With the election in late 1970 and early 1971 of a new student leadership54, it became obvious that students had freed themselves of Party control and were attempting to influence political events in the country. For the most part the students’ political goals reflected those of the top Croatian communist leaders, but their methods, such as the November 1971 strike, were unwelcome. They called for national equality, a new hard currency regime and resolution of the Republic’s economic ills, autonomy of the University, abolition of the Stalinist-type communism and its replacement with democratic socialism.55 With rare exceptions, the nationalism expressed during the Croatian Spring was neither chauvinist nor secessionist. It regarded Serbs and all other minorities living in Croatia as having equal rights with the Croatian people and its character was neither assimilatory nor expansionistic. It was generally democratic, non-violent, and future-oriented, devoted to principles of self-management and socialism with a human face. Tito himself firmly supported the demands of the Croatian communist leaders, even prompting them to take actions against domestic conservative forces, until the spring 1971. Even after that time he hesitated, taking their side as late as September 1971.56 Why, then, was Croatian national movement crushed? The answer is simple – being democratic, pluralistic and open to the wide groups of people, the national movement increasingly acted independently of the Party and posed a serious treat to its monopoly over power. Croatia’s communist leaders became too independent and too tolerant towards different political opinions and had begun to reject Tito’s repeated requests for arresting “counter-revolutionary forces”, showing deference to due legal process and the independence of the court57 and, in so doing, endangering the very foundations of the communist regime. This Tito would not tolerate. In a classical coup-d’etat manner, using the threat of military and police forces, Croatia’s leaders were forced to resign.58 With their resignation on 12 December 1971 Croatia’s reformist aspirations had entered its winter season. In the following months two thousand people were imprisoned, the Croatian communist party was thoroughly purged, thousands lost their jobs and many left the country.59 Soon, reformist elements in other Republics suffered similar fates. In 1972 the reformist leaderships of Serbia,
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