Croatia's history began in 1200s BC when the Illyrian tribes began their immigration from the Balkan Peninsula. Thousands of years later, Croatia has seen centuries of Ottoman rule, and even under Hungarian-Habsburg rule. Huge fortifications (Karlovac) were designed to defend the Croatian territory from attacks by enemies. However, the Habsburgs were forced to give up half of Croatia to Turkey in 1526, following their defeat in the battle of Mohacs.
In 1918 Croatia joined the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Yugoslavian Empire. The revolutionary Ante Pavelic founded the radical nationalist organization "Ustascha" to fight against Serbian domination through violent means. In 1945 Croatia joined the Communist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and President Tito held together the multinational states until his death.
The country has proclaimed its independence on 25 June 1991. Since 1996 the relations of Croatia with the former Yugoslavia went back to normal. Three years later, in 1999, the Croatian Democratic Union lost its majority after the death of its president Tudjman. Since the year 2000 the country was lead by Stjepan Mesic.