December 10, 1999
Web posted at: 8:20 p.m. EST (0120 GMT)

In this story: Apologized to Jews Criticized for extreme nationalistic beliefs RELATED STORIES, SITES

ZAGREB, Croatia (CNN) -->

State television broke into regular programming at 2 a.m. (0100 GMT) to make the announcement. It did not specify a time of death.

"The president of Croatia, the founder of the independent Croatian state, has died," the announcement said.

VIDEO Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports on the life and legacy of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman (December 10) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     AUDIO Journalist Jonathan Landay speculates on what's ahead for Croatia 3.8 MB/46 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Nada Buric reports from Zagreb about the effect Tudjman's death may have on the ruling party's prospects in the upcoming elections 2 MB/24 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     ALSO 'The big heart of ... Tudjman has ceased beating' Tudjman's immediate legacy: Uncertainty Kosovo in-depth special

Tudjman had been hospitalized since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery on November 1. He had received medical treatment in Washington, in 1996, for what U.S. sources said was stomach cancer. But Tudjman denied that, and his medical team in Zagreb said he had been treated for an ulcer and swollen lymph nodes.

Tudjman was one of the last of a generation of eastern European political leaders who fought against Nazi Germany in World War II. Half a century later he was part of the historic transition from communism to democracy at the fall of the Soviet Union.

In June 1997, he won election to his third term as president of the Republic of Croatia.

He will be remembered for keeping his promise to lead Croatia to independence from Yugoslavia. But he also was a crafty practitioner of old-fashioned authoritarianism in post-communist eastern Europe.

"Tudjman preferred to leave the day-to-day running of the economy to his prime ministers but did nothing to stop nepotism, cronyism and corruption marring what should have been an admirable economic performance," Graham N. Green, a former Canadian Ambassador to Croatia, wrote in The Ottawa Citizen on November 16.

Green also noted that Tudjman's human rights record led to international censure, resulting in less economic assistance reaching the 4.7 million Croatian people than was offered to other nations in southeastern Europe.

Apologized to Jews

Tudjman, who held a Ph.D. in history from the University of Zagreb, wrote often on political science and history, including a book published in 1988 in which he asserted that 900,000, not 6 million, Jews died in the Holocaust.

He later apologized to Jews for their treatment during World War II under the fascist government installed in Croatia by German forces. As a partisan, he fought that government.

After becoming president of independent Croatia, Tudjman would not permit operations of independent news media. Among various restrictions, his government passed and enforced a law that prohibited the press from insulting the president.

In 1960, Tudjman at age 38 became the youngest general in the Yugoslav army, under President Josip B. Tito, but a year later he resigned to become a historian and teacher. He also worked as writer and editor, and in the late 1980s, lectured on Croatian independence.

Criticized for extreme nationalistic beliefs

In the early 1990s, when Yugoslavia's six federated republics splintered, Tudjman's strong nationalistic sentiments helped him win the presidency of Croatia, one of the new, relatively small nations. Croatia's land area is about 57,000 square kilometers (22,800 square miles), slightly smaller than that of West Virginia.

Tudjman went too far with his nationalistic beliefs, according to some Western critics, because he purged thousands of Croatian Serbs from manufacturing jobs, the security forces, police and other government jobs.

The president's policies against Serbs helped fuel the bitter civil war with Serbs living in Croatia. These Serbs, with backing from the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army, gained territory, then lost battles.

The four-year war that cost about 250,000 lives and wracked Croatia, particularly its industrial facilities, ended in 1995. Negotiations among Tudjman, Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and others at Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, resulted in a peace treaty.

The next president of Croatia is not expected to have the near-dictatorial powers Tudjman gained during the civil war, and many observers predict a multi-party democracy will emerge.

Tudjman, married to Ankica Zumbar, was the father of three children.

Reuters contributed to this report. , "Current Biography," "Who's Who in the World" and the CIA's "The World Factbook 1999" contributed to this report.

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