League of Communists of Croatia
Encyclopedia
League of Communists of Croatia was the Croatia
n branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
(SKJ). Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia .
, which would have its Communist Party at the same time, was the most industrialised part of the country, with the biggest percentage of working class
in the population, and, therefore, more likely to adopt communism
than rural Serbia
.
The other, more practical, reason was in the increased marginalisation of Communists in Croatian political life due to public more preoccupied with ethnic issues and position of Croatia within Yugoslavia (cf. Croatia in the first Yugoslavia
). Territorial aspirations of fascist Italy
towards Croatian parts of Yugoslavia also presented opportunity for the creation of broad Communist-dominated alliances modelled on Popular Front
.
Prior to the formation of the Communist Party of Croatia there was a Croatian-Slavonian Provincial Committee of the Socialist Workers Party of Yugoslavia (Communists) and there was a developed party structure of the Socialist Party of Croatia and Slavonia. Dalmatia had its own structures up to 1937.
KPH, just like KPJ, was illegal and, therefore, remained marginalised, especially after the 1939 Cvetković-Maček Agreement
and the creation of the banovina of Croatia
within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Party's fortunes dramatically changed with the 1941 Axis
invasion of Yugoslavia and creation of the Independent State of Croatia
. Although KPH had many of its leading figures arrested and killed by new regime, it remained strong enough to form what would become the only truly effective resistance movement
in Croatia — the Partisans
. KPH was based on ideological rather than ethnic grounds and, therefore, had support in both ethnic Croat and ethnic Serb areas. This allowed Josip Broz Tito
's Partisans to mount ultimately successful guerrilla campaign. KPH platform of post-war reorganisation of Yugoslavia on federal grounds also attracted many non-Communist Croatians to its cause, especially in the later stages of war.
In 1945 Yugoslavia was indeed federalised with Croatia becoming a republic, but its nominal autonomy was of little importance with KPJ being heavily centralised and KPH - renamed into SKH in 1952 - being its integral part.
Things began to change in late 1960s with Tito allowing for reformist policies embodied of new generation of Communist leaders. This generation included SKH leaders Savka Dabčević-Kučar and Miko Tripalo
who would start movement called the Croatian Spring
, advocating for more autonomy of Croatia within Yugoslavia. They advocated against centralism which disproportionately benefited the eastern parts of Yugoslavia, especially Serbia
and Macedonia
.
The movement, however, created a lot of ethnic tension and increasing opposition from the more conservative Party members. In December 1971, on the Karađorđevo conference of the SKJ, Tito publicly distanced himself from Croatian Spring, leading to the end of the movement. Using the alleged Croatian nationalism
as a pretext, SKH was subsequently purged from most of its liberal
and reformist elements.
As a result, SKH in the 1970s became one of the most conservative sections of SKJ and remained interested in maintaining ideological and political status quo
even when other branches of SKJ began to explore new ideas. Because of that, SKH in late 1980s was slow to react when League of Communists of Serbia
under Slobodan Milošević
aimed to reassert internal Serbian interest. SKH began to openly condemn Milošević only in 1989 after Serbian nationalist demonstrations in areas that would later become Republic of Serbian Krajina
.
Another reason for this change of policy was increasingly apparent prospect of SKH being forced to allow some form of multi-party democracy
and having its power tested on free elections. SKH quickly adopted a new reformist platform and pushed for the constitutional
amendments allowing first free elections in 1990. In January 1990 the Croatian Party delegation led by Ivica Račan
left the 17th Congress of SKJ, few hours after the Slovenian Party delegation did so over a row with the Serbian Party delegation.
In the next few months, SKH tried very hard to present itself as modern and reformist party, rebranding itself into a new party that would ultimately become Social Democratic Party of Croatia
. Those and other changes, however, weren't very convincing to the Croatian electorate and SKH lost power to Croatian Democratic Union
of Franjo Tuđman.
It is estimated that in the 1980s, during its zenith, the SKH had around 300-400,000 members. Subsequent surveys showed that most of the membership left the party in 1990, with only minority remaining active in politics. Of those, majority joined the HDZ.
Another reason why the Party lost support in Croatia was because it was accused of being dominated by the Serb minority. The Serb influence was indeed disproportionate at times. In 1989, 30% of the members of the Croatian League of Communists were Serbs, while their overall percentage in the republic was less than 13%.
Serbs held the presidency of the party twice, one up to 1942 with Rade Končar
, the other from 1986 until 1989 by Stanko Stojčević.
Government of October 22, 1949
Executive Committee of February 7, 1953
Executive Committee Spring 1958
Executive Committee of 1963
dissidents in Vukovar
tried to found new political party called Communist Party of Croatia, but in the end they failed to register and organize. http://www.komunisti-hrvatske.com
This new party should not be mistaken with KPH/SKH, because, unlike Social Democratic Party of Croatia
, it is not its formal successor.
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
(SKJ). Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia .
History
The party was formally founded in 1937 with Pavle Gregorić as its first general secretary. The reasons for KPJ to have its specifically Croatian branch were partly ideological, partly practical. Croatia, just as SloveniaSlovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, which would have its Communist Party at the same time, was the most industrialised part of the country, with the biggest percentage of working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
in the population, and, therefore, more likely to adopt communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
than rural Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
The other, more practical, reason was in the increased marginalisation of Communists in Croatian political life due to public more preoccupied with ethnic issues and position of Croatia within Yugoslavia (cf. Croatia in the first Yugoslavia
Croatia in the first Yugoslavia
-The Yugoslav Committee:The basis of Croatia and Serbia forming a union in 1918 is to be found in the complex history of the Yugoslav Committee. The Yugoslav Committee was formed by exiles living outside the Croatian homeland during World War I. The Committee was led by Frano Supilo and Ante...
). Territorial aspirations of fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
towards Croatian parts of Yugoslavia also presented opportunity for the creation of broad Communist-dominated alliances modelled on Popular Front
Popular front
A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
.
Prior to the formation of the Communist Party of Croatia there was a Croatian-Slavonian Provincial Committee of the Socialist Workers Party of Yugoslavia (Communists) and there was a developed party structure of the Socialist Party of Croatia and Slavonia. Dalmatia had its own structures up to 1937.
KPH, just like KPJ, was illegal and, therefore, remained marginalised, especially after the 1939 Cvetković-Maček Agreement
Cvetkovic-Macek Agreement
The Cvetković-Maček Agreement was a political agreement on the internal divisions in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which was settled on August 23, 1939 by Yugoslav prime minister Dragiša Cvetković and Vladko Maček, a Croat politician...
and the creation of the banovina of Croatia
Banovina of Croatia
The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1943 . Its capital was at Zagreb and it included most of present-day Croatia along with portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia...
within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Party's fortunes dramatically changed with the 1941 Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
invasion of Yugoslavia and creation of the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
. Although KPH had many of its leading figures arrested and killed by new regime, it remained strong enough to form what would become the only truly effective resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
in Croatia — the Partisans
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
. KPH was based on ideological rather than ethnic grounds and, therefore, had support in both ethnic Croat and ethnic Serb areas. This allowed Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's Partisans to mount ultimately successful guerrilla campaign. KPH platform of post-war reorganisation of Yugoslavia on federal grounds also attracted many non-Communist Croatians to its cause, especially in the later stages of war.
Things began to change in late 1960s with Tito allowing for reformist policies embodied of new generation of Communist leaders. This generation included SKH leaders Savka Dabčević-Kučar and Miko Tripalo
Miko Tripalo
Miko Tripalo was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician.A son of well-to-do farmers' family near Sinj, he joined Tito's Partisans as a teenager...
who would start movement called the Croatian Spring
Croatian Spring
The Croatian Spring was a political movement from the early 1970s that called for greater rights for Croatia which was then part of Yugoslavia as well as democratic and economic reforms.-History:...
, advocating for more autonomy of Croatia within Yugoslavia. They advocated against centralism which disproportionately benefited the eastern parts of Yugoslavia, especially Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
.
The movement, however, created a lot of ethnic tension and increasing opposition from the more conservative Party members. In December 1971, on the Karađorđevo conference of the SKJ, Tito publicly distanced himself from Croatian Spring, leading to the end of the movement. Using the alleged Croatian nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
as a pretext, SKH was subsequently purged from most of its liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and reformist elements.
As a result, SKH in the 1970s became one of the most conservative sections of SKJ and remained interested in maintaining ideological and political status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
even when other branches of SKJ began to explore new ideas. Because of that, SKH in late 1980s was slow to react when League of Communists of Serbia
League of Communists of Serbia
The League of Communists of Serbia was the Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. Under a new constitution ratified in 1974, greater power was devolved to the various republic level branches. In the late 1980s, the party was...
under Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
aimed to reassert internal Serbian interest. SKH began to openly condemn Milošević only in 1989 after Serbian nationalist demonstrations in areas that would later become Republic of Serbian Krajina
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
.
Another reason for this change of policy was increasingly apparent prospect of SKH being forced to allow some form of multi-party democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
and having its power tested on free elections. SKH quickly adopted a new reformist platform and pushed for the constitutional
Constitution of Croatia
The current Constitution of the Republic of Croatia was adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia on December 22, 1990. It replaced the Constitution of 1974 ratified in socialist Yugoslavia...
amendments allowing first free elections in 1990. In January 1990 the Croatian Party delegation led by Ivica Račan
Ivica Racan
Ivica Račan was a Croatian career politician, leader of the League of Communists of Croatia and later Social Democratic Party from 1989 to 2007...
left the 17th Congress of SKJ, few hours after the Slovenian Party delegation did so over a row with the Serbian Party delegation.
In the next few months, SKH tried very hard to present itself as modern and reformist party, rebranding itself into a new party that would ultimately become Social Democratic Party of Croatia
Social Democratic Party of Croatia
Social Democratic Party of Croatia , commonly referred to in Croatia as simply Social Democratic Party , is the largest centre-left political party in Croatia...
. Those and other changes, however, weren't very convincing to the Croatian electorate and SKH lost power to Croatian Democratic Union
Croatian Democratic Union
The Croatian Democratic Union is the main center-right political party in Croatia. It is the biggest and strongest individual Croatian party since independence of Croatia. The Christian democratic HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 to 2000 and, in partial coalition, from 2003...
of Franjo Tuđman.
It is estimated that in the 1980s, during its zenith, the SKH had around 300-400,000 members. Subsequent surveys showed that most of the membership left the party in 1990, with only minority remaining active in politics. Of those, majority joined the HDZ.
Another reason why the Party lost support in Croatia was because it was accused of being dominated by the Serb minority. The Serb influence was indeed disproportionate at times. In 1989, 30% of the members of the Croatian League of Communists were Serbs, while their overall percentage in the republic was less than 13%.
Serbs held the presidency of the party twice, one up to 1942 with Rade Končar
Rade Koncar
Rade Končar was a Yugoslav Communist leader and legendary World War II resistance fighter.-Biography:...
, the other from 1986 until 1989 by Stanko Stojčević.
Ethnic composition of the governments
Government of April 14, 1945- 5 Croats
- 1 Serb
- 8 members of unknown or undeclared ethnicity
Government of October 22, 1949
- 13 Croats
- 3 Serbs
- 1 YugoslavYugoslavsYugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
- 7 members of unknown or undeclared ethnicity
Executive Committee of February 7, 1953
- 18 Croats
- 3 Serbs
- 3 members of unknown or undeclared ethnicity
Executive Committee Spring 1958
- 16 Croats
- 2 Serbs
- 6 members of unknown or undeclared ethnicity
Executive Committee of 1963
- 5 Croats
- 6 members of unknown or undeclared ethnicity
Party leaders
- Andrija HebrangAndrija Hebrang (father)Andrija Hebrang was a Croatian and Yugoslav Stalinist politician.-Early life:Andrija Hebrang was born in the village of Bačevac to father Andrija Hebrang and mother Cela Strasser. During World War I, he was stationed for a time in Osijek, Zagreb, and finally the battlefields in Gorizia, Italy...
(1942 - October 1944) (b.1899-d.1949) - Vladimir BakarićVladimir BakaricDr. Vladimir Bakarić was a Croatian communist and a politician in Socialist Yugoslavia.Bakarić helped organize Partisan resistance in Croatia during World War II. From 1948 to 1969 he was the chairman of the Croatian League of Communists, and as such was a close collaborator of President Josip...
(October 1944 - 1969) (b.1912-d.1983) - Savka Dabčević-Kučar (1969 - 1971) (b.1923-d.2009)
- Milka PlanincMilka PlanincMilka Planinc was an ethnic Croatian Yugoslav politician. She served as a Prime Minister of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1982 to 1986. She was the first female head of government in the history of real socialism...
(14 December 1971 - May 1982) (b.1924-d.2010) - Jure BilićJure BilićJure Bilić was a Croatian and Yugoslav communist politician.Bilić was born in Makarska in 1922. In 1941 he joined the Yugoslav Partisans and became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia....
(May 1982 - 1 July 1983) (b.1922-d.2006) - Josip VrhovecJosip VrhovecJosip Vrhovec was a Croatian / Yugoslav communist politician, best known for serving as Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1978 and 1982 and the Chairman of the League of Communists of Croatia from July 1982 to May 1984.-Biography:Born in Zagreb on 9 February 1926, Vrhovec...
(1 July 1983 - 15 May 1984) (b.1926-d.2006) - Mika ŠpiljakMika ŠpiljakMika Špiljak was a Croatian politician in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.He was born in Odra Sisačka . His father Dragutin was a railway worker. Špiljak began working at the age of 16...
(15 May 1984 - May 1986) (b.1916-d.2007) - Stanko Stojčević (May 1986 - December 1989) (b.1929)
- Ivica RačanIvica RacanIvica Račan was a Croatian career politician, leader of the League of Communists of Croatia and later Social Democratic Party from 1989 to 2007...
(13 December 1989 - 1990) (b.1944-d.2007)
Sources
- Shoup, Paul. "Communism and the Yugoslav national question". New York: Columbia University Press, 1968. 308 p.
- Chapter 4, Government and Politics/Regional Political Issues/Croatia of the U.S. Library of Congress A country study of Yugoslavia
New Communist Party
On November 29, 2005 - the date specifically chosen as Republic Day, former public holiday in socialist Yugoslavia - a group of Socialist Labour Party of CroatiaSocialist Labour Party of Croatia
Socialist Labour Party of Croatia is a far left Croatian political party with no parliamentary representation. It is often considered to be the leftmost of all registered parties in Croatian politics.-Ideology:...
dissidents in Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
tried to found new political party called Communist Party of Croatia, but in the end they failed to register and organize. http://www.komunisti-hrvatske.com
This new party should not be mistaken with KPH/SKH, because, unlike Social Democratic Party of Croatia
Social Democratic Party of Croatia
Social Democratic Party of Croatia , commonly referred to in Croatia as simply Social Democratic Party , is the largest centre-left political party in Croatia...
, it is not its formal successor.
See also
- History of CroatiaHistory of CroatiaCroatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...
- League of Communists of YugoslaviaLeague of Communists of YugoslaviaLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
- League of Communists of Bosnia and HerzegovinaLeague of Communists of Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina was the Bosnian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.- Leaders :*Secretaries of the Central Committee of the League of Communists...
- League of Communists of MacedoniaLeague of Communists of MacedoniaLeague of Communists of Macedonia was the Macedonian branch of the ruling League of Communists of Yugoslavia during the period 1943 – 1990. It was formed under the name Communist Party of Macedonia during the antifascist National Liberation War of Macedonia in the Second World War...
- League of Communists of MontenegroLeague of Communists of MontenegroThe League of Communists of Montenegro was the Montenegrin branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990...
- League of Communists of SerbiaLeague of Communists of SerbiaThe League of Communists of Serbia was the Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. Under a new constitution ratified in 1974, greater power was devolved to the various republic level branches. In the late 1980s, the party was...
- League of Communists of VojvodinaLeague of Communists of VojvodinaThe League of Communists of Vojvodina was the Vojvodina branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.- Leaders :*Secretaries of the Central Committee of the League of Communists...
- League of Communists of KosovoLeague of Communists of KosovoThe League of Communists of Kosovo was the Kosovo branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990.-History and background:...
- League of Communists of Vojvodina
- League of Communists of SloveniaLeague of Communists of SloveniaThe League of Communists of Slovenia was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1989...
- League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- List of leaders of communist Yugoslavia
- Socialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaSocialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaThe Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...