly majority. Tudjman became president.
Secession from Yugoslavia
In Feb 1991 the Croatian assembly, along with that of neighbouring
Catholic Slovenia, issued a proclamation calling for secession
from Yugoslavia and the establishment of a new confederation that
excluded Serbia and Montenegro. It also ordered the creation of
an independent Croatian army. Concerned at possible maltreatment
in a future independent Croatia, Serb militants announced March
1991 the secession from Croatia of the self-proclaimed ` Serbian
Autonomous Region of Krajina´, containing 250,000 Serbs. In a
May 1991 referendum there was 90% support in Krajina for its remaining
with Serbia and Montenegro within a residual Yugoslavia. A week
later, Croatia's electors voted overwhelmingly (93%) for independence
within a loose confederation of Yugoslav sovereign states. On
26 June 1991 the Croatian government, in concert with Slovenia,
issued a unilateral declaration of independence.
Civil war
From July 1991 there was escalating conflict with the Serb-dominated
Yugoslav army and civil war within Croatia.
Independent Serbian `governments´ were proclaimed in Krajina
and in eastern and western Slavonia. A succession of cease-fires
ordered by the Yugoslav federal presidency and the European Community
passed unobserved and by Sept 1991 at least a third of Croatia
had fallen under Serb control, with intense fighting taking place
around the towns of Osijek and Vukovar. Croatia's ports were besieged
and at least 500,000 people were made refugees. Rich in oil, Croatia
retaliated with an oil-supply blockade on Serbia and announced,
in Oct 1991, that it had formally severed all official relations
with Yugoslavia.
Cease-fire agreed
In Jan 1992 a peace plan was successfully brokered in Sarajevo by United
Nations (UN) envoy Cyrus Vance. The agreement provided for an
immediate cease-fire, the full withdrawal of the Yugoslav army
from Croatia, and the deployment of 10,000 UN troops in contested
Krajina and E and W Slavonia until a political settlement was
worked out. This accord was disregarded by the breakaway Serb
leader in Krajina, Milan Babic, but recognized by the main Croatian
and Serbian forces. Under German pressure, Croatia's and Slovenia's
independence was recognized by the EC and the USA early 1992,
and in May by the UN.
UN peacekeeping force established
During March and April 1992 14,000 UN peacekeeping forces were drafted
into Croatia and gradually took control of Krajina, although Croatian
forces continued to shell Krajina's capital, Knin. Tudjman was
directly elected president in Aug, and the CDU won an overwhelming
victory in concurrent assembly elections.
Serb-held areas retaken
In Jan 1993 Croatia launched a surprise offensive into Serb-held Krajina,
violating the 1992 UN peace agreement. A new government was sworn
in April 1993, and in 1994 an accord was signed with Bosnia-Herzegovina's
Muslim and ethnic-Croat leaders creating a Muslim-Croat federation,
eventually to be linked to Croatia in a loose confederation. After
reluctantly renewing the mandate of a much- reduced UN peacekeeping
force March 1995, Tudjman launched a further offensive into Krajina
and W Slavonia, to which the Croatian Serbs responded by shelling
the capital, Zagreb. In a lightning assault in Aug both Krajina
and W Slavonia were overrun. Human rights abuses were reported
during the attack and more than 150,000 Croatian Serbs fled to
Serbia and Serb-held areas in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Tudjman extended
the offensive into Bosnia- Herzegovina, repelling a Bosnian- Serb
assault on the UN `safe area´ of Bihac. By Sept, only the narrow
belt of E Slavonia remained in the hands of the Croatian Serbs.
An early election was called Oct 1995, but although the CDU won
most seats, it failed to win an absolute majority. The following
month the Croatian Serbs agreed to hand back E Slavonia to Croatia
over a two-year period. In Jan 1996 the UN Security Council condemned
Croatia for human-rights offences against Serbs in Krajina.
Diplomatic relations were restored between Croatia and Yugoslavia
Aug 1996, and in Oct 1996 Croatia entered the Council of Europe.
Opposition parties polled strongly in local elections April 1997.
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english,
Nice map, that's all
english,
Good links to area info
english/deutsch/Italiano/Hrvatski,
This site contains absolutely everything you'd want to know about
the entire Croatian Holiday Resort Area, including exchanges rates,
where to stay/eat, where/how to get health care and what to do
in case of an auto accident.
Hrvatski/english