Early 20th century

As Belgium was one of the most developed states in Europe in the early 20th century, part of Croats emigrated in it searching for better life. Moreover, the first wave of emigration started with creation of Kingdom of Yugoslavia and because of anti-Croatian politics of that state in 1918. Most of emigrants were peasants and workers from Bosnia, Herzegovina, Dalmatia and Lika. Croats were mostly workers at steel foundry, ironworks, mines of coal and such. At first, Croats done the hardest jobs, but they were highly respected for their famous devoted work and cleverness. Soon, Croats become employers and chiefs to some Belgians.^{[citation needed]}

After the assassination of Stjepan Radić and of Yugoslav King Alexander I in 1928-1929, and the consequent repression against Croatian nationalism, the number of Croats in Belgium increased, including many members of the Ustaše movement, secretly active also in Belgium, among which the Herzegovinian Croat general Rafael Boban, later US Army officer.^{[citation needed]}

At the time, the number of Croats in Belgium was 25,000 to 30,000. Most of Croats resided in Wallonia in the cities of Liège and Charleroi and in their surroundings.^{[citation needed]}

In 1932, under the influence of the brothers Antun and Stjepan Radić, Belgian Croats founded the first branch of the Croatian Peasant Party abroad in Jemeppe-sur-Sambre near Liège. The branch was later registered as the Mutual Aid Association "Croatian Peasant Party" (Croatian: "Hrvatski seljački savez"). They couldn't act like a political organization because of Belgian laws and the protests of the Yugoslav government.^{[citation needed]}

Before World War II only a small number of Croats had university degrees - among them dr. Ivan Puljić and economist Ante Klarić. In time of World War II most of Croats had stayed in Belgium, only the members of Ustaše left the country for Croatia. After the war, big part of Croats leaves industrial sector and employees in the trade sector, where they have big successes. Also, big number of Croats arrives in new, communist Yugoslavia, but soon, disappointed with communist policy, they again leave the country, but this time they emigrate to overseas. The Croats that remained in Belgium often married with Belgian women, because the amount of Croat women in Belgium at the time was very small.^{[citation needed]}

Post-war migration wave

The first part of the second wave of immigration was composed of political emigrants. Thousands of Croats flees SFR Yugoslavia, big part of them were former Ustaše and Domobran soldiers. Most of those Ustaše emigrants soon left Belgium for other destinations overseas (Canada, United States, Australia). Those political emigrants who stayed in Belgium received asylum from United Nations.^{[citation needed]}

Also thanks to this new influx, the Croatian Peasant Party in Belgium saw a revival; the party leader, Vladko Maček, resided in exile in Paris until death in 1964. The branch organised ceremonies, cultural programs and celebrations on the anniversary of the death of Stjepan Radić. There was also a branch of the Croatian National Committee, an Ustaše-linked organization in Belgium. They convened a Second Assembly in Brussels in 1977, which was met with fierce criticism from the Yugoslav government. Assemblies of Croats were also organized by the priests who gather them on ceremonies and mass.^{[citation needed]}

The Croatian Peasant Party also organised a trade union, the Croatian Worker's Union (Hrvatski radnički savez), with headquarters in Charleroi. There were also few sport and cultural societies, of which some are still active today. Among others, there were also few Yugoslav clubs under the patronage of the Yugoslav embassy, which served for espionage of Croats in Belgium.^{[citation needed]}

Except for a few newsletters, there was also a monthly newspapers Hrvatski glas ("Croatian voice") that had been published in the 1950s and 1960s as formal newspapers of Croatian Peasant Party in Europe. They were edited by Oton Orešković, who was a former quartermaster of Croatian National Theatre. Those newspapers were printed on their own linotype which was a gift from the American trade union AFL-CIO to the Croatian Worker's Union. Oton Orešković, in cooperation with Delonoy published a comprehensive study in the review Historia on Ante Pavelić's rise to power until his life in exile.^{[citation needed]}

A further wave of immigration started after the quelling of the Croatian Spring by the Yugoslav communist regime in 1971. Thousands of Croats fled again to Belgium, some of them individually and some with their family. Most of them Croats soon left Belgium for Canada and Australia, smaller part went in United States, New Zealand and South America. Also, some of them scattered all around Europe. Soon Croats with higher education also moved from Belgium. After the 1970s and the death of communist dictator Josip Broz Tito, only Croats who worked for Yugoslav companies arrived in Belgium.^{[citation needed]}

The real political life of Belgian Croats started with the foundation of Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and arrival of Franjo Tuđman on the Croatian political scene. The first Croats of Belgium registered as HDZ members even before the first democratic elections. With sequence of events, Croats of Belgium founded branches of Croatian Democratic Union (in 1990 and 1991) in Antwerp, Brussels and Liège. The founders were later immigrants who came after World War II, and in less numbers, heirs of immigrants from the first wave of immigration. Croats in Belgium mostly helped financially by sending money to hospitals, charities and military budget. The money came mainly through HDZ branches. At the start of Croatian Homeland War, Belgian Croats founded Croatian Supplementary School, under patronage of the Croatian Ministry of Education.^{[citation needed]}