The Arrival of the Post-War Croatians

This chapter introduces to the reader why Australia welcomed tens of thousands of Eastern and Southern Europeans, including Croatians, and considers who they were. In doing so, it accomplishes three things. First, it demonstrates that Croatians, as part of the broader wave of European arrivals to Australia, were always seen by the Australian government as a political tool. Second, it explains why Croatians left Europe and why they continued to leave over time. Third, it charts their early political organisation which was foundational to the emergence of the violent Croatian nationalism problem of the 1960s. Understanding that for both the government and Croatian migrants, their lives in Australia were always seen through a political lens is a key part of the story.