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
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, he became the first
president of Croatia
The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the ...
and served as president from 1990 until his death in 1999. He was the ninth and last
President of the Presidency of SR Croatia from May to July 1990.
Tuđman was born in
Veliko Trgovišće. In his youth, he fought during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
as a member of the
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
. After the war, he took a post in the
Ministry of Defence, later attaining the rank of
major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
of the
Yugoslav Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
in 1960. After his military career, he dedicated himself to the study of
geopolitics. In 1963, he became a professor at the
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
Faculty of Political Sciences. He received a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in history in 1965 and worked as a historian until coming into conflict with the regime. Tuđman participated in the
Croatian Spring movement that called for reforms in the country and was imprisoned for his activities in 1972. He lived relatively anonymously in the following years until the
end of communism, whereupon he began his political career by founding the
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in 1989.
HDZ won the first
Croatian parliamentary elections in 1990 and Tuđman became the President of the Presidency of
SR 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 ...
. As president, Tuđman introduced a
new constitution and pressed for the creation of
an independent Croatia. On 19 May 1991, an
independence referendum
An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not alwa ...
was held, which was approved by 93 percent of voters. Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. Areas with a
Serb majority revolted
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
, backed by the Yugoslav Army, and Tuđman led Croatia during
its War of Independence. A ceasefire was signed in 1992, but
the war had spread into
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 H ...
, where
Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...
fought in an alliance with
Bosniaks. Their cooperation fell apart in late 1992 and Tuđman's government sided with
Herzeg-Bosnia
The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia ( hr, Hrvatska Republika Herceg-Bosna) was an unrecognized geopolitical entity and quasi-state in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was proclaimed on 18 November 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bo ...
during the
Croat-Bosniak War, a move that brought criticism from the international community. In a final verdict of war crimes trial of former high-ranking officials of Herceg-Bosnia, the
ICTY stated that Tuđman shared in their
joint criminal enterprise
Joint criminal enterprise (JCE) is a legal doctrine used during war crimes tribunals to allow the prosecution of members of a group for the actions of the group. This doctrine considers each member of an organized group individually responsib ...
goal of establishing an entity to
reunite the Croatian people which was implemented through the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims. However it affirmed that none of the crimes were attributed to him.
In March 1994, he signed the
Washington Agreement
The Washington Agreement ( Croatian: ''washingtonski sporazum'' and Bosnian: ''vašingtonski sporazum'') was a ceasefire agreement between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, signed in Washington ...
with
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegović
Alija Izetbegović (; ; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, lawyer, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first president of the Presidency of the newly independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovin ...
that re-allied Croats and Bosniaks. In August 1995, he authorized a major offensive known as
Operation Storm
}) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state Re ...
which effectively ended the war in Croatia. In the same year, he was one of the signatories of the
Dayton Agreement
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски миро ...
that put an end to the Bosnian War. He was re-elected president in
1992 and
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
and remained in power until his death in 1999. While supporters point out his role in achieving Croatian independence, critics have described his presidency as
authoritarian. Surveys after Tuđman's death have generally shown a high favorability rating among the Croatian public.
Early life and education
Franjo Tuđman was born on 14 May 1922 in
Veliko Trgovišće, a village in the northern Croatian region of
Hrvatsko Zagorje
Hrvatsko Zagorje (; Croatian Zagorje; ''zagorje'' is Croatian language, Croatian for "backland" or "behind the hills") is a cultural region in northern Croatia, traditionally separated from the country's capital Zagreb by the Medvednica Moun ...
, at the time part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
. The family moved to the house marked as his birthplace soon after he was born. His father Stjepan ran a local tavern and was a politically active member of the
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 t ...
(HSS). He had been president of the HSS committee in Veliko Trgovišće for 16 years (1925–1941 and had been elected as mayor of Veliko Trgovišće in 1936 and 1938). Mato, Andraš and Juraj, brothers of Stjepan Tuđman,
emigrated to the United States. Another brother, Valentin, also tried to emigrate, but a travelling accident prevented him and kept him in Veliko Trgovišće, where he worked as an (uneducated)
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...
.
Besides Franjo, Stjepan Tuđman had an elder daughter Danica Ana (who died as a baby), Ivica (born in 1924) and Stjepan "Štefek" (born in 1926). When Franjo Tuđman was seven, his mother Justina () died while bearing her fifth child. Tuđman's mother was a devout
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 ...
, unlike his father and stepmother. His father, like
Stjepan Radić, had
anticlerical
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
attitudes and young Franjo adopted his views. As a child, Franjo Tuđman served as an
altar boy
An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up the book ...
in the local parish. Tuđman attended elementary school in his native village from 15 September 1929 to 30 June 1933 and was an excellent student.
He attended secondary school for eight years, starting in the autumn 1935. The reasons for the interruption are not clear, but it is assumed that the primary cause was an economic crisis in that period. According to some sources, the local parish helped young Franjo to continue his education and his teacher even proposed him to be educated to become a priest. When he was 15, his father brought him to
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
, where he met
Vladko Maček, the president of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS). At first young, Franjo liked the HSS, but later he turned towards
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
. On 5 November 1940, he was arrested during student demonstrations celebrating the anniversary of the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...
.
World War II
On 10 April 1941, when
Slavko Kvaternik
Slavko Kvaternik (25 August 1878 – 7 June 1947) was a Croatian Ustaše military general and politician who was one of the founders of the Ustaše movement. Kvaternik was military commander and Minister of '' Domobranstvo'' (''Armed Forces''). O ...
proclaimed 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), the
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sove ...
of
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, Tuđman left school and started publishing
secret newspapers with his friend Vlado Stopar. He was recruited into the
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
at the beginning of 1942 by Marko Belinić. His father also joined the Partisans and became a founder of the
(ZAVNOH). According to Tuđman, his father was arrested by the
Ustashas, the
fascist and
ultranationalist
Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...
organization that governed the NDH, and one of his brothers was taken to a
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
. They both managed to survive, unlike the youngest brother Stjepan who was killed by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
fighting for the Partisans in 1943.
Tuđman was traveling between Zagreb and Zagorje using false documents which identified him as a member of the
Croatian Home Guard. There, he was helping to activate a partisan division in Zagorje. On 11 May 1942, while carrying Belinić's letter, he was arrested by the Ustashas, but managed to escape from the police station.
Military career
Franjo Tuđman and
Ankica Žumbar were married on 25 May 1945 at the
Belgrade City Council. In this way, they wanted to confirm their faith in the
Communist movement
The history of communism encompasses a wide variety of ideologies and political movements sharing the core theoretical values of common ownership of wealth, economic enterprise, and property. Most modern forms of communism are grounded at least ...
and the importance of civil ritual over religious ones. (In May 1945, the government created the law which allowed civil weddings, taking weddings (among other things) out of
Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
jurisdiction.) They returned to work that same day.
On 26 April 1946, his father Stjepan and stepmother were found dead. Tuđman never clarified the circumstances of their death. According to
the police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...
, his father Stjepan killed his wife and then himself. Other theories accuse Ustasha
guerrillas
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tacti ...
(
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
) and members of the Yugoslav secret police (
OZNA).
Franjo and Ankica did not qualify as
secondary school graduates until after the war, in Belgrade. He graduated from the Partisan High School in 1945 and she finished five semesters of
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
in the Yugoslav Foreign Office.
In 1953, Tuđman was promoted to the position of
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
and in 1959, he became a
major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
. At the age of 38, he had become the youngest general in the
Yugoslav Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
. His promotion was not extreme, but it was atypical for a
Croat
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...
because senior officers were increasingly likely to be
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 ...
and
Montenegrins
Montenegrins ( cnr, Црногорци, Crnogorci, or ; lit. "Black Mountain People") are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common Montenegrin culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro.
Genetics
Accordi ...
. In 1962, Serbs and Montenegrins composed 70% of army
generals
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
.
On 23 May 1954, he became secretary of
JSD Partizan Belgrade and, in May 1958, its president, becoming the first colonel to occupy that position (all previous holders were generals). He was placed in that position in order to solve administration problems inside of the club, especially the
football section. When he arrived, JSD Partizan Belgrade was a kind of intelligence battlefield where leaders of
UDBA
The State Security Service ( hr, Služba državne sigurnosti, sr, Служба државне безбедности; mk, Служба за државна безбедност; sl, Služba državne varnosti), also known by its original name ...
and
KOS
Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...
struggled for influence. That caused clubs (despite having notable and good players) to have bad results, especially its football section. During his club presidency, the club adopted the black-white striped kit which is used to this day. According to Tuđman, he wanted to create a club that would have a
pan-Yugoslav image and oppose
SD Crvena Zvezda
Sportsko društvo Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Спортско друштво Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Sports Society), commonly abbreviated as SD Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, СД Црвена звезда, link=no), is a multi-sport c ...
that had an exclusive
Serbian image. Tuđman was inspired by
Juventus F.C.
)''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback)
, founded = as Sport-Club Juventus
, ground = Juventus Stadium
, capacity = 41,507
, owner = Agnell ...
uniforms. However,
Stjepan Bobek (former player of FK Partizan) claimed that uniform colors idea was, in fact, his, which he passed on to Tuđman.
Tuđman attended the
military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
in Belgrade, like many officers who did not have formal military education. He graduated from the tactical school on 18 July 1957 as an excellent student. One of his teachers was
Dušan Bilandžić
Dušan Bilandžić (20 July 1924 – 4 March 2015) was a Croatian historian and politician.
Early life
Lower classes of Franciscan gymnasium he attended in Sinj, and continued his high school education in Osijek. Before World War II, he joi ...
, who would be a future advisor. Before he turned 40 years old, he had risen to become the youngest general in the Yugoslav Army. He was prominent in attending to communist indoctrination while based in Belgrade, where his three children were born.
[Obituary](_blank)
theguardian.com; accessed 19 July 2015.
Institute
In 1963, he became professor at the
University of Zagreb Faculty of Political Sciences where he taught a course called "Socialist Revolution and Contemporary National History".
He left active army service in 1961 at his own request and began working at the Institut za historiju radničkoga pokreta Hrvatske ( en, Institute for the History of Workers' Movement of Croatia), and remained its director until 1967.
Tuđman's increasing insistence on a Croatian interpretation of history turned many professors from University of Zagreb like
Mirjana Gross and
Ljubo Boban against him. In April 1964, Boban denounced Tuđman as a
nationalist
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 ...
. During Tuđman's leadership the Institute became a source of alternative interpretations of Yugoslav history which caused his conflict with official Yugoslav historiography. He did not have an appropriate academic degree to qualify him as a historian. He began to realize that he would need to obtain a doctorate in order to keep his position. His dissertation was entitled ''The Causes of the Crisis of the Yugoslav Monarchy from
Unification in 1918 until
Its Breakdown in 1941'', and was a compilation of some of his previously published works. The University of Zagreb's
Faculty of Philosophy
A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...
rejected his dissertation, on the grounds that some parts of it had already been published. The Faculty of Arts in Zadar (then part of University of Zagreb, today
University of Zadar
The University of Zadar ( hr, Sveučilište u Zadru, la, Universitas Studiorum Iadertina) is a university located in Zadar, Croatia. The university in its present form was founded in 2002, but can trace its lineage to 1396, thus making it the ol ...
) accepted it and he graduated on 28 December 1965.
In his thesis, he stated that the primary cause of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's breakdown was the repressive and
corrupted regime which was at odds with the contemporary mainstream Yugoslav historiography which considered Croatian nationalism to be its primary cause. Bogdanov and Milutinović (both ethnic Serbs) did not object to this. However, the Zagreb-based publisher ''Naprijed'' cancelled the contract following his refusal to change some controversial statements in the book. He publicly supported the goals of the
Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian Literary Language. The
Croatian Parliament
The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sab ...
and
League of Communists of Croatia from Zagreb, however, attacked it and the board of the institute requested Tuđman's resignation.
In December 1966, Ljubo Boban accused Tuđman of
plagiarism, stating that Tuđman had compiled four-fifths of his doctoral thesis, ''The Creation of the Socialist Yugoslavia'', from Boban's work. Boban offered conclusive proofs to his claim from articles published previously in the magazine ''Forum'' and the rest from Boban's own thesis. Tuđman was then expelled from the Institute and forced to retire in 1967.
Between 1962 and 1967, he was the president of the Main Committee for International Relations of the Croatian League of Communists Main Board and deputy in the Croatian Parliament between 1965 and 1969.
Dissident politics
Apart from his book on guerrilla warfare, Tuđman wrote a series of articles criticizing the Yugoslav
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
establishment. His most important book from that period was ''Velike ideje i mali narodi'' ("Great ideas and small nations"), a monograph on political history that brought him into conflict with the central dogmas of the Yugoslav Communist elite with regard to the interconnectedness of the national and social elements in the Yugoslav revolutionary war (during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
).
In 1970, he became a member of the
Croatian Writers' Society. In 1972 he was sentenced to two years in prison for ''subversive activities'' during the
Croatian Spring. According to Tuđman's own testimony, the Yugoslav President
Josip Broz Tito personally intervened to recommend the court to be lenient in his case, sparing him a longer prison sentence. The authorities of
SR 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 ...
additionally intended to prosecute Tuđman on charges of espionage, which carried a sentence of 15–20 years in prison with hard labour, but the charge was commuted by Tito. Other sources mention that
Miroslav Krleža
Miroslav Krleža (; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (''Ba ...
, a writer, lobbied on Tuđman's behalf.
According to Tuđman, he and Tito were close friends. However, Tuđman later described Tito's crackdown as an "autocratic
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
".
The Croatian Spring was a national movement set in motion by Tito and the Croatian communist party chairman
Vladimir Bakarić
Vladimir Bakarić (; 8 March 1912 – 16 January 1983) was a Yugoslav and Croatian communist revolutionary and a politician.
Bakarić helped to organise the partisan resistance in the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. From 1948 ...
amid the climate of growing liberalism in the late 1960s. It was initially a tepid and ideologically controlled party liberalism, but it soon grew into a mass nationalist-based manifestation of dissatisfaction with the position of Croatia within
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. As a result, the movement was suppressed by Tito, who used the military and the police to put a stop to what he saw as separatism and a threat to the party's influence. Bakarić quickly distanced himself from the Croatian communist leadership that he himself had helped to gain power earlier and sided with the Yugoslav president. However, Tito took the protesters' demands into consideration and
in 1974 the new Yugoslav constitution granted the majority of the demands sought by the Croatian Spring. On other topics like Communism and one-party political monopoly Tuđman remained mostly within the framework of the communist ideology of the day. His sentence was eventually commuted by Tito's government and Tuđman was released after spending nine months in prison.
In 1977, he traveled to
Sweden using a forged Swedish passport to meet members of the
Croatian diaspora
The Croatian diaspora consists of communities of ethnic Croats and/or Croatian citizens living outside Croatia.
Estimates on its size are only approximate because of incomplete statistical records and naturalization, but (highest) estimates sugges ...
. His trip apparently went unnoticed by Yugoslav police. However, on that trip he gave an interview to Swedish TV about the position of Croats in Yugoslavia that was later broadcast. Upon returning to Yugoslavia, Tuđman was put on trial again in 1981 because of this interview, and was accused for having spread "enemy propaganda". On 20 February 1981 he was found guilty and sentenced to three years of prison and 5 years in house arrest. However, he served only eleven months of the sentence.
In June 1987, he became a member of the Croatian
PEN
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...
centre.
On 6 June 1987, he travelled to Canada with his wife to meet
Croatian Canadian
Croatian Canadians are Canadian citizens who are of Croatian descent. The community exists in major cities including the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Windsor, Montreal and Waterloo Region.
Po ...
s. They were trying not to discuss sensitive issues with emigrants abroad fearing that some might be agents of the Yugoslav secret police UDBA, which was a common practice at the time.
During his trips to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
he met many Croatian emigrants who were natives of
Herzegovina or were of Herzegovinian ancestry. Some of these later became Croatian government officials after the country's independence, the most prominent of whom was
Gojko Šušak, whose father and elder brother had been members of the Ustaše. These meetings abroad in the late 1980s later gave rise to many
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
. According to these rumours the Croats of Herzegovina had somehow used the meetings to earn a huge amount of influence inside the
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 Cro ...
, as well as the post-independence Croatian establishment.
Formation of the national programme
In the latter part of the 1980s, when
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
was nearing its demise, torn by conflicting national aspirations, Tuđman formulated a Croatian national programme that can be summarized in the following way:
* The primary goal is the establishment of the Croatian
nation-state; therefore all ideological disputes from the past should be thrown away. In practice, this meant strong support from the anti-Communist Croatian diaspora, especially financial.
* Even though Tuđman's final goal was an independent Croatia, he was well aware of the realities of internal and foreign policy. His chief initial proposal was not a fully independent Croatia, but a confederate Yugoslavia with growing decentralization and democratization.
* Tuđman envisaged Croatia's future as a welfare capitalist state that will inevitably move towards
central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
and away from the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
* With regard to the burning issues of national conflicts, his vision was the following (at least initially): he asserted that Serbian nationalism, controlled by the
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
(JNA), could wreak havoc on Croatian and Bosnian soil. The JNA, according to some estimates the fourth European military force re firepower, was being rapidly Serbianized, both ideologically and ethnically, in less than four years. Tuđman's proposal was that Serbs in Croatia, who made up 12% of Croatia's population, should gain cultural freedom with elements of territorial autonomy.
* As far as
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 H ...
was concerned, Tuđman was more ambivalent: Tuđman did not take a separate Bosnia seriously as shown by his comments to a television crew "Bosnia was a creation of the Ottoman invasion ... Until then it was part of Croatia, or it was a kingdom of Bosnia, but a Catholic kingdom, linked to Croatia".
On 17 June 1989, Tuđman founded the
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). Essentially, this was a nationalist Croatian movement that affirmed Croatian values based on
Catholicism
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 ...
blended with historical and cultural traditions which had been generally suppressed in communist Yugoslavia. The aim was to gain national independence and to establish a Croatian
nation-state.
1990 election campaign
Internal tensions that had broken up the Communist party of Yugoslavia prompted the governments of federal Republics to schedule free multiparty elections in spring 1990. These were the first free multi-party elections for the
Croatian Parliament
The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sab ...
since 1913. The HDZ held its first convention on 24–25 February 1990, when Tuđman was elected its president. The election campaign took place from late March until 20 April 1990. Tuđman recruited several supporters from members of the diaspora who returned home, most importantly
Gojko Šušak.
Tuđman based his campaign mostly on the national question. He stated that the dinar earned in Croatia should stay in Croatia, thus objecting to the subsidies for less developed parts of Yugoslavia, or for the Yugoslav army. He addressed the economic crisis, called for the renewal of a market economy and a parliamentary democracy, and expressed his support for the accession to the European Community. He maintained that Yugoslavia could survive only as a confederation. Although Tuđman had ties with the right-wing anti-Communist diaspora, he also had important colleagues from the Partisan Communist establishment, including
Josip Boljkovac and
Josip Manolić
Josip Manolić (; born 22 March 1920) is a Croatian former politician and communist revolutionary during World War II in Yugoslavia. He served as a high-ranking official of the Yugoslav State Security Administration (OZNA or UDBA) and later as ...
. His main opponent in the election was
Ivica Račan from the
League of Communists of Croatia (SKH), who became the SKH Chairman in December 1989.
Tuđman's talk of Croatia's past glories and independence was not received well among Croatian Serbs. The HDZ was heavily criticized by Serbian media, portraying their possible victory as a revival of
NDH.
Veljko Kadijević
Veljko Kadijević ( sr-Cyrl, Вељко Кадијевић; 21 November 1925 – 2 November 2014) was a Serbian general of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). He was the Minister of Defence in the Yugoslav government from 1988 until his resignatio ...
, general of the JNA, said at meeting of the army and SR Croatia leaderships that the elections will bring the Ustashe to power in Croatia. A few weeks before the elections, the army removed the weapons of the
Territorial Defence Territorial Defense or Territorial Defense Forces may refer to:
Active
* Territorial Troops Militia, a Cuban paramilitary militia under the command of the MINFAR
* Territorial Forces (Finland)
* Territorial Troops (Kazakhstan)
* Territorial Def ...
from stores all over Croatia. During a HDZ campaign rally in
Benkovac
Benkovac () is a town in the interior of Zadar County, Croatia.
Geography
Benkovac is located where the plain of Ravni Kotari and the karstic plateau of Bukovica meet, 20 km from the town of Biograd na Moru and 30 km from Zadar. Th ...
, an ethnically mixed town, a 62-year-old Serbian man, Boško Čubrilović, pulled out a gas pistol near the podium. Croatian media described the incident as an assassination attempt on Tuđman, but Čubrilović was in late 1990 charged and convicted only of threatening the security staff. The incident further worsened ethnic tensions.
During his campaign, on 16 April 1990 Tuđman had a conversation with news reporters where he said:
The part of the statement about his wife was later widely criticized, including by officials of the Wiesenthal Center.
Croatian historian Ante Nazor cited claims by Tuđman's son,
Miroslav and Stijepo Mijović Kočan about the statement being directed against the former Yugoslav communist system rather than against Jews or Serbs; instead about mixed marriages being used by Croats as a means to promotion in the system.
On 19 April, at a rally in Zadar, Tuđman said:
The elections were scheduled for all 356 seats in the parliament. Tuđman's party triumphed and got an absolute majority of around 60% or 205 seats in the Croatian Parliament. Tuđman was elected to the position of
President of Croatia
The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the ...
on . After the victory of HDZ the nationalistic
Serb Democratic Party (SDS) spread its influence quickly in places where Serbs formed a high percentage of the population. Since the split among communists in Yugoslavia along ethnic lines was already a fact at that time, it seemed inevitable that the conflicts would continue following the multi-party elections which brought to power new political establishments in Croatia,
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 ...
and
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 H ...
, while at the same time the same communist officials kept their posts in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
and
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
.
President of Croatia (1990–1999)
In the weeks following the election, the new government introduced the traditional
Croatian flag and
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
, without Communist symbols. The term "Socialist" in the title of the republic was removed.
Constitutional changes were proposed with a multitude of political, economic, and social changes. Tuđman offered the vice-presidency to
Jovan Rašković
Jovan Rašković ( sr-cyr, Јован Рашковић, ; 5 July 1929 – 28 July 1992) was a Croatian Serb psychiatrist, academic and politician.
Early life
Rašković was born in Knin in 1929. During World War II, after an Ustasha pogrom which ...
, president of the SDS, but Rašković declined the offer and called the elected deputies from his party to boycott the parliament. Local Serb police in Knin began operating as an independent force, often not responding to orders from Zagreb. Many government employees, mostly in police where commanding positions were mainly held by Serbs and Communists, lost their jobs. This was based on a decision that the civil service ethnic structure should correspond to their percentage in the entire population.
On 25 July 1990, a Serbian Assembly was established in
Srb, north of
Knin
Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...
. Jovan Rašković announced a referendum on "Serb sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia in August 1990, which Tuđman labeled as illegal. A series of incidents followed in areas populated by ethnic Serbs, mostly around Knin, known as the
Log Revolution
The Log Revolution ( sh, Balvan revolucija / ) was an insurrection which started on August 17, 1990, in areas of the Republic of Croatia which were populated significantly by ethnic Serbs.
A full year of tension, including minor skirmishes, pa ...
. The revolt in Knin concentrated the Croatian government on the problem of the lack of weapons. The effects of the JNA's confiscation of the Territorial Defence supplies was partly undone by the new Defence Minister,
Martin Špegelj
Martin Špegelj (11 November 1927 – 11 May 2014) was a Croatian army general and politician who served as the second defense minister of Croatia and, later, the chief of staff of the newborn Croatian army and inspector-general of the army. Hi ...
, who bought weapons from
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
. As it had no regular army, the government had focused on building up the police force. By January 1991 there were 18,500 policemen and by April 1991 around 39,000. On 22 December 1990, the Parliament of Croatia ratified the new constitution. The Serbs in Knin proclaimed the
Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina
The Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Srpska autonomna oblast Krajina, Српска аутономна област Крајина) or SAO Krajina () was a self-proclaimed Serbian autonomous region (oblast) wit ...
in municipalities of the regions of Northern Dalmatia and Lika.
In December 1990 Tuđman and Slovenian President
Milan Kučan
Milan Kučan (; born 14 January 1941) is a Slovene politician who served as the first President of Slovenia from 23 December 1991 until 22 December 2002. Before being president of Slovenia, he was the 13th President of the Presidency of SR Slov ...
presented their proposal on the restructuring of Yugoslavia on confederal grounds. Tuđman believed that a confederation of sovereign republics could accelerate the Croatian accession to the European Community. The leaders of the Yugoslav republics held many meetings in early 1991 to resolve the growing crisis. On 25 March 1991, Tuđman and
Slobodan Milošević met at Karađorđevo, a meeting which became controversial due to claims that the two presidents discussed the
partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina between
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
and Croatia. However, the claims came from persons that were not present at the meeting and there is no record of this meeting that proves an existence of such an agreement, while Milošević did not behave subsequently as if he had an agreement with Tuđman. On 12 July 1991, Tuđman met with Izetbegović and Milošević in Split.
War years
On 1 March the
Pakrac clash
The Pakrac clash, known in Croatia as the Battle of Pakrac ( hr, Bitka za Pakrac), was a bloodless skirmish that took place in the Croatian town of Pakrac in March 1991. The clash was a result of increasing ethnic tensions in Croatia during the ...
occurred when local Serb police seized the town's police station and declared Pakrac a part of SAO Krajina. It was one of the first larger clashes between Croat forces and the rebel SAO Krajina, supported by the JNA. It ended without casualties and with the restoration of Croatian control. On 31 March a Croatian police convoy was ambushed at the
Plitvice Lakes Plitvice or Plitvička jezera can refer to:
* Plitvice Lakes National Park, the largest and oldest national park in Croatia
* Plitvička Jezera, a municipality of Lika-Senj County, Croatia
See also
* Plitvica (disambiguation)
{{geodis ...
. Until the spring of 1991 Tuđman, together with the Slovenian leadership, was ready to accept a compromise solution of a confederation or alliance of sovereign states within Yugoslavia. After the Serbian leadership rejected their proposals and armed provocations became more frequent, Tuđman decided to realize the idea of a complete Croatian independence. On 25 April 1991, the Croatian Parliament decided to hold an
independence referendum
An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not alwa ...
on 19 May.
Croatian Serbs
The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", хрватски Срби, hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Cr ...
largely boycotted the referendum.
The turnout was 83.56%, of which 93.24% or 2,845,521 voted in favour of the
independence of Croatia
The independence of Croatia was a process started with the changes in the political system and the constitutional changes in 1990 that transformed the Socialist Republic of Croatia into the Republic of Croatia, which in turn proclaimed the Chri ...
. Both Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. The Yugoslav side accused the two of secession. The federal government ordered the JNA to take control of border crossings in Slovenia, which led to the
Ten-Day War
The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...
in which the JNA was routed. The
Ten-Day War
The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...
ended with the signing of the
Brioni Agreement
The Brioni Agreement, also known as the Brioni Declaration ( hr, Brijunska deklaracija, sr, Brionska deklaracija, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Брионска декларација, sl, Brionska deklaracija), is a document signed by representativ ...
, when a three-month moratorium was placed on the implementation of the decision.
The armed incidents of early 1991 escalated into an all-out war over the summer. Tuđman's first plan was to win support from the European Community, avoiding the direct confrontation with the JNA that had been proposed by Martin Špegelj, the Minister of Defence, since the beginning of the conflict. Tuđman rejected Špegelj's proposal as it would be damaging on Croatia's international position and there were doubts that the Croatian army was ready for such an action. The emerging Croatian Army had only four brigades in September 1991. As the war escalated, Tuđman formed the
National Unity Government
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...
which brought in members of most of the minor parties in the Parliament, including Račan's
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
(SDP).
Fierce fighting took place in
Vukovar
Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...
, where around 1,800 Croat fighters were blocking JNA's advance into Slavonia. Vukovar assumed enormous symbolic importance to both sides. Without it, Serbian territorial gains in eastern Slavonia were threatened. The unexpectedly fierce defence of the town against a much larger army inspired talk of a "Croatian
Stalingrad". Increasing losses and complaints from the Croatian public for failing to hit back compelled Tuđman to act. He ordered the
Croatian National Guard
The Croatian National Guard ( hr, Zbor narodne garde or ZNG) was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interio ...
to surround JNA army bases, thus starting the
Battle of the Barracks
The Battle of the Barracks ( hr, Bitka za vojarne) was a series of engagements that occurred in mid-to-late 1991 between the Croatian National Guard (ZNG, later renamed the Croatian Army) and the Croatian police on one side and the Yugoslav Pe ...
. Tuđman named Gojko Šušak the new Minister of Defence in September 1991.
In early October 1991, the JNA intensified its campaign in Croatia. On 5 October, Tuđman made a speech in which he called upon the whole population to mobilize and defend against "Greater Serbian imperialism" pursued by the Serb-led JNA, Serbian paramilitary formations, and rebel Serb forces. Two days later the
Yugoslav Air Force
The Air Force and Air Defence ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana ; abbr. sh-Cyrl-Latn, label=none, separator=/, РВ и ПВ ...
bombed Banski Dvori, the seat of the Croatian Government in Zagreb, at the time when Tuđman had a meeting with Mesić and Marković, none of whom were injured in the attack. On 8 October the Croatian Parliament cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia and declared independence. Tuđman asked the
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
leadership to open a second front there against the JNA and offered help in weapons. The leadership decided against armed conflict, but gave support to the independence of Croatia and called on ethnic Albanians to desert the Yugoslav army.
In November 1991 the
Battle of Vukovar ended that left the city devastated. The JNA and Serbian irregulars seized control of about a quarter of Croatia's territory by the end of 1991. In December 1991, the SAO Krajina proclaimed itself the
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...
(RSK). Until the end of 1991 sixteen ceasefires were signed, none of which lasted longer than a day.
On 19 December 1991,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
recognized Croatia's sovereignty. Many observers believe Tuđman's good relationship with
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...
, Germany's foreign minister at the time, had much to do with this decision. Hostilities in Croatia ended for a time in January 1992 when the
Vance plan
The Vance plan ( hr, Vanceov plan, sr, Vensov plan, italics=yes) was a peace plan negotiated by the former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. At that time, Vance was the ...
was signed. Tuđman hoped that the deployment of UN peacekeepers would consolidate Croatia's international borders, but the military situation in Croatia itself remained unsettled.
Bosnian War
As the war in Croatia reached a stalemate, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina worsened. The JNA used its territory for offensives against Croatia, but avoided the Croat majority part of Herzegovina. Tuđman doubted that Bosnia and Herzegovina could survive the dissolution of Yugoslavia, but supported its integrity if it remained outside a Yugoslav federation and Serbian influence. The first Croat casualties in the country fell in October 1991 when the village of
Ravno
Ravno is a village and municipality located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ravno was a separate municipality until 1963, when it became a part of the Trebinje muni ...
was attacked and destroyed by the JNA. Several days later Bosnian president
Alija Izetbegović
Alija Izetbegović (; ; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, lawyer, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first president of the Presidency of the newly independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovin ...
gave a televised proclamation of neutrality, stating that "''this is not our war''".
The Bosniak leadership initially showed willingness to remain in a rump Yugoslavia, but later changed their policy and opted for independence. The Croat leadership started organizing themselves in Croat-majority areas and on 18 November 1991 established the
Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia
The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia ( hr, Hrvatska Republika Herceg-Bosna) was an unrecognized geopolitical entity and quasi-state in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was proclaimed on 18 November 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bo ...
as an autonomous Croat territorial unit. At a meeting in December 1991 with the
HDZ BiH
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 ...
leadership Tuđman discussed the possibility of joining Herzeg-Bosnia to Croatia as he thought that Bosnian representatives were working to remain in Yugoslavia. There he criticized HDZ BiH president
Stjepan Kljujić for siding with Izetbegović. However, in February 1992 he encouraged Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina to support the upcoming
Bosnian independence referendum. Izetbegović declared the country's independence on 6 April that was immediately recognised by Croatia. At the beginning of the
Bosnian war a Croat-Bosniak alliance was formed, though it was often not harmonious. The Croatian government helped arm both Croat and Bosniak forces. On 21 July 1992, the
Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation was signed by Tuđman and Izetbegović, establishing a military cooperation between the two armies. In September 1992 they signed two more agreements on cooperation and further negotiations regarding the internal organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina, though Izetbegović rejected a military pact. In January 1993 Tuđman said that Bosnia and Herzegovina can survive only as a confederal union of three nations.
Over time, the relations between Croats and Bosniaks worsened, resulting in the
Croat–Bosniak War. The Bosniak side claimed that Tuđman wanted to partition Bosnia and Herzegovina, a view that was increasingly accepted by the international community. This made it difficult for Tuđman to protect Croatia's interests and support Herzeg-Bosnia. As the conflict escalated, Croatia's foreign policy reached a low point. Throughout 1993 several peace plans were proposed by the international community. Tuđman and the Herzeg-Bosnia leadership accepted all of them, including the Vance-Owen Plan in January 1993 and the Owen-Stoltenberg in July 1993. However, no lasting ceasefire was agreed. In early 1994 the United States became increasingly involved in resolving the wars. They were concerned with the way the Croat-Bosniak war helped the Serbs and put pressure on the two sides to sign a final truce. The war ended in March 1994 with the signing of the
Washington Agreement
The Washington Agreement ( Croatian: ''washingtonski sporazum'' and Bosnian: ''vašingtonski sporazum'') was a ceasefire agreement between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, signed in Washington ...
. In June 1994 Tuđman visited Sarajevo to open the Croatian embassy there. He met with Alija Izetbegović and discussed the creation of the
Croat-Muslim Federation and its possible confederation with Croatia.
Ceasefire in Croatia
Despite considerable difficulties, Croatian diplomacy managed to achieve recognition in the following months. Croatia was recognised by the European Community on 15 January 1992 and became a member of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
on 22 May. In April 1992, Washington recognised Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina simultaneously. Since the new
Clinton administration came to power it had lobbied consistently for a hard line against Milošević, a political position often largely attributed to the policies of then-Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...
. In May 1992 Croatia established diplomatic relations with China. A year later Tuđman was the first president from the former Yugoslavia to visit China.
The war caused great destruction and indirect damage in tourism, transit traffic, investment, etc. President Tuđman estimated the cost of direct material damage at over $20 billion and that Croatia was spending $3 million daily on care for hundreds of thousands of refugees. When the ceasefire of January 1992 came into effect Croatia slowly recovered. As economic activity picked up steadily and negotiations with the leaders of RSK got nowhere, the Defence Minister, Gojko Šušak, started amassing weapons in preparation for a military solution.
Tuđman won the
presidential elections in August 1992 in the first round with 57.8% of the vote. Simultaneously, the
parliamentary elections were held that were also won by HDZ. During the campaign,
Dobroslav Paraga
Dobroslav Paraga (born 9 December 1960) is a Croatian right-wing politician. He was first president of the Croatian Party of Rights, after the party was reestablished in 1991. In 1993 he founded the Croatian Party of Rights 1861 following a po ...
, the extreme right-wing leader of the
Croatian Party of Rights, accused Tuđman of betraying Croatian interests by not engaging in an all-out war with Serbian forces. Tuđman tried to marginalize his party due to their use of Ustaše symbols, that brought criticism in the foreign press towards Croatia. Paraga won only 5 seats in the parliament and 5,4% of the vote in the presidential election.
In January 1993 the Croatian Army launched
Operation Maslenica
Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar, Masl ...
and recaptured the vital Maslenica bridge linking Dalmatia with northern Croatia. Although the UN Security Council condemned the operation, there were no incurring sanctions. This victory enabled Tuđman to counter domestic accusations that he was weak in his dealings with RSK and the UN.
Despite clashes with the RSK forces, during 1993 and 1994 the overall condition of the economy improved substantially and unemployment was gradually falling. On 4 April 1993 Tuđman appointed
Nikica Valentić
Nikica Valentić (; born 24 November 1950) is a Croatian entrepreneur, lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 1993 to 1995. He is to date the youngest person to have served in that capacity, being 42 years old when taki ...
as prime minister. The anti-inflationary stabilization steps in 1993 successfully lowered inflation. The
Croatian dinar
The dinar was the currency of Croatia between 23 December 1991 and 30 May 1994. The ISO 4217 code was .
History
The Croatian dinar replaced the 1990 version of the Yugoslav dinar at par. It was a transitional currency introduced following Croa ...
, that was introduced as a transitional currency, was replaced with the
kuna
Kuna may refer to:
Places
* Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States
** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho
* Kuna Peak, a mountain in California
* , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia
* , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...
in 1994. GDP growth reached 5.9% in 1994.
[National Accounts Main Aggregates Database]
/ref>
End of the war
In May 1995, the Croatian army launched Operation Flash
Operation Flash ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Operacija Bljesak, Операција Бљесак) was a brief Croatian Army (HV) offensive conducted against the forces of the self-declared proto-state Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) from 1&nda ...
, its third operation against RSK since the January 1992 ceasefire, and quickly recaptured western Slavonia. International diplomats drafted the Z-4 Plan, proposing the reintegration of the RSK into Croatia. RSK would keep its flag and have its own president, parliament, police and a separate currency. Although Tuđman was displeased with the proposal, RSK authorities rejected it outright.
On 22 July 1995, Tuđman and Izetbegović signed the Split Agreement, binding both sides to a "joint defence against Serb aggression". Tuđman soon put his words into action and initiated Operation Summer '95
Operation Summer '95 ( hr, Operacija Ljeto '95) was a joint military offensive of the Croatian Army (HV) and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) that took place north-west of the Livanjsko Polje, and around Bosansko Grahovo and Glamoč in wes ...
, carried out by joint forces of HV and HVO. These forces overran the towns of Glamoč
Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the foothills of Stareti ...
and Bosansko Grahovo
Bosansko Grahovo ( sr-cyr, Босанско Грахово) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in western Bosnia and Herzegovina along ...
in western Bosnia, virtually isolating Knin from Republika Srpska and FR Yugoslavia.
At 5:00 a.m. on Friday, 4 August 1995, Tuđman publicly authorized the attack on RSK, codenamed Operation Storm
}) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state Re ...
. He called on the Serb army and their leadership in Knin to surrender, and at the same time called Serb civilians to remain in their homes, guaranteeing them their rights. The decision to head straight for Knin, the centre of RSK, paid off and by 10am on 5 August, on the second day of the operation, Croatian forces entered the city with minimal casualties. By the morning of 8 August the operation was effectively over, resulting in the restoration of Croatian control of 10,400 square kilometres (4,000 square miles) of territory. Around 150,000–200,000 Serbs fled and a variety of crimes were committed against the remaining civilians. United States President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
said he was "hopeful that Croatia's offensive will turn out to be something that will give us an avenue to a quick diplomatic solution."
A joint offensive of Croatian and Bosniak forces followed in western and northern Bosnia. Bosnian Serb forces quickly lost territory and were forced to negotiate. Talks regarding a peace treaty were held in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...
. Tuđman insisted on solving the question of RSK-held eastern Slavonia and its peaceful return to Croatia at the Dayton peace talks. On 1 November he had a heated debate with Milošević, who denied control over the region's leadership. Tuđman was ready to hinder the Dayton agreement and continue the war if Slavonia was not peacefully reintegrated. The military situation gave him an upper hand and Milošević agreed on his request. The Dayton Agreement
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски миро ...
was drafted in November 1995. Tuđman was one of the signatories of it, along with the leaderships of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, that ended the Bosnian War. On 12 November the Erdut Agreement
The Erdut Agreement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Erdutski sporazum, Ердутски споразум), officially the Basic Agreement on the Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium, was an agreement reached on 12 November 1 ...
was signed with local Serb authorities regarding the return of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia may refer to:
* SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1991–1992)
* Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1995–98)
See also
* United Nations Transitional Administration for Easte ...
to Croatia, with a two-year transitional period. This ended the war in Croatia. Official figures on wartime damage published in Croatia in 1996 specify 180,000 destroyed housing units, 25% of the Croatian economy destroyed, and US$27 billion of material damage. Regarding the exodus of some 150,000 Krajina Serbs from Croatia, Tudjman remarked that the refugees left so fast that they "didn't even have time to collect their dirty currency and their dirty underwear". He later boasted to his generals: "We have resolved the Serbian question... ere will never be 12 percent of Serbs" in Croatia. "If there are three or five per cent of them, that isn’t a threat to the Croatian state".
Post-war policy
In 1995 parliamentary elections were held that resulted in a victory of HDZ with 75 out of 127 seats in the parliament. Tuđman named Zlatko Mateša
Zlatko Mateša (; born 17 June 1949) is a Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 1995 to 2000. A member of the Croatian Democratic Union, Mateša is currently the president of the Croatian Olympic Committee and honorary ...
the 6th prime minister, who formed the first peacetime government of independent Croatia. The elections were held in conjunction with local elections in Zagreb, which were won by the opposition parties. Tuđman refused to provide a formal confirmation to the proposed Mayor of Zagreb, which led to the Zagreb crisis. In 1996 a large demonstration was held in Zagreb in response to revoking broadcasting license to Radio 101 Radio 101 may refer to:
* Radio 101 (Croatia)
* Radio 101 (Latvia)
* Radio 101 (Malta)
NET FM is a Maltese radio station owned by Media.link Communications, the media arm of the Nationalist Party.
External links
*
References
Radio s ...
, a radio station that was critical towards the ruling party.
Treatment of the media brought criticism from some international organizations. Notably, the ''Feral Tribune
''Feral Tribune'' was a Croatian political weekly magazine. Based in Split, it first started as a political satire supplement in '' Nedjeljna Dalmacija'' (the Sunday edition of the ''Slobodna Dalmacija'' daily newspaper) before evolving into an in ...
'', a weekly Croatian political and satirical newspaper magazine, was subjected to several lawsuits and criminal charges from government officials as well as being forced to pay a tax usually reserved for pornographic magazines.
Some opposition parties in Croatia advocated the view that, far from Europeanising Croatia, Tuđman was responsible for its "Balkanisation" and that during his presidency, he acted like a despot. Other parties, for instance the Croatian Party of Rights, argued that Tuđman was not radical enough in his defence of the Croatian state.
Croatia became a member of the Council of Europe on 6 November 1996. On 15 June 1997 Tuđman won the presidential elections
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pr ...
with 61.4% of the votes, ahead of Zdravko Tomac and Vlado Gotovac
Vladimir "Vlado" Gotovac (18 September 1930 – 7 December 2000) was a Croatian poet and politician.
Early activism
In the late 1960s, Gotovac joined the Croatian movement demanding political and economic reform, which eventually led to the Cro ...
, and was re-elected to a second five-year term. Marina Matulović-Dropulić
Marina Matulović-Dropulić (born 21 June 1942) is a Croatian politician who served as Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and Housing in the cabinet of prime Minister Zlatko Mateša from 1995 until 1996, and as Minister of Construction, ...
became the Mayor of Zagreb having won the 1997 local elections, which formally ended the Zagreb crisis.
In January 1998 Eastern Slavonia was officially reintegrated into Croatia. In February 1998 Tuđman was re-elected as President of HDZ. The beginning of the year was marked by a large syndical protest in Zagreb, due to which the government adopted legislation regulating public gatherings and demonstrations in April. After the war, Tuđman controversially suggested that the remains of those killed during the Yugoslav death march of Nazi collaborators
The Bleiburg repatriations ( see terminology) occurred in May 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe, during which Yugoslavia had been occupied by the Axis powers, when tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians associated with the Axis ...
be brought and laid to rest at Jasenovac, an idea he later abandoned. This idea included burying Ustaša troops, anti-fascist Partisans and all civilians together and was inspired by General Francisco Franco's Valle de los Caídos
The Valley of the Fallen (Spanish: Valle de los Caídos; ) is a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid. Dictator Fra ...
. In 1998 Tuđman claimed that his program of national reconciliation had prevented a civil war in Croatia during the collapse of Yugoslavia.
Economy
As a result of the macro-stabilization programs, the negative growth of GDP during the early 1990s stopped and turned into a positive trend. Post-war reconstruction activity provided another impetus to growth. Consumer spending and private sector investments, both of which were postponed during the war, contributed to improved economic conditions and growth in 1995–97.[ Real GDP growth in 1995 was 6.8%, in 1996 5.9% and in 1997 6.6%.][
In 1995 a Ministry of Privatization was established with Ivan Penić as its first minister. Privatization in Croatia had barely begun when war broke out in 1991. Infrastructure sustained massive damage from the war, especially the revenue-rich tourism industry, and its transformation from a market socialist economy to a ]free-market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers are ...
was thus slow and unsteady. Public mistrust rose when many state-owned companies were sold to politically well-connected at below-market prices.[International Business Publications]
Croatia Investment and Trade Laws and Regulations Handbook
p. 22 The ruling party was criticised for transferring enterprises to a group of privileged owners connected to the party.
The method of privatization contributed to the increase of state ownership because the unsold shares were transferred to state funds. In 1999 the private sector share in GDP reached 60%, which was significantly lower than in other former socialist countries. The privatization of large government-owned companies was practically halted during the war and in the years immediately following the conclusion of peace. At the end of Tuđman's rule, roughly 70% of Croatia's major companies were still state-owned, including water, electricity, oil, transportation, telecommunications, and tourism.
Value-added tax was introduced in 1998 and the central government budget was in surplus that year. The consumer boom was disrupted when the economy went into recession at the end of 1998, as a result of the bank crisis when 14 banks went bankrupt,[ and GDP growth slowed down to 1.9%. The recession continued throughout 1999 when GDP fell by 0.9%.][ Unemployment increased from around 10% in 1996 and 1997 to 11.4% in 1998. By the end of 1999 it reached 13.6%. The country emerged from the recession in the 4th quarter of 1999.][Istvan Bencze]
Deficit and Debt in Transition: The Political Economy of Public Finances in Central and Eastern Europe
Central European University Press, 2014, p. 207 After several years of successful macroeconomic stabilization policies, low inflation and a stable currency, economists warned that the lack of fiscal changes and the expanding role of the state in economy caused the decline in the late 1990s and were preventing a sustainable economic growth.[Gale Research]
Countries of the World and Their Leaders: Yearbook 2001
p. 456
Foreign policy
Mate Granić was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 until the end of the Tuđman administration. In 1996 he signed an agreement on normalization of relations with FR Yugoslavia. On 9 September 1996 Croatia established diplomatic relations with FR Yugoslavia.
The US was the main mediator in reaching a peace treaty in the region and continued to have most influence after 1995. The Croatian offensives in 1995 did not receive unambiguous supports from the US, but they supported Croatian demands for territorial integrity. However, the Croatian-American relations after the war did not develop as Tuđman expected. Serb minority rights and cooperation with the ICTY were asserted as the main issues and they led to a deterioration of relations at the end of 1996 and during 1997. Tuđman tried to counter the pressure with closer relations with Russia and China. In November 1996 he received the Medal of Zhukov
The Medal of Zhukov (russian: медаль Жукова) is a state award of the Russian Federation initially awarded to veterans of the Great Patriotic War but now awarded to serving members of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It is ...
, awarded for contribution to the antifascist struggle, from Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
.
A confederation between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, adopted under the Washington Agreement, was not accomplished, while the Croat-Bosniak Federation acted only on paper. In August 1996 Tuđman and Izetbegović agreed to fully implement the Dayton agreement. Herzeg-Bosnia was to be formally abolished by the end of the month.
In 1999 the NATO intervention in Kosovo began. Tuđman expressed his concerns regarding the potential damage to Croatian economy and tourism, which was estimated at $1 billion. Still, the government expressed their support to NATO and granted permission to NATO planes to use Croatia's airspace. In May, Tuđman said that a possible solution is to deploy UN peacekeepers in Kosovo that would enable the return of Albanian refugees, while Yugoslav forces would retreat to Serb-majority northern Kosovo.
Relation to the Catholic Church
Živko Kustić, a Croatian Eastern Catholic
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
priest and journalist for '' Jutarnji list'', wrote that Tuđman's perception of the church's role in Croatia was contradictory to the goals of Pope John Paul II. Moreover, Kustić expressed doubt that Tuđman had ever been truly religious except when he was very young. Tuđman considered the Catholic religion to be important for the modern Croatian nation. When taking the oath in 1992 he added sentence "Tako mi Bog pomogao!" ( en, So help me God) which was not then part of the official text. In 1997, he officially included the sentence in the oath. Tuđman's era was the era of the Catholic revival in Croatia. Church attendance rose; even former communists massively participated in church sacraments. The state was funding the building and renewal of churches and monasteries. Between 1996 and 1998 Croatia signed various treaties with the Holy See, by which the Catholic Church in Croatia was granted some financial rights, among others.
Health problems and death
Tuđman was diagnosed with cancer in 1993. His general health had deteriorated by the late 1990s. On 1 November 1999 he appeared in public for the last time. While being hospitalized opposition parties accused the ruling 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 Cro ...
of hiding the fact that Tuđman was already dead and that the authorities were keeping his death secret in order to win more seats in the upcoming January 2000 general election. Tuđman's death was officially declared on 10 December 1999.[Death of Tudjman]
, cnn.com; 13 December 1999; accessed 16 May 2015. He had a funeral Mass in Zagreb's Cathedral and was buried in Mirogoj Cemetery
The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, hr, Gradsko groblje Mirogoj), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery ( hr, Groblje Mirogoj), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members o ...
.
Vrhovnik
Tuđman was conferred by the Croatian Parliament the military rank of Supreme commander of Croatia, or 'Vrhovnik' on 22 March 1995. It was the highest honorific title in the Croatian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Oružane snage Republike Hrvatske – OSRH) is the military service of Croatia.
The President is the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, and exercises administrative powers in times of war by giv ...
and equivalent to Marshal. Tuđman was the only person to ever hold this rank. He held it until his death. The uniform for this position allegedly was modeled on the uniform of Josip Broz Tito as Tuđman was a dedicated Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
of the Yugoslav People's Army. The title was eventually abolished in 2002.
ICTY
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
in 1993. Although the Croatian government passed a law on cooperation with the ICTY, since 1997 relations between ICTY and Croatia worsened. Tuđman criticized the work of ICTY in 1999, while ICTY's chief prosecutor Louise Arbour
Louise Bernice Arbour (born February 10, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer, prosecutor and jurist.
Arbour was the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a former ...
expressed her dissatisfaction with Croatia's cooperation with the Tribunal.
During Tuđman's life, neither Richard Goldstone
Richard Joseph Goldstone (born 26 October 1938) is a South African former judge. After working for 17 years as a commercial lawyer, he was appointed by the South African government to serve on the Transvaal Supreme Court from 1980 to 1989 and ...
nor Arbour, ICTY's first chief prosecutors, reportedly considered indicting him. In 2002 the new ICTY prosecutor, Carla del Ponte
Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947) is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former ...
, said in an interview that she would have indicted Tuđman had he not died in 1999. Graham Blewitt, a senior Tribunal prosecutor, told the AFP wire service that "There would have been sufficient evidence to indict president Tuđman had he still been alive".
In 2000, British Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
television broadcast a report about the tape recordings of Franjo Tuđman in which he allegedly spoke about the partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Serbs after the Dayton Agreement. They claimed that the then Croatian President Stjepan Mesić
Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatian lawyer and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was prime minister of SR Croatia (1990) after the fir ...
gave them access to 17,000 transcripts. Mesić, who succeeded Tuđman as president of Croatia, and his Office denied giving any transcripts to British journalists and called the report a "sensationalistic story that has nothing to do with the truth".
At the trial of Gotovina, in a first-degree verdict, the Trial Chamber found Tuđman to have been a key participant in a joint criminal enterprise
Joint criminal enterprise (JCE) is a legal doctrine used during war crimes tribunals to allow the prosecution of members of a group for the actions of the group. This doctrine considers each member of an organized group individually responsib ...
, the purpose of which was to permanently remove the Serb civilian population from the territory of Republic of Serbian Krajina and repopulate it with Croats. In November 2012, an ICTY appeal court overturned the convictions of Mladen Markač
Mladen Markač (; born 8 May 1955) is a Croatian retired general. He was a Commander of Croatian Special Police during Operation Storm during the Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995), and afterwards held the rank of Colonel General. Later, ...
and Ante Gotovina
Ante Gotovina (born 12 October 1955) is a Croatian retired lieutenant general and former French senior corporal who served in the Croatian War for Independence. He is noted for his primary role in the 1995 Operation Storm. In 2001, the Internat ...
, acquitted the two former generals and concluded that there was no planned deportation of the Serbian minority and no joint criminal enterprise by the Croatian leadership.
In May 2013, the ICTY, in a first-instance verdict in the trial of Prlić et al., found that Tuđman, Bobetko and Šušak took part in the joint criminal enterprise
Joint criminal enterprise (JCE) is a legal doctrine used during war crimes tribunals to allow the prosecution of members of a group for the actions of the group. This doctrine considers each member of an organized group individually responsib ...
against the non-Croat population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It ruled, by a majority, that the purpose of it was to de facto join Herzeg-Bosnia to Croatia. Judge Jean-Claude Antoanetti, the presiding judge in the trial, issued a separate opinion in which he contested the notion of a joint criminal enterprise and said that Tuđman's plans regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina were not in contradiction with the stance of the international community.
On 19 July 2016 the Appeals Chamber in the case announced that the "Trial Chamber made no explicit findings concerning udjman's, Šušak's and Bobetko'sparticipation in the JCE and did not find hem
A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the g ...
guilty of any crimes."
On 29 November 2017, the Appeals Chamber in the case affirmed that none of the crimes were attributed to Tuđman, but upheld the convictions of six Herzeg-Bosnia and HVO leaders and concluded that Tuđman shared their joint criminal purpose of "setting up a Croatian entity that reconstituted earlier borders and that facilitated the reunification of the Croatian people", which was implemented through the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims.
Tuđman as historian
Tuđman did not have a formal academic education as historian. He approached history as a Marxist scholar and Croatian attorney. He always regarded history as a means of forming society. His voluminous, more than 2,000 pages long, ''Hrvatska u monarhističkoj Jugoslaviji'' ( en, Croatia in Monarchist Yugoslavia), has come to be assigned as reading material concerning this period of Croatian history at some Croatian universities. His shorter treatises on national question, ''Nacionalno pitanje u suvremenoj Europi'' ( en, The National question in contemporary Europe) and ''Usudbene povijestice'' ( en, History's fates) are still well-regarded essays on unresolved national and ethnic disputes, self-determination and creation of nation-states in the European milieu.
''Horrors of War''
In 1989 Tuđman published ''Bespuća povijesne zbiljnosti'' (Literal English translation:''Wastelands of historical reality'') which was published in English in 1996 as ''Horrors of War: Historical Reality and Philosophy''. The book questioned the different claimed numbers of victims killed during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in Yugoslavia, particularly regarding the Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac () was a concentration and extermination camp established in the village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The concentration camp, one of the ...
, something Tuđman had previously done in an earlier work published in 1982. The Yugoslav government’s estimates put the number of Jasenovac victims between 600,000–700,000 while some Serbian historians even suggested up to one million victims; both sets of numbers which were exaggerated. Tuđman felt that Jasenovac was being used to impose a collective guilt on Croats and to prove "the genocidal nature" of Croatian nationalism.
The last serious research of victim numbers before the Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
was conducted by Croatian economist Vladimir Žerjavić and Serbian researcher Bogoljub Kočović
Bogoljub Kočović (1920 – February 2013) was a Serbian jurist and statistician. He undertook the first objective examination of the number of people killed during World War Two in Yugoslavia and published his findings in the 1985 book ''Žrtv ...
. Both Žerjavić and Kočović arrived at a figure of 83,000 deaths in Jasenovac, each using different statistical methods. 59,589 victims (of all nationalities) were identified by name in a Yugoslav name list that was made in 1964. In his book Tuđman had estimated, relying on some earlier investigations, that the total number of victims in the Jasenovac camp (Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, Croats, and others) was somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000. He listed the victims as "Gypsies, Jews and Serbs, and even Croatians", reversing the conventional order of deaths to imply that more Gypsies and Jews were killed than Serbs. Tuđman emphasized that the camp was organised as a "work camp". He estimated that a total of 50,000 were killed in all Ustashe camps throughout the NDH. While he rightfully challenged the inflated numbers, he wound up downplaying Ustaše crimes by providing figures that were too low.
In ''Horrors of War'', Tuđman asserted that 900,000 Jews perished in the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
instead of six million. Aside from the war statistics issue, Tuđman's book contained views on the Jewish role in history that many readers found simplistic and profoundly biased. Some have described it as anti-semitic. Tuđman based his views on the Jewish condition on the memoirs of a Croatian former Communist Ante Ciliga
Ante Ciliga (20 February 1898 – 21 October 1992) was a Croatian politician, writer and publisher. Ciliga was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ). Imprisoned in Stalin's Gulags in the 1930s, he later became an ardent ...
, who described his experiences at Jasenovac during a year and a half of his incarceration. These are recorded in his book, ''Sam kroz Europu u ratu (1939–1945)'', paint an unfavorable picture of his Jewish inmates' behavior, emphasizing their alleged clannishness and ethnocentrism. Ciliga claimed Jews had held a privileged position in Jasenovac and actually, as Tuđman concludes, "held in their hands the inmates management of the camp up to 1944 ecausein its origins Pavelić's party was philo-Semitic". Tuđman added that most prisoners at Jasenovac perished at the hands of Jews, who controlled the liquidation process, and not the Ustaše. Ciliga theorized that the behavior of the Jews had been determined by the more-than-2000-year-old tradition of extreme ethnic egoism and unscrupulousness that he claims is expressed in the Old Testament.
Tuđman summarized, among other things, that "The Jews provoke envy and hatred but actually they are 'the unhappiest nation in the world', always victims of 'their own and others' ambitions', and whoever tries to show that they are themselves their own source of tragedy is ranked among the anti-Semites and the object of hatred by the Jews". In another part of the book, he expressed the belief that these traits weren't unique to the Jews; while criticizing what he alleges to be aggression and atrocities in the Middle East on the part of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, he claimed that they arose "from historical unreasonableness and narrowness in which Jewry certainly is no exception".
In 1994, Tuđman apologized for the remarks made about Jews, stating that in the years since the publication of the book his views on world Jewry had changed. The problematic passages were subsequently edited out in the English version published in 1996, but kept in the Croatian, French and German versions.
On 22 April 1998, Tuđman received the credentials of the first Israeli ambassador to Croatia, Natan Meron. In his speech Tuđman said, among other things:
Legacy
Tuđman is credited by his supporters with creating the basis for an independent Croatia, and helping the country move away from communism. He is sometimes given the title "father of the country" for his role in achieving the country's independence. His legacy is still strong in many parts of Croatia as well as in parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatian majorities; there are schools, squares and streets in some cities named after him, and statues have been erected. In December 2006, a large square near Ilica Street in the Črnomerec section of Zagreb was named after him. In June 2015 Siniša Hajdaš Dončić
Siniša Hajdaš Dončić (born 29 June 1974) is a Croatian politician and member of the center-left Social Democratic Party. From 17 June 2009 until 19 April 2012 he served as Prefect of the Krapina-Zagorje County, and from 19 April 2012 to 22 Ja ...
, Minister of Maritime Affairs Transport and Infrastructure, said that the reconstructed and upgraded Zagreb International Airport
Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport ( hr, Zračna luka Franjo Tuđman Zagreb) or Zagreb Airport ( hr, Zračna luka Zagreb) () is an international airport serving Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest and busiest airport in Croatia. In 2019 it handled 3. ...
will be named after Tuđman.
His tenure as president was criticized as authoritarian by some observers. Goldstein views Tudjman's post-war policies negatively, remarking that "between healthy nationalism and chauvinism, he chose chauvinism; between free-market economy and clientelism, he chose the latter. Instead of the cult of freedom, he chose the cult of the state. Between modernity and openness to the world, he chose traditionalism; a fatal choice for a small state like Croatia that needs to open for the sake of development".
Public opinion
Tuđman's approval ratings remained largely positive throughout his presidency and were generally evaluated higher than the rest of the government. They increased significantly following the admission of Croatia to membership in the United Nations in May 1992, the successful military operations in January 1993 and August 1995, and the peaceful reintegration of eastern Slavonia in January 1998. Polls showed a drop in support in the second half of 1993, throughout 1994 and in 1996. From early 1998 his approval gradually declined, before increasing slightly in November 1999.
In a December 2002 poll by HRT, 69% voters expressed a positive opinion about Tuđman.
In a June 2011 poll by Večernji list
''Večernji list'' (also known as ''Večernjak''; ) is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Zagreb.
History and profile
''Večernji list'' was started in Zagreb in 1959. Its ancestor ''Večernji vjesnik'' ("Evening Courier") appeared for the ...
, 62% voters gave the most credit to Tuđman for the creation of independent Croatia. In December 2014, an Ipsos Puls survey on 600 people showed that 56% see him as a positive figure, 27% said he had both positive and negative aspects, while 14% regard him as a negative figure.
In a survey by promocija Plus in July 2015, regarding the renaming of Zagreb Airport after Tuđman, a majority of 65.5% showed support for the initiative, 25.8% were opposed to the idea, while 8.6% had no opinion about it.
Immediate family
* Widow: Ankica Tuđman (1926–2022)
* Sons: Miroslav Tuđman
Miroslav Tuđman (; 25 May 1946 – 31 January 2021) was a Croatian scientist and politician, the son and eldest child of the first President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, and his wife Ankica.
Biography
Tuđman was born in Belgrade, where he co ...
(1946–2021) and Stjepan Tuđman
* Daughter: Nevenka Tuđman (born in 1951)
Honours and decorations
Croatian
Awarded by the Croatian Parliament
The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sab ...
in 1995:
Military rank
International
Notes
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References
External links
Website in a tribute of Franjo Tuđman
Britannica entry on Franjo Tuđman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tudman, Franjo
1922 births
1999 deaths
People from Veliko Trgovišće
Presidents of Croatia
Croatian Democratic Union politicians
Croatian communists
Croatian Marxists
Croatian nationalists
Croatian independence activists
Yugoslav Partisans members
Candidates in the 1992 Croatian presidential election
League of Communists of Croatia politicians
Politicians of the Croatian War of Independence
Politicians of the Bosnian War
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Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army
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Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery
Deaths from cancer in Croatia
University of Zadar alumni
Collars of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin
Order of Ante Starčević recipients
Recipients of the Military Order of Italy
Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov
20th-century Croatian politicians
20th-century Croatian historians