Beretta
Captain
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2024
- Replies
- 2,286
So to answer your question as straight forward as I can, your mate is suggesting or implying that Croats would of rather the Kingdom of Yugoslavia rather than a socialist republic?Hey @Beretta , serious question, I promise Im not trying to be smart or insulting...
Was chatting to a Serb mate a few weeks ago and the argument he posed was that if Tito never grabbed power and Nazi resistance from Serbs developed as more nationalistic/ Royalist leading to a Kingdom of Yugoslavia rather than Socialist Republic - that he believes most Croats would have developed leftist leanings... Any merit in the thought or is the big bastard talking shit? Short question, do you hate Communism because it is associated with Serbs, or Serbs because they are associated with Communism?
And obvs this is a massive generalisation...
Yugoslavia (1918–1941) was a Serb-dominated royalist state. Many Croats experienced it as centralized, authoritarian, and dismissive of Croatian autonomy. Because of that, Croat opposition movements split: Some went radical right (Ustaše), Others went left (Croatian communists, trade unions, anti-monarchists)
So yes — anti-Serb royal centralism did push some Croats toward the left, but it also pushed many toward nationalism, not socialism.
Communism was disliked mainly because: It suppressed nationalism, it repressed the Church, it crushed political pluralism. People came to associate communism and Yugoslavia with Serbian power.
I guess Croatian politics were never “naturally” left or right — they were reactive.