Croatia: A Nation Forged in War; Third EditionFrom the ashes of former Yugoslavia an independent Croatian state has arisen, the fulfillment, in the words of President Franjo Tudjman, of the Croats' "thousand-year-old dream of independence." Yet few countries in Europe have been born amid such bitter controversy and bloodshed: the savage war between pro-independence forces and the Yugoslav army left about one-third of the country in ruins and resulted in the flight of a quarter of a million of the country's Serbian minority.In this book an eyewitness to the breakup of Yugoslavia provides the first full account of the rise, fall, and rebirth of Croatia from its medieval origins to today's tentative peace. Marcus Tanner describes the creation of the first Croatian state; its absorption into feudal Hungary in the Middle Ages; the catastrophic experience of the Ottoman invasion; the absorption of the diminished country into Habsburg Austria; the evolution of modern Croatian nationalism after the French Revolution; and the circumstances that propelled Croatia into the arms of Nazi Germany and the brutal, home-grown "Ustashe" movement in the Second World War. Finally, drawing on first-hand knowledge of many of the leading figures in the conflict, Tanner explains the failure of Tito's Communists to solve Yugoslavia's tortured national problem by creating a federal state, and the violent implosion after his death.Croatia's unique position on the crossroads of Europe-between Eastern and Western Christendom, the Mediterranean, and the Balkans and between the old Habsburg and Ottoman empires-has been both a curse and a blessing, inviting the attention of larger and more powerful neighbors. The turbulence and drama of Croatia's past are vigorously portrayed in this powerful history. |
Contents
From Liberation to the French Revolution | |
Still Croatia Has Not Fallen | |
My Conscience Is Clear | |
Croatian Spring | |
Comrade Tito Is Dead | |
God in Heaven and Tudjman in the Homeland | |
Serbia Is Not Involved | |
Danke Deutschland | |
ThousandYearOld Dream | |
Freedom Train | |
1848 | |
Neither with Vienna Nor with Budapest | |
Our President | |
The Sporazum | |
The Ustashe | |
La Dolce Vita | |
Notes | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Albanians Archbishop Austrian Balkan Belgrade Biha Bishop Bosnia Catholic cent central Bosnia centre century Chetniks Church clergy Communist Council country’s Croatia Croatian Serbs Croatian Spring Croats Dabar Dalmatia declared defence Djilas Dubrovnik eastern Slavonia elections Emperor empire ethnic evi evi evi-Ku federal force foreign Franjo frontier German Habsburg Hebrang Hrvatska Hungarian Hungary Ibid Illyrian Illyrian movement independence Italian Italy Ivan Jela Jews Josip Kadijevi Karlovac killed King Knin Kosovo Krajina Kvaternik leader leadership Lika Maek Mesi Meštrovi military Miloševi Montenegro Morlachs Muslims nationalist organisation Osijek Ottoman parliament Partisans Paveli Peasants Party Petar police political population presidency Prime Minister Radi Raškovi refugees regime region remained republics Sabor Sarajevo Serb Orthodox Serbian Slav Slovenes Slovenia Špegelj Split Srijem Stepinac Strossmayer territory Tito Tito’s took town Tripalo Tudjman Turks Ustashe Varaždin Venetians Venice Vienna village Vojvodina Vukovar Yugoslav army Yugoslavia Zadar Zagreb