The Croatian Left has consisted of a broad range of individuals, groups, and political parties who seek egalitarian, economic, social and cultural rights in Croatia. Left-wing ideologies came to Croatia in the late 19th century during the Austria-Hungary regime. In 1894, the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia was formed. It was the first workers party in Croatia at the time. In the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes the leftist movement grew but it was suppressed by the royal government. In 1920, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia was proclaimed illegal and its sympathizers were brutally persecuted after winning a large number of positions in the local elections. During the 1920s, Stjepan Radić and his Croatian Peasant Party led a centre-left agrarianism and anty-royalist policy. They were the leading Croatian political party at the time. After the assassination of Radić in 1929, the Croatian Peasant Party was taken over by Vlatko Maček who enforced a more conservative and nationalist rhetoric. During the Socialist Yugoslavia era, the League of Communists of Yugoslavia was the only legal party in the country. In 1990, political plurality was restored and a number of left-wing parties emerged with the most notable one being the Social Democratic Party of Croatia.
Origins
Marxist and socialist ideologies emerged in Croatia during the late 19th century while it was under the rule of the Austria-Hungary empire. In 1894, the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia was formed. It was the first workers party of its kind in Croatia at the time. Its main ideology was Austromarxism so it mainly attracted local German settlers in Croatia. In 1910, Josip Broz Tito was a member of the party. Due to its Austromarxist ideology, the party was marginalised and banned after World War I started.
When the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created after World War I, the different social democratic parties that had existed in Austria-Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro called for a unification of their parties. In 1919, a congress was held in Belgrade where Bolshevik influence was introduced by soldiers who during the war had been captured by Russian forces and had experienced the October Revolution. It resulted in the creation of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In 1920, the Communists won a large number of seats in the local election which resulted in their banning by the royal government. It was then when the Communist members and sympathisers started working underground until 1941.
During the 1920s, Stjepan Radić and his Croatian Peasant Party were the leading political force amongst the Croatian population in the kingdom. Radić led an agrarianist, anti-royalist and anti-clerical policy. His politics at the time were considered to be left-leaning. In 1929, Radić was assassinated in Parliament, after which the King Alexander I of Yugoslavia abolished the constitution, dissolved parliament, and declared a royal dictatorship, changing the country into the first Yugoslavia and oppressing national sentiments. After the death of Radić, Vlatko Maček became president of the Croatian Peasant Party and he enforced a more conservative and nationalist policy which was mostly aimed at creating an Independent Croatian nation-state while social issues were put aside.
During World War II, while the Nazi puppet controlled Independent State of Croatia and Italy occupied modern Croatia territory, the only anti-fascist organised movement were the Yugoslav partisans who were created and led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and their commander Josip Broz Tito. In 1945, after the partisans won the war, Socialist Yugoslavia was established with a one-party system in which the Communist Party of Yugoslavia was the only legal political party. From 1945 to 1989, political plurality was suppressed in Yugoslavia and the League of Communists controlled the country with their bureaucratic-dogmatic approach.
It was during the era of Socialist Yugoslavia that the Socialist Republic of Croatia enacted a number of progressive and left-wing reforms such as the emancipation of women, egalitarianism, creation of a welfare state, universal health care, workers' self-management etc.
Croatian left during the first elections and creation of modern Croatia
In the late 1980s, Socialist Yugoslavia was on the edge of breakup after Slobodan Milošević started his anti-bureaucratic revolution and used Serbian nationalism as a tool to achieve domination in the country. This movement sparked Croatian nationalism which would result in the rise of right-wing populism in Croatia.