history of Croatia
Quick Summary
Croatia's history is shaped by its position as a borderland between Central Europe and the Mediterranean. It was a frontier for the Roman Empire, the Byzantine and Frankish empires, and a battleground between Christianity and Islam.1
Slavic tribes settled in the western Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries, eventually forming an independent Croatian state in the 9th century. This state was later united with Hungary in 1102, though Croatian institutions like the Sabor (assembly) and the ban (viceroy) were maintained. Over centuries, Croatia's territory was reduced by Venetian and Ottoman conquests. The Austrian Habsburgs took the Croatian throne in 1527, establishing a Military Frontier that attracted a Serb population.1
Croatia became part of Yugoslavia after both World Wars, struggling within a Serbian-dominated state. After World War II, it was a republic in a communist federation. A "Croatian Spring" movement in the early 1970s called for greater autonomy but was suppressed. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Croatia declared independence in 1991, leading to war. It eventually regained full control of its territory and joined the European Union in 2013.23
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HungaryThe Dual Monarchy, 1867–1918…should include a revised Hungaro-Croatian agreement and provisions guaranteeing adequate rights for the non-Magyars of Hungary. The Croatian settlement, known as the Nagodba (1868), left Croatia, including Slavonia, as part of the Hungarian crown, under a ban appointed on the proposal of the Hungarian prime minister. Croatia was to…
Read More…should include a revised Hungaro-Croatian agreement and provisions guaranteeing adequate rights for the non-Magyars of Hungary. The Croatian settlement, known as the Nagodba (1868), left Croatia, including Slavonia, as part of the Hungarian crown, under a ban appointed on the proposal of the Hungarian prime minister. Croatia was to…
Read More- HungaryWar and renewed defeat
>Croatia had declared its independence (April 10) and then, arguing that Yugoslavia had already disintegrated, occupied the ex-Hungarian areas of Yugoslavia.
Read More>Croatia had declared its independence (April 10) and then, arguing that Yugoslavia had already disintegrated, occupied the ex-Hungarian areas of Yugoslavia.
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20th-century international relationsThe Balkans…presidents of the six republics—Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Montenegro—failed to revive a loose confederation. On June 25, 1991, Croatia declared independence, and the fighting spread.
Read More…presidents of the six republics—Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Montenegro—failed to revive a loose confederation. On June 25, 1991, Croatia declared independence, and the fighting spread.
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Bosnia and HerzegovinaRelief…north, west, and south by Croatia, on the east by Serbia, on the southeast by Montenegro, and on the southwest by the Adriatic Sea along a narrow extension of the country.
Read More…north, west, and south by Croatia, on the east by Serbia, on the southeast by Montenegro, and on the southwest by the Adriatic Sea along a narrow extension of the country.
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CroatiaFrom World War I to the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and SlovenesNew solutions to Croatia’s problems became possible with the dissolution of Austria-Hungary during World War I. However, Croatia’s postwar future was threatened by the 1915 Treaty of London, which promised Italy extensive Habsburg territories on the Adriatic in return for entering the war on the Allied side. Representatives…
Read MoreNew solutions to Croatia’s problems became possible with the dissolution of Austria-Hungary during World War I. However, Croatia’s postwar future was threatened by the 1915 Treaty of London, which promised Italy extensive Habsburg territories on the Adriatic in return for entering the war on the Allied side. Representatives…
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Dayton AccordsThe outbreak of warAfter Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declared their independence from Yugoslavia, ethnic Serbs, who opposed the breakup of Serb-dominated Yugoslavia, launched armed struggles to carve out separate Serb-controlled territories in both areas. Around the same time, Croats and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) also began fighting each other,…
Read MoreAfter Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina declared their independence from Yugoslavia, ethnic Serbs, who opposed the breakup of Serb-dominated Yugoslavia, launched armed struggles to carve out separate Serb-controlled territories in both areas. Around the same time, Croats and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) also began fighting each other,…
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SerbiaThe scramble for the Balkans… to Vienna while subordinating civil Croatia and Slavonia to Budapest. In the latter regions Croats were exposed to a regime of Magyarization, which in turn stimulated Croat nationalism. The old Military Frontier, with its large Serb population, was abolished in 1881, bringing the Serbs into an expanded civil Croatia. In…
Read More… to Vienna while subordinating civil Croatia and Slavonia to Budapest. In the latter regions Croats were exposed to a regime of Magyarization, which in turn stimulated Croat nationalism. The old Military Frontier, with its large Serb population, was abolished in 1881, bringing the Serbs into an expanded civil Croatia. In…
Read More- SerbiaThe disintegration of the federation
…to secure a union between Croatia and Croat-majority areas of the republic, and a secessionist Serb army. The destructive use of ethnic cleansing (the effort to establish an ethnically homogenous area by forcibly expelling a particular ethnic group) by irregular Serb troops to consolidate strongholds in places with a previously…
Read More…to secure a union between Croatia and Croat-majority areas of the republic, and a secessionist Serb army. The destructive use of ethnic cleansing (the effort to establish an ethnically homogenous area by forcibly expelling a particular ethnic group) by irregular Serb troops to consolidate strongholds in places with a previously…
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Yugoslavia>Croatia, North Macedonia, and Slovenia. The “third Yugoslavia,” inaugurated on April 27, 1992, had roughly 45 percent of the population and 40 percent of the area of its predecessor and consisted of only two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, which agreed to abandon the name Yugoslavia…
Read More>Croatia, North Macedonia, and Slovenia. The “third Yugoslavia,” inaugurated on April 27, 1992, had roughly 45 percent of the population and 40 percent of the area of its predecessor and consisted of only two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, which agreed to abandon the name Yugoslavia…
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World War IICentral Europe and the Balkans, 1940–41Yugoslavia was completely dissolved: Croatia, the independence of which had been proclaimed on April 10, 1941, was expanded to form Great Croatia, which included Srem (Syrmia, the zone between the Sava and the Danube south of the Drava confluence) and Bosnia and Hercegovina; most of Dalmatia was annexed to…
Read MoreYugoslavia was completely dissolved: Croatia, the independence of which had been proclaimed on April 10, 1941, was expanded to form Great Croatia, which included Srem (Syrmia, the zone between the Sava and the Danube south of the Drava confluence) and Bosnia and Hercegovina; most of Dalmatia was annexed to…
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Axis powers…the wartime breakup of Yugoslavia, Croatia (June 1941). Finland, although it did not formally join the Tripartite Pact, cooperated with the Axis because of its opposition to the Soviet Union (to which Finland had been forced to cede territory in 1940) and entered the war in 1941.
Read More…the wartime breakup of Yugoslavia, Croatia (June 1941). Finland, although it did not formally join the Tripartite Pact, cooperated with the Axis because of its opposition to the Soviet Union (to which Finland had been forced to cede territory in 1940) and entered the war in 1941.
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