Dalmatia

Dalmatia
Dalmacija
Geographic region of Flag of Croatia.svg Croatiaa
Dalmatia highlighted on a map of Croatia.
Dalmatia highlighted on a map of Croatia.
(and largest city) Split
Official language(s) Croatian (Croatia)
Demonym Dalmatian(s)b
Establishment
 -  Roman province AD 10 
 -  Byzantine suzerainty AD 535 
 -  Principality of Dalmatian Croatia AD 640 
 -  Kingdom of Croatia AD 925 
 -  Hungary and Venice intermittently 1204 
 -  Venetian Republic 1420 
 -  Napoleonic Period October 17, 1797 
 -  Austrian Empire 1814 
 -  Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes December 1, 1918 
Area
 -  Total circa 13,000c km2 
circa 5,000 sq mi 
Population
 -  2001 census 890,373d 
 -  Density 68.5/km2 
170.1/sq mi
Currency kuna (HRK)
Euro (€) (EUR)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 -  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
a Dalmatia is not designated as an official region, it is a geographic region only. This is the modern meaning, historic boundaries of Dalmatia varied over centuries.
b Dalmatians do not present a nationality, but rather a regional identity. Dalmatians mostly include Croats and some Serbs.
c The figure is an approximation based on the territorial span of the four southernmost Croatian counties (Zadar, Šibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia, Dubrovnik-Neretva).
d The figure is an approximation based on the population of the four southernomst Croatian counties (Zadar, Šibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia, Dubrovnik-Neretva).

Dalmatia (Croatian: Dalmacija, see names in other languages) is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south. Dalmatia today lies mostly in Croatia, also with smaller parts in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Neum Municipality) and Montenegro (around the Bay of Kotor).

The Dalmatian dog gets its name from Dalmatia.

Contents

Definitions

In antiquity the Roman province of Dalmatia was much larger than the present-day region, stretching from Istria to historical Albania. Dalmatia signified not only a geographical unit, but it was an entity based on common culture and settlement types, a common narrow eastern Adriatic coastal belt, Mediterranean climate, sclerophyllous vegetation of the Illyrian province, Adriatic carbonate platform, and karst geomorphology.

Among other things, the ecclesiastical primatical territory today continues to be larger because of the history: it includes part of modern Montenegro, notably around Bar, the (honorary) Roman Catholic primas of Dalmatia, but an exempt archbishopric without suffragans while the archbishoprics of Split (also a historical primas of Dalmatia) have provincial authority over all Croatian dioceses except the exempt archbishopric of Zadar.

The southernmost transitional part of historical Dalmatia, the Gulf of Kotor, is not part of present-day Croatian Dalmatia, but part of Montenegro.

Geography and climate

Most of the area is covered by Dinaric Alps mountain ranges running from north-west to south-east. On the coasts the climate is Mediterranean, further in the inland it is moderate continental. On the mountains, winters are frosty and snowy, while summers are hot and dry. In the southern part winters are milder. During the centuries many woods have been cut down and replaced with bush and brush. There is evergreen vegetation on the coast. The soils are generally poor, except on the plains where areas with natural grass, fertile soils and warm summers provide an opportunity for tillage. Elsewhere, land cultivation is mostly unsuccessful because of the mountains, hot summers and poor soils, although certain cultures such as olives and grapes flourish. Resources of energy are scarce. Hydropower stations are largely used in energetics. There is a considerable amount of bauxite.

The largest Dalmatian mountains are Dinara, Mosor, Svilaja, Biokovo, Moseć, Veliki Kozjak and Mali Kozjak. The regional coherent geographical unit of historical Dalmatia, coastal region between Istria and the Gulf of Kotor includes the Orjen mountain in Montenegro as the highest peak at 1894 m. In present-day Dalmatia, the highest peak is Dinara (1913 m), which is not a coastal mountain, while the highest coastal Dinaric mountains are on Biokovo (Sv. Jure 1762 m) and Velebit (Vaganjski vrh 1758 m).

The largest Dalmatian islands are Dugi Otok, Ugljan, Pašman, Brač, Hvar, Korčula, Vis, Lastovo, and Mljet. The rivers are Zrmanja, Krka, Cetina and Neretva.

The Adriatic Sea's high water quality,[1] along with the immense number of coves, islands and channels, makes Dalmatia an attractive place for nautical races, nautical tourism, and tourism in general. Dalmatia also includes several national parks that are tourist attractions: Paklenica karst river, Kornati archipelago, Krka river rapids and Mljet island.

Administrative division

The vast majority of Dalmatia is in Croatia and is organized into four counties,

Other large cities in Croatian Dalmatia include Biograd, Kaštela, Sinj, Solin, Omiš, Knin, Metković, Makarska, Trogir, Ploče, Trilj, and Imotski.

History

History of Dalmatia
Coat of Arms of Dalmatia
This article is part of a series
Antiquity
Illyria
Dalmatae
Roman Province
Middle Ages
Dalmatian principalities
Early modern period
Republic of Ragusa
Republic of Poljica
Hvar Rebellion
Republic of Venice
19th century
Illyrian provinces
Kingdom of Dalmatia
20th century
Littoral Banovina
Governorship of Dalmatia
Battle for Dalmatia
 

Antiquity

Dalmatia's name is derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae who lived in the area of the eastern Adriatic coast in the 1st millennium BC. It was part of the Illyrian Kingdom between the 4th century BC and the Illyrian Wars (220, 168 BC) when the Roman Republic established its protectorate south of the river Neretva. The name "Dalmatia" was in use probably from the second half of the 2nd century BC and certainly from the first half of the 1st century BC, defining a coastal area of the eastern Adriatic between the Krka and Neretva rivers.[2] It was slowly incorporated into Roman possessions until the Roman province of Illyricum was formally established around 32-27 BC. In 9 AD the Dalmatians raised the last in a series of revolts[3] together with the Pannonians, but it was finally crushed, and in 10 AD, Illyricum was split into two provinces, Pannonia and Dalmatia which spread into larger area inland to cover all of the Dinaric Alps and most of the eastern Adriatic coast.[4]

The historian Theodore Mommsen wrote in his book, The Provinces of the Roman Empire, that all Dalmatia was fully romanized by the 4th century AD. However, analysis of archaeological material from that period has shown that the process of romanization was rather selective. While urban centers, both coastal and inland, were almost completely romanized, the situation in the countryside was completely different. Despite the Illyrians being subject to a strong process of acculturation, they continued to speak their native language, worship their own gods and traditions, and follow their own social-political tribal organization which was adapted to Roman administration and political structure only in some necessities.[5]

The collapse of the Western Roman Empire, with the beginning of the Migration Period, left the region subject to Gothic rulers, Odoacer and Theodoric the Great. They ruled Dalmatia from 480 to 535 AD, when it was restored to the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire by Justinian I.

Middle Ages

See also: Kingdom of Croatia (Medieval), Medieval Dalmatian principalities, and Dalmatian language

The Middle Ages in Dalmatia are a period of intense rivalry between the involved factions. The waning Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (later in a personal union with Hungary), the Bosnian Kingdom and the Venetian Republic. Dalmatia at the time consisted of the coastal cities functioning much like city-states, with extensive autonomy, but in mutual conflict and without control of the rural hinterland (the Zagora). Ethnically, Dalmatia started out as a Roman region, with a romance culture that began to develop independently forming the now-extinct Dalmatian language.

In the Early Medieval period, Byzantine Dalmatia was ravaged by an Avar invasion that destroyed its capital, Salona, in 639 AD, an event that allowed for the settlement of the nearby Diocletian's Palace in Spalatum (Split) by Salonitans, greatly increasing the importance of the city. The Avars were followed by the great South Slavic migrations. The Slavs, loosely allied with the Avars, permanently settled the region in the first half of the 7th century AD and remained its predominant ethnic group ever since. The Croats soon formed their own realm: the Principality of Dalmatia, a Medieval Croatian state ruled by native Princes of Guduscan origin. The meaning of the geographical term "Dalmatia", now shrunk to the cities and their immediate hinterland. These cities and towns remained influential as they were well fortified and maintained their connection with the Byzantine Empire. The two communities were somewhat hostile at first, but as the Croats became Christianized this tension increasingly subsided. A degree of cultural mingling soon took place, in some enclaves stronger, in others weaker, as Slavic influence and culture was more accentuated in Ragusa, Spalatum, and Tragurium. In 925 AD, Duke Tomislav was crowned in Tomislavgrad, establishing the Kingdom of Croatia, and extending his influence further southwards to Zachlumia. Being an ally of the Byzantine Empire, the King was given the status of Protector of Dalmatia, and became its de facto ruler.

The Roman province of Dalmatia.
An engraving of the seaward walls of the city of Split by Robert Adam, 1764. The walls were originally built for the Roman Diocletian's Palace.

In the High Medieval period, the Byzantine Empire was no longer able to maintain its power consistently in Dalmatia, and was finally rendered impotent so far west by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The Venetian Republic, on the other hand, was in the ascendant, while the Kingdom of Croatia became increasingly influenced by Hungary to the north, being absorbed into it via personal union in 1102. Thus, these two factions became involved in a struggle in this area, intermittently controlling it as the balance shifted. A consistent period of Hungarian rule in Dalmatia was ended with the Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1241. The Mongols severely impaired the feudal state, so much so that that same year, King Béla IV had to take refuge in Dalmatia, as far south as the Klis fortress. The Mongols attacked the Dalmatian cities for the next few years but eventually withdrew without major success.

In 1389 Tvrtko I, the founder of the Bosnian Kingdom, was able to control the Adriatic littoral between Kotor and Šibenik, and even claimed control over the northern coast up to Rijeka, and his own independent ally, Dubrovnik (Ragusa). This was only temporary, as Hungary and the Venetians continued their struggle over Dalmatia after Tvrtko's death in 1391. By this time, the whole Hungarian and Croatian Kingdom was facing increasing internal difficulties, as a 20-year civil war ensued between the Capetian House of Anjou from the Kingdom of Naples, and King Sigismund of the House of Luxembourg. During the war, the losing contender, Ladislaus of Naples, sold his "rights" on Dalmatia to the Venetian Republic for a mere 100,000 ducats. The much more centralized Republic came to control all of Dalmatia by the year 1420, it was to remain under Venetian rule for 377 years (1420–1797).[6]

Early modern period (1420–1815)

Map of the Republic of Ragusa, dated 1678.
See also: Republic of Ragusa, Hvar Rebellion, and Illyrian Provinces

The Republic of Venice controlled most of Dalmatia from 1420 to 1797, the southern enclave being called Albania Veneta. Venetian was the commercial lingua franca in the Mediterranean at that time, and it heavily influenced Dalmatian and to a lesser degree coastal Croatian and Albanian.

In 1481, it switched allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. This gave its tradesmen advantages such as access to the Black Sea, and the Republic of Ragusa was one of fiercest competitors to Venice's merchants in the 15th and 16th century.

The Republic of Venice was also one of the powers most hostile to the Ottoman Empire's expansion, and participated in many wars against it. As the Turks took control of the hinterland, many Christians took refuge in the coastal cities of Dalmatia.

After the Great Turkish War, more peaceful times made Dalmatia experience a period of certain economic and cultural growth in the 18th century, with the re-establishment of trade and exchange with the hinterland.

The southern city of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) became de facto independent in 1358 through the Treaty of Zadar when Venice relinquished its suzerainty over it to Louis I of Hungary.

This period was abruptly interrupted with the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797. Napoleon's troops stormed the region and ended the independence of the Republic of Ragusa as well, but saving it from occupation by the Russian Empire and Montenegro.

In 1805, Napoleon created his Kingdom of Italy around the Adriatic Sea, annexing to it the former Venetian Dalmatia from Istria to Kotor. In 1809 he removed the Venetian Dalmatia from his Kingdom of Italy and created the Illyrian Provinces, which were annexed to France, and created his marshal Nicolas Soult duke of Dalmatia.

Napoleon's rule in Dalmatia was marked with war and high taxation, which caused several rebellions. On the other hand, French rule greatly contributed to Croatian national awakening (the first newspaper in Croatian was published then in Zadar, the Kraglski Dalmatin-Il Regio Dalmata), the legal system and infrastructure were finally modernized to a degree in Dalmatia, and the educational system flourished. French rule brought a lot of improvements in infrastructure; many roads were built or reconstructed. Napoleon himself blamed Marshal Auguste Marmont, the governor of Dalmatia, that too much money was spent. However, in 1813, the Habsburgs once again declared war on France and by 1814 restored control over Dalmatia, forming a temporary Kingdom of Illyria. In 1822, in accordance with the Congress of Vienna, this entity was eliminated and Dalmatia was placed within the Austrian Empire.

19th century

Map of Dalmatia, Croatia, and Sclavonia (Slavonia). Engraved by Weller for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge under the Supervision of Charles Knight, dated January 1, 1852.

At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Dalmatia was granted as a province to the Emperor of Austria. It was officially known as the Kingdom of Dalmatia.

In 1848, the Croatian Assembly (Sabor) published the People's Requests, in which they requested among other things the abolition of serfdom and the unification of Dalmatia and Croatia. The Dubrovnik Municipality was the most outspoken of all the Dalmatian communes in its support for unification with Croatia. A letter was sent from Dubrovnik to Zagreb with pledges to work for this idea. In 1849, Dubrovnik continued to lead the Dalmatian cities in the struggle for unification. A large-scale campaign was launched in the Dubrovnik paper L'Avvenire (The Future) based on a clearly formulated programme: the federal system for the Habsburg territories, the inclusion of Dalmatia into Croatia and the Slavic brotherhood. The president of the council of Kingdom of Dalmatia was the politician Baron Vlaho Getaldić.

In the same year, the first issue of the Dubrovnik almanac appeared, Flower of the National Literature (Dubrovnik, cvijet narodnog književstva), in which Petar Preradović published his noted poem "To Dubrovnik". This and other literary and journalistic texts, which continued to be published, contributed to the awakening of the national consciousness reflected in efforts to introduce the Croatian language into schools and offices, and to promote Croatian books. The Emperor Franz Joseph brought the so-called Imposed Constitution which prohibited the unification of Dalmatia and Croatia and also any further political activity with this end in view. The political struggle of Dubrovnik to be united with Croatia, which was intense throughout 1848 and 1849, did not succeed at that time.

In 1861 was the meeting of the first Dalmatian Assembly, with representatives from Dubrovnik. Representatives of Kotor came to Dubrovnik to join the struggle for unification with Croatia. The citizens of Dubrovnik gave them a festive welcome, flying Croatian flags from the ramparts and exhibiting the slogan: Ragusa with Kotor. The Kotorans elected a delegation to go to Vienna; Dubrovnik nominated Niko Pucić. Niko Pucić went to Vienna to demand not only the unification of Dalmatia with Croatia, but also the unification of all Croatian territories under one common Assembly.

At the end of the First World War, the Austrian Empire disintegrated, and Dalmatia was again split between the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) which controlled most of it, and the Kingdom of Italy which held small portions of northern Dalmatia around Zadar and the islands of Cres, Lošinj and Lastovo.

20th century

See also: Marjane, Marjane, Yugoslav People's Liberation War, SFR Yugoslavia, and Battle of Dalmatia

In 1922, Dalmatia was divided into two provinces, the District of Split (Splitska oblast), with capital in Split, and the District of Dubrovnik (Dubrovačka oblast), with the capital in Dubrovnik.

In 1929, the Littoral Banovina (Primorska Banovina), a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, was formed. Its capital was Split, and it included most of Dalmatia and parts of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. Southern parts of Dalmatia were in Zeta Banovina, from the Gulf of Kotor to Pelješac peninsula including Dubrovnik.

In 1939, Littoral Banovina was joined with Sava Banovina (and with smaller parts of other banovina's) to form a new province named the Banovina of Croatia. In 1939, the ethnic Croatian areas of the Zeta Banovina from the Gulf of Kotor to Pelješac, including Dubrovnik, were merged with a new Banovina of Croatia.

During World War II, in 1941, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria occupied Yugoslavia, redrawing their borders. A new Nazi puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), was created, and Fascist Italy was given some parts of the Dalmatian coast, notably around Zadar and Split, as well as many of the area's islands. The remaining parts of Dalmatia became part of the NDH. Many Croats moved from the Italian-occupied area and took refuge in the satellite state of Croatia, which became the battleground for a guerrilla war between the Axis and the Yugoslav Partisans. Zadar was razed to the ground by the Allies during World War II, so starting the exodus of its italian population.

After the defeat of Italy and the NDH, Dalmatia was restored to Croatia, more precisely, to the People's Republic of Croatia, part of the SFR Yugoslavia (then called the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia).

Dalmatia was divided between two federal Republics of Yugoslavia and most of the territory went to Croatia, leaving only the Bay of Kotor to Montenegro. When Yugoslavia was dissolved in 1991, those borders were retained and remain in force.

Gallery

The Pjaca city square in Split.

Panoramic view of Šibenik.

Panoramic view of Zadar.

The ancient Roman forum in Zadar.

Summer on in a Krapanj street.

Panoramic view of Hvar.

Panoramic view of Bol.

Amid the streets of Korčula.

Names in other languages

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/REReP/docs/extra_meeting/croatia.pdf Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Quality and construction (2006)
  2. ↑ S.Čače, Ime Dalmacije u 2. i 1. st. prije Krista, Radovi Filozofskog fakulteta u Zadru, godište 40 za 2001. Zadar, 2003, pages 29,45.
  3. ↑ Charles George Herbermann, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference (1913)
  4. ↑ M.Zaninović, Ilirsko pleme Delmati, pages 58, 83-84.
  5. ↑ A. Stipčević, Iliri, Školska knjiga Zagreb, 1974, page 70
  6. ↑ http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/balkans/croat13011526.html History: 1301 to 1526 AD

External links