Croatian emigration in USA between 1945-1990

U razdoblju nakon završetka Drugog svjetskog na prostoru današnje Republike Hrvatske, započeo je proces velikih političkih progona hrvatskog stanovništva, koji je u znatnoj mjeri povećao ionako prekobrojnu hrvatsku emigraciju. No okolnosti i razlozi iseljavanja postali su donekle drugačiji nego li je to bilo krajem 19. i u prvoj polovici 20. stoljeća. Naime ovoga puta razlozi iseljavanja nisu bili samo ekonomske prirode, već i politički, ponajviše zbog situacije u kojoj se našao hrvatski narod. Veliki broj ljudi bio je primoran otići u emigraciju ponajviše iz razloga što se nisu slagali sa jugoslavenskim komunističkim totalitarnim režimom. Mnogi od njih nisu napustili domovinu sa namjerom da se u nju više nikada ne vrate, već jednostavno s nadom da će Hrvatska jednog dana postati slobodna i demokratska država u koju će se moći neometano vratiti. I upravo su se mnogi naši iseljenici, koji su sudjelovali u ovim migracijskim procesima, po svom dolasku u Sjedinjene Američke Države, aktivno uključili u razne emigrantske političke organizacije. Stoga ne čudi što su mnogi od njih u godinama pred Domovinski rat postali nositeljima vrlo određenih nacionalnih koncepcija, zbog čega su za vrijeme svog boravka u emigraciji javno i po cijenu vlastite slobode nastojali upozoriti javnost o jarmu koji trpi naš narod u Domovini. Činjenica je da su mnogi naši iseljenici u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama, svojim djelovanjem posebice s kraja osamdesetih godina, u idejnom i materijalnom pogledu znatno pridonijeli procesu uspostave samostalne Republike Hrvatske.During the period following the end of World War II, a process of big political expatriation of Croatian population started on the territory of the nowadays Republic of Croatia and it significantly increased an already considerable rate of Croatian emigration. However, the circumstances and the reasons for emigration became somehow different compared to those towards the end of the 19th and during the first half of the 20th century. Actually, this time the reasons for emigration were political as much as economic, mainly because of the situation Croatian people found themselves in. The main reason why a high number of people were forced to emigrate was their disagreement with the totalitarian communist regime of Yugoslavia. A large number of them did not leave their country with the intention of never returning, but simply hoping that one day Croatia would become a free democratic state they would freely be able to get back to. After their arrival to the United States of America a lot of our emigrants who took part in these migration processes were those who actively joined different political emigration organisations. That's why it's not surprising that during the years before the Croatian war of independence a lot of them became the carriers of some very specific national concepts. During their emigration they tried to warn the public openly about the suppression our people in Croatia were suffering, even if they would risk their own freedom. The fact is that a lot of our immigrants in the United States of America considerably contributed in ideological and materialistic way to the process of the establishment of the independent Republic of Croatia