Loving Croatia is a full-time job

Ina Vukic

Ten years ago, on 19 October 2011, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the fall of Vukovar that is marked by brutal Serb aggression, savage murder, and ethnic cleansing of Croats, I wrote and published my first article on my blog website “Croatia, the War, and the Future”. In these 10 years I grew a successful blog, I made my mark across the world as an influencer in promoting Croatian truth in the English language. The audience that accesses my blog and visit my articles approaches millions across 227 countries and independent territories. It took love, dedication, consistency, verifiability, hard work and, of course the interest and efforts of people who visit my blog, read the articles, and share them in their works or on social media. THANK YOU ALL!

Suffice to say, what motivated me to blogging was the appalling lack of truth in the world mainstream media and publications about Croatia, its history, and its efforts in distancing itself from the communist Yugoslavia. I wanted the world to know the truth and not the lies written by the Yugoslav communists and Serbs, and their partners throughout the world, including in Croatia itself, who made it their business to vilify with brutal lies the glorious truth of the Croatian nation that always wanted freedom and nothing but freedom to rule over its own life.

In these 10 years I wrote and published 1,103 articles in the English language and on average each of 1,400 words. Together they add up to 1,844,200 words. Furthermore, about 450 of these were translated into the Croatian language and published by various Croatian portals and coupled with another 350 articles written as comments or submission letters in efforts to address inaccuracies written by others throughout the world about Croatia and its fight for independence another 1,590, 535 words poured from my pen in these past ten years. My articles published on my blogsite have been quoted and referred to in 20 books or textbooks, dozens of mainstream newspapers across the world and 175 Academic papers across the world and universities. Most of my articles and opinions deal with international justice as related to wars, the 1990’s wars in the territory of former Yugoslavia, transitioning from communism into democracy, the horror of communist crimes and the Holocaust on the territory of former Yugoslavia, which was relatively manifested the worst within Serbia and not Croatia, as the world was led to believe via fabricated victim numbers and twisted events.

To have a future one desires one must have a past that is reflected in truth and not vilification, lies and fabrications. Hence, I intend to continue writing about the truth of Croatia and its wonderful nation and thanking you all for taking the time and steps on this path of the truth with me. Ina Vukic

ARTICLE IN THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE:

Voljeti Hrvatsku posao je s punim radnim vremenom!

Prije deset godina, 19. listopada 2011., uoči 20. godišnjice pada Vukovara koji je obilježen brutalnom srpskom agresijom, divljačkim ubojstvom i etničkim čišćenjem Hrvata, napisala sam i objavila svoj prvi članak na web stranici svog bloga „Hrvatska, rat, i budućnosti ”. U ovih 10 godina razvila sam uspješan blog, ostavila svoj trag u cijelom svijetu kao influencer u promicanju hrvatske istine na engleskom jeziku. Publika koja pristupa mom blogu i posjećuje moje članke broji prema milijunima u 227 zemalja i neovisnih teritorija. Trebali su ljubav, predanost, dosljednost, provjerljivost, naporan rad i, naravno, interes i trud ljudi koji posjećuju moj blog, čitaju članke i dijele ih u svojim radovima ili na društvenim medijima. HVALA SVIMA!

Dovoljno je reći, ono što me motiviralo za pisanje bloga bio je zastrašujući nedostatak istine u svjetskim mainstream medijima i publikacijama o Hrvatskoj, njezinoj povijesti i njezinim naporima da se distancira od komunističke Jugoslavije. Htjela sam da svijet zna istinu, a ne laži koje su napisali jugoslavenski komunisti i Srbi, i njihovi partneri diljem svijeta, uključujući i samu Hrvatsku, koji su se obavezali da brutalnim lažima omalovažavaju slavnu istinu hrvatske nacije koja je oduvijek želila slobodu i ništa osim slobode da vlada vlastitim životom.

U ovih 10 godina napisala sam i objavila 1.103 članka na engleskom jeziku i u prosjeku svaki od 1.400 riječi. Zajedno broje do 1.844.200 riječi. Nadalje, njih oko 450 prevela sam na hrvatski jezik i bivaju objavljeni na raznim hrvatskim portalima, zajedno s još 350 članaka napisanih kao komentari ili dopisi u nastojanju da se isprave netočnosti koje su drugi u cijelom svijetu napisali o Hrvatskoj i njezinoj borbi za neovisnost, još 1.590.535 riječi izlilo se iz mog pera u ovih deset godina. Moji članci objavljeni na mojoj web stranici citirani su u 20 knjiga ili udžbenika, desecima mainstream novina širom svijeta i 175 akademskih radova širom svijeta i sveučilišta. Većina mojih članaka i mišljenja bavi se međunarodnom pravdom u vezi s ratovima, ratovima devedesetih na području bivše Jugoslavije, prijelazom iz komunizma u demokraciju, užasom komunističkih zločina i holokaustom na području bivše Jugoslavije, što se relativno očitovalo najgore u Srbiji, a ne u Hrvatskoj, kako se svijet uvjeravalo izmišljenim brojevima žrtava i iskrivljenim događajima.

Da bi neko imao budućnost, mora imati prošlost koja se ogleda u istini, a ne u omalovažavanju, lažima i izmišljotinama. Stoga namjeravam nastaviti pisati o istini Hrvatske i njezinoj divnoj naciji i zahvaliti vam svima što ste sa mnom odvojili vrijeme i korake na ovom putu istine. Ina Vukić

Who will exorcise the ghost of Tito from Croatia: The Centre-Right or the Centre-Left?

Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and its founding leader dr Franjo Tudjman have often been portrayed in the media as a nationalist movement, imputing negative connotations. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/294990.stm ; http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3166.htm ;

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/yugo-hist4.htm ; http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-30/news/wr-3437_1_civil-war)

General elections in Croatia will be held on 4th December 2011 and the centre-left-wing Kukuriku coalition (in English: “cock-a-doodle-doo” coalition) is running under the banner of coalition for change.

If the “cock-a-doodle-doo coalition wins one may expect that the great work Croatian Democratic Union (Centre-Right-wing) led government in Croatia has done so far on the issues of prosecuting Communist crimes will fade into nothingness.

Tito’s ghost will continue haunting Croatia, reconciling the dark past by processing Communist crimes during WWII and after so that future may shine will be stopped in its tracks! What a crying shame if it comes to that!

When it comes to the notion of nationalism, national pride, there has not been nor is there anything different in Croatia since 1990 (in the years when Croatian Democratic Union held power) to that which we find anywhere we look in the developed world.

National pride means being proud of one’s country or proud of oneself for being from a country. It can also take on the form of defending one’s country in times of need and standing by the country even in difficult times. It can also take on another form of national supremacy.

Certainly, when Croatian citizens (94%) voted to secede from Yugoslavia (1991) they did not imagine themselves to be the supreme nationality within multi-ethnic/multi-national Yugoslavia. They just wanted to free themselves from the heavy and oppressive chains that held them shackled to the communist Yugoslavia (and former Kingdom of Yugoslavia for that matter) where Serbian supremacy held firm grips.

National pride has been a constant companion to personal identity – everywhere in the world. Croatia is no exception.

In 2002, data from the International Social Survey Programme’s 24 nation ‘National Identity’ survey showed that people throughout the developed world feel national pride in several areas of public endeavours, contrary to most globalisation hypotheses (http://ijpor.oxfordjournals.org/content/14/3/303.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc).

When it comes to national pride, Americans were No. 1, according to a survey of 34 countries’ patriotism in 2006 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13577802/ns/us_news-life/t/america-tops-national-pride-survey-finds/#.TtBPx1bhcqM sourced from Associated Press).

2009 research confirmed that Australians are among world’s leaders when it comes to national pride. http://www.australiaday.org.au/media/?x=32

July 2011, Tony Blair wants British national pride to shine at the coming Olympic Games:

http://www.eip-news.com/2011/07/great-britain-blair-wants-national-pride-in-games/

Nationalist politics and movements are very active in Britain, especially when it comes to facets of EU membership. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/may/20/scottish-independence-all-vote-stick-together ; http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/2011/10/21/regional-nationalisms/)

The late Ernest Gellner (Book: Nations & Nationalism, 1983) argues that nationalism is an inseparable consequence of modernism.

Author Tom Nairn (Book: Faces of Nationalism, 1997) argues that nation-building movements from 1750 to 1990 have saved the world from imperial barbarism.

Such arguments and thinking, based on evidence, may help us to understand the new forms that nationalism takes in an age of globalisation and huge concentrations of economic power in the hands of a few.

From their structure and functioning one could conclude that in modern unionist moves (e.g. EU) national independence is irrelevant. This would seem plain wrong as any union, any merger, is likely to be stronger if it recognises the profile and identity any constituent brings into the union/merger.

The nationalism, the kind that inhabits the corridors of Westminster, for example, obsessing about sovereignty, obsessing about British interests, obsessing about the GBP, most likely sees the EU as a threat to the British way of life.  (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/global-issues/european-union/021-europe-approach/)

Right-wing governments (usually symbolised by Blue colour) have often been associated with any of several strains of monarchism, conservatism, the religious right, nationalism, fascism, or simply the opposite of left-wing politics (often associated with socialism, green politics, anarchism, communism, social democracy, American liberalism or social liberalism/ usually symbolised by Red colour).

The right advanced capitalism, whereas the left advocated socialism (often democratic socialism) or communism.

The Guardian (UK) research department published last week an interactive map of European political power. Citing: “With 20 EU member states now under varying degrees of rightwing government, Europe has rarely been more blue”.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/jul/28/europe-politics-interactive-map-left-right

The modern Croatian national pride does not differ from any other national pride encountered in the developed world. Given that most countries of the developed world still cherish the presence of nationalism, and often use it to advance their personal or national standing, pinning negative connotations to nationalism that may be present in Croatia is plain mean-spirited, malicious  and wrong.

It just may be that national pride will save Croatia and restore its rightful position in a just world.

Jeffrey T. Kuhner, The Washington Times, 24 November 2011, wrapped-up his article on “Myth of Croatian Fascism” with: “Tito’s ghost lives – until it is exorcised, Croatia will remain haunted and doomed”. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/24/myth-of-croatian-fascism/

I do not, however, agree with Mr Kuhner when he says that “(HDZ/Croatian Democratic Union) are remnants of the communist system”. The fact is the whole of Croatia, all its political parties, are remnants of the communist system.

The only important question is: which of these political parties in Croatia is strong enough to exorcise the ghost of Tito! Certainly, the likelihood is that the Kukuriku/”cock-a-doodle-doo” coalition won’t.

If it takes nationalism to clear the way from corruption, from the weight of Communist crimes, from anti-Croatian propaganda, from twisting the Croatian truth into unpalatable meals of defamation, vilification, exorcise the ghost of Tito and communism … so be it! It would be the right kind of nationalism – progress for all. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb), B.A.,M.A.Ps.(Syd)

Related posts by Ina Vukic: http://inavukic.com/2011/11/18/and-justice-for-all/ http://inavukic.com/2011/11/02/mass-murders-of-anti-communists-in-wwii-and-after-finally-get-their-deserved-attention-of-law/

Disclaimer, Terms and Conditions:

All content on “Croatia, the War, and the Future” blog is for informational purposes only. “Croatia, the War, and the Future” blog is not responsible for and expressly disclaims all liability for the interpretations and subsequent reactions of visitors or commenters either to this site or its associate Twitter account, @IVukic or its Facebook account. Comments on this website are the sole responsibility of their writers and the writer will take full responsibility, liability, and blame for any libel or litigation that results from something written in or as a direct result of something written in a comment. The nature of information provided on this website may be transitional and, therefore, accuracy, completeness, veracity, honesty, exactitude, factuality and politeness of comments are not guaranteed. This blog may contain hypertext links to other websites or webpages. “Croatia, the War, and the Future” does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information on any other website or webpage. We do not endorse or accept any responsibility for any views expressed or products or services offered on outside sites, or the organisations sponsoring those sites, or the safety of linking to those sites. Comment Policy: Everyone is welcome and encouraged to voice their opinion regardless of identity, politics, ideology, religion or agreement with the subject in posts or other commentators. Personal or other criticism is acceptable as long as it is justified by facts, arguments or discussions of key issues. Comments that include profanity, offensive language and insults will be moderated.
%d bloggers like this: