To gain a better understanding of Croatia, one needs to look at its history.
From about the 11th century BCE to the 5th century CE, the Romans ruled the area called Croatia. It was split into two parts: Dalmatia and Pannonia. By the middle of the 7th century, Croat tribes from around Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, moved into Pannonia and Dalmatia, and powerful clans and rulers emerged.
In 800 CE., the Frankish emperor Charlemagne conquered Dalmatia and swiftly launched a campaign to convert Croat rulers to Christianity. After his death in 814 CE., the Byzantine Empire controlled most of Dalmatia, while the Pannonian Croats remained under Frankish rule. The spread of Christianity, however, encouraged cultural ties with Rome, which proved to be a unifying factor in forging a future national identity. Today, a large majority of Croats (about 90%) are Catholic.
Beginning with the crowning of King Tomislav in 925, the Kingdom of Croatia was born. Tomislav united Dalmatia and Pannonia into a single kingdom, and under his rule Croatia became one of the most powerful forces in the Balkans. After his death, his royal successors continued to rule the kingdom until the latter part of the 11th century, when Croatia merged with Hungary.
In the 1400s, when the Ottoman Empire was attempting to take over the Balkans, Croatia battled both the Turks and the Hungarians. After years of fighting the Ottomans, Croatia succeeded in resisting them and joined the Hapsburgs. Croatia then became a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In 1358 Dubrovnik gained independence and was called the Republic of Ragusa. It lasted until 1808, reaching its commercial peak in the 15th and the 16th centuries. Napoleon conquered it in 1808 and annexed it to the Kingdom of Italy. Ragusa in its height was a combatant against Venice.
In 1918, after the end of World War I and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Croatia decided to align forces with the Serbs, forming the “Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.” This kingdom was a quick failure, declining into uprising and civil war. One faction, the Partisans, led by Josip Broz, or Tito, gained wide support, and after World War II, Tito became the leader of Yugoslavia, which included Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia. Tito transformed Yugoslavia from a largely agricultural nation into an industrialized one.
After Tito’s death, the economy declined and several battles for control took place. Milosevic, leader of the Serbs, attempted to ethnically cleanse parts of the former Yugoslavia of Croats, Bosnians, and Muslims, with the aim of creating what he called “The Greater Serbia.” Ultimately, in 1990 after the Bosnian War, Nato intervened. At the bargaining table, Yugoslavia was dissolved and the area split into six independent countries.
Now, almost three decades since the end of the war, Croatia is well established as an independent and tourist-friendly country. It is part of both NATO and the European Union.
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