With Allied support in logistics, equipment, training and airpower, and with the assistance of Soviet troops taking
part in the 1944 Belgrade Offensive, the Partisans gained
control of Yugoslavia and the border regions of Italy and Austria by May 1945. Members of the NDH armed forces and other Axis troops, as well as civilians, were in retreat
towards Austria. Following their surrender, many were killed in the Yugoslav death march of Nazi collaborators.[90] In the following years, ethnic Germans faced persecution
in Yugoslavia, and many were interned.[91]
The political aspirations of the Partisan movement were reflected in the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia, which developed in 1943 as the bearer
of Croatian statehood and later transformed into the Parliament in 1945, and AVNOJ—its counterpart at the Yugoslav level.[92][93]
Based on the studies on wartime and post-war casualties by demographer Vladimir Žerjavić and statistician Bogoljub Kočović, a total of 295,000 people from the territory (not
including territories ceded from Italy after the war) died, which amounted to 7.3% of the population,[94] among whom were 125–137,000 Serbs, 118–124,000 Croats, 16–
17,000 Jews, and 15,000 Roma.[95][96] In addition, from areas joined to Croatia after the war, a total of 32,000 people died, among whom 16,000 were Italians and 15,000
were Croats.[97] Approximately 200,000 Croats from the entirety of Yugoslavia (including Croatia) and abroad were killed in total throughout the war and its immediate
aftermath, approximately 5.4% of the population.[98][99]
Second Yugoslavia (1945–1991)
Main articles: Socialist Republic of Croatia, Informbiro period, Tito–Stalin split, and Croatian Spring
Josip Broz Tito led Yugoslavia from 1944 to 1980; Pictured: Tito with the US president Richard Nixon in the White House, 1971
After World War II, Croatia became a single-party socialist federal unit of the SFR Yugoslavia, ruled by the Communists, but having a degree of autonomy within the
federation. In 1967, Croatian authors and linguists published a Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Standard Language demanding equal treatment for their
language.[100]
The declaration contributed to a national movement seeking greater civil rights and redistribution of the Yugoslav economy, culminating in the Croatian Spring of 1971, which
was suppressed by Yugoslav leadership.[101] Still, the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution gave increased autonomy to federal units, basically fulfilling a goal of the Croatian Spring
and providing a legal basis for independence of the federative constituents.[102]
Following Tito's death in 1980, the political situation in Yugoslavia deteriorated. National tension was fanned by the 1986 SANU Memorandum and the 1989 coups in
Vojvodina, Kosovo, and Montenegro.[103][104] In January 1990, the Communist Party fragmented along national lines, with the Croatian faction demanding a looser
federation.[105] In the same year, the first multi-party elections were held in Croatia, while Franjo Tuđman's win exacerbated nationalist tensions.[106] Some of the Serbs
in Croatia left Sabor and declared autonomy of the unrecognised Republic of Serbian Krajina, intent on achieving independence from Croatia.[107][108]
Croatian War of Independence
Main articles: Breakup of Yugoslavia and Croatian War of Independence
As tensions rose, Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991. However, the full implementation of the declaration only came into effect after a three-month moratorium
on the decision on 8 October 1991.[109][110] In the meantime, tensions escalated into overt war when the Serbian-controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and various
Serb paramilitary groups attacked Croatia.[111]
National Memorial Cemetery of The Victims of Homeland War in Vukovar, the central place of holding the National Remembrance Day, public holiday on November 18, for all the victims
of the war in Croatia and the Vukovar massacre, one of the symbolic and crucial events in the Croatian War of Independence 1991.
By the end of 1991, a high-intensity conflict fought along a wide front reduced Croatia's control to about two-thirds of its territory.[112][113] Serb paramilitary groups then
began a campaign of killing, terror, and expulsion of the Croats in the rebel territories, killing thousands[114] of Croat civilians and expelling or displacing as many as
400,000 Croats and other non-Serbs from their homes.[115] Serbs living in Croatian towns, especially those near the front lines, were subjected to various forms of
discrimination.[116] Croatian Serbs in Eastern and Western Slavonia and parts of the Krajina were forced to flee or were expelled by Croatian forces, though on a restricted
scale and in lesser numbers.[117] The Croatian Government publicly deplored these practices and sought to stop them, indicating that they were not a part of the
Government's policy. [118]
On 15 January 1992, Croatia gained diplomatic recognition by the European Economic Community, followed by the United Nations.[119][120] The war effectively ended in
August 1995 with a decisive victory by Croatia;[121] the event is commemorated each year on 5 August as Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian
Defenders.[122] Following the Croatian victory, about 200,000 Serbs from the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina fled the region[123] and hundreds of mainly
elderly Serb civilians were killed in the aftermath of the military operation.[124] Their lands were subsequently settled by Croat refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina.[125]
The remaining occupied areas were restored to Croatia following the Erdut Agreement of November 1995, concluding with the UNTAES mission in January 1998.[126] Most
sources number the war deaths at around 20,000.[127][128][129]
Independent Croatia (1991–present)
Main articles: Independence of Croatia and History of Croatia since 1995
After the end of the war, Croatia faced the challenges of post-war reconstruction, the return of refugees, establishing democracy, protecting human rights, and general social
and economic development.
The 2000s period is characterized by democratization, economic growth, structural and social reforms, and problems such as unemployment, corruption, and the inefficiency
of public administration.[130] In November 2000 and March 2001, the Parliament amended the Constitution, first adopted on 22 December 1990, changing its bicameral
structure back into its historic unicameral form and reducing presidential powers.[131][132]
Croatia joined the Partnership for Peace on 25 May 2000[133] and became a member of the World Trade Organization on 30 November 2000.[134] On 29 October 2001,
Croatia signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union,[135] submitted a formal application for the EU membership in 2003,[136] was given the
status of a candidate country in 2004,[137] and began accession negotiations in 2005.[138] Although the Croatian economy had enjoyed a significant boom in the early
2000s, the financial crisis in 2008 forced the government to cut spending, thus provoking a public outcry.[139]
Croatia became the 28th EU member country on 1 July 2013.
Croatia served on the United Nations Security Council in the 2008–2009 term for the first time, assuming the non-permanent seat in December 2008.[140] On 1 April 2009,
Croatia joined NATO.[141]
A wave of anti-government protests in 2011 reflected a general dissatisfaction with the current political and economic situation. The protests brought together diverse political
persuasions in response to recent government corruption scandals and called for early elections. On 28 October 2011 MPs voted to dissolve Parliament and the protests
gradually subsided. President Ivo Josipović agreed to a dissolution of Sabor on Monday, 31 October and scheduled new elections for Sunday 4 December 2011.[142][143]
[144]
