Croatian thinker and politician Ante Starčević, an advocate of Croatian unity and independence, who was both anti-Habsburg and anti-Serbian in outlook, envisioned the creation of Greater Croatia that would include territories inhabited by Bosniaks, Serbs, and Slovenes, considering Bosniaks and Serbs to be Croats who had been converted to Islam and Orthodox Christianity, while considering the Slovenes to be "mountain Croats".

Starčević admired Bosniaks because in his view they were Croats who had adopted Islam in order to preserve the economic and political autonomy of Bosnia and Ottoman Croatia.

Stojanović denied the existence of the Croatian nation and forecast the result of the "inevitable" Serbian–Croatian conflict:[neutrality is disputed] That combat has to be led till the destruction, either ours or yours.

That side will be Croatians, due to their minority, geographical position, mingling with Serbs and because the process of evolution means Serbhood is equal to progress.

Using tactics of police intimidation and vote rigging,[8] he diminished the role of the oppositions (mainly those loyal to his Croatian rival, Stjepan Radić)[neutrality is disputed] to his government in parliament,[9] creating an environment for centralization of power in the hands of the Serbs in general and Serbian politicians in particular.

The Croatian Peasant Party, now led by Vladko Maček who succeeded Radić, continued to advocate federalization of Yugoslavia, resulting in the Cvetković–Maček Agreement of August 1939 and the autonomous Banovina of Croatia.

In April 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by Germany and Italy who created a puppet-state called the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) which was governed by the pro-Axis Ustaša organization.

The Ustašas sought to create ethnically pure Greater Croatia by cleansing Serbs as well as Jews and Roma from its territory.

[15][16] Approximately 100,000 people, primarily Serbs, Roma and Jews and political dissidents were murdered in Jasenovac concentration camp alone.

[23][24] The reason for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to support the Republic of Serbian Krajina against Croatian forces were common interests in upholding the status quo of keeping ethnic Serbs of former Yugoslav territories united, either within the extant Yugoslav state or as satellite states serving as proxies to Belgrade.

[26] An estimated 170,000 to 250,000 Croats and other non-Serbs were expelled from parts of Croatia overrun by Serb forces and hundreds of Croatian and other non-Serbian civilians were killed.

[37] In November 2010, Serbian president Boris Tadić visited Memorial site of Vukovar massacre and apologised for the crime.

[40] In May 2014, floodwaters in southeastern Europe caused greatest damages to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Croatia suffered to a lesser extent.

Croatia provided military transport, a number of rescuers and 65 tons of drinking water to affected areas in Serbia.

[51] In 2020, the birth home of Ban of Croatia Josip Jelačić, built in the 18th century and located in Petrovaradin, was bought by the Republic of Serbia from private owners.

[57] Miloš Stojković, a member of the Serb delegation which was supposed to bring the humanitarian aid to areas hit by the earthquake, came unannounced to Croatian city of Knin (once the capital of self-proclaimed Krajina).

[61] In July 2022, Croatia and Serbia entered a diplomatic dispute over Aleksandar Vučić's private trip to lay flowers at the memorial site of the World War II Jasenovac concentration camp, which the Croatian government blocked on the basis that such presidential visits need to be "part of arrangements between the two sides".

The Serbian authorities immediately reacted by putting similar restrictions on all Croatian officials traveling through its territory, requiring them to specifically announce and explain their visit or passage through Serbia.

[62]In October 2022, at the first meeting of the European Political Community in Prague, Czech Republic, the European Union, as part of the eighth package of sanctions against Russia, wanted a ban on the import of Russian oil, Croatia sought no exemption to allow oil to flow to Serbia through the Croatian port of Omišalj, via the Adriatic pipeline (JANAF), which caused a diplomatic rift between the two countries.

[72] Due to the meandering of the Danube, the eastern border of Baranya with Serbia according to cadastral delineation is not followed, as each country controls territory on their side of the main river flow.

Serbia's position is that the natural border between the countries is the middle of the main flow of Danube, which would make the islands Serbian territory.

[76] The consulate has played a very positive role in the life of the local Serbian minority in the city and region since the end of the war.

[75][77][78][79] Representatives of the consulate are frequent commenters in local and national media when it comes to issues of the protection and promotion of Serbian identity in the Danube region.

[85] Over time, the consulate developed close cooperation with minority institutions and organizations such as Joint Council of Municipalities, Eparchy of Osječko polje and Baranya, and Radio Borovo.

[90] Rivalries between Croatian and Serbian football contenders became especially famous to the world in the early 1990s, starting with the historic Dinamo Zagreb–Red Star Belgrade riot, which emphasized in some peoples' eyes the breakup of Yugoslavia.

[91][92][93][94] Fourteen years later, for the first time in history, Serbia as an independent country played against the Croatian team on 22 March 2013 in qualification group A of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

[95] The football federations of Serbia and Croatia agreed to ban foreign guest fans at the two games because of security concerns.

During the match, Miralem Sulejmani, who was in a goal scoring opportunity, was knocked down by a tactical tackle from Josip Šimunić for which he was given a red card.

[97] Some Serbs, including the tennis star Novak Đoković, who supported Croatia national team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, were publicly criticized by some politicians and media.