Croatophobia (Croatian kroatofobija or hrvatofobija) refers to irrational hostility, hatred and aversion towards Croats, Croatia or Croatian culture. The term is non-existent in the English language. It is mainly used in Croatian language, primarily to describe certain variants of Serbian national ideology, especially those related to Greater Serbia, as well as Italian irredentist aspirations to Croatian Dalmatian coast. It has also been used to define certain currents in the Croatian left ([1]). The Croatian language is a language of the western group of South Slavic languages which is used primarily by the Croats. ... Greater Serbia is a name for a Serbian nationalist concept. ...

History

The term croatophobia (kroatofobija) which appeared in the Croatian daily newspaper Vjesnik [2] first in an article in 1999, but also in a later article published on June 18, 2005, which was translated by and commented on by the BBC Media monitor on June 21, 2005. The original Croatian article was critical of the British resistance of accepting Croatia into the EU and described this as an expression of Croatophobia. Vjesnik is a Croatian daily newspaper, published in Zagreb. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... Template:Diffgggtgerent calendars 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television) and the world. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... Template:Diffgggtgerent calendars 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Examples of Alleged Croatophobia

According to those who use the term, some examples of Croatophobia are statements claiming that

• the current Croatian state is a successor of the WWII Nazi Croatian puppet state of NDH;
• all Croats are right-wing ultra nationalists;
• all Croats are Ustasha (in the same way that all Germans would be labelled Nazis);
• Croatians maintain a strong aggression/genocidal instinct (again, compare to Germans-Nazis); and
• that Croats are an untrustworthy and subversive element in society.

Furthermore, the term "Croatophobes" has been used to describe Croatian politicians that are "leftists, internationalists, critical of the Croatian War of Independence and the Catholic Church", and "proponents of unconditional cooperation with Serbia and the neighbouring countries" ([3]). It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Nazism. ... A puppet state is a state whose government, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. ... The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) was a Nazi/Fascist puppet state in World War II. It was set up in April 1941 on parts of the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after its occupation. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... This article is about the computer software framework. ... 1991 Battle of Vukovar (August 25 - November 18, 1991) 1995 Operation Storm (August 4 - August 7, 1995) This article is a stub. ...

Explanation through example

Before and during the Croato-Serbian armed conflict in the 1990's anti-Croatian sentiments (Croatophobia) gained momentum in Serbian nationalist political circles and some Serbian government controlled nationalist media expressed Croatophobic ideas to gather political support in the conflict. Allegedly Croatophobic ideas have also been expressed by Serbian nationalist historians, including Serbian historian Vasilije Krestić, the foremost Serbian authority on Croatian-Serbian relations in the 19th and 20th centuries. In his book "Genocidom do velike Hrvatske" (Greater Croatia through genocide) he paints a picture of Croatians as pathological haters of Serbs, always jealous of their achievements, ready to wipe out the Serbian population out of existence at every opportune moment. This, as well as his other, more academically respected works have been criticized. Vasilije Krestić is a Serbian historian. ...

Also the German philosopher Ernst Bloch described Croatians as: "Kroaten als Faschisten, oder zumindest als Halbfaschisten“ (Croatians are all fascists, or at least half-fascists) in an interview in 1975. for the political magazine Der Spiegel (Der Spiegel, 6,29. Jahrgang, 03.02.1975., page 80). Ernst Bloch also had reservations and doubts about Croatians on the political left of the spectrum, which he explaned on pages 92-124. of his book Sozialismus in Osteuropa, Jugoslawien, Herazsgeber Kurt Heuer und Martin Mombaur, B.2. Göttingen, 1973. A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Ernst Simon Bloch (July 8, 1885 - August 4, 1977) was a German Marxist philosopher and atheist theologian. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Photo of the cover of the first issue of Der Spiegel (1/1947) Der Spiegel (German for The Mirror) is Europes biggest and Germanys most influential weekly magazine, published in Hamburg, with a circulation of around one million per week. ...

Criticism

Many people assert that Croatophobia does not exist, and that the term is used as a political tool by Croatian nationalists to deflect criticism of Croatia or Croats. The negation of the existence of the phenomenon is seen, by many Croats, as a typical example of Croatophobia.

Others claim that the term is non-existent in English. Proponents contend that the word Croatophobia is not an English word and is not used in English-speaking media or English language dictionaries, but point out that Croatophobia is a word coined in the same way as similar words with Hellenic roots and has been used in the Croatian language, so that other Indo-European languages naturally adopt the term from the language it has been coined in.

Examples

• Examples of denial of Croatian history and language (in serbian)
• Vasilije Krestić: Through genocide to a greater Croatia
• [4] Read the commentaries after the article started by user bigel: I have no idea why Croatia isn't yet in the EU. They certainly qualify -- they can be psychotic, genocidal, Nazi Jewkillers with the best of them -- and proved it in WW2. While I'm not a big fan of the Serbs either, I would not have been upset if they had conquered Zagreb back in '91 and leveled the city..... and continued
• Ustashas are marching again!
• TODAY'S CROATIA IS A CARBON COPY OF ITS NAZI PREDECESSOR
• Radical Double Blackmail

References

• Commentary faults UK policy of discouraging rapid Croatian accession to EU
• An article that defines and explains croatophobia, mostly in order to describe certain Croatian left-wing politicians (in Croatian)