After WWI, Croatia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. During WW2 it was invaded by Germany in 1941, which allowed the radical right to come to power and introduce similar repressive policies as were in place in other European facist regimes: Serbs, Jews and Romany people were persecuted and hundreds of thousands were killed.
In 1945 Croatia became a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the Communist leader Tito. Following his death in 1980 dissatisfaction with the status quo began to gather momentum which only intensified with the general climate of change across other Communist states of eastern Europe.
In 1991, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia under Franjo Tudman. In 1993, the Croatian army launched an offensive in southern Krajina, a part of the country that had earlier proclaimed independence from Croatia. The Dayton Agreement brought peace in 1995 and Franjo Tudman became the country’s first president although the regime became became increasingly unpopular amid allegations of corruption. In the 2000 election, Stipe Mesic became the new president, followed by Ivo Sanader in 2003.
Croatia is expected to become an EU member by the end of the decade.
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