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A Short History of Croatia

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Fossils of Neanderthals have been discovered in the areas of Krapina and Vindija. Other remains were also found at Mujina pecina. The whole region was once part of the Roman Empire. In early 7th century, the Croat arrived and established two dukedoms and by the 9th century the Croats were Christianized and united under one ruler, King Tomislav. In 1102, the kingdom enterer a treaty and established a union with Hungary.

On October 29, 1918, the Sabor parliament declared independence and at the same time co-founded a new state with the Slovenes and Serbs which became known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In World War Two the Germans invaded Yugoslavia and defeated its royal army. The Nazis established a puppet state consisting of the regions of Syrmia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzogovina calling it the Independent State of Croatia. But a Croat named Josip Broz Tito led a partisan movement to fight the Nazi invaders. After the war, Tito became the leader of the second and socialist Yugoslav republic.

In the early 1980’s nationalist sentiments of the various states rocked the Yugoslav Federation. In 1989 the Serbian Leader Slobodan Milosevic installed leaders loyal to his cause in areas like Kosovo and Montenegro by organizing coups. When Milosevic tried to influence the first Croatian multi party elections, this started a series of events that led to the Croatian war of Independence that lasted from 1991 to 1995. On January 15, 1992 Croatia was given international recognition as a sovereign state by the United Nation and European Union.