Zagreb, Croatia -- Here we see the 1910 Neo-Classic Parliament (Sabor) building which holds sessions for the 150 or so members of this unicameral legislature. When it declared its independence in 1990, Croatia formed a bicameral legislature but moved to one chamber in 2001. The red checkerboard coat-of-arms at the center of this Ionic-columned Palladian facade is ironically that of the old Hapsburg Kingdom of Croatia.Croatia and Slavonia were Catholic and looked West -- to Venice and Vienna -- for their identity. While they speak Slavic, they spell with the Latin alphabet. Most of the rest of the former Yugoslavia (the name means "Southern Slavs") looks east -- to the Ottoman empire. Today, the US celebrates the fall of the Berlin wall and its bloodless revolution -- but virtually ignores the horror that happened here when Croatia threw off its Communist rulers.
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