Controversial people in Croatia

CONTROVERSIAL PEOPLE

Franjo Tuđman and

Slobodan Milošević

Josip Broz Tito

In May 1990. Josip Broz Tito died after 35 years of ruling the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

For decades he was regarded as the supreme authority and a model citizen and he was treated almost as a god.

Given the fact that the Yugoslav Communists deemed Tito to be irreplaceable, Yugoslavia was taken over by an eight member presidency: one member from each Yugoslavian republic and autonomous province.

Slobodan Milošević

After Josip Broz Tito’s death, Slobodan Milošević became the new political leader at the Serbian communists, and thus Serbia.

He sought a reform of the Yugoslav federation in such a way that the Republics would lose the right of independent decision making.

. He advocated the principle of "One man - one vote" so that Serbia, as the most populous republic, would gain more power within the Yugoslav federation.

Slobodan Milošević By using propaganda and by using

Serbian nationalism, Milošević successfully instigated mass meetings, clearly marked with Serbian national iconography.

At the meetings which are often held throughout Serbia, people were protesting against the alleged threat to the Serbs in Kosovo and elsewhere in Yugoslavia, and offered unreserved support for Milošević who was portrayed as the savior of the Serbian people.

These kinds of politics provoked opposition from Slovenian and Croatian communists towards Serbia.

Later, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia joined the opposition.

The members of the presidency of Serbia, both of the autonomous provinces and Montenegro were supporting Milošević, while the remaining four republics opposed Milošević.

Franjo Tuđman

In 1989 , in Croatia, other political parties are formed. One of them was the Croatian Democratic Union led by Franjo Tuđman.

During the communist regime, Franjo Tuđman expressed his dissatisfaction about the position of Croatia in the Yugoslav federation, and on the charge of "Croatian nationalism" spent several years in jail.

He participated in events during the Croatian spring.

Franjo Tuđman On the first multiparty elections held in 1990,

the Croatian Democratic Union won. On the 30th May the Croatian parliament was

held for the first time (after many years). On that session, Franjo Tuđman was elected as

the president of Croatia. The parliament changed the name of the

country - From Socialist Republic of Croatia to Republic of Croatia, which marked the end of socialism in Croatia.

The flag also changed, from having the five-pointed star to having the traditional Croatian coat of arms checkerboard.

The new constitution defined Croatia as "the national state of the Croatian nation and the state of the members of autochthonous national minorities: Serbs, Muslims, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Italians, Hungarians, Jews and the others who are citizens, and who are guaranteed equality with citizens of Croatian nationality ..."

The other republics also held multiparty elections in 1990. The Communists lost power in all republics except Serbia and Montenegro.

The Slovenian president Milan Kučan and The Croatian president Franjo Tuđman argued for greater independence for republics and confederations, while Milošević did not want to give us the concept of a centralized Yugoslavia.

Milošević, who initially presented himself as the savior of Yugoslavia and socialism, transformed himself into a Serbian nationalist, knowing that it will increase his popularity. On Croatian territories which were largely populated by Serbs, the Serbs started establishing themselves as an “Autonomous region” that did not recognize the newly elected Croatian government. Proclaimed as the “Serbian Autonomous region of Krajina” (SAO Krajina) and its secession from Croatia. In August 1991. the “Log Revolution” started. Serbian paramilitary troops blocked roads with barricades. The rebellion started because of Milošević’s people were actively fomenting fear and hatred.

The JNA, under control by Milošević, gave active support to the rebels. The ultimate goal emphasized the creation of a Greater Serbia that would contain large parts of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. During 1991 armed incidents have become increasingly common, particularly in the area of Pakrac, Plitvice and Vukovar.

As the negotiations between Tuđman and Milošević weren’t giving any results, the Croatian leadership decided to hold a referendum, in which 93% of Croatian citizens voted for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Croatian state, which was declared on 25.6.1991. The same day, Slovenia decided to become independent. Two days later a brief conflict between the JNA and the Slovenian forces broke out, after which the JNA withdrew from Slovenia.

However, Milošević and the JNA weren’t ready to leave Croatia to become independent, but they wanted to secede SAO Krajina. During the summer of 1991, the conflicts have flared throughout Croatia. Serbian rebels with the help of the JNA and paramilitary volunteers from Serbia occupied Baranja, Eastern Slavonia, Western Slavonia, and large parts of Banija, Kordun and Lika. In Dalmatia they occupied parts around Zadar, Drniš and Dubrovnik. The fate of Vukovar was particularly tragic. Serbian forces also committed war crimes against civilians in Škabrnja, Saborsko and elsewhere. Many Croatian cities were severely damaged during the Serbian bombings. They also bombarded Dubrovnik, Šibenik and Zadar.

During the war, the Croatian Democratic Union has retained power in Croatia. Beginning in 1992. Croatia held parliamentary elections in which the Croatian Parliamentary Union won again, while Franjo Tuđman won the presidential election. In 1994 President Tuđman opened the monument known as the Altar of the homeland. This monument is dedicated to all of those killed in the war.The stone blocks were built from stone from all over Croatia. In the middle is the „eternal fire“.

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina began in April 1992. A similar scenario as the war in Croatia. Serbian troops commited numerous organized crimes of which the worst was the massacre in Srebrnica in 1995.

Initially, the military forces of Bosniaks and Croats cooperated, but in 1993 they clashed in some parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They started accusing Franjo Tuđman for interfering in affairs of another country and even expansionist policies in which the ultimate goal was the annexation of parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Either way, the Croatian-Bosnian war ended in 1994. and the military cooperation against Serbian forces resumed.

In 1995 Croatia was given approval of the international community to take liberation action, of which the most important were „Flash“ and „Storm“. Peace talks have taken place in the U.S. city Dayton, the main participants were Croatian president Franjo Tuđmam, Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović and Serbian president Slobodan Milošević.

In 1997 Franjo Tuđman was re-elected as the president of Croatia. His party, the Croatian Democratic Union, has retained a majority in the parliament. Besides interfering with the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Franjo Tuđman has recieved many complaints because of his authoritarian style of goverment. Critics have reproached his botched privatization of state enterprises, which are often boiled down to a simple robbery and arbitrary interference in the activities outside the powers of the president and attempt to emulate Tito's cult of personality. Either way, this does not dimish Tuđmans underlying merit: To give Croatia independent and to end the war. Franjo Tuđman died in 1999.

After the war, Milođević's popularity in Serbia decreased. During 1998 there was an uprising of Albanians in Kosovo. Milošević responded by choking military revolts and mass deportations of the Albanian population. On the 24th March 1999 a NATO air attack occoured on Serbia, and after that the serbian forces withdrew from Kosovo, which was placed under an international protectorate. In july 2000 Milošević announced an extraordinary presidential election, confident that he would win. However, the defeat on Kosovo, election frauds poverty and isolation of Serbia resulted in the defeat of Milošević and his party. As Milošević refused to admit defeat there have been mass protests, and Milošević fell from power.

In June 2001 he was submitted to the International Court of Justice in Hague for war crimes in Yugoslavia. He was charged with crimes in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was accused of attempting to realize the project of Greater Serbia and that he is directly responsible for the attacks and the warin the former Yugoslavia. During the trial, he died of a heart attack in 2006 in a prison in Hague.