Key dates in Croatian History
600: Croats arrived and moved into their present day territory during the seventh century, coming from the north of the Carpathians (according to mid-10th century Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus).
925: Prince Tomislav was crowned as the first Croatian king.
1102: Croatia established a "personal union" with Hungary.
1242: Zagreb (present day capital of Croatia) was declared a Free Royal City by the king Bela IV.
1483: Glagolitic Missal -- the first book printed on paper and parchment in the Croatian language in Kosinj (southwestern Croatia).
1527: On Jan. 1, 1527, Croatian nobility elected Ferdinand Habsburg as the King of Croatia (Croatia remained unified with the Habsburg Empire until 1918).
1669: University of Zagreb was founded.
1830: Start of Croatian National Revival resisting germanization and hungarization of Croats. Illyrian name, without negating national particularities, was proposed to be used in uniting southern Slavic people through a single political idea.
1848: The Croats, let by Banus Josip Jelacic demanded the reorganization of the Habsburg Monarchy on federal principles.
1918: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was founded on Dec. 1, actually without the approval of the Croatian Parliament. This seriously jeopardized Croatia's legal position within the new state and its future developments. For that matter, the Croatian Parliament itself was suspended in the same year for the first time in its history.
1928: Several Croatian delegates were killed in the Belgrade Assembly by a Serbian MP, among them Stjepan Radic, one of Croatia's most prominent politicians.
1929: King Alexander declared a dictatorship. The name of the state was changed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
1941: The Croatian independent state NDH was established with the assistance of the Axis powers. The regime indiscriminately persecuted Serbs, Jews, Gypsies (Romany), and leftist Croats. However, the majority of Croats joint antifascist forces let by Tito (a Croat himself) creating proportionally one of the strongest antifascist movements in Europe.
1943: The Antifascist Council for the Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH) was established, deciding in 1944 (during its third session) to create a joint state of Yugoslavia together with other peoples and based on federal principles of equality of all constituents and the right to self-determination.
1945: The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was established, which later changed its name to Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.
1990: In May 1990, the first free, multiparty elections were held in Croatia and won by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). During the first session of the new Parliament on May 30, 1990, the day was declared as Statehood Day of the Republic of Croatia.
1991: According to Constitutional rights and following a referendum (with support of 94 percent of the votes), Croatia opted for independence. On June 25, 1991, Croatia was proclaimed an independent and sovereign state. Soon after, Croatia was attacked by the Serb dominated Yugoslav Armn (JNA).
1992: On Jan. 15, the EC Ministerial Council recognized Slovenia and Croatia as independent countries. In May, Croatia became a full member of the UN, and at the presidential elections, Dr. Franjo Tudjman was elected as the President of the Republic of Croatia.
1995: After prolonged and futile efforts to reintegrate its Serb- occupied territories, Croatia undertook military action reintegrating all but the Danube area (4 percent of national territory). Following the Dayton Agreement and a two-year period of UN Control, the Danube area was peacefully reintegrated in 1998.
1996: Croatia became full member of Council of Europe.