After Tito's death in 1980, tensions rose in Yugoslavia between nationalist leaders seeking independence for their republics and Slobodan Milošević, who wanted to recentralize power in Serbia. Franjo Tuđman led Croatia to independence and fought the Serbian paramilitary forces and JNA army during Croatia's war for independence from 1991-1995. Meanwhile, Milošević's nationalist policies ignited conflicts across Yugoslavia and he was later charged with war crimes, though he died during his trial at The Hague. While Tuđman achieved an independent Croatia, he faced criticisms of authoritarianism before his death in 1999.

1. Franjo Tuđman
and
Slobodan Milošević

2. 
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
In May 1990. Josip Broz Tito
died after 35 years of ruling the
Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
For decades he was regarded as
the supreme authority and a
model citizen and he was
treated almost as a god.
Given the fact that the
Yugoslav Communists deemed
Tito to be
irreplaceable, Yugoslavia was
taken over by an eight member
presidency: one member from
each Yugoslavian republic and
autonomous province.

3. 
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
After Josip Broz Tito’s
death, Slobodan Milošević became
the new political leader at the
Serbian communists, and thus
Serbia.
He sought a reform of the
Yugoslav federation in such a way
that the Republics would lose the
right of independent decision
making.
. He advocated the principle of
"One man - one vote" so that
Serbia, as the most populous
republic, would gain more power
within the Yugoslav federation.

4. 
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
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By using propaganda and by using
Serbian nationalism, Milošević
successfully instigated mass
meetings, clearly marked with Serbian
national iconography.
At the meetings which are often held
throughout Serbia, people were
protesting against the alleged threat to
the Serbs in Kosovo and elsewhere in
Yugoslavia, and offered unreserved
support for Milošević who was
portrayed as the savior of the Serbian
people.
These kinds of politics provoked
opposition from Slovenian and Croatian
communists towards Serbia.
Later, Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Macedonia joined the opposition.
The members of the presidency of
Serbia, both of the autonomous
provinces and Montenegro were
supporting Milošević, while the
remaining four republics opposed
Milošević.

5. 


In 1989 , in Croatia, other
political parties are formed. One
of them was the Croatian
Democratic Union led by Franjo
Tuđman.
During the communist
regime, Franjo Tuđman
expressed his dissatisfaction
about the position of Croatia in
the Yugoslav federation, and on
the charge of "Croatian
nationalism" spent several years
in jail.
He participated in events during
the Croatian spring.

6. 


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On the first multiparty elections held in
1990, the Croatian Democratic Union won.
On the 30th May the Croatian parliament was
held for the first time (after many years).
On that session, Franjo Tuđman was elected
as the president of Croatia.
The parliament changed the name of the
country - From Socialist Republic of Croatia
to Republic of Croatia, which marked the end
of socialism in Croatia.
The flag also changed, from having the fivepointed star to having the traditional
Croatian coat of arms checkerboard.
The new constitution defined Croatia as "the
national state of the Croatian nation and the
state of the members of autochthonous
national minorities:
Serbs, Muslims, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Ita
lians, Hungarians, Jews and the others who
are citizens, and who are guaranteed equality
with citizens of Croatian nationality ..."

7. 

The other republics also held
multiparty elections in 1990.
The Communists lost power
in all republics except Serbia
and Montenegro.
The Slovenian president
Milan Kučan and The
Croatian president Franjo
Tuđman argued for greater
independence for republics
and confederations, while
Milošević did not want to
give us the concept of a
centralized Yugoslavia.

8. 
Milošević, who initially
presented himself as the savior of
Yugoslavia and
socialism, transformed himself
into a Serbian
nationalist, knowing that it will
increase his popularity. On
Croatian territories which were
largely populated by Serbs, the
Serbs started establishing
themselves as an “Autonomous
region” that did not recognize
the newly elected Croatian
government. Proclaimed as the
“Serbian Autonomous region of
Krajina” (SAO Krajina) and its
secession from Croatia. In
August 1991. the “Log
Revolution” started. Serbian
paramilitary troops blocked
roads with barricades. The
rebellion started because of
Milošević’s people were actively
fomenting fear and hatred.


The JNA, under control by
Milošević, gave active support to
the rebels. The ultimate goal
emphasized the creation of a
Greater Serbia that would contain
large parts of Croatia and Bosnia
and Herzegovina. During 1991
armed incidents have become
increasingly
common, particularly in the area
of Pakrac, Plitvice and Vukovar.
As the negotiations between
Tuđman and Milošević weren’t
giving any results, the Croatian
leadership decided to hold a
referendum, in which 93% of
Croatian citizens voted for the
establishment of an independent
and sovereign Croatian
state, which was declared on
25.6.1991. The same day, Slovenia
decided to become independent.
Two days later a brief conflict
between the JNA and the
Slovenian forces broke out, after
which the JNA withdrew from
Slovenia.

9. 
However, Milošević and the JNA weren’t ready to leave Croatia to become
independent, but they wanted to secede SAO Krajina. During the summer
of 1991, the conflicts have flared throughout Croatia. Serbian rebels with
the help of the JNA and paramilitary volunteers from Serbia occupied
Baranja, Eastern Slavonia, Western Slavonia, and large parts of Banija,
Kordun and Lika. In Dalmatia they occupied parts around Zadar, Drniš
and Dubrovnik. The fate of Vukovar was particularly tragic. Serbian forces
also committed war crimes against civilians in Škabrnja, Saborsko and
elsewhere. Many Croatian cities were severely damaged during the
Serbian bombings. They also bombarded Dubrovnik, Šibenik and Zadar.

10. 
During the war, the Croatian Democratic Union has retained power in
Croatia. Beginning in 1992. Croatia held parliamentary elections in
which the Croatian Parliamentary Union won again, while Franjo
Tuđman won the presidential election. In 1994 President Tuđman
opened the monument known as the Altar of the homeland. This
monument is dedicated to all of those killed in the war.The stone
blocks were built from stone from all over Croatia. In the middle is the
„eternal fire“.

11. 

The war in Bosnia and
Herzegovina began in April
1992. A similar scenario as
the war in Croatia. Serbian
troops commited numerous
organized crimes of which
the worst was the massacre
in Srebrnica in 1995.
Initially, the military forces
of Bosniaks and Croats
cooperated, but in 1993 they
clashed in some parts of
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
They started accusing Franjo
Tuđman for interfering in
affairs of another country
and even expansionist
policies in which the
ultimate goal was the
annexation of parts of Bosnia
and Herzegovina. Either
way, the Croatian-Bosnian
war ended in 1994. and the
military cooperation against
Serbian forces resumed.

In 1995 Croatia was given approval
of the international community to
take liberation action, of which the
most important were „Flash“ and
„Storm“. Peace talks have taken
place in the U.S. city Dayton, the
main participants were Croatian
president Franjo Tuđmam, Bosnian
president Alija Izetbegović and
Serbian president Slobodan
Milošević.

12. 
In 1997 Franjo Tuđman was re-elected as the president of Croatia. His
party, the Croatian Democratic Union, has retained a majority in the
parliament. Besides interfering with the war in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Franjo Tuđman has recieved many complaints because of
his authoritarian style of goverment. Critics have reproached his botched
privatization of state enterprises, which are often boiled down to a simple
robbery and arbitrary interference in the activities outside the powers of
the president and attempt to emulate Tito's cult of personality. Either
way, this does not dimish Tuđmans underlying merit: To give Croatia
independent and to end the war. Franjo Tuđman died in 1999.

13. 
After the war, Milođević's
popularity in Serbia decreased.
During 1998 there was an
uprising of Albanians in
Kosovo. Milošević responded
by choking military revolts and
mass deportations of the
Albanian population. On the
24th March 1999 a NATO air
attack occoured on Serbia, and
after that the serbian forces
withdrew from Kosovo, which
was placed under an
international protectorate. In
july 2000 Milošević announced
an extraordinary presidential
election, confident that he
would win. However, the
defeat on Kosovo, election
frauds poverty and isolation of
Serbia resulted in the defeat of
Milošević and his party. As
Milošević refused to admit
defeat there have been mass
protests, and Milošević fell
from power.

14. 
In June 2001 he was submitted to the International Court of
Justice in Hague for war crimes in Yugoslavia. He was
charged with crimes in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina. He was accused of attempting to realize the
project of Greater Serbia and that he is directly responsible for
the attacks and the warin the former Yugoslavia. During the
trial, he died of a heart attack in 2006 in a prison in Hague.