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Croatian nationalism is
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
that asserts the
nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...
of Croats and promotes the cultural unity of Croats. Modern Croatian nationalism first arose in the 19th century after Budapest exerted increasing pressure for
Magyarization Magyarization ( , also ''Hungarization'', ''Hungarianization''; hu, magyarosítás), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in Austro-Hungarian Transleithani ...
of Croats; the movement started to grow especially after the April Laws of 1848 which ignored Croatian autonomy within the Hungarian Kingdom. Croatian nationalism was based on two main ideas: a historical right to
statehood A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "sta ...
based on a continuity with the medieval Croatian state and an identity associated with other
Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
- especially Southern Slavs. A Croatian revival started with the
Illyrian movement The Illyrian movement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ilirski pokret, Илирски покрет; sl, Ilirsko gibanje) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian int ...
( onward), which founded the
Matica hrvatska Matica hrvatska ( la, Matrix Croatica) is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyri ...
organisation in 1842 and promoted "Illyrian" language. Illyrianism spawned two political movements: the
Party of Rights The Party of Rights ( hr, Stranka prava) was a 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 influen ...
(founded in 1861 and named after the state-right concept (''pravaštvo''); led by Ante Starčević), and
Yugoslavism Yugoslavism, Yugoslavdom, or Yugoslav nationalism is an ideology supporting the notion that the South Slavs, namely the Bosniaks, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes, but also Bulgarians, belong to a single Yugoslav natio ...
(the term means "South-Slav-ism") under
Josip Juraj Strossmayer Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; german: Joseph Georg Strossmayer; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian politician, Roman Catholic bishop, and benefactor. Early life and rise as a cleric Strossmayer was born in Osij ...
(1815-1905). Both Starčević and Strossmayer were largely limited in their influence to the Croatian intelligentsia. Advocacy in favour of Yugoslavism as a means to achieve the unification of Croatian lands in opposition to their division under
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
began with Strossmayer advocating this as being achievable within a federalized Yugoslav monarchy. After the foundation of Yugoslavia in 1918, a highly centralized state was established under the St. Vitus Day Constitution of 1921 in accordance with
Serbian nationalist Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, un ...
desires to ensure the unity of the Serbs; this caused resentment amongst Croats and other peoples in Yugoslavia. Dalmatian Croat and the principal World War I-era Yugoslavist leader
Ante Trumbić Ante Trumbić (17 May 1864 – 17 November 1938) was a Yugoslav and Croatian lawyer and politician in the early 20th century. Biography Trumbić was born in Split in the Austrian crownland of Dalmatia and studied law at Zagreb, Vienna and ...
denounced the St. Vitus Day Constitution for establishing a Serb hegemony in Yugoslavia - contrary to the interests of Croats and other peoples in Yugoslavia.Spencer Tucker. ''Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social, and Military History''. Santa Barbara, California, USA: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Pp. 1189. Croatian nationalists opposed the centralized state, with moderate nationalists demanding an autonomous Croatia within Yugoslavia. Croatian nationalism became a mass movement in the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
through
Stjepan Radić Stjepan Radić (11 June 1871 – 8 August 1928) was a Croat politician and founder of the Croatian People's Peasant Party (HPSS), active in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He is credited with galvanizing Croa ...
's
Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party ( hr, Hrvatska seljačka stranka, HSS) is an agrarian political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The Brothers Radić believed that th ...
. The demand by moderate Croatian nationalists for an autonomous Croatia - the Banovina of Croatia - within Yugoslavia was accepted by the Yugoslav government in the Cvetković–Maček Agreement of August 1939. This agreement angered Serbian nationalists, who opposed it on the grounds that it weakened the unity of
Serbdom Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, un ...
in Yugoslavia; they asserted the importance of Serbian unity to Yugoslavia with the slogan "Strong Serbdom, Strong Yugoslavia". The agreement also angered Bosniaks (then known as "Yugoslav Muslims"), including the
Yugoslav Muslim Organization The Yugoslav Muslim Organization (, ''JMO'') was an Ethnic Muslim (today Bosniak) political party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was founded in Sarajevo on the 16 February 1919 and was led by M ...
(JMO), that denounced the agreement's
partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina The partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina was discussed and attempted during the 20th century. The issue came to prominence during the Bosnian War, which also involved Bosnia and Herzegovina's largest neighbors, Croatia and Serbia. As of , the count ...
. A violent sectarian Croatian nationalism also developed prior to World War II within Ante Pavelić's
Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Movem ...
movement (founded in 1929), which collaborated with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and Fascist Italy in its government of the "
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...
" (1941-1945) during World War II. Under post-war communist rule in Yugoslavia, dominated by the part-Croat Tito (in power 1944-1980), Croatian nationalism became largely dormant, except for the Croatian Spring of 1967 to 1971, until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991-1992 and the
Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugo ...
of 1991 to 1995. In its more extreme form, Croatian nationalism is marked by the desire for the establishment of a
Greater Croatia Greater Croatia ( hr, Velika Hrvatska) is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia. ...
n state, by the idealization of peasant and of
patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...
values, as well as by
anti-Serb sentiment Anti-Serb sentiment or Serbophobia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, србофобија, srbofobija, separator=" / ") is a generally negative view of Serbs as an ethnic group. Historically it has been a basis for the persecution of ethnic Serbs. A distinctiv ...
.


History


Austria-Hungary

In the 19th century, opposition by Croats to Magyarization and desire for independence from
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
led to the rise of Croatian nationalism. The
Illyrian movement The Illyrian movement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ilirski pokret, Илирски покрет; sl, Ilirsko gibanje) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian int ...
sought to awaken Croatian national consciousness and a standardize regional literary traditions which existed in a various dialects on a single standard language. Once the Croatian lands were culturally unified, the movement aimed at unifying the rest of the
South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, H ...
under the resurrected ''Illyrian'' name. Illyrianists during the
Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europ ...
sought to achieve political autonomy of Croatia within a federalized Habsburg monarchy. Ante Starčević founded the
Party of Rights The Party of Rights ( hr, Stranka prava) was a 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 influen ...
in Croatia in 1861 that argued that legally, Croatia's right of statehood had never been abrogated by the Habsburg monarchy and thus Croatia was legally entitled to be an independent state. Starčević regarded Croatia to include not only present-day Croatia but also what is now
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
(
Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State ...
,
Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region st ...
,
Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
) and parts of what is today Serbia (
Sanjak of Novi Pazar The Sanjak of Novi Pazar ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Novopazarski sandžak, Новопазарски санџак; tr, Yeni Pazar sancağı) was an Ottoman sanjak (second-level administrative unit) that was created in 1865. It was reorganized in 1880 and 1 ...
,
Syrmia Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the exc ...
)—all people in this
Greater Croatia Greater Croatia ( hr, Velika Hrvatska) is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia. ...
whether
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
,
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
, or Orthodox were defined as Croats. During the 19th to mid-20th century Croatian nationalists competed with the increasingly Pan-Slavic
Illyrian movement The Illyrian movement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ilirski pokret, Илирски покрет; sl, Ilirsko gibanje) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian int ...
and Yugoslavists over the identity of Croats. The founder of Yugoslavism, Croatian
Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
Josip Juraj Strossmayer Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; german: Joseph Georg Strossmayer; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian politician, Roman Catholic bishop, and benefactor. Early life and rise as a cleric Strossmayer was born in Osij ...
advocated the unification of Croat lands into a Yugoslav monarchical federal state alongside other
Yugoslavs Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( Bosnian and Croatian: ''Jugoslaveni'', Serbian and Macedonian ''Jugosloveni''/Југословени; sl, Jugoslovani) is an identity that was originally designed to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has ...
. However, in spite of both Starčević's and Strossmayer's competing visions of identity, neither of their views had much influence beyond Croatia's intelligentsia.


Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Croatian nationalism became a mass movement under the leadership of
Stjepan Radić Stjepan Radić (11 June 1871 – 8 August 1928) was a Croat politician and founder of the Croatian People's Peasant Party (HPSS), active in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He is credited with galvanizing Croa ...
, leader of the Croatian People's Peasant Party after 1918 upon the creation of
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. Radić opposed Yugoslav unification, as he feared the loss of Croats' national rights in a highly centralized stated dominated by the numerically larger
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
. The assassination of Radić in 1928 provoked and angered Croatian nationalists with the centralized Yugoslav state, and from 1928 to 1939, Croatian nationalism was defined as pursuing either some form of autonomy or independence from
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
. In 1939, a compromise between the Yugoslav government and the autonomist Croatian Peasant Party led by
Vladko Maček Vladimir Maček (20 June 1879 – 15 May 1964) was a politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As a leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) following the 1928 assassination of Stjepan Radić, Maček had been a leading Croatian political figu ...
was made with the creation of an autonomous Croatia within Yugoslavia known called the Banovina of Croatia.


Independent State of Croatia

Croatian nationalism reached a critical point in its development during World War II, when the Croatian extreme nationalist and
fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Movem ...
movement took to governing the
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...
(NDH) after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the
Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were N ...
and the creation of the NDH at the behest of Fascist Italy and
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
as an Italo-German
client state A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...
. The Ustaše committed mass genocide against Serbs, Jews and Roma, and persecuted political opponents, including the communist
Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобо� ...
and
Chetniks The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royali ...
who fought against them.


Communist Yugoslavia

After the defeat of the Axis Powers in 1945 and the rise of communist
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his death ...
as leader of a new communist-led Yugoslavia, Croatian nationalism along with other nationalisms were suppressed by state authorities. During the communist era, some Croatian communists were labeled as Croatian nationalists, respectively Ivan Krajačić and Andrija Hebrang. Hebrang was accused by Serbian newspapers that he had influenced Tito to act against Serbian interests, in reality Tito and Hebrang were political rivals, since Hebrang advocated Croatian interests at the federal level and was one of the major
Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
leaders. Hebrang also advocated change of Croatian borders, since, according to him, Croatian boundaries were clipped by
Milovan Đilas Milovan Djilas (; , ; 12 June 1911 – 30 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well as in the post-war government. A self-identified democra ...
' commission. He also argued against unfair exchange rates imposed on Croatia after 1945 and condemning show trials against people labeled as collaborationists. Hebrang wasn't a serious threat to Serbian interests, since he was demoted several times and in 1948 he was put under house arrest, and later killed. Croatian nationalism did not disappear but remained dormant until the late 1960s to early 1970s with the outbreak of the Croatian Spring movement calling for a decentralized Yugoslavia and greater autonomy for Croatia and the other republics from federal government control. These demands were effectively implemented by Tito's regime. Croatian communists started to indicate on Serbian dominance in commanding party posts, posts in the army, police and secret police. However, main subject was the perceived subordinate status of standard Croatian, at that time regarded as a Western variety of Serbo-Croatian. In 1967 Croatian Writers' Association called for designation of Croatian as a distinct language both for educational and publishing purposes. Because of such demands Tito gave an order to purge reformers in 1971 and 1972. Some 1,600 Croatian communists were ejected from the Communist Party or arrested. Such measures stopped the rise of nationalism in Yugoslavia, but Croatian nationalism continued to grow among Croat diaspora in South America, Australia, North America and Europe. Croatian political emigration was well-financed and often closely co-ordinated. Those groups were anti-communist since they originate from political emigrants who left Yugoslavia back in 1945. Croatian nationalism revived in both radical, independentist, and extremist forms in the late 1980s in response to the perceived threat of the
Serbian nationalist Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, un ...
agenda of
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of the ...
who sought a strongly centralized Yugoslavia. Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 leading to the
Croatian War The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugo ...
from 1991 to 1995. The Croatian ruling elite helped the Bosnian
HDZ The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croa ...
to rise to power. The first leaders of the Bosnian HDZ opposed Tuđman's idea of division of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Croatia and Serbia; in response,
Mate Boban Mate Boban (; 12 February 1940 – 7 July 1997) was a Bosnian Croat politician and one of the founders of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, an unrecognized entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was the 1st President of Herzeg-Bosnia fr ...
was installed as leader of the HDZ. He founded the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia with the goal to merge it with Croatia at the end of the war. Boban's project crashed in 1994 with the creation of the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gove ...
.


Modern Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Beginning in the 1980s, the Croatian nationalist movement was led by former communist general and historian
Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...
. Tuđman was, at first, a prominent communist, but in the 1960s he began to embrace nationalism. He soon earned the favour of the Croat diaspora, helping him to raise millions of dollars toward the goal of establishing an independent Croatia. Tuđman gathered MASPOK intellectuals and sympathisers from among diaspora Croats and founded the
Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cr ...
(HDZ) in 1989. In 1990, Tuđman's HDZ won the first democratic elections in the
Socialist Republic of Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...
. In 1991, war erupted in Croatia and the following year, the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
broke out. The Croatian ruling elite helped the Bosnian
HDZ The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croa ...
to rise to power. The first leaders of the Bosnian HDZ opposed Tuđman's idea of division of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Croatia and Serbia; in response,
Mate Boban Mate Boban (; 12 February 1940 – 7 July 1997) was a Bosnian Croat politician and one of the founders of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, an unrecognized entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was the 1st President of Herzeg-Bosnia fr ...
was installed as leader of the HDZ. He founded the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia with the goal to merge it with Croatia at the end of the war. Boban's project crashed in 1994 with the creation of the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gove ...
.


Parties


Current

*
Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica Bosne i Hercegovine or HDZ BiH) is a Christian democratic, nationalist political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina, representing the Croats of Bosnia and ...
(1990–present) * Croatian Party of Rights (1990–present) * Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1861 (1990–present) *
Croatian Pure Party of Rights Croatian Pure Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska čista stranka prava or HČSP) is a far-right political party in Croatia founded in 1992. The party claims to be an ideological descendant of the identically named right-wing Serbophobic historical p ...
(1992–present) *
Croatian Peasant Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Croatian Peasant Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( hr, Hrvatska seljačka stranka Bosne i Hercegovine or HSS BiH) is a Croatian political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the legacy and the brand of the historic Croatian Peasant Party ...
(1993–present) *
Croatian Party of Rights 1861 Croatian Party of Rights 1861 ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava 1861 or HSP 1861) is a political party in Croatia. It was founded in 1995 as a splinter party of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP, itself founded in 1990) following the removal of Croat ...
(1995–present) * Croatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2004–present) * Party of Croatian Right (2004–present) * Authentic Croatian Party of Rights (2005–present) *
Croatian Democratic Union 1990 The Croatian Democratic Union 1990 ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica 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 Ili ...
(2006–present) * Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia (2007–present) * Independents for Croatia (2017–present) * Homeland Movement (2020–present)


Historical

*
Croat People's Union Croat People's Union ( hr, Hrvatska narodna zajednica, ; Croatian abbreviation: HNZ) was a Bosnian Croat political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Party was founded by Ivo Pilar in 1910 with goal to represent interests of Croats in the Condomin ...
(1910–2010) * Croatian True Revival (2002–2011) * Croatian Bloc (2002–2009) * Croatian Coalition (2010–2011)


Personalities

* Ante Starčević *
Josip Frank Josip Frank (16 April 1844 – 17 December 1911) was a Croatian lawyer and politician, a noted representative of the Party of Rights in the Croatian Parliament, and a vocal advocate of Croatian national independence in Austria-Hungary. Early li ...
*
Stjepan Radić Stjepan Radić (11 June 1871 – 8 August 1928) was a Croat politician and founder of the Croatian People's Peasant Party (HPSS), active in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He is credited with galvanizing Croa ...
* Ante Pavelić * Andrija Hebrang *
Dido Kvaternik Eugen Dido Kvaternik (29 March 1910 – 10 March 1962) was a Croatian Ustaše General-Lieutenant and the Chief of the Internal Security Service in the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet state during World War II. Life Eugen Dido Kva ...
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Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...


See also

* Croats *
Croatian culture The culture of Croatia has roots in a History of Croatia, long history: the Croats, Croatian people have been inhabiting the area for fourteen centuries. Linguistic anthropological evidence suggests Croats originated from orth Iran There ar ...
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Nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
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Irredentism Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...
* Bosnianism * Dalmatianism *
Greater Croatia Greater Croatia ( hr, Velika Hrvatska) is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia. ...
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Proposed Croat federal unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina The Croat federal unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Croat entity, also informally known as the third entity ( sh, Hrvatska federalna jedinica, Hrvatski entitet, Treći entitet), is a proposed administrative unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina based ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Croatian Nationalism Political history of Croatia Croatian irredentism