CROATIA
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CROATIA
Balkan, invaded Croatia in 1493. He was met by the
Croatian forces under Ban Derenchin on the field of
Krbava. The Croats were defeated and left the
flower of their nobility on the field. In 1513, how-
ever, the Turkish army wa.s defeated by the Ban
Bishop Peter Berislavieh, and Leo X, upon receiving
the news of victory, sent the warrior-bishop a blessed
saber. Bishop Berislavich's appeal to Charles V was
unheeded, and the former was killed in the battle of
Korenica (1520). His death was a terrible blow to the
Aniemurale Chrislianitalis, as the pope and emperor
styled the Croats in their letters. Then followed the
conflicts of Jajco (1521, 1525), Klis (1524), Mohacs
(1526), and Vienna (1529), which Solyman II at-
tempted to take. He was badly defeated, however,
and returned to Constantinople with thousands of
Christians, who became either slaves or soldiers (Jani-
zaries). The pashas in Bosnia in retaliation for the
defeat, pillaged the country and slew the Christians.
After the defeat at Mohacs where King Louis and so many of his warriors were slain, the Croatians elected, at Cetin, New Year's Day, 1527, Ferdinand of Aus- tria as king. The Hapsburg rule was thus begun, Croatia subsequently having the same rulers as Aus- tria. The king took an oath to defend the rights and boundaries of his new kingdom, a promise which was never fully observed, and the hopes of the national heroes Simeon Bakatch, Bishop of Zagreb and Krsto Frankopan failed of fulfilment. The latter fell at Varazdin while the former died of grief. Profiting by the indifference of Ferdinand, the Turks took the for- tress of Jajce and Klis in 1536 as well as a large part of Eastern Croatia. With Reliqukc relirjinarum regni Croatia! for a battle-cry, the climax of the struggle was reached at Siget, where Nikla.s Zrinski met the Turks, imder Soljnnan, with 700 picked men. Having fired the city behind them, they made an onslaught in which they all perished. The Turks left 20,000 on the field. Solyman died two days later and a -shameful peace was concluded by Maximilian. Neglected and misruled, the people rose under Mathias Gubec. They failed and Gubec was put to death with a red hot crown of iron. Ever ready to take advantage of in- ternal strife, Ferhad Pasha defeated General Auers- perg at the River Radonja, in 1575. Rudolf , who suc- ceeded Maximilian (1576), had little interest in the wel- fare of the State. Hassan Pasha Predoje\'ich crossed the Kupa, took the fortress of Bihac, and planned an attack on Sisak. He was met by Jurak and Fintich, canons of Agram, and Ban Bakatch, with an army. The Turks were defeated and lost 18,000 men.
Among the apostles of the Reformation in Croatia were the Ungnad family and George Zrinski who estab- lished a printing plant for the purpose of spreading their teaching. The Croats, however, were not won over to Luther's doctrine. Catholicity was too firmly rooted and Anthony Dalmatin and Stephen Istranin preached the new creed in vain. When asked, at a meeting of the Sabor, to grant toleration to Protes- tantism, Ban Bakatch made answer: "I prefer rather to break off relations with the Hungarian Cro-mi than allow this post to spread." Conflicts occurred with the Turks at No\t Zrinj (1664), and at St. Gothard. The miseries and oppression of the people led to an uprising under Peter Zrinski and Krsto Frankopani against the German military rule. Leopold, however, beheaded the leaders, 30 April, 1671, at Wiener Neu- stadt, imprisoned their children, and confiscated their possessions. Despite the injustices done the people the struggle against the Turks was heroically contin- ued under Stojan Jankovich and Elias Smiljanich in Dalmatia, Friar Luke Imbrisimovich in Slavonia, and Father Mark Mesich in Lika-Krbava. A. division of Turkey and the expulsion of the Turks from the Bal- kan Peninsula anfl Constantinople w:ls prevented in Kiss by Lo\iis XIV. The council of war in Vienna established the Military Frontier between Turkey and
Croatia; every male Croat was obliged to serve lu ths
army at his own expense and to be ready at any
moment. This organization was dissolved in 1873.
In 1712 the Croatian Sabor accepted the Pragmatic Sanction, by which Charles VI secured the succession to his daughter Maria Theresa. In the Thirty Years War and the Seven Years War between Maria Theresa and Frederick the Great the Croats took a prominent part. During the reign of Leopold I (1658-1705) hundreds of families of the Schismatic Greek Church had entered Croatia as refugees from Turkish rule. Jealousy existed between the Catholics of the country and the newcomers because the rulers did not favour any but the Catholic religion. In 1777 Maria Theresa secured the erection of a diocese for the Uniat Greeks, ■nith the Eastern Rite and the Old Slavonic Liturgy. She hoped in this way to bring about a union with Rome, but the breach was only widened. Education reached a high standard in the sixteenth centurj' under the Hermits of St. Paul. Later on the Jesuits became their co-workers in the field. They established an ex- cellent institution in Zagreb. The Croatian youth also attended the universities at Rome, Padua, and Bologna.
The absolutist, Joseph II (1780-90), who succeeded Maria Theresa, failed in his reforms, though he stopped at nothing in his attempts to carry them out. In Croatia he suppressed religious orders, confiscated monasteries and seminaries, and hampered the pro- gress of education. To save the mother-tongue a re- action against Latin began in 1835, and the native speech was revived in church, university, and street. In 1809 Napoleon, ha^dng conquered Croatia, set up the Kingdom of lUyria, a union of all the Croatian provinces, under French control. In the first half of the nineteenth century, as an outgrowth of the revival of the language, a vigorous nationalizing movement began under Louis Gaj. Representatives of the peo- ple, 300 in number, demanded of the king the same rights for Croatia as those possessed by Hungary: inde- pendence imder the king; the election of the ban by the people and his presentation for the king's ap- proval; the ban was to be ex-officio president of Croa- tian cabinet and responsible to the Sabor, at its annual meeting; the Croatian army with its head was to take an oath of fidelity to the king; the Military Frontier to be abolished; and Croatian made the official tongue. The only point gained was the appointment, as ban, of Joseph Jellachich. In 1848 the revolution broke out. Jellachich saved the throne for the Hapsburg family, but further enslaved his country in doing so. The Croatian Generals Davidovich and Vukasovich distinguished themselves in the war against Italy in 1866. In 1878 Generals Francis and Ivan Philop- povich occupied Bosnia with Croatian regiments.
On 21 July, 1868, a compromise was effected be- tween Croatia and Hiuigary. Croatia, Slavonia, the Military Frontier, and Dalmatia constitute a separate poHtical body; Fiume (Rieka) and its district were left condominium, with two representatives in the Croatian Sabor. The military Frontier had been sup- pressed and part was annexed to Transylvania in 1851 part to Hungary in 1872; and part to Croatia-Slavonia in ISSl. Dalmatia remained separate, with eleven representatives in the Austrian parliament [Reichs- rath). Croatia has autonomy in administrative, edu- cational, and judicial affairs. The national legisla- tive l)ody is the Sabor; the executive body, the Royal Croatian-Slavonian-Dalmatian Government. The head of Croatia-Slavonia is the ban, appointed by the king upon the recommendation of the Hungarian prime minister, responsible to the Sabor. .\11 State business in common with Hungary is regulated in the Hungarian-Croatian Parliament at Butlapest. There are also executive ministries for the administration of national alTairs, with separate deiiartments for Ooa- tian inlerests. The Croatian Minister stands a.s a mediator between the King of Croatia and the Croatian
