Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T03:58:37.955Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Politics in Croatia since 1990

from Part Four - Yugoslav Successor States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2019

Sabrina P. Ramet
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
Christine M. Hassenstab
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
Get access

Summary

In June 1991, Croatia declared its independence from the moribund Socialist Federated Republic of Yugoslavia and immediately had to fight a defensive war against local Serb insurgents and the Yugoslav People’s Army, which enjoyed the support of Serbia throughout the four years of war. Franjo Tudjman, head of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), served as president of Croatia from 1990 until his death in 1999 and dominated Croatian politics during those years. Corruption, cronyism, and nepotism were earmarks of the Tudjman era. However, after his death, there was a new start, with the erstwhile opposition party, Ivica Racan’s Social Democratic Party (SDP), winning the election of 2000. The office of prime minister was now strengthened at the expense of the presidency, thus converting the Croatian system into a typical parliamentary system. In December 2003, the HDZ returned to power, and since then the SDP and the HDZ have alternated in office. Among the challenges which Croatian governments have faced since the end of the war in 1995 have been the rebuilding of destroyed and damaged homes and infrastructure, the reintegration of those Serbs who have remained in the country, the fight against corruption, and the endeavor to join NATO and the European Union (EU). This dual endeavor was rewarded when Croatia was admitted to NATO in July 2008 and to the EU in July 2013.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Further Reading

Goldstein, Ivo. “The Use of History: Croatian historiography and the politics,” in Helsinki Monitor, Special Issue, 5 (1994), pp. 8597.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Ivo. Croatia: A History, trans. from Croatian by Jovanović, Nikolina (London: C. Hurst & Co., 1999).Google Scholar
Hofman, Nila Ginger. Renewed Survival: Jewish community life in Croatia (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006).Google Scholar
Ilišin, Vlasta and Radin, Furio (eds.). Youth and Transition in Croatia (Zagreb: Institute for Social Research, 2002).Google Scholar
Magaš, Branka. Croatia through History: The making of a European state (London: Saqi, 2007).Google Scholar
Magaš, Branka and Žanić, Ivo (eds.). The War in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1991–1995 (London: Frank Cass, 2001).Google Scholar
Ramet, Sabrina P. and Matić, Davorka (eds.). Democratic Transition in Croatia: Value transformation, education, and media (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2007).Google Scholar
Tanner, Marcus. Croatia: A nation forged in war, 3rd edn. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010).Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×