Editing Croatian Spring (section)

===Looking for role models from the past===
[[File:Third session of ZAVNOH.JPG|thumb|The federal model adopted by the [[ZAVNOH]] ([[Andrija Hebrang (father)|Andrija Hebrang]] shown speaking at its third session) was the declared aim of the Croatian leadership during the Croatian Spring.|alt=Andrija Hebrang speaking at a podium]]
The Croatian Spring spurred increased interest in Croatian historical figures. A [[commemorative plaque]] to [[Stjepan Radić]], the founder of the [[Croatian Peasant Party]] (HSS) and a champion of the Croatian cause in [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|pre-war Yugoslavia]], was put up in Zagreb, followed by a monument to him in the town of [[Metković]]. The city of [[Šibenik]] cancelled a plan to erect a monument to the victims of [[fascism]], instead erecting a statue of the medieval Croatian king [[Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia|Peter Krešimir IV]].{{sfn|Ramet|2006|pp=237–238}} A marching band and a [[living history]] troop named after the 18th-century [[Trenck's Pandurs]] were re-established in [[Požega, Croatia|Požega]] in 1969.{{sfn|Jakovina|2012|p=393}} There were also unsuccessful calls to restore a monument to the 19th-century [[Ban of Croatia]] [[Josip Jelačić]], which had been removed from [[Ban Jelačić Square|Zagreb's central square]] by the SKH in 1947.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|pp=237–238}}

Traditional Croatian patriotic songs—some of them banned—experienced a resurgence in popularity. The most popular and controversial singer of such songs at the time was [[Vice Vukov]].{{sfn|Ramet|2006|pp=237–238}} {{lang|hr|[[Lijepa naša domovino]]}} returned to formal use as a patriotic song when a plaque was placed in the [[Zagreb Cathedral]] commemorating the noblemen involved in the 17th-century [[Magnate conspiracy]]. The opera {{lang|hr|[[Nikola Šubić Zrinski (opera)|Nikola Šubić Zrinski]]}}, retelling the 16th-century [[Siege of Szigetvár]], was regularly sold out whenever it played at the [[Croatian National Theatre, Zagreb|Croatian National Theatre]] in Zagreb. Paintings by [[Oton Iveković]] (1869–1939) depicting events from Croatian history became very popular.{{sfn|Batović|2017|p=162}}{{sfn|Jakovina|2012|pp=392–393}} Croatia's historical [[Coat of arms of Croatia|chequy coat of arms]] became a famous symbol sewn by youths on jackets and berets or applied on stickers to car windshields. In 1969, it was incorporated into the football club crest [[GNK Dinamo Zagreb|Dinamo Zagreb]]. While the [[Flag of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav flag]] was still flown, it was always paired with the [[Flag of Croatia|Croatian one]]. The latter was also used on its own, and in overall use in Croatia, it outnumbered the Yugoslav flag by ten to one.{{sfn|Jakovina|2012|pp=392–393}}

The SKH pointed out the significance of the [[Catholic Church]] in Croatian culture and political identity. Dabčević-Kučar later said that the move was motivated by her wish to counterbalance the [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] as a "source of Serbian chauvinism".{{sfn|Irvine|2007|p=158}} While the Catholic Church did not play an important role in the Croatian Spring, it contributed to the strengthening of national identity by introducing the [[Cult of Mary]] as a Croatian national symbol around the same time. This contribution was reinforced by the [[canonisation]] of the 14th-century Croatian [[Franciscan]] friar and missionary [[Nicholas Tavelic]] in 1970.{{sfn|Irvine|2007|pp=170–171}}

The SKH maintained that its current policy was rooted in the [[Yugoslav Partisans|Partisan]] legacy, arguing that the Yugoslav federation was not set up as envisaged by the World War II-era [[State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia]] (ZAVNOH); in particular, ZAVNOH's solution to the [[Croatian question]] was not implemented. The SKH said that national sentiments were a legitimate expression of interests which communists must defend and that Yugoslavia must be organised as a community of national sovereign republics.{{sfn|Irvine|2007|p=155}} {{lang|hr|Hrvatski tjednik}} published an article by Tuđman praising ZAVNOH. Its cover page carried a photo of the wartime secretary of the [[Communist Party of Croatia]], [[Andrija Hebrang (father)|Andrija Hebrang]],{{sfn|Irvine|2007|p=162}} whom the SKJ had considered a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] spy and a traitor since the 1948 [[Tito–Stalin split]]. The article also coincided with a request, ignored by the SKH, to posthumously rehabilitate Hebrang.{{sfn|Irvine|2007|p=155}} The initiative was launched as a form of "moral rehabilitation" by anti-communist émigrés including former high-ranking KPJ official [[Ante Ciliga]].{{sfn|Strčić|1988|p=30}}
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