Mirko Norac - Forgotten?

   

      In today's date in history, Croatian General Mirko Norac was born. Mirko Norac was born in Otok by the city of Sinj - he was probably the first controversial icon of the Croatian War of Independence. In 1990 he joined the Croatian antiterrorist formation "Lucko" of the Croatian Police (MUP RH). During the Croatian War of Independence he climbed ranks all the way up to General of the Croatian Armed Forces. As a General he took part in Operations "Maslina" and "Medzacki  Dzep" or "Medak Pocket" the latter of which would later lead to all kinds of international controversy also known as "Canada's Secret War" - you can read a tale of accounts in "The Ghosts of Medak Pocket" by Canadian Author Carol Off but it is highly suggested to do your own independent research first. The book is initially very well researched but ends up being very one-sided and controversial, probably the worst PR the Croatian Army has gotten in the West regarding the happenings in and around Medak.

   Back to Norac - after the fall of HDZ, Norac was sent off to the ICTY which cause mass outrage within the Croatian population as it was relevantly unheard of to try the victors of the war who in their eyes were defending Croatia from aggression; i.e self-defense. The Croatian Democratic Union heavily utilized Norac in their political campaign to eventually overthrow the Socialist Democrat Party depicting them as national traitors. Former-President Stjepan Mesic revoked Norac's ranks, and the HDZ that came back to power heavily distanced itself from the man they were at one point utilizing to gain public support: Sanader Splitska Riva. As you can see in the posted link, later-premier Ivo Sanader gave a feisty speech in which he said, "there is no nation , ladies and gentleman - that will turn their backs on their heros, and obviously, the Croatian people will never turn it's back on most shining Croatian sons and they are here along with ...... and he who is not here - General Mirko Norac!". Mirko Norac ended up being transferred from the ICTY to a Croatian court in Rijeka where he was sentenced to 10 years. He was released early this year and has stayed completely out of public life. While in jail he married Croatian Dr. Jelena Midenjak and they now have a son named Ante. Mirko Norac requested that no celebrations take place upon his relief and his local townspeople respected his request.

The Adriatic Blocade

  On September 17th of 1991, the Yugoslav Peoples Army Blocked the Croatian coast. Tomorrow, the 18th of September is the Day of The Croatian Navy - Dan Hrvatske Ratne Mornarice.

Photo Credit: Zastita.info

In honor of the Croatian Navy: Oliver Dragojevic - Mi Smo Hrvatski Mornari 

More sinje, more plavo, more HRVATSKO!

The "Greater Croatia" Myth - Part One

  The internet has brought a wave of changes to many political agendas including those of likeminded Croats and Serbs. This grouping of people is to be considered the yugo-nostalgic an apologetic types that wish to blame the fall of their beloved "yugoslavia" on the big-bad nationalist boogyman. Through their ethnocentric viewing of events they have concluded that both Croatian and Serbian nationalists are essentially of the same make: Serbian nationalists wish to incorporate lands in which Serbs live into one unified Serbian State while Croatian nationalists (depending on their dedication) often or used to advocate what appears to be the resurrection of Croatian borders from WW2 - again claiming lands that were "not theirs" within the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.

     Let's get a few things straight - both Croatian and Serbian nationalists love to mystify and romanticize their history in order to emotionally fuel their conclusions. Realistically, the notions of modern-day statehood came to these regions during the rise of the French Revolution. Before that, there is much mix up on the grounds of Imperial Europe. Croatia was predominantly influenced by the Roman Empire whereas Serbia was predominantly influenced by the Byzantine Empire. Now, the chronology of events is very important as well as the context: the development of Serbian nationalism occurred around the same time as the development of Croatian nationalism - and on the sidelines sat the Yugoslav nationalists who wanted to trump both and work out an experiment in which both would somehow be silenced.  The first Yugoslav nationalists and propagators of the Yugoslav state were actually Croats, albeit - a minority, who thought that they could appease Croatian Nationalism by leaving Austria-Hungary and putting Croatia in a new state joint with the Serbs yet not called Serbia. This would in-turn appease the Serbian Nationalists as all Serbs would thus be in one state - and they would then too settle with it not being called Serbia. Boy, did that ever backfire on the Croats - twice.

    There is no doubt that the Greater Serbian agenda was a secret plan of the Principality of Serbia - and "why not"? At that time in Europe all major powers were conquering the weak in order to show their alleged strength. Many do not know, but Belgrade was once a very progressive European city. However, the Greater Serbian agenda knew that they were to essentially take over lands that were not historically theirs but dug up historic 'evidence' to make claims to these regions. The problem is that their chronology doesn't match up with documented fact - but they have an answer for that too. Croatians - real ones, apparently disappeared and the ones left over were simply confused Serbs who converted to Catholicism. On the other hand, Croatian Nationalists wished to regain Croatian statehood from it's very birth - the unification of Croatia under Tomislav. Tomislav's Croatia stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Drava River, and then from the Rasa River in Istria to the Drina River which is now the Eastern Border of Bosnia & Herzegovina, see: Euroatlas, 925. These borders were somewhat resurrected in April of 1941. Bosnia & Herzegovina were part of the Croatian State and then lost within the time that Croatia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Reclamation of these lands by Austro-Hungary eventually led to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand - the catalyst to the First World War. To be continued...

Photo Credit : Map from: en:File:Roman Empire 125.svg by Andrei nacu

2CELLOS

 Last year two guys from Zagreb went completely viral via YouTube and have only been getting bigger and better ever since. Luka Stulic and Stjepan Hauser are certainly very talented and have appeared on many TV shows internationally since their debut. Apparently, they are in-talks with the Croatian Scholarship Fund (an organization that helps students of Croatian heritage) in hosting a fundraising concert. If you missed them on Ellen we suggest you check them out. For now, here is there first hit single "Smooth Criminal"

2CELLOS - Smooth Criminal 

Photo Credit: Facebook

14. Rujna: Dan Ogulina

Photo Credit: Rudolf Horvat: Slike iz hrvatske povijesti, Zagreb, 1910.


 14. Rujna or the 14th of September is the Day of the Croatian city of Ogulin. Since nothing too interesting is going on in Croatia today, we are throwing down a bit more history and of course a bit of an Ad for the city itself.

   Ogulin was established around the fort of the famous Frankopan noble family in the 15th century.

Photo Credit: Ogulinski List

Croat of the Day - The Pilar Project

Oktavijan Miletic

Oktavijan Miletic - The Father of Croatian Film. The founder of the Zagreb film club and the winner of an amateur film award in Paris (1933) - the film award is most notable as it was awarded by Louis Lumiere (one of the earliest film makers in history). He entirely created the first full-length Croatian film in 1944 (Lisinski) and was the man behind the Independent State of Croatia's Film Weekly (Slikopisni Tjednik). Because of mentioned affiliations he has been largely forgotten even though he was supported within communist Yugoslavia by Vladimir Nazor (who too produced works for the Croatian state prior to joining the communist party).

On This Day:

 On this day, Croatian Tennis superstar Goran Ivanisevic was born. In 2001 the world watched as Goran shook up Wimbledon and took home the hardware - but this should never be overshadowed by Goran's actions in the right place at the right time. As many of you know, in 1991 Goran Ivanisevic publicly detested the aggression on Croatia to international media. He called for international intervention and recognition of the Croatian people's Right toe self determination. In 1992 he took home two medals at the Olympics which was epic for out then war-torn homeland looking for morale and international support.

Stimac: Is it because he's a Catholic? Dalmatian? Hajdukovac?

Foto: Srđan Vrančić / Cropix

     Anyone who watched yesterday's WC Qualifier Croatia Vs Belgium was probably surprised to see the young Josip Radosevic receive playing time. In the years leading up to Stimac becoming anything within the HNS (Croatian Football Federation) - there has been a lot of built-up animosity between the North and South of Croatia. Let's face it, most of the National Team games have been played in Zagreb. Most of the National Team players that have been called up to the National Team from the HNL have been Dinamo players. As time goes on, it seems more evident that the National team has become the private player marketeer for a select few people including Zdravko Mamic (the president of GNK Dinamo Zagreb). 

 To refresh your memories.... Igor Stimac was one of the famous starting 11 that took Croatia to the semi-finals of World Cup '98 in France. For many, he was a childhood hero. Since then he has worked within Hajduk Split as well as managed a few of Split's nightclubs. At once, he became the center of public attention in a revolutionary-like spin campaign to take over the HNS. Things got quite heated between his fraction and the fraction headed by Zdravko Mamic who inevitably supported the former HNS President Vlatko Markovic. Today, Davor Suker is the President of the HNS and Igor Stimac seems to have "settled" as Head Coach of the National Team. If we have learned anything from Igor Stimac's run to "the top" it is that he has a very fierce lexicon that jumps right to the point. Many people were upset or very surprised that such a young talent who really hasn't proven himself has been called up to play in the national team - and as one can see, the move is as political as Stimac's rhetoric: why does he bother you? because he's Catholic? Because he's Dalmatian? Because he's a Hajdukovac (player/supporter of Hajduk Split)?  Whatever the case, we have a feeling that this move is going to be in connection to his next rhetoric fuelled scandal.

WC Qualifying: 1:1 Tie For Croatia in Brussels

 Photo Credit: NoviList

After a tiring 90 minutes and a fairly even match - Croatia tied Belgium 1:1 today in Brussels. Up next: Croatia away Vs Macedonia on October 12th, stay tuned!

Remembering 9-11

   As an English-written, democratic blog it is our duty to make sure that atrocities like this are never forgotten. Please keep the victims and families of 9-11 in your thoughts and prayers.

Croat of The Day - The Pilar Project

Today's Croat of the Day is Dr. Milan Sufflay:

Dr. Milan Sufflay - PdD in Philosophy, historian, the founder of Albanology - a world-known Academic. A strong supporter of the Croatian right to self-determination and a member of the Croatian Party of Right. The romanticism between Croatian nationalism and the river "Drina" can most likely be attributed to him. Dr. Sufflay believed that the river Drina was not merely a natural border between Croatia and Serbia, but the divide which divided the world between Eastern and Western cultures. He was killed by a radical Yugoslav hitman in broad daylight in 1931. His death was a catalyst to Albert Einstien's appeal to the League of Nations regarding the oppression of Croats within Yugoslavia.

Nu2: Nenad Bakic

      This blog will religiously follow Aleksandar Stankovic's Nedjeljom u Dva. Not because we like him, on the contrary, we love to dislike him and comment on his show. If the show sucks, we'll jump to some other topic - so if you're wondering why we haven't said anything on a Sunday regarding this show, you can assume that it was terrible and the guest was boring. However, we all know that that's pretty rare.

Today's guest on Nu2 is Croatian Financial Analyst Nenad Bakic. This episode was a great watch because this man is one of the few successful homegrown (not, family grown) businessmen in Croatia and he openly attacks the socialist mentality of people in Croatia who are still stuck in 1960 economically. If you stick around to read the commentary at the bottom during the interview, many of the viewers were completely infuriated by this man's views. Totally worth a watch:

Photo Credit: HRT 

Nedjeljom U 2 : Nenad Bakic 

Croatia Takes Down Macedonia

  This blog is run by avid followers of the Croatian National Soccer team. You will always find the latest news, fixtures, and results posted right here! 

Today in Zagreb, Croatia took down Macedonia with a goal by Nikica Jelavic in the second half. Up next, Belgium Vs Croatia on the 11th! Stay tuned! 

Gladiators on Ice

  If you haven't heard - yes, Croats in Croatia are playing hockey now - most notably thanks to Croatian-Canadians who went over there and straightened things out. KHL Medvescak from Zagreb plays in the EBEL and has attracted quite the fan base. Today on their Official Facebook Page they posted a sneak peak at Croatia's version of the Winter Classic: Summer Ice Hockey in an Ancient Roman Colosseum! Bet you've never seen that before! 

Croat of The Day - The Pilar Project

Every so often when there is nothing spectacular to write about, we will be doing a blast from the past. This segment will be called Croat of The Day - The Pilar Project.  The segment is named after our very first specimen who is most certainly the Father of Croatian geopolitics. As you will see, most of the people who will be presented in this feature are almost completely unknown and I think you'll eventually figure out why.

Dr. Ivo Pilar:

PhD in Law, historian, and the father of Croatian geopolitics. Studied at Ecole de Droit in Paris. A Croatian patriot and a fervent enemy of the Yugoslav experiment. Was jailed many times and wrote under many pseudonyms - the most famous being Lucifer Torchbearer (German: Florian Lichttraeger/ Croatian: Lucifer Luconosa ili Svjetlonosa) - the foundation of later Croatian nationalists referring to their cause as the bearers of the torch/light. Killed by the Yugoslav government in his home in 1933.

49th Annual HNNS Tournament

  One thing that always boggled my mind was how Croatians in North America are able to host one of the longest-running and one of the largest national or ethnic sporting events in North America and how barely anyone in Croatia even knows about it. It is one thing not to care; but I assume someone does since they host a 'diaspora' tournament every year in Croatia, note: a tournament which is hosted by the HNS who cherrypicks the largest and wealthiest Croatian emigre clubs to partake, but it is another thing not to even acknowledge that it exists. Some of the Croatian emigre clubs have existed longer than some homegrown HNL clubs!

   Throughout the decades since Tito's communist Yugoslavia fell, not much public opinion in Croatia regarding Croatian emigres and their organizations have changed. You all know what I'm talking about.  Aside from Croatia not paying attention, the Croatians that have ties to Croatia and love to make a profit off of covering peaceful apolitical folklore rallies - also totally ignore these manifestations.

  A little background: the Hrvatski Nacionalni Nogometni Savez Kanade i Amerike or the HNNS, is a Croatian Soccer Federation that is going into it's 50th year of existence. The first club to host the HNNS Tournament was Cleveland Croatia which was established in 1957 and has been growing ever since. This year's tournament took place in Norval, Ontario and it was hosted by HNNK Livno Oakville. The Tournament which takes place every year usually goes as follows: Friday night opening ceremonies (party); Saturday Group Stage games followed by Saturday night party; and finally, Sunday Quarter/Semi and Finals followed by the closing ceremonies and banquet - yes another party. And what a party.

   Every year one can always find a homegrown Croat from Croatia who is absolutely astonished that something like this even exists. This manifestation is one of - if not the greatest tradition of the Croatian emigration. This blog will aim to promote this very tournament and its patrons and member clubs.

 If you missed this years HNNS Tournament, NewYork Croatia; who is celebrating its 50th year of existence, took home the gold after a very tight final which ended in a penalty shoot-out. Also see: www.hnnsavez.com

David Diehl of the NY Giants with his NY Croatia Scarf and the boys at the Superbowl.

The a-CROpolis Project

We are currently scoping talent (amateur column writers) who would like to gain some experience and have a voice.

a-CROpolis will - aside from daily political commentary - write about the following:

-Myths about Croatian History

-The Croatian Music Scene (past, present, future)

-Croatian Sports (including Croatian Clubs in the emigration)

-Croatian Culture

-Croatian Linguistics

-International Croatian Organizations

-The Modern Day Croatian Political Lexicon

-Croatian Biographies

-Croatian Film

-Croatian Literature

-The Croatian Political Emigration

All applicants must be fluent in English and Croatian and preferably have a post-secondary education in a Western education system.