CROATIA

Croatian tribes settled in this region in 7th century and were gradually organising themselves in dukedoms. Duke Tomislav united most of these into one country and in 925 the Roman Pope announced him king. In the following centuries the Kingdom of Croatia was entering personal unions with Hungary or Austria, what guaranteed military support in case needed, but limited sovereignty. Croatia was the border country of Roman Catolicism and for 300 years it was successfully defending from Muslims of the Ottoman Empire. In 1918 Croatian lands became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and later Yugoslavia, except for a short period of independence when Germans installed in Croatia a puppet government during WW2. A real independence Croats announced on June 25, 1991, what basically started a domestic war against Serbs. The war ended officialy by the Dayton Agreement in November 1995. In 2009 Croatia joined NATO and in 2013 the European Union.