History of Croatia
It's commonly known that Croats have settled down here, in Croatia, in the 7th century. Early Croatia was divided into two dukedoms — Pannonian and Littoral Croatia. Croats were getting used to their new territory for two more centuries — in the 9th century, the christianization of the Croats was over.
In 925, the very first Croatian king named Tomislav was crowned. Due to his title he was also remembered as the king who had united both Croatias, forming a real country.
Years of greatness have quickly passed and due to the disappearance of the Croatian dynasty, Croatia formed a personal union, known as Pacta Conventa, with Hungary, choosing Coloman for their mutual king. Being under the rule of the Hungarians for more than four centuries, Croatia couldn't develop on a proper level.
In 1526 Hungarian rule over Croatia was over. But Croatia still wasn't free — Hungarian reign was immediately replaced by the Habsburg Monarchy which lasted until 1918. With a history as it is, Croatia was always fragmented, fighting for its freedom, territorial integrity and independence. The closest it got to the goal was during the Illyrian movement, trying to induct Croatian language and prevent Germanization and Magyarization of Croatia. The Illyrian movement, started in 1830s, tried to improve Croatian culture and in general, Croatian independence from the empire.
As the first world war was coming to its end, Croatia disrupted all connections with Austria and Hungary forming the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Shortly after, the name was modified to The State of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes due to the fact that the Serbs owned most of the parts of the kingdom.
Doing things they benefit from, Serbs were constantly trying to subdue Croats and Slovenes. Stjepan Radić, leader of the group that was rejecting Serbs' domination and rule, was shot in 1928 during a Parliament session along with a few other people. A year later, king Alexander proclaimed a new constitution and declared a new name of the state — Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
With the desire of having their own state with Croatian culture and language, during World War 2, UstaÅ¡e party came to power and in 1941 proclaimed Independent State of Croatia, with its leader Ante Pavelić. With no democracy or a sense of human rights, the new authority was determined to wipe out minorities.
In 1945 Croatia became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia along with five other countries. Tito's Communist Party of Yugoslavia had an authority over them. All of the things that took place a bit later — Croatian Spring in 1971, Tito's death, the appearance of Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević, led to the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995). The war occurred because Croatia had declared independence from Yugoslavia on June 25th, 1991. Serbs were led by their never-ending desire of creating the great Serbia. In the operations consisting of Croatian forces that took place all over Croatia, the little country that was always fragmented and under the control of someone else finally gained its liberation.