Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
time free cities (Dubrovnik, among others) were founded along the coast, increasing
trade and political strength in the region.
A
Tatar invasion
in 1242 diverted the government's attention to the country's
defense, but ultimately,
Hungarian King Bela IV
outmaneuvered the Tatars and
retained control.
Venice,
however, remained determined to control Istria and Dalma-
tia and ultimately access to the sea; they finally achieved that goal in 1409. During the
15th century the
Ottoman Turks
advanced on Croatian lands and a series of battles
and deaths put
Ferdinand I of Habsburg
on Croatia's throne and the Habsburg
Empire in control.
In 1808
Napoleon
captured several coastal towns, uniting Dalmatia with parts of
Slovenia and Croatia. When Napoleon was defeated in 1815, the control of Dalmatia
once again reverted to the Habsburgs, and
Austria
created the
Kingdom of Illyria,
an administrative unit designed to thwart Hungarian nationalism and unification of
the South Slavs. Dalmatia, however, was not part of this reorganization, as Austria
decided to keep it as a vacation playground. At the same time, Croatian leaders pushed
nationalism by promoting the Croatian language and culture; they formed a Slavic
kingdom under the Habsburgs' noses.
Hungary challenged Austria during the revolution that was sweeping across Europe
in 1848 and Croatia sided with Austria while calling for self-determination. Austria
yielded to the pressure and raised
Josip Jela
c
i
5
to the position of ban (viceroy) of
Croatia. Jela
c
i
5
immediately suspended relations with Hungary and declared war, but
his Austrian allies reasserted their authority over Croatia after defeating the Hungari-
ans. Austria ended absolute rule over Croatia in 1860. Croatia once again came under
Hungarian influence in 1868.
In 1906, Serbs and Croats again came together to create the
Croat-Serb Coalition,
which immediately came under attack by Vienna, which feared that the groups' coop-
eration with each other would reduce the Austrian influence.
In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and its diverse population of Catholic
Croats, Orthodox Serbs, and Muslims. This move thwarted the Serbian goal of creat-
ing a Serbian state and reignited tensions between Croats and Serbs. On June 28, Aus-
trian
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
and his wife were assassinated, and a month later
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Germany sided with Austria; and Russia,
France, and Great Britain countered by forming an alliance of their own, putting
Croatia and Serbia in opposite corners.
On December 1, 1918, after the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been defeated, the
Serb leadership broke rank and created the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats,
and
Slovenes.
In 1927, its name was changed to the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
(South Slavia).
Yugoslavia tried to remain neutral at the start of World War II, but pressure to sup-
port the Axis side was great, and on March 25, 1941, Yugoslavia's leader aligned the
country with the Nazis. Within 2 days the pact was nullified, but Germany would not
let the cancellation stand. On April 6, they bombed Belgrade and invaded Yugoslavia.
It took them just 10 days to defeat the Yugoslav army.
A resistance movement was organized almost immediately after the German inva-
sion, but it was divided between the
pro-Serbian
C
etniks
and the
pro-Communist
Partisans
led by
Josip Broz “Tito.”
The Allies recognized Tito's Partisans as the offi-
cial resistance and funneled all foreign aid to the Communist group, which helped lib-
erate Belgrade. When the war ended in 1944, more than 1.7 million Yugoslavs had
died, about 10% of the country's population.