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The Croats
came to the Roman provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia
in the 7th century. Ruled by various Croatian
rulers, these dukedoms were intermittently controlled
by the Eastern Roman Empire and the Franks. Eventually
Croatia became a strong independent kingdom in
925, and retained its independence until 1102
when - after decades of inner struggles - the
country entered a dynastic union with Hungary.
Croatian statehood was preserved through a number
of institutions, notably the Sabor which served
as an assembly of Croatian nobles, and the ban
or viceroy. Furthermore, the Croatian nobles retained
their lands and titles.
By the mid-1400s,
the Hungarian kingdom was gravely hurt by the
Ottoman expansion as much of the mountainous country
now known as Bosnia and Herzegovina fell to the
Turks. At the same time, Dalmatia became mostly
Venetian. Dubrovnik was a city-state that was
firstly Byzantine (Roman) and Venetian, but later,
unlike other Dalmatian city-states, it became
independent as Republic of Dubrovnik, even if
it was often under the suzerainty of neighboring
powers.
The Battle
of Mohács in 1526 led the Croatian Parliament
to elect the Habsburgs to the throne of Croatia.
Habsburg rule eventually did prove to be successful
in thwarting the Ottomans, and by the 18th century,
much of the Croatian territories that had previously
been occupied were liberated. The odd crescent
shape of the Croatian lands remained as a mark,
more or less, of the frontier to the Ottoman advance
into Europe. Istria, Dalmatia and Dubrovnik all
eventually passed to the Habsburg Monarchy between
1797 and 1815.
Following
World War I, Croatia joined the State of Slovenes,
Croats and Serbs (comprising what is today, Slovenia,
Croatia and Bosnia). Shortly thereafter, this
joint state in turn formed a union with Serbia
to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
(which eventually became Yugoslavia in 1929).
Yugoslavia was invaded during World War II and
Croatia was transformed by fascist forces into
the Independent State of Croatia, which was actually
a puppet state of the Axis. When the Axis powers
were defeated, the anti-fascists reintegrated
the country into Yugoslavia, which became a federal
socialist state.
Along with
Slovenia, Croatia declared its independence from
Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991, which triggered the
Croatian War of Independence. The Serb population
living in border areas of Croatia revolted, supported
by the Yugoslav army, and the ensuing months saw
combat between various Croatian and Serbian armed
forces. During this stage of the war, the independence
of Croatia was recognized by the international
community, while the Serbs proclaimed their own
state, the Republic of Serbian Krajina, and by
early 1992, troops were entrenched. This stage
of the war left hundreds of thousands as refugees
on the Croatian side. In 1995, the Croatian Army
successfully launched two major offensives to
retake the rebel areas by force, leading to a
mass displacement of the Serbian population from
those areas. A few months later, the war ended
upon the negotiation of the Dayton Agreement.
A peaceful reintegration of the remaining Serbian-controlled
territories was completed in 1998 under UN supervision.
Croatia
is currently in the process of joining the European
Union.
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