Croatia, just as Slovenia, which would have its Communist Party at the same time, was the most industrialised part of the country, with the biggest percentage of working class in the population, and, therefore, more likely to adopt communism than rural Serbia.

The other, more practical, reason was in the increased marginalisation of Communists in Croatian political life due to public more preoccupied with ethnic issues and position of Croatia within Yugoslavia (cf.

Territorial aspirations of Fascist Italy towards Croatian parts of Yugoslavia also presented opportunity for the creation of broad Communist-dominated alliances modelled on Popular Front.

[1] Although KPH had many of its leading figures arrested and killed by new regime, it remained strong enough to form what would become the only truly effective resistance movement in Croatia – the Partisans.

KPH platform of post-war reorganisation of Yugoslavia on federal grounds also attracted many non-Communist Croatians to its cause, especially in the later stages of war.

In 1945 Yugoslavia was indeed federalised with Croatia becoming a republic, but its nominal autonomy was of little importance with KPJ being heavily centralised and KPH – renamed into SKH in 1952 – being its integral part.

This generation included SKH leaders Savka Dabčević-Kučar and Miko Tripalo who would start movement called the Croatian Spring, advocating for more autonomy of Croatia within Yugoslavia.

In December 1971, on the Karađorđevo conference of the SKJ, Tito publicly distanced himself from Croatian Spring, leading to the end of the movement.