Croatia

The Republic of Croatia is a crescent-shaped country in Europe bordering the Mediterranean, Central Europe and the Balkans. Its capital is Zagreb. In recent history, it was a republic in the SFR Yugoslavia, but it achieved independence in 1991. It is an enlargement of the European Union candidate for membership of the European Union.

• See also Former Yugoslavia

History

The Croats are largely Slavic people who lived in an area of what is today Galicia (Central Europe) (in northwestern Ukraine and southern Poland). From there they migrated further south to present-day Croatia during the 7th century. Nominally under Byzantine Empire and then Frankish authority, Croatia eventually became a strong independent kingdom under king Tomislav in 925, but in 1102 the Croatians ended a decade-long dynastic struggle by agreeing to submit themselves to Hungarian authority.

By the mid-1400s, the Hungarian kingdom was gravely hurt by the Ottoman Empire expansion as much of the mountainous country now known as Bosnia and Herzegovina fell to the Turks. At the same time, Dalmatia became mostly Venetian. Dubrovnik was a city-state that was firstly Byzantine (Roman) and Venetian, but later, unlike other Dalmatian city-states, it became independent as Republic of Dubrovnik, even if it was often under the suzerainty of neighboring powers.

The Battle of Mohács in 1526 led the Croatian Parliament to invite the Habsburgs to assume control over Croatia. Habsburg rule eventually did prove to be successful in thwarting the Ottomans, and by the 18th century, much of Croatia was free of Turkish control. The odd crescent shape of the Croatian lands remained as a mark, more or less, of the frontier to the Ottoman advance into Europe. Istria, Dalmatia and Dubrovnik all eventually passed to the Habsburg Monarchy between 1797 and 1815.

Following World War I, Croatia joined the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (comprising what is today, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia). Shortly thereafter, this joint state in turn formed a union with Serbia to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which eventually became Yugoslavia in 1929). Yugoslavia was invaded during World War II and Croatia was turned into a fascist puppet-state named Independent State of Croatia. When the Axis powers were defeated, Yugoslavia became a federal socialist state.

Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, which triggered the Croatian War of Independence. The Serbs living in some areas of Croatia revolted and proclaimed their own state - Republic of Serbian Krajina. They were assisted by the JNA. In 1995, the Croatian Army successfully launched two major offensives to retake the rebel areas by force, leading to a mass exodus of the Serbian population. A few months later, as a result, the war ended upon the negotiation of the Dayton Agreement. A peaceful integration of the remaining Serbian-controlled territories was completed in 1998 under UN supervision.

Croatia is currently in the process of joining the European Union.

Anarchist History

In the Dalmatia region, the anarchist movement was heavily influenced by Italy anarchism (not surprising as some of the Dalmatian citieswere a part of the Italian state). Around the beginning of the 20th Century themovement here came under the influenceof the Germinal anarchist communist groupin Trieste, Italy. The centres of activity were Zadar and Split with some numbers of militants who were distributing Germinal newspapers among working class circles and also trying to organise workers there. They supported the Germinal tactic of direct action on a local level. At this point, Germinal was distributing its papersin a large number in these areas, bigger than some social-democratic parties. Unfortunately, the movement didn’t last long.

There were also those people who were influenced by the Propaganda by the Deed idea. In Istria, anarchists were involved in a failed assassination attempt on Mussolini, who was giving a speech in Pula in September 1920. The anarchists and their socialist comrades planned to smuggle abomb wrapped in newspapers into thetheatre where the Italian fascist leader was speaking. However, the plan was never pulled off as a few of the older socialists who were known to the local police decided they would be caught before they could make an attempt on Mussolini’s life.Two days after the speech, Pula was overwhelmed with terror between right-wing and left-wing groups. After an investigation into the group of anarchists and socialists, the police discovered the bomb and other weapons. They were arrested.

There has even been talk of an anarchist partisan militia in Istria during World War Two, but at the time of writing no other information is available.

Source: "A Brief Look at the State of Anarchism in 21st Century Croatia." Organise! No.65 Winter '05.

• For a more detailed history of anarchism in the former yugoslavia visit the Former Yugoslavia page.

Active Groups

• Anarho Sindikalistička Konfederacija (ASK)
• Anarho-sindikalistička inicijativa
• Riječka Anarhistička Inicijativa
• UmaÅ¡ki pokret za slobodu
• Å to čitaÅ¡
• Anarho-Feministička Akcija
• 11. teza
• Sabotaza Pokvarenog Sistema

External Links

• Abolishing the Borders from Below
• Alter-EE
• Indymedia Croatia
• Kontrapunkt