Croatian history

The origin of Croatian people is still not exactly defined, but our history on this territory begins in the 7th century. Until that time, these were Greek and Roman colonies that were mostly destroyed by the Avar intrusion.

Croatian nomad tribes fought the Avars upon arrival, defeated them and settled here. The territory was divided to Pannonia and Dalmatia dukedom, which functioned completely independent of each other. The two territories were joined together in the 10th century, under the first Croatian king Tomislav.

At the time, the Croatian kingdom was very strong, and preserved its power until the 12th century. In 1102, it joined the personal union with Hungary, which lasted until the 15th century, when it became the part of Habsburg Empire. The following centuries were the time of constant Ottoman danger and great battles; many medieval fortresses and city walls were built at the time.

After the danger from the East disappeared, both Austria and Hungary, throughout the 19th century, tried to impose their language and culture in Croatia; these constant conflicts led to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the end of the monarchy and beginning of the World War I.

Shortly after Croatia found herself in the union with Serbia and Slovenia (the First Yugoslavia); it stepped out for a short time in 1941, but rejoined in 1944, as a socialistic state in the 6-part communist federation of Second Yugoslavia.

When Croatia decided to reclaim its independence from the federation, it led to a war with Serbia (Homeland war, 1991-1995), which resulted in Croatia's sovereignty and democracy and the break up of Yugoslavia. This was the first time after nearly 1000 years that Croatia was an independent country.