Independence of Croatia in the context of "Croatia"

The Croatian War of Independence was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat operations by 1992.

A majority of Croats supported Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia, while many ethnic Serbs living in Croatia, supported by Serbia, opposed the secession and advocated Serb-claimed lands to be in a common state with Serbia. Most Serbs sought a new Serb state within a Yugoslav federation, including areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with ethnic Serb majorities or significant minorities, and attempted to conquer as much of Croatia as possible. Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, but agreed to postpone it with the Brioni Agreement and cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia on 8 October 1991.

Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the country's independence from Yugoslavia. Tuđman also was the ninth and last president of the Presidency of SR Croatia from May to July 1990.

Tuđman was born in Veliko Trgovišće. In his youth, he fought during World War II as a member of the Yugoslav Partisans. After the war, he took a post in the Ministry of Defence, later attaining the rank of major general of the Yugoslav People's Army in 1960. After his military career, he dedicated himself to the study of geopolitics. In 1963, he became a professor at the Zagreb Faculty of Political Sciences. He received a doctorate in history in 1965 and worked as a historian until coming into conflict with the regime. Tuđman participated in the Croatian Spring movement that called for reforms in the country and was imprisoned for his activities in 1972. He lived relatively anonymously in the following years until the end of communism, whereupon he began his political career by founding the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in 1989.

Croatia held an independence referendum on 19 May 1991, following the Croatian parliamentary elections of 1990 and the rise of ethnic tensions that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia. With 83 percent turnout, voters approved the referendum, with 93 percent in favor of independence. Subsequently, Croatia declared independence and the dissolution of its association with Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991, but it introduced a three-month moratorium on the decision when urged to do so by the European Community and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe through the Brioni Agreement. The war in Croatia escalated during the moratorium, and on 8 October 1991, the Croatian Parliament severed all remaining ties with Yugoslavia. In 1992, the countries of the European Economic Community granted Croatia diplomatic recognition and Croatia was admitted to the United Nations.

Croatian nationalism is the set of political, economic, civic, cultural, and ethnic ideologies that promotes the interests and influences within Croatia, the Croat people, Croatian citizens and the Croatian diaspora. It indicates the aspects that characterize and distinguish Croatian society as an autonomous community. The national identity and self-determination of Croatia has seen significant dynamism throughout its history. The cultural and ethnic unity of Croats has been a key component of nationalism since the 19th century. Roman Catholicism and the Illyrian movement influenced early-stage nationalist ideas. The claim and promise of historic statehood for Croats has informed many varieties of modern Croatian nationalism. This created the concept of Greater Croatia, the belief in the equivalence between the territorial scope of the Croatian people and that of the Croatian state. This regional sphere of influence spreads Croatian nationalism across Southeast Europe.

Following the independence of Croatia in 1991, modern Croatian society has been dominated by ethnic nationalism and historical revisionism. Its deepening integration within Europe and the broader Western world, has led to increased legal and rational concepts of nationalism such as the shared Croatian language, cultural traditions, national values, and citizenship. Croatian nationalism exists across the ideological spectrum – from the left-wing to the right-wing – of the country's political establishment. Croatia has strong ultranationalist (or hyper-nationalist) currents that advocate for extreme interpretations of Croatian hegemony, which has at times led to ethnic tension and political violence. Many national symbols and cultural exports define Croatian nationalism, including its national flag, anthem, soccer team, tourism sector, and cuisine, among others.

The foreign, diplomatic, economic, and political relations between Croatia and the United States were established on April 7, 1992 following the independence of Croatia. By the late-1990s, the U.S. established Croatia as its strongest geopolitical connection to Southeast Europe. Modern relations are considered to be warm and friendly, with stalwart bilateral collaboration. The Croatian diaspora in the U.S. is the largest, estimated to be around 1.2 million which, in part, informs the foreign policy of Croatia. The two nations have strong connectivity through tourism, immigration, foreign aid, and economic mutualism.

Croatia and the U.S. are close military allies and share a robust bilateral defense industrial base. U.S. interests in Croatia are centered on the state's stabilizing influence in the region and extending the global reach of jointly-held Western ideals. The U.S. trained and equipped the Croatian Armed Forces in joint-initiation of Operation Storm during the Croatian War of Independence, helping to secure much of modern Croatian borders. Both are members of NATO. After the 2022 Tu-141 drone crash in Zagreb, the U.S. dispatched two F-16 fighter jets in a show of military strength for Croatia.