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Franjo Tuđman

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Franjo Tuđman
1st President of Croatia
In office
30 May 1990 – 10 December 1999
Prime MinisterStjepan Mesić (1990)
Josip Manolić (1990–1991)
Franjo Gregurić (1991–1992)
Hrvoje Šarinić(1992–1993)
Nikica Valentić (1993–1995)
Zlatko Mateša (1995–1999)
Preceded byIvo Latin (as President of the Presidency of SR Croatia)
Succeeded byVlatko Pavletić (Acting)
Personal details
Born(1922-05-14)14 May 1922
Veliko Trgovišće, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Died10 December 1999(1999-12-10) (aged 77)[1]
Zagreb, Croatia
NationalityCroat
Political partyLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ)
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)
SpouseAnkica Tuđman Nee Žumbar
Alma materJNA Military Academy, Belgrade
OccupationMilitary
Politician
Military service
AllegianceDemocratic Federal Yugoslavia Yugoslav Partisans
 SFR Yugoslavia
Branch/serviceYugoslav People's Army (JNA)
JNA Ground Forces (KoV)
Years of service1941 - 1961
RankMajor General (General-major) (JNA)
Battles/warsWorld War II

Dr. Franjo Tuđman PhD (Croatian pronunciation: [frɑːɲɔ ˈtudʑmɑːn] listenⓘ) (May 14, 1922 – December 10, 1999) was a Croatian historian, writer and politician. He was the first President of Croatia.

In his youth he fought during World War II as a member of the Yugoslav partisans, serving as the youngest general in the army. After the war, he started working as a historian. He lived relatively anonymous in the following years until the end of communism, whereupon he began his political career by founding the HDZ in 1989.

Tuđman's political party HDZ (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica, Croatian Democratic Union) won the first post-communist multi-party elections in 1990 and he became the president of the country. A year later he proclaimed Croatia independent. He was re-elected twice and remained in power until his death in 1999.

Early years

Franjo Tuđman's birth house in Veliko Trgovišće

Franjo Tuđman was born in Veliko Trgovišće, a village in the Hrvatsko Zagorje region of northern Croatia, then a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.There is no clear evidence about origins of surname Tuđman. Some sources say it was Hungarian, others claim it was German.There are people with that surname is Michael Tugyman mentioned in the 17th century registry from Hrvatsko Zagorje[2] and Petar Tuđman (born in 1735)[2] but without evidence which indicates were as direct ancestors of Franjo Tuđman.[2] His father Stjepan owned a tavern and was an important member of the Croatian Peasant Party.[3] Mato ,Andraš and Juraj , brothers of Stjepan Tuđman have emigrated to America.[4] Another bother Valentin also tried to emigrate but travelling accident prevented him and kept in Veliko Trgovišće where he worked as (uneducated ) veterinarian.[4] Besides Franjo, Stjepan Tuđman had an elder daughter Danica Ana (which died as a baby [5]), Ivica (born in 1924 [5]) and Stjepan "Štefek" (born in 1926 [5] )

When Franjo Tuđman was 7 his mother Justina (née Gmaz [5]) died.[6] while bringing 5th child.[5] Stjepan Tuđman has later re-married with Olga Milažara. From the available description of Ankica Tuđman that marriage seemed to be happy. From viewpoint of Franjo Tuđman Olga treated them as they her own kids[6] Franjo Tuđman's mother was religious, unlike his father and step-mother.His father like Stjepan Radić had anticlerical attitude and young Franjo adopted their attitudes.[3]

When he was 15 his father brought him to Zagreb where he met Vladko Maček, president of HSS.[3] At first, young Franjo liked HSS, but later he turned towards communism.[7] On November 5, 1940 he was arrested during student demonstrations celebrating the anniversary of the Soviet October revolution.[8]

World war II

On April 10 1941, when Slavko Kvaternik proclaimed NDH Tuđman left school and started publishing secret newspapers with his friend Vlado Stopar.[8] He was recruited by Yugoslav partisans at the begining of 1942 by Marko Belinić.[8]

His father joined the partisans and became one of founders of ZAVNOH. According to Tuđman himself his father was arrested by Ustaše, and one of his brothers was taken to a concentration camp.[8] They both managed to survive, unlike the youngest brother Stjepan[8] who was killed fighting for the Partisans in 1943.

Tuđman was travelling between Zagreb and Zagorje using false documents which identified him as a member of the Croatian Home Guard. There he was helping to activate 1 partisan division of Zagorje.[8] On May 11, 1940 while carrying Belinić's letter he was arrested by Ustaše, but managed to escape from a police station.[8]

Career in Belgrade

Franjo Tuđman and Ankica Žumbar have married in the Belgrade city council .They turned the same day on their jobs.[9]

On April 26, 1946 his father Stjepan and stepmother were found dead.[9] His father Stjepan killed his wife and then himself, according to the police finding. Tuđman has never managed to clarify circumstances of their death.According to the police finding his father Stjepan killed his wife and then himself. Other theories accuse Ustaše guerrila (Crusaders) for their death. Other sources accuse members of Yugoslav secret police. (OZNA)[9]

Like many partisans Franjo and Ankica did not graduate secondary school. They did that after the war, in Belgrade.[10] In 1953 Tuđman was promoted into the colonel and in 1959 he became a general.He has been the youngest general in Yugoslav army. His rising career was not extreme but it was atypical for a Croat because senior officers were increasingly likely to be Serbs and Montenegrins.[11]

He was attending military academy in Belgrade. One of his teacher was Dušan Bilandžić,his future advisor.[12]

Institute

Tuđman left active army service in 1961 to found the Institut za historiju radničkoga pokreta Hrvatske ("Institute for the History of Croatia's Workers' Movement"), and remained its director until 1967.In three years he created main research institution. His insisting of Croatian interpretation of history has turned into his enemies some professors from University of Zagreb like Mirjana Gross and Ljubo Boban.[13] During his leadeship Institute became source of alternative interpretations of Yugoslav history.[12] He, however, did not have an appropriate academic degree which would make him valid historian.He began to realize that he will need doctorate in order to keep his position. University of Zagreb has rejected his disertation under excuse that some parts of it were already published.[14] University of Zadar,however, accepted it and he graduated on December 28 1965.[14] Members of his comittee were Vaso Bogdanov,Kosta Milutinović and Dinko Foretić,professors at University of Zadar.[14] His thesis was titled "Causes of crisis of monarchistic Yugoslavia, from unification 1918 till breakdown in 1941." In it he stated that primary causes of Yugoslavia's breakdown were repressive and corrupted regime unlike the mainstream Yugoslav historiography in that time which considered Croatian nationalism to be primary cause.[14] Both Bogdanov and Milutinović (ethnic Serbs) did not object to that.However,publisher "Naprijed" has cancelled contract with him following his refusal to change some "controversial" statements.[14]

Dissident politics

Apart from his book on guerilla warfare, Tuđman wrote a series of articles criticizing the Yugoslav Socialistestablishment, and was subsequently expelled from the Party. His most important book from that period was Velike ideje i Mali narodi ("Great ideas and small nations"), a monograph on political history that collided with central dogmas of Yugoslav Communist elite with regard to the interconnectedness of the national and social elements in the Yugoslav revolutionary war (during WWII).

In 1971 he was sentenced to two years of prison for subversive activities during the Croatian Spring. According to Tuđman's own testimony, Yugoslav President Marshal Josip Broz Tito personally intervened to recommend the court be lenient in his case, sparing him a far longer sentence. The authorities of SR Croatia additionally intended to prosecute Tuđman for a sentence of 15–20 years imprisonment and hard labor ("robija") on charges of espionage, which was averted by President Tito's intervention. According to Tuđman, he and Tito were personal friends.[15]
The Croatian Spring was a national movement that was actually set in motion by Josip Broz Tito and Croatian party chairman Vladimir Bakarić in the climate of growing liberalism in the late 60s. It was initially a tepid and ideologically controlled party liberalism, but it soon grew into mass nationalist-based manifestation of dissatisfaction with the position of Croatia withinYugoslavia, and threatened the party's political monopoly.[citation needed] As a result, the movement was suppressed by Tito, who used the military and the police to put a stop to what he saw as separatism and a threat to the party's influence. Bakarić quickly distanced himself from the Croatian Communist leadership that he himself helped gain power earlier, and sided with the Yugoslav president. However, Tito took the protesters' demands into consideration, and in 1974 the new Yugoslav constitution granted the majority of the demands sought by the Croatian Spring.

Tuđman felt that what was originally a Croatian Romantic pan-Slavic idea from the 19th century had mutated into the front for what he claimed was a pan-Serbian drive for domination over non-Serb people[citation needed].

On other topics like Communism and one-party monopoly, Tuđman remained mostly within the framework of Communist ideology. His sentence was commuted by Tito's government and Tuđman was released after nine months.

Tuđman was trialed again in 1981 for having spread "enemy propaganda", while giving an interview to the Swedish TV on the position of Croats in Yugoslavia and was sentenced to three years of prison, but again he only served a portion (this time eleven months).

On June 6, 1987 he flew in Canada with his wife Ankica in order to meet with Croatian Canadians.[16] They both wished to travel at that time:she was tyred of repressive athmosphere in Zagreb in that time and he consider Croatian diaspora to be wealthier and more influential than it has been in reality.[17] They were trying not to discuss "touchy" issues with emigrants beeing afraid that some of their spectators might be agents of Yugoslav secret police (UDBA)[18] which was a common practice. At their arrival to Zagreb they were waiting for their luggage more than an hour and after that they were questioned for 3 hours by the local police chief.[19]

In his trips to Canada he met many Croatian emigrants that were native of Herzegovina or had ancestry in Herzegovina. Some of them became members of future governments, such as Gojko Šušak.That meetings later were base of numerous conspiracy theories. According to them on that meeting Herzegovinian Croats earned to big influence inside HDZ, as well as in entire Croatia.[20]

Formation of the national program

In the latter part of the 1980s, when Yugoslavia was creeping towards its demise, torn by conflicting national aspirations, Tuđman formulated a Croatian national program that can be summarized in the following way:

  • The primary goal is establishment of the Croatian nation-state; therefore all ideological disputes from the past should be thrown away. In practice, this meant strong support from anti-Communist Croatian diaspora, especially financial.
  • Even though Tuđman's final goal was an independent Croatia, he was well aware of the realities of internal and foreign policy. So, his chief initial proposal was not a fully independent Croatia, but a confederal Yugoslavia with growing decentralization and democratization.
  • Tuđman envisaged Croatia's future as a welfare capitalist state that will inevitably move towards central Europe and away from the Balkans.
  • With regard to the burning issues of national conflicts, his vision was the following (at least at the beginning): he asserted that Serbian nationalism controlled JNA (Yugoslav People's Army: Serbs, who constituted less than 40% of Yugoslavia's population, made ca. 80% of commissioned officers corps[citation needed]) could wreak havoc on Croatian and Bosnian soil. The JNA, according to some estimates the fourth European military force re firepower, was being rapidly Serbianized, both ideologically and ethnically,[21] in less than four years. Tuđman's proposal was that Serbs in Croatia, who made up 12% of Croatia's population, should gain cultural with elements of territorial autonomy.
  • As far as Bosnia and Herzegovina was concerned, Tuđman was more ambivalent: Tuđman did not take a separate Bosnia seriously as shown by his comments to a television crew "Bosnia was a creation of the Ottoman invasion [...] Until then it was part of Croatia, or it was a kingdom of Bosnia, but a Catholic kingdom, linked to Croatia."[22] He thought that Bosniaks are, essentially, Croats of Muslim faith and will, freed from Communist censorship, declare themselves ethnically as Croats, therefore making Bosnia a predominantly Croatian country (with 44% Bosniaks, 17% Croats and 33% Serbs). But, these illusions were soon dispelled.[23]

The President of Croatia

Internal tensions that had broken up the Communist party of Yugoslavia prompted the governments of federal Republics to call for the first free multiparty elections after 1945.

Tuđman's connections with Croatian diaspora (he travelled a few times to Canada and the USA after 1987) proved to be crucial when he founded Croatian Democratic Union ("Hrvatska demokratska zajednica" or HDZ, as it became known after its acronym) in 1989 —a party that was to stay in power until 2000, and which cannot be classified along criteria dominant in stable societies.

His first journey in 1989 was to the Theresian Military Academy in Vienna in Austria, where he got as a General from hisAustro-Hungarian Army friends a public meeting organized on 5 March 1989, where he met people like Ivo Sanader, Ivan Milas and others. Since then is the role of Austria on the Balkans very suspicious, see: Vienna Capital Partners.

Essentially, this was a nationalist Croatian movement that affirmed Croatian values based on Catholicism blended with historical and cultural traditions generally suppressed in Communist Yugoslavia. The aim was to gain national independence and to establish a Croatian nation-state. His party triumphed and got around 60% seats in the Croatian Parliament. After a few constitutional changes, which included his refusal to endorse the Serbs' place in the Croat constitution inflamed Serb opinion in Croatia, resulting in many Serbs being purged from their jobs in the police, security forces, the media and factories.[24] Tuđman was elected to the position of President of Croatia.

Since the split among Communists in Yugoslavia on a national basis was already a fact at that time (according to prevalent opinion, that was primarily Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević's responsibility [citation needed]), it was inevitable that the conflict should continue after the democratic elections that brought to power non-Communists in Croatia, Slovenia andBosnia and Herzegovina, while Communists held their position in Serbia and Montenegro. For the tensions and wars that ensued, one should see history of Croatia and history of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The importance of Tuđman's leadership was seen at crucial junctures of Croatia's history: the all-out war against combined forces of Yugoslav Army and Serbian irredentist rebels, war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Operation Storm and the Dayton peace agreement. For instance: Tuđman's strategy of stalling the Yugoslav Army in 1991 by signing frequent cease fires intermediated by foreign diplomats was efficient — when the first cease fire was signed, the emerging Croatian Army had seven brigades; the last, twentieth cease fire the Croats had met with 64 brigades.

Unlike Serbia's President Slobodan Milošević, Tuđman managed to promote his equally rampant[weasel words]nationalism without attracting widespread condemnation. He achieved this by currying favour with the West by creating the impression that he was creating multi-party democracy at home. Yet, he has been accused that his domestic policy is quite non-democratic.[24]

Even during his presidency there were circles in society who claimed that Mr Tuđman's rule was autocratic and that he showed little sensitivity to criticism. In particular, these circles consider that during the Tuđman era civil rights record to the minority Serb population was poor.[24] In 2001 a review from the IPI reported about an increased number of libel law suits that were initiated during Tuđman's mandate.[25]

Controversies

The most common accusation is that of autocratic behavior and despotism. However, many argue that, faced with a superior military aggressor, the Croats, who had not yet built functioning national institutions, had to rely on a strong personal leadership Tuđman embodied. Although such kind of leadership necessarily involved unpleasant side-effects like traits of autocratic behavior, it might have been beneficial in crucial matters, as the Croats under Tuđman won the war and founded the nation-state, at least partly thanks to this characteristic.[citation needed] Some of his critics mention Gojko Šušak as his version of Darth Vader.[6]

There have been written many opionions by various authors that knew a little about Croatian history but they were dead certain that Tuđman was hard-line nationalist.[26]

Bosnian War

Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević meeting in Karađorđevo on alleged agreement
Main articles: Karađorđevo agreement and Bosnian War

Alleged secret discussions between Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević on the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Serbia and Croatia were held as early as March 1991 known as Karađorđevo agreement or Karađorđevo meeting. Following the declaration of independence of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbs attacked different parts of the country. The state administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina effectively ceased to function having lost control over the entire territory. The Serbs wanted all lands where Serbs had a majority, eastern and western Bosnia. The Croats and their leader Franjo Tuđman also aimed at securing parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Croatian. The policies of the Republic of Croatia and its leader Franjo Tuđman towards Bosnia and Herzegovina were never totally transparent and always included Franjo Tuđman's ultimate aim of expanding Croatia's borders.[27][28] In the Tihomir Blaškić verdict, the Trial Chamber found that "Croatia, and more specifically former President Tuđman, was hoping to partition Bosnia and exercised such a degree of control over the Bosnian Croats and especially the HVO that it is justified to speak of overall control."[23]

All "proofs" for this "agreement" are based on rumours of the persons that were no present at the meeting.[29] There is no any record of this meeting that proves existence of any agreement.[30]

Stjepan Mesić, the president of Croatia, revealed thousands of documents and audio tapes recorded by Franjo Tuđman about his plans during a case against Croat leaders from Bosnia and Herzegovina for war crimes committed against Bosniaks.[31][32] The tapes reveal that Tuđman and Milosević ignored pledges to respect Bosnia's sovereignty, even after signing the Dayton accord.[31][32] In one conversation Tuđman told an official: "Let's make a deal with the Serbs. Neither history nor emotion in the Balkans will permit multinationalism. We have to give up on the illusion of the last eight years... Dayton isn't working. Nobody- except diplomats and petty officials - believes in a sovereign Bosnia and the Dayton accords."[32] In another he is heard telling a Bosnian Croat ally: "You should give no indication that we wish the three-way division of Bosnia."[31] The tapes also reveal Tuđman's involvement in atrocities against the Bosniaks in Bosnia including the Croatian president covering up war crimes at Ahmići where more than a hundred Bosniak men, women and children were terrorised, and then shot or burned to death.[31][32]

In 1997, the HDZ government undertook several programs to refurbish Tuđman's tarnished image, especially in the eyes of the West.

Tuđman, who had been thrice elected as President of Croatia, fell ill with cancer in 1993. He recovered, but the general state of health declined in 1999 and Tuđman died from an internal hemorrhage on December 10, 1999.[1]

In 2004, six Bosnian Croats Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković, Valentin Corić, and Berislav Pušić were accused by the ICTY for being part of a joint criminal enterprise which included mass war crimes against Bosniak population during creation of ethnically pure Croatian quasi-state Herzeg-Bosnia on the territories of internationally recognized state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the indictment numerous persons participated in this joint criminal enterprise. Each participant, by his or her acts, omissions, practices or conduct, both individually and in concert with or through other persons, substantially contributed to carrying out the enterprise and accomplishing its purpose. Franjo Tuđman, among others, participated in the joint criminal enterprise.[33] As the indictment mentions not just former President of the Republic of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, but also other key figures from the Republic of Croatia (Gojko Šušak, former Minister of Defence and Janko Bobetko senior General), the government of the Republic of Croatia in 2006, filed the motion to be allowed to participate in the trial as the amicus curiae in order to "assist in the interpretation of historical and political facts and the determination of truth". The ICTY dismissed Croatia’s motion to appear as amicus curiae in the case, concluding that "it would not be in the interests of justice to allow a state – whose former political and military officials are named in the indictment as the participants in the joint criminal enterprise – to participate in the proceedings as the amicus curiae."[34]

War crimes allegations

It is true that Mr. Tuđman was not charged because he is dead, but alive, he would be here on the accused bench. General Bobetko, that he was alive, he would be accused of the bench. It should be borne in mind when talking about a joint criminal enterprise.[35]

— Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti

Had Tuđman lived longer, he would have been possibly brought up on war crimes charges by the UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Graham Blewitt, a senior Tribunal prosecutor, told the AFP wire service that "There would have been sufficient evidence to indict president Tuđman had he still been alive."[36] The Tribunal's indictment of Croatian general Ante Gotovina lists Tuđman as a key participant in a "joint criminal enterprise" aimed at the "permanent removal of the Serb population from the "Krajina" region by killing, force, fear or threat of force, persecution, forced displacement, transfer and deportation, appropriation and destruction of property other minority belongings & means."[37] In 1995, Carl Bildt had suggested that Franjo Tuđman was as guilty of war crimes as the "Krajina" Serb leader Milan Martić. Bildt was declared a persona non grata by Croatia following these statements.[38][39][40] because he "lost the credibility necessary for the role of a peace mediator".[39][40]

Privatization controversy

Main article: Croatian privatization controversy

President Tuđman initiated the process of privatization and de-nationalization in Croatia. However, this was far from transparent and fully legal.[citation needed] The fact that the new government's legal system was inefficient and slow, as well as the wider context of the Yugoslav wars caused numerous incidents known collectively in Croatia as the "privatization robbery" (Croatian: privatizacijska pljačka).[citation needed] Nepotism was endemic and during this period many influential individuals with the backing of the ruling party acquired state-owned property and companies at extremely low prices, afterwards selling them off piecemeal to the highest bidder for much larger sums.[citation needed] In the vast majority of cases this caused the bankruptcy of the (previously successful) firm, causing the unemploymentof thousands of citizens, a problem Croatia still struggles with to this day.[citation needed]

It is also beyond doubt that not few shadowy figures who moved close to Tuđman, the centre of power in Croatian society, profited from this enormously, having amassed wealth with suspicious celerity[citation needed]. Although this phenomenon is common to chaotic reforms in most post-communist societies (the best example being Russia with her "oligarchs"), the majority of Croats[citation needed] are of the opinion that Tuđman could and should have prevented at least a part of these malfeasances because nothing similar has happened to Slovenia, which had also been part of the former Yugoslavia. The most common allegations sprouting from this state that he probably personally profited from this.[citation needed]

The charge of nepotism and favoritism (elitism), frequently leveled at Tuđman himself, has been resolved in 2007 when his daughter, Nevenka Tuđman, was found guilty of corruption, but set free because too many years has passed from time of the crime.[41][42] There are also other instances of apparent family nepotism. His son Miroslav Tuđman occupied the position of Chief of the HIS, the Croatian secret service, during the time of his father's presidency.[43] Franjo Tuđman is often accused of having acquired his personal property by dishonest means.[44]

The Horrors of War

In 1989 Tuđman published his probably most famous work, The Horrors of War or Wastelands of Historical Reality (Bespuća povijesne zbiljnosti) in which he questioned the number of victims during World War II in Yugoslavia. It then slowly spirals towards the true center of his work: the attack on what he claimed was a hyperinflation of Serbian casualties in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

Most of Serbian mainstream historians have claimed that the number of Serbs killed in the Jasenovac concentration camp was between 300,000 and 800,000.Many of them ,however, were exaggerating with accusation. Serbian historian Pero Morača claimed that all Croats supported Ustaše during WW2[45] and academic Vasilije Krestić published the book in which he describes Croats as "genocide nation".Many researchers such as the Israeli Yad Vashem of the center for Holocaust studies[46] and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, still maintains similar figures, which were also reported by German, Italian, Croatian and partisan generals during the war. However some Croatian historians and some other international organizations such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,[47] and the Jasenovac museum[48] are speaking of some 100,000 victims. That number is supported also by Croatian Jewish historiographer Ivo Goldstein.[49][50] The last serious research of victim numbers before the Yugoslav wars was conducted by Croatian economist Vladimir Žerjavićand Serbian researcher Bogoljub Kočović. 59,589 victims (again of all nationalities) have been identified by name (in a Yugoslav name list that was made in 1964). Tuđman had estimated, relying on some earlier investigations, that the total number of victims in the Jasenovac camp (Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, Croats, and others) was somewhere between 30,000 and 60,000, thus in a scale similar to the one that is currently prevalent in Croatia. These figures are, however, considerably lower than the generally accepted numbers, which caused ample controversy.Tuđman has also claimed that many victims from the camphave not been killed but ,in fact, died because of unhealthy living conditions.[51] Books about Japanese and German camps suggests the similar causes.[51]

Another controversy surrounding The Horrors of War was Tuđman's disagreement with the official figures of Jews killed in concentration camps and in some parts antisemitism.[citation needed] Tuđman is said to have estimated that a total of only 900,000 Jews perished in the Holocaust of the Second World War.[52] However, this was reportedly a misinformation that caused some Croats to accuse the "New York Times" of anti-Croat bias and calumny.[53] In his "Horrors of War", Tuđman had accepted historian Gerald Reitlinger's estimates that the number of Jewish victims during WW2 was closer to 4 million as opposed to the most quoted number of 5 to 6 million men, women and children murdered.[54] Another frequently mentioned quotation is the claim that "the establishment of Hitler's new European order could be justified by the need to remove the Jews".[55] Aside from the war statistics issue, Tuđman's book contained views on Jewish role in history that many readers found simplistic and profoundly biased. Tuđman based his views on the Jewish condition on the memoirs of Croatian Communist Ante Ciliga, one of the top officials, and later a renegade, of the pre-war Komintern, who described his experiences in the Jasenovac concentration camp during a year and a half of his incarceration. Ciliga's experiences, recorded in his book "Sam kroz Europu u ratu (1939-1945)", paint an unfavorable picture of his Jewish inmates' behavior, emphasizing their alleged clannishness, ethnocentrism and apartness. Ciliga claimed that Jews had held a privileged position in Jasenovac and actually, as Tuđman concludes, "held in their hands the inmates management of the camp up to 1944", something that was made possible by the idea that "in its origins Pavelić's party was philo-Semitic".[56] Furthermore, Ciliga theorized that the behavior of the Jews had been determined by the more than 2000-year old tradition of extreme ethnic egoism and unscrupulousness that he claims is expressed in the Old Testament.[57] He summarized, among other things, that "The Jews provoke envy and hatred but actually they are 'the unhappiest nation in the world', always victims of 'their own and others' ambitions', and whoever tries to show that they are themselves their own source of tragedy is ranked among the anti-Semites and the object of hatred by the Jews".[58] However, in another part of the book, Tuđman himself did express the belief that these traits weren't unique to the Jews; while criticizing what he alleges to be aggression and atrocities in the Middle East on the part of Israel, he claimed that they arose "from historical unreasonableness and narrowness in which Jewry certainly is no exception".[59]

The accusations of antisemitism were sometimes disputed due to Tuđman's contacts with representatives of the Jewish World Congress (Tommy Baer) and various[citation needed] Jewish intellectuals (Alain Finkielkraut, Philip J. Cohen). Still, it was invoked by Tuđman's opponents. During his 1990 election campaign, Tuđman notoriously said: "Since many government-paid propagandists insinuate we (HDZ/CDU) are in fact agents of UDBA and KOS (Yugoslav political police), and point out that many of our founding members have Serbian and Jewish wives, I am very happy that my wife is neither Serbian nor Jewish, so they cannot question my credentials with regard to that matter."[citation needed]

In November 1989 Slavko Goldstein,president of Zagreb Jewish community, has attacked Tuđman openly quiting contract Matica Hrvatska whichj has published that book.[60] Tuđman objected him claiming that Goldstein did not rad entire book but picked couple pages and copoied others' opinons.[60]

On 22 April 1998 President Tuđman received the credentials of the first Israeli ambassador to Croatia, Natan Meron. In his speech Tuđman said, among other things: 'During the Second World War, within the quisling regime in Croatia, Holocaust crimes were also committed against members of the Jewish people. The Croatian public then, during the Second World War, and today, including the Croatian government and me personally, have condemned the crimes that the Ustaša committed not only against Jews but also against democratic Croats and even against the members of other nations in the Independent State of Croatia.'[61]

NK Dinamo Zagreb naming dispute

NK Dinamo Zagreb is a football club from Zagreb. .In 1991 it was renamed into HAŠK Građanski and in 1993 into NK Croatia Zagreb. Tuđman opposed re-naming it to Dinamo.According to him name Dinamo was too communist [notes 1] That caused a conflict between Bad Blue Boys and club officials. Bad Blue Boys objected to Tuđman that they used to defend "Croaticity" under the same name in Communist Yugoslavia.[notes 2] Tuđman had a vision of NK Croatia as poweful European club. He was open supporter of it and was accused for inappropriate involving into the work of the club.The conflict ended when the club renamed its name back to "Dinamo" couple months after Tuđman's death and HDZ's loss on parliaments elections.

Tuđman as historian

Tuđman did not have a formal academic education as historian.[62] He approaches to the history as marxist scientist and Croatian attorney.[63] He always considered history as means of forming society.[64] For him, history was not just science. It was also a personal devotion,serving to the people as well as the practical and ethical guide.[65]

If Tuđman’s stature as a historian and publicist is to be evaluated, it should take into consideration[weasel words]the following facts:

  • his voluminous, more than 2,000 pages long, Hrvatska u monarhističkoj Jugoslaviji (English: Croatia in Monarchist Yugoslavia), has come to be assigned as reading material[66] concerning this period of Croatian history at many[weasel words] Croatian universities;
  • his shorter treatises on national question, Nacionalno pitanje u suvremenoj Europi (English: The National question in contemporary Europe) and Usudbene povijestice (English: History’s fates) are still well-regarded essays on unresolved national and ethnic disputes, self-determination and creation of nation-states in the European milieu;[citation needed]
  • his most famous work Bespuća povijesne zbiljnosti (English: Horrors of war), has become regarded, by the majority of Croatian analysts and historians,[who?] as a book of historical importance only.[clarification needed]

Perception in Western media

Image of of Franjo Tuđman in Western media has often been distorted by amateurs. In 1989 when Yugoslavia has started to dissolve a very few people from "West" knew what was going on there.[67] most of them were scholars that were doing their researches in Belgrade and therefore had positive opinion about Serbia and Yugoslavia and negative about Croatia.[68] As a result of that many of these researches published after 1989 were written by those people that were by default close to Serbian point of view.[69] and by scientists whose knowledge of these issues was not enough good.[67]

Legacy

Mr President, like all the great people during life you will not wait enough for the proper interpretation of your merits for the nation, it will be done only by future generations, but believe me it will be done. You'll be a great man of Croatian history, but not during your life, but when ratings will be made with cool heads.

— 50px, in Henry Kissinger, [70], 50px
File:Tuđman-statue, Široki Brig04667.jpg
Statue of Franjo Tuđman in Široki Brig
Tuđman's grave at the Mirogoj cemetery (in the background)

The transition to a democratic state has proven slower and more problematic in Croatia than in neighbouring CEEC candidates for EU accession. Partly due to the years of war and ethnic cleansing, and the lack of any solid experience of democracy before the war, and partly due to the ruling regime of Franjo Tuđman, and his HDZ. President Tuđman, who came to power in 1990 and presented himself as the ‘hero of national resistance to Belgrade’s hegemony’, no longer enjoyed the unanimous support of the Croatian public by the end of the millennium. Signs of discontent became increasingly obvious to everyone, particularly in connection with the social problems arising from an unemployment rate variously estimated at between 18 and 20%. Croatian progress towards democracy has been marked by many failures. According to reports by the OSCE and the Helsinki International Federation for Human rights, respect for human rights in Croatia fell far short of European standards during his ruling. These reports criticise the arrangements for the return of persons displaced during the war, the reform of the electoral law and the situation with regard to the independence of the press, freedom of association, freedom of information and co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The two organisations found that arrangements for the return of refugees discriminated against Croatian Serbs had been obliged to flee the country during the war. The revised electoral law, while preventing the over-representation of Bosnian Croats, was not found to guarantee adequate representation of the Serb minority. [citation needed] The annual report of the Helsinki International Federation for Human Rights reported cases of harassment and telephone bugging of journalists and pressure being brought on the independent media (e.g. the attempt to close down Radio 101). President Tuđman’s popularity declined further in the course of 1999 in the wake of revelations concerning corruption and privatisation operations which allegedly had benefited the ruling party. Given the authoritarian and corrupt nature of the ruling clique and its potentially destabilising impact on the region, analysts predicted that there would be a change in the ruling coalition immediately after the legislative elections.[71]

Despite the controversy, Tuđman is credited with creating the basis for an independent Croatia, and helping the country move away from communism and towards democracy. He is sometimes given the title "father of the country" for his role the country's independence. His legacy is still strong in parts of Croatia; there are schools, squares and streets in some cities named after him, and statues have been erected. Plans to create a square in Zagreb after the late president, proposed by his family and supporters, encountered discontent among the citizens. Their attempt of changing the Roosevelt or Marshal Tito Square failed, and a large square near the Ilica Street in Črnomerec, Zagreb was named after him in December 2006.[72]

See also: List of places named after Franjo Tuđman

Family

  • Wife Ankica Tuđman - head of the Za djecu Hrvatske (For the children of Croatia) humanitary fund
  • Daughter Nevenka Tuđman - found guilty of corruption but never imprisoned because too many years had passed from the time of the crime which was during her father's presidency.[73]
  • Grandchild Dejan Košutić (son of Nevenka)- in the beginning of Franjo Tuđman's presidency he was the owner of a company that imported drinks;[citation needed] later Dejan Košutić built a private shooting range "Domagojevi strijelci".[citation needed] Afterwards, he was a part-owner of the Kaptol bank - the bank was liquidated because of the negative media campaign.[citation needed] In 2002 he opened a business for package delivery in Serbia, in 2005 he started an information security consulting company in Croatia, and in 2008 he founded the security portal.
  • Grandson Franjo Tuđman - illegitimate son of Stjepan Tuđman.

Honours and decorations

Croatian:[74]

Commemorative medals for the military campaigns in 1995:[74]

  • Medal for Participation in Operation "Flash"
  • Medal for Participation in Operation "Summer '95"
  • Medal for Participation in Operation "Storm"
  • Medal for Exceptional Undertakings in Maintaining the Constitutional and Legal Order of the Republic of Croatia and Protecting Citizens' Lives and Property

International:[74]

Notes

  1. ^ name Dinamo was chosen by communists of Zagreb inspired by other clubs from communist countries like Dinamo Moscow, Dinamo Kiev, Dinamo Bucureşti, Dinamo Tirana etc.
  2. ^ Dinamo had a fame for beeing supported by Croatian nationalists

References

  1. ^ a b "Croats mourn Croatian president". BBC News. 11 December 1999. His organs did not function properly, he was taken off life support he was attached to since November surgery.[1] Tudjman died at 23:14 (22:14 GMT) on Friday [Dec 10] at the Dubrava clinic in the capital Zagreb, a government spokesman said. {{cite news}}: External link in |quote= (help) [2].
  2. ^ a b c Hudelist, Darko (2004). "Childhood and education in Veliko Trgovišće". Tuđman-biografija (in Croatian). Zagreb: Profil. p. 11. ISBN 9531200386.
  3. ^ a b c Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Yugoslavia , 1922-1960". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 38. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b Hudelist, Darko (2004). "Childhood and education in Veliko Trgovišće". Tuđman-biografija (in Croatian). Zagreb: Profil. p. 12. ISBN 9531200386.
  5. ^ a b c d e Hudelist, Darko (2004). "Childhood and education in Veliko Trgovišće". Tuđman-biografija (in Croatian). Zagreb: Profil. p. 15. ISBN 9531200386.
  6. ^ a b c Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Yugoslavia , 1922-1960". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 37. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  7. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Yugoslavia , 1922-1960". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 48. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Yugoslavia , 1922-1960". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 50. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  9. ^ a b c Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Yugoslavia , 1922-1960". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 58. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  10. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Yugoslavia , 1922-1960". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 61. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  11. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Yugoslavia , 1922-1960". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 62. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  12. ^ a b Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Director , 1961-1964". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 82. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  13. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Director , 1961-1964". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 83. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  14. ^ a b c d e Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Under siege". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 119. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  15. ^ Franjo Tuđman's statement, "...[Tito] was a friend who in the end saved me from the persecution of his own communist regime." "[Tito] ...s kim sam i ja bio prijatelj, i koji me na kraju spasio od progona njegovog vlastitog komunističkog režima."; YouTube
  16. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Nationalist". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 248. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  17. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Nationalist". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 245. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  18. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Nationalist". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. pp. 250–251. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  19. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Nationalist". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 251. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  20. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Nationalist,1984-1989". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 247. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  21. ^ Admiral Davor Domazet – Lošo. "How Aggression Against Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina Was Prepared or the Transformation of the JNA into a Serbian Imperial Force" (PDF). National Security and the Future. 1 (1, Spring 2000): 107–152. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  22. ^ Tanner, Marcus (2001). Croatia: A nation forged in war (second edition). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300091250.
  23. ^ a b "Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaškić - judgement" (PDF). United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 2000-03-03.
  24. ^ a b c "Franjo Tudjman: Father of Croatia". BBC News. 1999-12-11. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  25. ^ "2001 World Press Freedom Review, Croatia". International Press Institute. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  26. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  27. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=NlRD4yaHrEYC&pg=PA279
  28. ^ "ICTY: Naletilić and Martinović verdict - A. Historical background".
  29. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Epilogue". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 365. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  30. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Epilogue". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 393. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  31. ^ a b c d Sherwell, Philip; Petric, Alina (2000-06-18). "Tudjman tapes reveal plans to divide Bosnia and hide war crimes". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  32. ^ a b c d Lashmar, Paul; Bruce, Cabell; Cookson, John (2000-11-01). "Secret recordings link dead dictator to Bosnia crimes". London: Independent News. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  33. ^ "The Prosecutor v. Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković, Valentin Ćorić & Berislav Pušić" (PDF).
  34. ^ CROATIA’S MOTION DISMISSED
  35. ^ Maratosnko svjedočenje Slobodana Praljka Template:Bs icon Template:Hr icon Template:Sr icon
  36. ^ "TUDJMAN WOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED BY WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2000-11-10. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  37. ^ "Joinder Indictment against Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak, Mladen Markač (Case no. IT-06-90-PT)" (PDF). The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. 2007-02-21. pp. 3–4, § 12 & 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  38. ^ FLIGHT FROM CROATIA: Refugee column hit from the air
  39. ^ a b http://www.asiantribune.com/node/17381
  40. ^ a b http://www.tititudorancea.com/z/persona_non_grata.htm
  41. ^ "Charges Raised Against Nevenka Tudman". HRT. 2002-10-13. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  42. ^ Martina Zeković (2007-02-08). "Nevenka Tuđman oslobođena optužbi" (in Croatian). Nacional. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  43. ^ "Blaskic Foot Notes" (in French). 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2007-09-26. 701 - Rapport des services croates de renseignement (« HIS ») daté du 21 mars 1994, signé par le directeur du HIS, Miroslav Tudman, et adressé ŕ Franjo Tudman.
  44. ^ Ivica Djikic (2001-11-29). "CORRUPTION, CROATIA'S TRAGEDY". Alternative Information Network. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  45. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Director , 1961-1964". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 81. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  46. ^ "Jasenovac" (PDF). Yad Vashem. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-26. that altogether, about 600,000 people were murdered at Jasenovac, including Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, and Croats who opposed the Ustaša government. Of that number, some 25,000 of the victims were Jews, most of whom had been brought to Jasenovac before August 1942 (at which point the Germans began deporting the Jews of Croatia to Auschwitz).
  47. ^ "Jasenovac". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  48. ^ Jasenovac museum
  49. ^ "DO DANAS NIJE UTVRĐEN ISTINIT BROJ UBIJENIH U LOGORU JASENOVAC ZA VRIJEME NDH!" (in Croatian). Hrvatska stranka prava - 1861. 2006-07-14. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  50. ^ "KADA ĆE SE SAZNATI ISTINA O JASENOVCU?!" (in Croatian). Stranka hrvatskog prava. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  51. ^ a b Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Nationalist,1984-1989". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. ,Zagreb. p. 269. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  52. ^ New York Times, April 22, 1993
  53. ^ "CROATIA AND CROATS IN 'THE NEW YORK TIMES'" (PDF). Croatian Information Centre. 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  54. ^ Matthew White (2007). "Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm". Matthew White. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  55. ^ 1989, 2 ed., p. 149
  56. ^ cit. in Tuđman's work, p. 316-319
  57. ^ ibid., p. 320
  58. ^ ibid., p. 320
  59. ^ p. 160-161
  60. ^ a b Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Nationalist,1984-1989". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. ,Zagreb. p. 267. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  61. ^ Institute for Jewish Policy Research and American Jewish Committee (1998). "Croatia". Antisemitism and Xenophobia Today. Retrieved 2008-12-23. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  62. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Under siege". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 149. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  63. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Historian". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 277. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  64. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Historian". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 282. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  65. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Historian". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 283. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  66. ^ "Povijest srednje i jugoistočne Europe (XVIII.st-1914)" (in Croatian). 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  67. ^ a b Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Epilogue". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. ,Zagreb. p. 393. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  68. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Epilogue". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o., Zagreb. p. 393. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  69. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Epilogue". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o.,Zagreb. p. 393. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  70. ^ Sadkovich, James J. (2010). "Editor's word". Tuđman, first political biography. Večernji posebni proizvodi d.o.o. , Zagreb. p. 9. ISBN 9789537313722. {{cite book}}: Text "editor-first" ignored (help)
  71. ^ "Background Note on the Situation in Croatia". European Parliament -Delegations for Relations with South-East, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy. 2000-03-01. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  72. ^ "Tudjman gets his square in Zagreb". Raw Story Media. dpa German Press Agency. 2006-12-22. Archived from the original on 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  73. ^ http://www.parentium.com/prva.asp?clanak=12043
  74. ^ a b c ODLIKOVANJA PREDSJEDNIKA HRVATSKE DR. FRANJE TUĐMANA
Party political offices
Preceded by
Post established
 President of Croatian Democratic Union
May 17, 1989 – December 10, 1999 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Ivo Latin
(as President of the Presidency of SR Croatia)
 post created
President of Croatia
May 30, 1990 – December 10, 1999 		Succeeded by

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