Croat People's Union (, ; Croatian abbreviation: HNZ) was a Bosnian Croat political party in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. Party was founded by Ivo Pilar in 1910 with goal to represent interests of Croats in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With creation of

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, HNZ become inactive and was refounded in 1992 by Milenko Brkić and in 2010 it was incorporated into the Croatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

History

Austria-Hungary

Austrian-Hungarian authorities found foundation of the

Ante Starčević Ante Starčević ( ; 23 May 1823 – 28 February 1896) was a Croatian politician and writer. His policies centered around Croatian state law, the integrity of Croatian lands, and the right of Croats, his people to self-determination. As an import ...

Party of Rights The Party of Rights () was a Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist political party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and later in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in 1861 by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik, two influ ...

(''Stranka prava'') in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina undesirable. The group of Croat intellectuals thus founded Croat People's Union with goal to establish Starčević's party ideology. HNZ was mostly supported by peasantry, tradesmen and

franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

s. Party's leader was

Nikola Mandić Nikola Mandić (; 20 January 1869 – 7 June 1945) was a Croatian politician and one of the leading political figures in Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austrian-Hungarian rule. He also served as a Prime Minister of the Independent State of Croati ...

, while other prominent members of the party were Ivo Pilar, Safvet-beg Bašagić, Hamid Ekrem Sahinović and Jozo Sunarić. Other party which used elements of Starčević's policy was Croat Catholic Association (''Hrvatska katolička udruga'', HKU), which was not secular party as HNZ was. Its leader was Roman Catholic bishop, Josip Stadler. HKU made good relations with Pure Party of Rights in

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...

and especially in

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia (; ; ) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entirety of the region of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar. History The Habs ...

and also Catholic-Social Party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Party advocated political Catholicism and unification of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croat lands. Pilar and his associates stopped to cooperate with Catholic Association because of their political ideology, even though before that, they were in good relations to Stadler. Second reason for freezing of relations was effort of HKU to unite Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croat lands, which Bosnian Muslims and Serbs didn't approve. Since both, HNZ and HKU were part of Pan-''Pravaštvo'' organization, both parties continued to cooperate in 1911 until the end of the World War I. On the election for Bosnian legislature in 1910, HNZ won 12 out of 16 seats reserved for Catholic representatives. After the end of World War I, and with creation of

, HNZ ceased to exist.

Reestablishment and incorporation

HNZ was refounded in 1992 and its first president was Milenko Brkić. At first, HNZ opposed to policy of the

Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (, HDZ BiH) is a Christian democracy, Christian democratic Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist List of political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, political party in Bosnia and He ...

(HDZ BiH). However, at the election in 2002 and election in 2006, HNZ was in a coalition with the HDZ BiH. HNZ also called Bosnian Croats not to vote at the elections in the Republic of Croatia. In February 2010, president of the HSP BiH, Zvonko Jurišić, president of the Croat Union of Herzeg-Bosnia, Petar Milić and Brkić met and agreed to act under a single name, Croatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the 2010 election, HSP BiH entered into a Croatian Coalition along with

Croatian Democratic Union 1990 The Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (, abbreviated HDZ 1990) is a political party of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It split from the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is led by Ilija Cvitanović. In 2006, it was the lea ...

. By this act, HNZ once again opposed HDZ BiH.

References

{{Authority control Croat political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian nationalist parties Defunct political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina History of the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nationalist parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina