Original scientific paper
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF CROATIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE USA AND THE CREATION OF AN INDEPENDENT CROATIA
Ivan ČIZMIĆ
Abstract
Croatian immigrants participated in the political life of both
their old country and of their new homeland. At their
conventions and other meetings, the Croatian organizations
unequivocally expressed their demand for the full freedom
of the Croatian people in Austria-Hungary. During World
War I Croats, Serbs and Slovenes in the USA were very
active in the movement against Austria-Hungary and the
creation of a common state of the South Slavs. Between the
two world wars the unfavourable political situation in the
Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes had a significant
influence on the political activities of American Croats. Their
program was to fight for the just political position of
Croatians in the Yugoslav state, to inform the American
public about the political demands of Croatians, and to
provide material and moral aid. At the beginning of World
War II, American Croats distanced themselves from the
events in Yugoslavia by stressing that Croats were loyal
citizens of the USA. In the first post-World War II years,
Croatian political émigrés started to arrive in the United
States. These émigrés quickly organized themsleves into
Croatian political associations. They played an important
role in uniting the Croatian political diaspora, which in turn
prepared this diaspora for jointly supporting the creation of
an independent Croatian state in 1991.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
20575
URI
Publication date:
1.1.1998.
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