CROATIAN PARTY OF RIGHTS AS AN ACTOR OF THE BOSNIAN CRISIS

Abstract

The article explores the function of the Croatian Party of Rights at the time of the collapse of Yugoslavia, secession of Croatia and the Bosnian crisis. The disintegration of the federation along the republican borders presupposed Croats to become a divided nation. This fact determined an active involvement of the Croatian Party of Rights in the events of the Bosnian crisis as a rightwing movement, which considers Independent State of Croatia as an institutional reflection of the Croatian common aspiration to create independent nation-state. The Croatian Party of Rights proposed «Great Croatia» programme to create independent Croatia providing existence of the whole Croat population of the former Yugoslavia within one state. Consequently, The Croatian Party of Rights became a political competitor for the leading force of the Croatian national movement – The Croatian Democratic Union, giving rise to their political struggle. The Croatian Democratic Union, as more popular and moderate movement in comparison with the Croatian Party of Rights, prevailed. It proposed more pragmatic and realistic «Small Croatia» programme in the context of the internationalization of political processes on the whole territory of the former Yugoslavia, considering leading role of the external Great powers in determining the future of the entire region.