Tuđmanism

[2] According to Ravlić, the ideology contains elements of deification of the Croatian people started by Ante Starčević, a continuation of the 20th-century conservative tradition that rejects liberal democracy, and a mix of ideas represented by neoconservatism.

[3] In the twilight years of Yugoslavia following the death of Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav society saw the increasing proliferation of media and publications which espoused alternative views of politics and history which deviated from the state-sanctioned official narratives of the communist regime, in particular the increase of nationalist perspectives which were either suppressed or softened during the communist era and its official ideology of "brotherhood and unity" of different national groups and opposition to nationalist separatism.

[4] One of the most common debates was about the death toll of Serbian victims at Jasenovac concentration camp under the fascist Independent State of Croatia during World War II, which had been exaggerated by communist authorities, and likewise heavily underestimated by Croatian nationalist writers.

[4] Tuđman took a pragmatic approach when seeking to establish an independent Croatian state, as he sought the support of both nationalists as well as those with a recent history in the communist system.

[7] Under his tenure as president, Tuđman swiftly established hegemony in the Croatian government early on and introduced strong state control over the media as a means of spreading the HDZ's ideology to the public.

Those who spoke out against the regime during Croatian War of Independence were often censored or punished; in one instance, editors of the satirical Feral Tribune were drafted into the military after criticising him.

[4] Tuđman had long expressed irredentist impulses towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, both as an earlier writer and later as a statesman, which he believed to be part of the 'Greater Croatia' idea.