SUMMARY
The Republic of Croatia was one of the six republics within the Federation of Yugoslavia (FRY). As a consequence of increased ethnic tension and nationalism, the federation started to dissolve in the early 1990s. The Republic of Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991 and thus ignited the conflict against the two Serbian regions; the Serbian Republic of Serbian autonomous Oblast of (SAO) Krajina and the Serbian autonomous region of (SAO) Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Symria. What preceded the declaration was an increasing Croat nationalism where the rhetoric of the nationalist organisations was based on the perception of Croatia belonging to Western Europe rather than being associated to the rest of the FRY. A pertinent feature of the debate regarding the identity of Croatia was the Roman Catholicism, in contrast to Orthodox Serbia, which became one of the most salient arguments when debating the identity. Along with the religious affiliation, additional national symbols became more visible, one of them being the chequered flag.
Elections were accepted in early 1989 and Croatia held its first national election in 1990. It stirred up nationalist feelings among Croats as well as Serbs. During the campaign, HDZ (Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, Croatian Democratic Union) claimed a Croatia with its “natural borders” which includes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Vojvodina (situated in north of Serbia) and parts of Montenegro. The election was proven favourable for HDZ as the voters bestowed the party with a majority of the seats in the Hrvatska Sabor, the Croatian parliament. On 22 December the same year, a new constitution was adopted by the Sabor. The amendments agreed upon discarding the word ”socialist”, adopting Croat nationalist symbols, reject the Cyrillic alphabet and install a new currency (kuna). In addition, it became mandatory for Serbs to take a loyalty oath.
The most prominent HDZ figure, Franjo Tudjman, became the dominating political figure in the Republic of Croatia. Earlier, Tudjman had been incarcerated due to the publication of controversial information regarding the number of dead Serbs during World War II. The number presented by Tudjman was significantly lower than the official information published by Belgrade. In his quest for a renewed Croat nationalism, Tudjman was “aided” by the outspoken Serbian nationalist Dobrica Cosic; a Serbian politician and intellectual figure of prominence. Cosic fuelled Croatian acrimony as he claimed the Croat regions of Istria, Zadar and the Adriatic islands belonged to Serbia. Albeit vexed by the demands, Tudjman exhorted the Croat population to take up arms and prepare for mobilisation through a television speech and all eligible military trained men would enrol for the army.
The Republic of Croatia attempted to disarm the Serbian paramilitary forces and on 3 May 1991, Tudjman warned the population for the possibility of war. As the fight broke out, the Croat forces found themselves poorly equipped and thus initially technically inferior to the Serbian forces. However, as the fighting continued, Croatian forces were geared up due to new armament including stinger missiles, anti-tank and anti-aircraft arms. Croatian forces were composed mainly of the regular army of Croatia, the HV (Hrvatska Vojska, Croatian Armed Forces), and police forces.
On 29 June 1991, Croatia agreed on suspending the demand for independence after the Federal authorities pledged to withdraw its troops to their barracks and allow Croat representatives returning to the rotating presidency system in Yugoslavia. Croatia was recognized as an independent state on 27 April 1992, when Yugoslavia adopted a new constitution and thereby effectively acknowledged the secession of the former Yugoslavian republics.
Republic of Croatia has been involved in the intrastate and non-state categories of UCDP organised violence. As an independent state, Croatia has been involved in the intrastate and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
