Читать книгу The Islands of Croatia. 30 walks on 14 Adriatic islands онлайн

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Following the end of the Second World War, the Federal Peoples’ Republic of Yugoslavia was established on 29 Nov 1945, consisting of six republics and two autonomous provinces. Tito initiated a number of constitutional reforms and formally broke with Stalinism in 1948. But the perceived over-representation of Serbs in government positions and the security forces, combined with the suppression of organised religion, led to increasing dissatisfaction in Croatia, culminating in the ‘Croatian Spring’ of 1971. Following Tito’s death in 1980, discontent and nationalist aspirations which he had largely driven underground in 1971 slowly rose to the surface.

Free elections were held in April 1990, with Franjo Tuđman and the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) elected to office with 40 per cent of the vote. Mass dismissals of Serbs from the public service sector, combined with an unrelenting Serbian media campaign heralding the rebirth of the Ustaše, prompted Croatia’s 600,000 strong Serb community in the Krajina and eastern Slavonia to demand autonomy. In May 1991, following the deaths of 12 Croatian policemen near Osijek, a referendum was held, with over 90 per cent voting in favour of Croatian independence, which was formally declared on 25 June 1991. In response, the Krajina Serbs held their own referendum and voted to remain part of Yugoslavia. JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army) forces entered Slovenia, which had also declared its independence, but were comprehensively defeated in five days. In Croatia, the so-called ‘Homeland War’ was to take a very different course.