Ultranationalist ideology and state-building in Croatia, 1990-1996

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 44, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 30-43

  Irvine, Jill A ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0031184894     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10758216.1997.11655740     Document Type: Article

References (112)

1. This article uses the terms extreme Right, neo-fascism, and ultranationalism interchangeably. This usage is not meant to suggest that there are not important distinctions between them. Nor is it meant to suggest that all varieties of the extreme Right are based upon ultranationalist ideology. Nevertheless, their common emphasis on the politics of ultranationalism is the focus of this work.
2. From the outset of his regime, and particularly after the outbreak of war in Croatia, Tudjman was concerned about being outflanked by the Right, and he attempted to neutralize it as a political threat through a combination of co-optation and repression. For a more detailed discussion of this process, see Jill Irvine, "Nationalism and the Extreme Right in the Former Yugoslavia," in The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe, ed. Luciano Cheles, Ronnie Ferguson, and Michalina Vaughan (New York: Longman, 1995).
3. For an interesting discussion of how a legitimizing myth has been constructed in Croatia, see Nenad Zakošek, "Extremism as Normality, Discursive Patterns of Right Radicalism in Contemporary Croatia," unpublished paper.
4. Starčević carried the idea of Croatian state rights to its extreme. He urged the creation of a Great Croatian state that would include Bosnia and refused even to recognize the existence of any other South Slav nations besides the Bulgarians. Together with Eugen Kvaternik, he established the HSP, which espoused an integral Croat nationalism with a markedly anti-Serb tone. Although some of Starčević's followers adopted a more conciliatory stance toward Serbs after his death in 1903, others who joined the Pure Party of Rights (CSP), formed by Josip Frank in 1895, continued to endorse as their main position an implacable hatred of Serbs. Mario S. Spalatin, "The Croatian Nationalism of Ante Starčevic, 1845-1871," Journal of Croatian Studies 15 (1975): 19-146; G.G. Gilbert, "Pravaštvo and the Croatian National Issue," East European Quarterly 1 (1978): 57-68.
5. Starčević carried the idea of Croatian state rights to its extreme. He urged the creation of a Great Croatian state that would include Bosnia and refused even to recognize the existence of any other South Slav nations besides the Bulgarians. Together with Eugen Kvaternik, he established the HSP, which espoused an integral Croat nationalism with a markedly anti-Serb tone. Although some of Starčević's followers adopted a more conciliatory stance toward Serbs after his death in 1903, others who joined the Pure Party of Rights (CSP), formed by Josip Frank in 1895, continued to endorse as their main position an implacable hatred of Serbs. Mario S. Spalatin, "The Croatian Nationalism of Ante Starčevic, 1845-1871," Journal of Croatian Studies 15 (1975): 19-146; G.G. Gilbert, "Pravaštvo and the Croatian National Issue," East European Quarterly 1 (1978): 57-68.
6. A former law and seminary student, Paraga spent most of the 1980s as a dissident to the communist regime. First imprisoned in 1980 for circulating a petition calling for the freeing of all political prisoners in Yugoslavia, Paraga subsequently brought charges against the state for cruel and inhumane treatment of inmates. His frequent testimony before the U.S. Congress and to Western leaders about political repression in Yugoslavia further solidified his reputation as a champion of human rights. Ironically, Paraga used this reputation to lend respectability to his right-wing group and cause. In his testimony to Congress in May 1993, Paraga insisted that the HSP was an anti-fascist party fighting against the "fascist" Tudjman regime. Congressional Record, no. 76 (May 26, 1993).
7. Chicago Tribune (October 7, 1991).
8. There have been charges that the HDZ violated the electoral law in order to permit the HSP to cross the 5 percent threshold. Some 82,666 ballots (3.1 percent) that were invalidly marked were removed from the total vote count, thereby increasing the percentage of HSP votes. Although the court upheld this practice, six political parties (including the HSP-1861 ) filed suit against the government of Croatia with the UN Commission for Human Rights.
9. The prominence of various ultranationalist publicists and essayists in these mediums has prompted Nenad Zakošek, assistant professor of political science at the University of Zagreb, to speak of "essay Right radicalism" in Croatia. Nenad Zakošek, "In Gefärlicher Nähe der Macht" (In Dangerous Proximity to Power), Ost-West Gegeninformationen, no. 2 (May 1994): 8-11.
10. Ibid.
11. Vladimir Šeks, a parliamentary representative and vice president in the Croatian government, was born in Osijek and received his law degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Zagreb. From 1990 to 1992 he served as president of the constitutional and legislative commission and as public prosecutor of Croatia. He has also served as deputy president of the HDZ. Branimir Glavaš was also born in Osijek and received his law degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Osijek. He was a founding member of the HDZ and a member of its first executive committee. He has been a parliamentary delegate since 1990 and, as a colonel in the Croatian Army, commander of the defense of Oseijek. In 1993 he was named president of the county committee of the HDZ. Ironically, both Seks and Glavaš were active in European human-rights organizations in the 1980s.
12. Viće Vukojević comes from Herzegovina and has been a parliamentary representative since 1990. He has served as president of the Legislative Commission, assistant minister of interior affairs, and a member of the presidency of the HDZ. Gojko Šušak, currently minister of defense, was born in Siroki Brijeg and studied math and physics in Rijeka and then management at the University of Ottawa. He was manager and owner of several firms in Canada before returning to Croatia in 1990. He is a member of the Central Board of the HDZ.
13. These contacts have been essential for guaranteeing the flow of money from abroad into HDZ coffers and also the supply of arms during the embargo.
14. Younger HDZ extremists such as Ivić Pašalić (born in 1960), who has served as the president of the Executive Committee of the Central Board of the HDZ, have gained influence through these means.
15. I am grateful to Nenad Zakošek for making this point clear to me.
16. The outbreak of war in 1941 brought a fully fascist regime to power in the Independent State of Croatia under the control of the Ustašas and backed by Germany and Italy. The Ustašas quickly promulgated racial laws against Jews, Serbs, and Gypsies and launched a campaign of terror against Serbs. In the ensuing civil war, the Ustašas fought the Četniks (the traditional name given to Serbian fighters against the Turks and the main Serbian resistance group), while the communist-led Partisans fought them both.
17. Danas [Zagreb] (March 5, 1991); interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994.
18. Danas [Zagreb] (March 5, 1991); interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994.
19. Slobodna Dalmacija [Split] (May 9, 1992), in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: Eastern Europe [hereafter FBIS:EEU] (May 28, 1992): 57-62.
20. Slobodna Dalmacija [Split] (May 9, 1992), in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: Eastern Europe [hereafter FBIS:EEU] (May 28, 1992): 57-62.
21. Danas (March5, 1991).
22. In an interview with Ante Djapić on July 13, 1994, he insisted that Ustaša reprisals against Serbs were provoked by the Serb Partisan uprising against the legitimate Croatian state in the summer of 1941. According to Djapić, many of these Serbs were killed by Četniks and Partisans dressed as Ustašas. The parallel with Serbs who claimed on several occasions that Muslims had shelled themselves in Sarajevo is obvious.
23. Velimir Bujanec, "Odgovor Krešimiru Paveliću" (Answer to Krešimir Pavelić), Nezavisna državna Hrvatska 4, no. 418 (April 1996): 15.
24. Izborna deklaracija Hrvatske stranke prava (Election Declaration of the Croatian Party of Rights) (1992): 3.
25. Zakošek, "Extremism as Normality."
26. Vreme News Digest [Belgrade] (January 15, 1996).
27. Tudjman himself first ran afoul of the communist authorities in Croatia in the mid-1960s when he argued that the official number of Serbs killed in Jasenovac was too high and that communist authorities had deliberately falsified it. His subsequent dismissal as head of the Institute for the History of the Workers Movement in Croatia began his transformation from Partisan general and historian to avowed nationalist and opponent of the state socialist regime.
28. When I visited Jasenovac in May 1996 there was no evidence of any restoration work being undertaken. Although the monument itself was not destroyed, the adjacent museum was heavily damaged structurally. Most of the exhibits had been ripped down or removed from the walls. Much of this destruction was reputedly inflicted by Croats before this area came under Serb control in 1991.
29. Nezavisna država Hrvatska 4, no. 418 (April 1996): 9; interview with Srećko Pšenićnik.
30. Nezavisna država Hrvatska 4, no. 418 (April 1996): 9; interview with Srećko Pšenićnik.
31. Novi list [Rijeka] (October 16, 1995).
32. Glas Slavonije [Osijek] (August 18, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
33. Glas Slavonije [Osijek] (August 18, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
34. Interview with Bosiljko Mišetić, July 12, 1994.
35. Nedjeljna Dalmacija [Split] (September 2, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 15, 1994): 51-53.
36. Nedjeljna Dalmacija [Split] (September 2, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 15, 1994): 51-53.
37. Vjesnik [Zagreb] (September 6, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 29, 1994): 42-46; interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
38. Vjesnik [Zagreb] (September 6, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 29, 1994): 42-46; interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
39. Vjesnik [Zagreb] (September 6, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 29, 1994): 42-46; interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
40. Jasna Babić, "Hrvatska izvještajna služba pod vodstvom dr. Miroslava Tudjmana sastavila je tajno izvješće o tome kako oporba, sindikati, strane agenture i mediji pokušavaju srušiti HDZ I dr. Franju Tudjmana s vlasti i restaurirati komunizam" (The Croatian Intelligence Service Under the Leadership of Dr. Miroslav Tudjman Collected Secret Intelligence About How the Opposition, Unions, Foreign Agencies, and the Media Are Attempting to Remove the HDZ and Dr. Franjo Tudjman from Power and Restore Communism), National (April 12, 1996).
41. For a discussion of purges in the military, see Globus [Zagreb] (January 19, February 23, and April 26, 1996).
42. Interview with Bosiljko Mišetić, July 12, 1994.
43. Nedjeljna Dalmacija (September 2, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 15, 1994): 51-53. Schwartz stated: "Democracy has its positive characteristics, I would be mad to deny that. However, there are limitations to democracy and that is why we must look for alternatives. I think that in this day and age, democracy will not benefit the Croatian nation and I am prepared to present arguments in support of that."
44. Nedjeljna Dalmacija (September 2, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 15, 1994): 51-53. Schwartz stated: "Democracy has its positive characteristics, I would be mad to deny that. However, there are limitations to democracy and that is why we must look for alternatives. I think that in this day and age, democracy will not benefit the Croatian nation and I am prepared to present arguments in support of that."
45. Mladen Schwartz, "Politicari s kraja desetljeca podsjecaju na karikaturu: stoga je u pravu Maja Freundlich kada tvrdi da je Franjo Tudjman jedini pravi drzavnik u svijetu" (Since the End of the Decade Politicians Have Resembled Caricatures - That Is Why Maja Freundlich Is Right When She Maintains That Franjo Tudjman Is the Only True Statesman in the World), ST (April 10, 1996): 10.
46. Tanjug (May 21, 1995), in FBIS:EEU (May 22, 1995): 29-30.
47. For example, HSP and other opposition leaders charged the HDZ with complicity when police shot HSP vice president Ante Paradžik at a checkpoint outside Zagreb.
48. For a recent discussion of alleged HDZ repression of the largest opposition party, the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), see Globus (February 23, 1996); interview with Dražen Budiša.
49. For a recent discussion of alleged HDZ repression of the largest opposition party, the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), see Globus (February 23, 1996); interview with Dražen Budiša.
50. For an overview in English of Tudjman's policy toward the press, see Patrick Moore, "War as the Centerpiece in Bosnia and Croatia," Transition 1, no. 18 (October 6, 1995): 30-32.
51. Novi list (October 15, 1995).
52. Globus (September 29, 1995), in FBIS:EEU (October 4, 1995): 34-35.
53. Globus (September 29, 1995), in FBIS:EEU (October 4, 1995): 34-35.
54. For a critical discussion of this system of voting, see Novi list (October 23, 1995).
55. Novi list (February 22, 1996); interview with Ivan Kranjčina.
56. Novi list (February 22, 1996); interview with Ivan Kranjčina.
57. Slobodna Dalmacija (May 9, 1992), in FBIS:EEU (May 28, 1992): 57-62.
58. Slobodna Dalmacija (May 9, 1992), in FBIS:EEU (May 28, 1992): 57-62.
59. Novi list (October 23, 1995); interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994.
60. Novi list (October 23, 1995); interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994.
61. Novi list (July 20, 1995); interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994. Paraga's political about-face is not as inexplicable as it might at first appear. In a sense, he has returned to the stance he maintained throughout the 1980s as a vociferous opponent of the repressive practices of the ruling regime.
62. Novi list (July 20, 1995); interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994. Paraga's political about-face is not as inexplicable as it might at first appear. In a sense, he has returned to the stance he maintained throughout the 1980s as a vociferous opponent of the repressive practices of the ruling regime.
63. Profil [Vienna] (August 3, 1992), in FBIS:EEU (August 3, 1992): 26-27.
64. Profil [Vienna] (August 3, 1992), in FBIS:EEU (August 3, 1992): 26-27.
65. Glas Slavonija (August 19, 1995); interview with Ante Djapic, July 13, 1994.
66. Glas Slavonija (August 19, 1995); interview with Ante Djapic, July 13, 1994.
67. Dobroslav Paraga and Ante Paradžik, Borba za Hrvatsku državnu nezavisnost (The Struggle for Croatian State Independence) (Zagreb: Croatian Party of Rights, 1991), p. 164.
68. Slobodna Dalmacija (May 9, 1992), in FBIS:EEU (May 28, 1992): 57-62; interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994.
69. Slobodna Dalmacija (May 9, 1992), in FBIS:EEU (May 28, 1992): 57-62; interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994.
70. Slobodna Dalmacija (May 9, 1992), in FBIS:EEU (May 28, 1992): 57-62; interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994.
71. Novi list (October 23, 1995); interview with Zvonimir Kramarić.
72. Novi list (October 23, 1995); interview with Zvonimir Kramarić.
73. Profil (August 3, 1992),
74. in FBIS:EEU (August 3, 1992): 26-27.
75. Tudjman claims that it is Croatia's "duty to integrate Bosnian Muslims into European civilization." TF-1 Television Network [Paris] (September 25, 1995), in FBIS:EEU (September 27, 1995): 31.
76. These talks are discussed in several recent books on the former Yugoslavia. For the most detailed coverage, see Susan L. Woodward, Balkan Tragedy: Chaos and Dissolution After the Cold War (Washington: Brookings Institution, 1995).
77. Šušak was alleged to have said that swallowing the Croat-Muslim Federation was "like swallowing a large frog" (Vreme News Digest [January 15, 1996]).
78. Interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994.
79. According to Paraga, by the summer of 1994 there were only about 1,000 to 1,500 HOS fighters left in Bosnia-Herzegovina (interview with Dobroslav Paraga, July 15, 1994).
80. Panorama [Zagreb] (April 3, 1996).
81. Ibid.
82. Nevertheless, the limited extent to which they are prepared to see these symbols as designating a separate nationality is revealed by the fact that they use the term Bosniac (referring to Bosnian Muslims) as they would other names designating inhabitants of other parts of Croatia such as Dalmatian, Slavonian, or Herzegovinian.
83. Although ultranationalists sometimes display anti-Semitic opinions, anti-Semitism is not a pronounced element of ultranationalism in Croatia.
84. Novi list (October 22, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
85. Novi list (October 22, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
86. Arkzin [Zagreb] (June 2, 1995), in FBIS:EEU (August 30, 1995): 40-42.
87. Arkzin [Zagreb] (June 2, 1995), in FBIS:EEU (August 30, 1995): 40-42.
88. Ibid.
89. For example, see Temeljna načela i statut, Hrvatska stranka prava (Founding Principles and Statutes of the Croatian Party of Rights) (February 24, 1991).
90. "Neofašisti izemdju Zagreba i Beograda" (Neo-Fascists Between Zagreb and Belgrade), Hrvatsko pravo, no. 19-20 (July-August 1993): 35.
91. Glas Slavonije (August 19, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
92. Glas Slavonije (August 19, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
93. Vjesnik (September 6, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 29, 1994): 42-46.
94. Vjesnik (September 6, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 29, 1994): 42-46.
95. Novi list (October 22, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
96. Novi list (October 22, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
97. Agence France-Presse (August 26, 1995), in Transition 1, no. 2 (November 3, 1995): 8.
98. Agence France-Presse (August 26, 1995), in Transition 1, no. 2 (November 3, 1995): 8.
99. An estimated 150,000 people fled from western Slavonia and the Krajina during the spring and summer of 1995. However, this process began much earlier. Official United Nations' estimates in August 1992 placed the number of Serbian refugees at 250,000. Between September 1995 and the middle of June 1996, approximately 10,000 Serbs returned to Croatia, including those who crossed the border illegally (Woodrow Wilson Center East European Studies [September-October 1996]).
100. Interview with Bosiljko Mišetić, July 12, 1994. This view has also been expressed by Tudjman in various writings and speeches. For example, see Franjo Tudjman, S vjerom u samostalnu Hrvatsku (With Faith in Independent Croatia) (Zagreb: Narodne Novine, 1995).
101. Interview with Bosiljko Mišetić, July 12, 1994. This view has also been expressed by Tudjman in various writings and speeches. For example, see Franjo Tudjman, S vjerom u samostalnu Hrvatsku (With Faith in Independent Croatia) (Zagreb: Narodne Novine, 1995).
102. Novi list (February 23, 1996).
103. Ibid; also interview with Bosiljko Mišetić, July 12, 1994.
104. Ibid; also interview with Bosiljko Mišetić, July 12, 1994.
105. Franjo Tudjman, "Očuvanje punog suvereniteta Hrvatskog naroda i gradjanskih prava svih državljena Republike Hrvatske" (Maintaining the Full Sovereignty of the Croat People and the Civil Rights of All People of the Republic of Croatia), in Tudjman, S vjerom u samostalnu Hrvatsku, pp. 79-90.
106. Nedjeljna Dalmacija (September 2, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 15, 1994): 51-53.
107. Nedjeljna Dalmacija (September 2, 1994), in FBIS:EEU (September 15, 1994): 51-53.
108. Hrvatski obzor [Zagreb] (September 25, 1995); interview with Ivan Gabelica.
109. Hrvatski obzor [Zagreb] (September 25, 1995); interview with Ivan Gabelica.
110. Novi list (October 22, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
111. Novi list (October 22, 1995); interview with Ante Djapić, July 13, 1994.
112. Interview with Bosiljko Mišetić, July 12, 1994.