Croatian Spring Facts for Kids

The Croatian Spring (also known as Maspok) was a big movement in Croatia, a part of Yugoslavia, during 1971. People wanted more rights and independence for Croatia. They wanted the Croatian language to be the main language in Croatia. They also wanted Croatia to be seen as a special country for Croats, like the old Croatian kingdom. The main goal of the movement was for Croatia to become an independent country. Many Croatian leaders and people living outside Yugoslavia supported this movement.

What Did the Croatian Spring Want?
How the Croatian Spring Grew and Ended
Tito's Actions Against Others
Croatian Spring and Yugoslavia's Future
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What Did the Croatian Spring Want?

The Croatian Spring movement had a few main ideas. They were unhappy about how money from Croatia's tourism was shared in Yugoslavia. They also questioned how much money Croatia had to give to poorer parts of Yugoslavia.

A big part of their demands was about the Croatian language. They wanted Croatian to be the only official language in schools, media, and government in Croatia. This meant they wanted to stop using the Serbian language there. They believed Croats had a unique culture and history.

The movement also asked for a separate Croatian national bank and even a Croatian army. They wanted Croatia to have its own representative at the United Nations, separate from Yugoslavia.

A cultural group called Matica hrvatska and a newspaper called Hrvatski tjednik even wrote a plan for a new Croatian country. They listed demands like:

Croatia being a country only for Croatian people.
Having a Croatian representative at the United Nations.
Having a Croatian national bank and its own money.
Having a Croatian army where Croatian soldiers would serve.
Using the Croatian language in the army, government, schools, and media.

At the peak of the movement, Matica hrvatska stopped working on a dictionary that combined Serbian and Croatian. They decided to use only Croatian language rules. Students at Zagreb University strongly supported these demands and held large protests across Croatia.

How the Croatian Spring Grew and Ended

Some historians believe the Croatian Spring was a nationalist uprising. They say some Croatian Communist leaders, like Savka Dabčević-Kučar, Miko Tripalo, and Pero Pirker, supported it.

However, another leader, Miloš Žanko, spoke out against the movement. He said that Matica hrvatska and the leaders supporting the Croatian Spring were working against Yugoslavia. But Žanko was later removed from his position.

There were also some small problems involving Serbs in Croatia. For example, signs written in Cyrillic (a different alphabet) were sometimes damaged. There were also fights at soccer games.

Josip Broz Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia, visited Croatia in July 1971. The Croatian anthem was played after the Yugoslav one, which showed the growing importance of Croatian identity.

Tito eventually stopped the Croatian Spring movement. He forced leaders like Dabčević-Kučar, Tripalo, and Pirker to step down. Some leaders of the movement, including Franjo Tuđman and Bruno Bušić, were arrested and put in prison.

However, Tito also made some changes that pleased Croatian nationalists. He allowed the use of the Croatian language in Croatia. He also changed the Yugoslav Constitution in 1974. This new constitution gave more power to the individual republics, including Croatia. It gave them the right to say "no" (veto) to changes in the Constitution. This change made some Serbs in Yugoslavia unhappy because they felt their position was weakened.

Tito's Actions Against Others

After stopping the Croatian Spring, Tito also removed some Serbian, Slovenian, and Macedonian leaders from politics in 1972. Some historians believe Tito saw these "liberal" leaders as more dangerous than the Croatian nationalists.

To try and balance things, Tito also took action against some Serbian thinkers. Two important Serbian intellectuals, Dobrica Ćosić and Mihailo Đurić, questioned why Serbs in Croatia didn't have their own special area (autonomy), while other groups did. They also pointed out that the borders of Serbia within Yugoslavia didn't match where Serbs actually lived. These intellectuals were criticized by Tito's government, and Professor Đurić was even put on trial. He had warned that Serbia was being treated unfairly.

Croatian Spring and Yugoslavia's Future

The Croatian Spring played a big part in shaping the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution. This constitution gave more power to the individual republics and less to the central government of Yugoslavia. This made the country's government weaker. Many people believe this constitution, which was a result of compromises with different nationalist groups, made it easier for Yugoslavia to eventually break apart.

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The fall of Aleksandar Ranković led to a time of changes in Yugoslavia.
The Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian Literary Language was announced in 1967.
Miko Tripalo was one of the leaders who wanted changes in the League of Communists of Croatia.
Savka Dabčević-Kučar was a key person in the Croatian Spring. She led the League of Communists of Croatia from 1969 to 1971.
The federal system adopted by the ZAVNOH (with Andrija Hebrang speaking) was what Croatian leaders wanted during the Croatian Spring.
During the Croatian Spring, there was an attempt to put the statue of Josip Jelačić back in Zagreb's main square.
Leonid Brezhnev offered Josip Broz Tito help from the Soviet Union in 1970.
Vladimir Bakarić helped replace the leaders who wanted reforms in Croatia.
Josip Broz Tito (meeting Richard Nixon in 1971) held a meeting to deal with the problems in Croatia.
A monument to Stjepan Radić, a leader from before World War II, was put up in Metković during the Croatian Spring.