The aim of this final paper is to bring the terms and significance of economic development and economic crises closer to the reader. The terms from the title are connected and that will be explained below. Economic development is the base for every state, and it represents fundamental economic goal. Economic crises arise because of negative trends and causes, and they cause instability within the economy. It takes a certain period and a series of complex economic measures to get a certain economy out of the crisis. Data collected for writing this paper are collected from books, articles and papers listed in the literature and they are properly explained and supported by examples though the paper. The methods used in the paper to represent best the topic are methods of analysis, comparison, concretisation, deduction and description, and their use will be more explained later in paper. This scientific and professional research sought to analyse and explain significant economic and financial crises through history, it has been tried to find the causes and to analyse the consequences of these crises on further economic development in general, and with special emphasis on the economy of the Republic of Croatia. Further, the analysis covered the Croatian economy before and after the transition, and then the research focused on contemporary challenges of the development of the Croatian economy in the EU environment.