Editing History of Croatia (section)

===Until the breakup of Yugoslavia (1980–1991)===

In 1980, after [[Death and state funeral of Josip Broz Tito|Tito's death]], economic, political, and religious difficulties started to mount and the federal government began to crumble. The crisis in [[Kosovo]] and, in 1986, the emergence of [[Slobodan Milošević]] in Serbia provoked a very negative reaction in Croatia and [[Slovenia]]; politicians from both republics feared that his motives would threaten their republics' autonomy. With the climate of change throughout Eastern Europe during the 1980s, the communist hegemony was challenged (at the same time, the Milošević government began to gradually [[Anti-bureaucratic revolution|concentrate Yugoslav power in Serbia]], and calls for free multi-party elections were becoming louder).<ref name="New York Times, 14 December 1989">''[[The New York Times]]'', 14 December 1989.</ref>

In June 1989, the [[Croatian Democratic Union]] (HDZ) was founded by Croatian nationalist dissidents led by [[Franjo Tuđman]], a former fighter in Tito's Partisan movement and a [[Yugoslav National Army|JNA]] General. At this time, Yugoslavia was still a one-party state and open manifestations of Croatian nationalism were considered dangerous, so a new party was founded in an almost conspiratorial manner. It was only on 13 December 1989 that the governing [[League of Communists of Croatia]] agreed to legalize opposition political parties and hold free elections in the spring of 1990.<ref name="New York Times, 14 December 1989"/>

On 23 January 1990, at its 14th Congress, the Communist League of Yugoslavia voted to remove its monopoly on political power. The same day, it effectively ceased to exist as a national party when the [[League of Communists of Slovenia]] walked out after SR Serbia's President [[Slobodan Milošević]] blocked all their reformist proposals, which caused the [[League of Communists of Croatia]] to further distance themselves from the idea of a joint state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sekulic |first1=Dusko |last2=Massey |first2=Garth |last3=Hodson |first3=Randy |date=1994 |title=Who Were the Yugoslavs? Failed Sources of a Common Identity in the Former Yugoslavia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2096134 |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=83–97 |doi=10.2307/2096134 |jstor=2096134 |issn=0003-1224}}</ref>