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This article gives an overview of liberalism in Croatia. Liberals became active since 1860 in Dalmatia and since 1904 in the rest of Croatia. It never became a major political party. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

History[edit]

After the restoration of democracy in 1989 liberalism became very divided. At the moment (August, 2017) one could distinguish five parties: the right of center Croatian Social Liberal Party (Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka, member of LI, ALDE), two center liberal parties: Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats (Hrvatska narodna stranka - liberalni demokrati, observer in LI, member of ALDE) and People's Party - Reformists (Narodna stranka – reformisti, member of EDP), while left of center is Civic Liberal Alliance (Građansko-liberalni savez - GLAS, member of ALDE). Reformists and GLAS are formed from dissidents of the Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats. Istrian Democratic Assembly (Istarski demokratski sabor - Dieta Democratica Istriana, member EDP) is considered as Istrian regionalist, but also as a liberal party. Main media exponents of Croatian liberalism or liberal ideas include or included newspapers Novi list and Glas Istre, culture magazine Zarez and the defunct weekly Feral Tribune.

1860–1945[edit]

National Party (People's Party)

• 1860: National liberals formed in Dalmatia the National party known also as the People's Party (Narodna stranka). The party developed into a conservative party around 1889.

From Progressive Party to Progressive Democratic Party

• 1904: Progressive liberals formed in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia the Progressive Party (Napredna stranka)
• 1906: The NS merged with the ⇒ Democratic Party into the Croatian People's Progressive Party (Hrvatska pučka napredna stranka)
• 1910: The party merged with the Croatian Party of Rights (Hrvatska stranka prava) into the Croatian Independent Party (Hrvatska samostalna stranka)
• 1918: The party is reorganised into the Progressive Democratic Party (Napredna demokratska stranka)
• 1919: The party became part of the conservative Croatian Community (Hrvatska zajednica)

Democratic Party (Dalmatia)

• 1906: Dalmatian liberals formed the Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka)
• 1908: The DS merged into the ⇒ Croatian People's Progressive Party

From Democratic Community to Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)

• 1919: Croatian liberals became part of the Yugoslav State Party of Serbian, Croatian and Slovene Democrats (Državnotvorna stranka demokrata Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca)
• 1919: The party is renamed into the Democratic Community (Demokratska zajednica)
• 1920: The party is renamed into the Democratic Party (Demokratska stranka)
• 1924: A faction formed the ⇒ Independent Democratic Party
• 1945: The party is dissolved

Independent Democratic Party

• 1924: The former Serbian Independent Party seceded from the ⇒ Democratic Party and constituted the Independent Democratic Party (Samostalna demokratska stranka), led by Svetozar Pribićević, mainly active in the Serbian population of Croatia
• 1945: The party is dissolved

1989–present[edit]

Croatian Social Liberal Union / Croatian Social Liberal Party

• 1989: Liberals formed the Croatian Social Liberal Union (Hrvatski socijalno-liberalni savez), renamed in 1990 into the Croatian Social Liberal Party (Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka)
• 1998: A left-wing faction formed the ⇒ Liberal Party
• 2002: A faction secedes to form the ⇒ Party of Liberal Democrats

Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats

• 1990: Dissident communists formed the liberal Croatian People's Party (Hrvatska narodna stranka)
• 2005: The ⇒ Party of Liberal Democrats merges into the party, which is renamed into Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats (Hrvatska narodna stranka - liberalni demokrati)
• 2014: A faction secedes to form the ⇒ People's Party - Reformists
• 2017: A left-wing faction formed the ⇒ Civic Liberal Alliance

Liberal Party

• 1998: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ Croatian Social Liberal Party formed the Liberal Party (Liberalna stranka)
• 2006: The majority of the Liberal Party merges into the ⇒Croatian Social Liberal Party.

Party of Liberal Democrats

• 2002: A faction of the ⇒ Croatian Social Liberal Party led by Jozo Radoš formed the Party of Liberal Democrats (LIBRA - Stranka liberalnih demokrata)
• 2003: LIBRA wins three Parliament seats
• February 6, 2005: most of the 248 representatives of Libra on its second convention voted to merge with the Croatian People's Party
• 2005: The party of Liberal Democrats merges into the ⇒ Croatian People's Party, which is renamed into Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats

People's Party - Reformists

• 2014: A faction led by former party leader Radimir Čačić left the ⇒Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats to form People's Party - Reformists (Narodna stranka - reformisti).

Civic Liberal Alliance

• July, 2017: A faction of the ⇒Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats led by Anka Mrak Taritaš, MP (and 2017 Zagreb mayoress candidate) together with three other MPs formed the Civic Liberal Alliance (Građansko-liberalni savez known as GLAS), after the majority of the Croatian People's Party-Liberal Democrats had concluded the coalition agreement with the right of center Croatian Democratic Union and entered into the Cabinet of Andrej Plenković.

Pametno / Centre

• 2015: The party Pametno was formed in Split out of the citizens' initiative Za pametne ljude i pametan grad ("For smart people and a smart city")
• July 2020: The party won a parliamentary seat in the 2020 Croatian parliamentary election, running in a coalition with Focus and Party with a First and Last Name
• November, 2020: following a merger with Dalija Orešković's Party with a First and Last Name, the party Pametno changed name to the ⇒Centre.
• 2021: At the 2021 local elections, the Party candidate Ivica Puljak was elected the Mayor of Split

Liberal leaders[edit]

• Svetozar Pribićević
• Savka Dabčević-Kučar
• Dražen Budiša
• Vesna Pusić
• Radimir Čačić
• Anka Mrak-Taritaš
• Ivica Puljak

Liberal thinkers[edit]

• Antun Gustav Matoš^[1]
• Ante Trumbić^[1]
• Ivan Lorković
• Stjepan Radić^[1]
• Bogdan Raditsa^[1]
• Vlado Gotovac^[1]

See also[edit]

• History of Croatia
• Politics of Croatia

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Đurašković, Stevo (May 2005). "Book Review: Tihomir Cipek, Josip Vrandečić (ur.): Hrestomatija liberalnih ideja u Hrvatskoj". Croatian Political Science Review (in Croatian). 41 (3). Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb: 182–185. ISSN 1846-8721.

External links[edit]

• KAKO JE NACIONALIZAM U POTPUNOSTI PORAZIO LIBERALIZAM U HRVATA Suosnivači i ključni ljudi HSLS-a, prve hrvatske stranke, govore za Globus (in Croatian)