Croatian History:
Croatia, at one time the Roman province of Pannonia, was settled in the 7th century by the Croats. They converted to Christianity between the 7th and 9th centuries and adopted the Roman alphabet under the suzerainty of Charlemagne. In 925, the Croats defeated Byzantine and Frankish invaders and established their own independent kingdom, which reached its peak during the 11th century. A civil war ensued in 1089, which later led to the country being conquered by the Hungarians in 1091. The signing of the Pacta Conventa by Croatian tribal chiefs and the Hungarian king in 1102 united the two nations politically under the Hungarian monarch, but Croatia retained its autonomy.

Following the defeat of the Hungarians by the Turks at the battle of Mohács in 1526, Croatia (along with Hungary) elected Austrian Archduke Ferdinand of Hapsburg as their king. After the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian kingdom in 1867, Croatia became part of Hungary until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 following its defeat in World War I. On Oct. 29, 1918, Croatia proclaimed its independence and joined in union with Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929.

When Germany invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, Croatia became a Nazi puppet state. Croatian Fascists, the Ustachi, slaughtered countless Serbs and Jews during the war. After Germany was defeated in 1945, Croatia was made into a republic of the newly reestablished communist nation of Yugoslavia; however, Croatian nationalism persisted. After Yugoslavian leader Tito's death in 1980, Croatia's demands for independence began multiplying.

In 1990, free elections were held, and the communists were defeated by a nationalist party led by Franjo Tudjman. In June 1991, the Croatian Parliament passed a declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. Six months of intensive fighting with the Serbian-dominated Yugoslavian army followed, claiming thousands of lives and wreaking mass destruction.

A UN cease-fire was arranged on Jan. 2, 1992. The Security Council in February approved sending a 14,000-member peacekeeping force to monitor the cease-fire and protect the minority Serbs in Croatia. In a 1993 referendum the Serb-occupied portion of Croatia (Krajina) resoundingly voted for integration with Serbs in Bosnia and Serbia proper. Although the Zagreb government and representatives of Krajina signed a cease-fire in March 1994, further negotiations broke down. In a lightning-quick operation, the Croatian army retook western Slavonia in May 1995. Similarly, in August, the central Croatian region of Krajina, held by Serbs, was returned to Zagreb's control.

Announcing on television in 1999 that “national issues are more important than democracy,” President Tudjman continued to alienate Croatians with his authoritarian rule, out-of-touch nationalism, and disastrous handling of the war-shattered economy. In Dec. 1999, Tudjman died. Less than a month later, his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party was defeated by a reformist coalition headed by Ivica Racan. But in the November 2003 elections, a right-wing coalition led by the nationalist (HDZ) once again assumed power. The new prime minister, Ivo Sanader, claims that his party is now far less nationalist and far more moderate than in its earlier incarnation under Tudjman. In 2003, Croatia formally submitted its application to join the EU (European Union).

Croatian Coat of Arms
The coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia is the historical Croatian coat of arms in the shape of a shield with a checkered pattern of twenty-five alternating red and white (silver) fields, with the first field in the upper left corner of the shield being red. A five-pointed crown arches above the shield, between its upper left and upper right corners. The crown is made of five smaller shields with historical Croatian coats of arms in the following order, from left to right: the oldest known Croatian coat of arms, coats of arms of the Dubrovnik Republic, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia. The original coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia is kept at the Croatian Sabor and all other coats of arms are its replicas.

Croatian Flag
The Croatia flag was officially adopted on December 22, 1991. The flag of the Republic of Croatia consists of three bands of red, white and blue with the coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia in the center. The length of the flag is twice its width. The bands of color are laid horizontally in the following order from the top: The red, white and blue are traditional Croatian colors. Each color fills one-third of the width of the flag. The Croatian coat of arms was first used during World War II and is placed at the center of the flag in such manner that the upper part of the coat (the crown) extends into the red field and the lower part of the coat of arms extends into the blue field. The central point of the coat of arms is at the intersection of the diagonals of the flag.