Central Croatia - History

History

Central Croatia as a region has defined itself historically through territorial losses of the medieval Kingdom of Croatia to the Republic of Venice and Ottoman conquest starting in the 15th century. Venice seized the area of present-day Dalmatia as the Ottomans advanced, winning the decisive Battle of Krbava Field in 1493 and the Battle of Mohács in 1526. This led to the loss of Slavonia and the defeat of the Kingdom of Hungary, to which Croatia was tied through a personal union. The extent of the Ottoman conquest still marks the southern and eastern boundaries of Central Croatia as a geographical region. In effect, Central Croatia loosely corresponds to what was termed the relics of the relics of the formerly great and glorious Kingdom of Croatia (Latin: reliquiae reliquiarum olim magni et inclyti regni Croatiae) and subsequent Kingdom of Croatia within the Habsburg Empire. The Croatian Military Frontier was gradually established in the second half of the 16th century, removing further territory from the Kingdom of Croatia and placing the military zone under direct imperial rule. Ottoman advances into Croatian territory continued until the 1593 Battle of Sisak, the first decisive Ottoman defeat, which led to a more lasting stabilisation of the frontier.

After the Ottoman defeat in the Great Turkish War and the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), a separate Kingdom of Slavonia was formed out of the regained territories, confirming the established borders of the Kingdom of Croatia. Pursuant to provisions of the Croatian-Hungarian Settlement of 1868, Slavionia was added to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia—the territory ruled from Zagreb—and the military frontier was abolished. Rijeka was removed from the new kingdom, as the Corpus separatum attached it to Hungary instead. Following World War I and the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost Rijeka and Međimurje, as well as other territories, to the newly-established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The 1921 constitution defined the country as a unitary state and abolished the historical administrative divisions, effectively ending Croatia's autonomy. Međimurje was assigned to Croatia in 1947—when all the borders of the former Yugoslav constituent republics were defined by demarcation commissions, pursuant to decisions of the AVNOJ of 1943 and 1945.

After the breakup of Yugoslavia and Croatia's declaration of independence in 1991, the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) was proclaimed in parts of Croatia, including parts of the Central Croatia—Banovina and Kordun—encompassing areas east of Karlovac and south of Sisak, marking the start of the Croatian War of Independence. After the January 1992 ceasefire, a United Nations peacekeeping force was deployed to the area. The area remained outside control of the government of Croatia until August 1995, when it was recaptured in Operation Storm. The Croatian Army campaign ended following the surrender of the last operational corps of the RSK military in Viduševac, near Glina.