1 | 2 Description (Page 1)
Present day Croatia was first inhabited during the prehistoric age by Neanderthals, as evident by fossils discovered in the northern reaches of the country.
During the 4th century BC Liburnians and Illyrians moved into the region, and remained there until the Roman's conquered the land in 168 BC.
The Roman empire lasted until their final emperor, Julius Nepos, was killed in 480 AD, and by the 7th century AD Croatia's early history had ended with the invasion of the Avars.
Roman survivors of this invasion retreated towards the coastline, and founded the modern city of Dubrovnik.
Croats arrived soon thereafter, and were organized into two dukedoms. The northern part of the country fell under the duchy of Pannonian Croatia, while the south became the duchy of Littoral Croatia.
In the early 900's, the two duchies were united under the first Croatian King, Tomislav, and it was during the reign of King Petar Kresimir IV between 1058 - 1074 that the medieval Croatian kingdom had reached its peak.
After the Battle of Gvozd Mountain towards the end of the 11th century, the kingdom became unified with
Hungary, and fell under the rule of Coloman.
Croatia remained an autonomous kingdom over the next four centuries under Hungarian rule, but with the
Hungarians came the introduction of feudalism. And in 1526, the union between the two countries dissolved.
After the
Hungarians were defeated by Ottoman forces during the Battle of Mohacs, the Croatian assembly appointed the Habsburgs as their new rulers, provided they ensure protection against the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman's raged war against Croatia, and over the next two hundred years many Croats fled the area.
This prompted the Habsburgs to urge Orthodox
Bosnians and
Serbs to aid in the Croatian Military Frontier, which peaked the already set-in-motion
Serb migration into this region.
By the 19th century, the Illyrian movement (an advocation for the unity of all
Serbs) began to gain momentum, and because of its popularity, Croatian replaced Latin as the official language in 1847.
Croatia declared its independence on October 29, 1918, and made the decision to join together with
Slovenia and
Serbia to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
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