Slavic Croatian tribes settled in the area in the early 7 th century (arriving from present day Poland), accepting Christianity in around 800 A.D., and soon establishing their own state ruled by princes or dukes. In 925, Croatia became a kingdom under the rule of King Tomislav. In 1102 the country formed a union with Hungary which lasted until 1918. After the end of the First World War, Croatia joined Serbia, and Yugoslavia (the land of South Slavs) was formed, until its demise in 1991.
The first Yugoslavia (1918-1941) was ruled by the Serbian royal family, Karadjordjevic, which naturally favoured the Serbs and caused enormous resentment in Croatia. The country was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1941, which gave Croatia independence under the fascist dictator Ante Pavelic. This regime was known for its harsh rule and for committing numerous atrocities, and therefore many Croats (over 200,000) actively joined the resistance movement under Tito which liberated the country in May 1945. (Winston Churchill was so impressed with the Croatian resistance that in 1944 he sent his son Randolph and the writer Evelyn Waugh to Croatia as his personal emissaries.)
Croatia became one of the Yugoslav republics ruled by the communist government until 1991 when Croatia declared its independence, prompting Serbian invasion. Almost all Croats rose to defend their country under the leadership of its first president, the late Franjo Tudjman (who died in December 1999), and after five years the country was liberated.
The country is now a parliamentary democracy. In January 2000, the centre-right party which had governed Croatia since its independence, the HDZ (the Croatian Democratic Union), lost the election. The centre-left coalition between the socialist SPD and the liberal HSLS governed the country, with the leader of the SPD, Ivica Racan, as Prime Minister.
At the end of November 2003, another general election took place in Croatia. The ruling SPD ( and its coalition partners ) lost the election, and Prime Minister Racan resigned. HDZ, under the leadership of Ivo Sanader polled most of the votes of the electorate although they did not get an overall majority. They joined in coalition
with some smaller parties and formed a government.
The initial reaction in Croatia to the new government's first moves has been positive: many like Sanader's assertive action in getting Croatia into NATO and the EU as soon as possible. Croatia will start negotiations to join the EU on March 17th 2005, and most experts predict that it will join in 2008.
In January 2005, presidential elections were held. The incumbent, President Stipe Mesic, was re-elected to another five year term. Presidential powers in Croatia are limited, but he is still influential in making domestic and foreign policy issues.
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