North America
136-770: Radobolja is a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina . It is five kilometers long and its spring is located below the Mikuljača hill in Mostar 's suburb of Ilići . Radobolja flows through Mostar and flows into the Neretva River near the Old Bridge . During the Ottoman rule water from Radobolja was used for irrigation and drinking, however today's Radobolja is polluted due to discharge of waste-water. This article related to
272-552: A bicameral legislature and a three-member presidency made up of one member from each of the three major ethnic groups. However, the central government's power is highly limited, as the country is largely decentralized. It comprises two autonomous entities—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska —and a third unit, the Brčko District , which is governed by its own local government. Bosnia and Herzegovina
408-657: A confederation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, but Izetbegović denied this since he tried to represent Serbian interests as well as those of Bosniaks and Croats. The Bosnian Croat leadership was irritated by Izetbegović's neutrality, so Mate Boban threatened to pull back the HVO from actions in Bosnia. Since the UN implemented an embargo on Bosnia and Herzegovina on the import of arms, Bosniak and Croat forces had difficulties fighting Serbian units, which were supplied with arms from
544-530: A Croatian majority. The creation of Banovina of Croatia was one of the solutions to the " Croatian issue ". After the collapse of Yugoslavia amidst German and Italian invasion in April 1941, the Axis puppet state which encompassed the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina, Independent State of Croatia (NDH) under the radical Croatian nationalist Ustaše regime was established. Bosnian Croats were divided, as some supported
680-512: A Serbian hegemony in this region. Bosnian Croats constituted around a quarter of the total Bosnian population, but they did not have a single municipality president. The regime of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was characterized by limited parliamentarism, drastic elective manipulations and later King Alexander 's 6 January Dictatorship , state robbery present outside Serbia and political killings ( Milan Šufflay , Ivo Pilar ) and corruption. Yugoslavia
816-425: A complex system of social differentiation by class and religious affiliation. Following Ottoman occupation, there was a steady flow of people out of Bosnia and a large number of abandoned villages in Bosnia are mentioned in the Ottoman registers, while those who stayed eventually became Muslims . Many Catholics in Bosnia fled to neighboring Catholic lands in the early Ottoman occupation. The evidence indicates that
952-520: A distinct culture and art form, started to organize itself in today's Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia , Kosovo , Montenegro and Albania . From the 8th century BCE, Illyrian tribes evolved into kingdoms. The earliest recorded kingdom in Illyria was the Enchele in the 8th century BCE. The Autariatae under Pleurias (337 BCE) were considered to have been a kingdom. The Kingdom of
1088-521: A large component of the Ottoman ranks in the battles of Mohács and Krbava field , while numerous other Bosnians rose through the ranks of the Ottoman military to occupy the highest positions of power in the Empire, including admirals such as Matrakçı Nasuh ; generals such as Isa-Beg Ishaković , Gazi Husrev-beg , Telli Hasan Pasha and Sarı Süleyman Pasha ; administrators such as Ferhad Pasha Sokolović and Osman Gradaščević ; and Grand Viziers such as
1224-455: A number of death camps . The regime systematically and brutally massacred Serbs in villages in the countryside, using a variety of tools. The scale of the violence meant that approximately every sixth Serb living in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the victim of a massacre and virtually every Serb had a family member that was killed in the war, mostly by the Ustaše. The experience had a profound impact in
1360-813: A part of their territory in Neum to the Ottomans in order to protect themselves from the Republic of Venice . The activity of the Catholic Church was limited, while the Ottomans preferred the Orthodox Church because Catholicism was the faith of Austria, the Ottoman enemies, while Orthodoxy was common in Bosnia, and thus it was more acceptable to the Ottomans. In the first 50 years of Ottoman rule, many Catholics fled from Bosnia. A number of Catholics also converted to Orthodox Christianity. Franciscans were
1496-582: A quarter in Glamoč and Donji Žabar . In Bosansko Grahovo , Croats make up around 15% of the population. In addition to that, 762 Croats form the plurality (40.4%) in the ethnically diverse small town of Glamoč. There are 4 Croat-majority cantons and in total 6 cantons in which Croats form more than 10% of the population. In 1624, there were around 450,000 Muslims (67%), 150,000 Catholics (22%) and 75,000 Orthodox Christians (11%). In 1776, according to Klaić, there were around 50,000 Catholics in Bosnia. However,
SECTION 10
#17327721560371632-697: A revolt spanned for four years (6–9 AD), after which they were subdued. In the Roman period, Latin-speaking settlers from the entire Roman Empire settled among the Illyrians, and Roman soldiers were encouraged to retire in the region. Following the split of the Empire between 337 and 395 AD, Dalmatia and Pannonia became parts of the Western Roman Empire . The region was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 455 AD. It subsequently changed hands between
1768-603: A river in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bosnia and Herzegovina in Europe (dark grey) Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Serbo-Croatian : Bosna i Hercegovina , Босна и Херцеговина ), sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia , is a country in Southeast Europe , situated on the Balkan Peninsula . It borders Serbia to
1904-586: A seat in Sarajevo, Banja Luka diocese with a seat in Banja Luka and Mostar-Duvno diocese with a seat in Mostar. At the time, Bosnia and Herzegovina were facing a Habsburg attempt at modernization. Between 180,000 and 200,000 people inhabited Bosnia and Herzegovina, the majority were Croats, Serbs, Muslims, and in smaller percentages Slovenes , Czechs and others. During this period, the most significant event
2040-421: A sovereign and independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and nations of Muslims, Serbs, Croats, and others who live in it?" Independence was strongly favoured by Bosniak and Bosnian Croat voters, but the referendum was largely boycotted by Bosnian Serbs . The total turnout of voters was 63.6% of which 99.7% voted for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 5 April 1992, Serb forces started
2176-696: A state of relative stability was reached soon enough and Austro-Hungarian authorities were able to embark on a number of social and administrative reforms they intended would make Bosnia and Herzegovina into a "model" colony. Habsburg rule had several key concerns in Bosnia. It tried to dissipate the South Slav nationalism by disputing the earlier Serb and Croat claims to Bosnia and encouraging identification of Bosnian or Bosniak identity. Habsburg rule also tried to provide for modernisation by codifying laws, introducing new political institutions, establishing and expanding industries. Austria–Hungary began to plan
2312-508: A union with the Kingdom of Hungary . After this, Bosnia, which was earlier part of the Kingdom of Croatia, started to disassociate with Croatia. At first, Bosnia became a separate principality under Ban Kulin who managed to solidify Bosnian autonomy at the expense of more powerful neighbours, but only in the 14th century did Bosnia become a formidable state. In the 14th century, King Tvrtko I conquered part of western Serbia and later parts of
2448-678: A united Croatian kingdom, which included Dalmatia, Bosnia and Pannonia (eastern Slavonia and eastern Bosnia), and Savia (western Slavonia). According to The New Cambridge Medieval History , "at the beginning of the eleventh century the Croats lived in two more or less clearly defined regions" of the "Croatian lands" which "were now divided into three districts" including Slavonia/Pannonian Croatia (between rivers Sava and Drava) on one side and Croatia/Dalmatian littoral (between Gulf of Kvarner and rivers Vrbas and Neretva) and Bosnia (around river Bosna ) on other side. In 1102 Croatia entered into
2584-429: Is 23,00% of the total population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 1961 census, Croats made up 21.7% of the total population, and their number was 711,660. After that, districts were divided into smaller municipalities. According to the 1971 census, Croats were 20.6% of the total population, and their number was 772,491. According to the 1981 census, Croats made up 18.60% of the total population, and their number
2720-472: Is Bosnian entry into European political life and the shaping of ethnic Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina into a modern nation. At the end of the 19th century, Bosnian Croats founded various reading, cultural and singing societies, and at the beginning of the 20th century, a new Bosnian Croat intelligentsia played a major role in the political life of Croats. The Croatian Support Society for Needs of Students of Middle Schools and High Schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina
2856-668: Is a developing country and ranks 74th in the Human Development Index . Its economy is dominated by industry and agriculture, followed by tourism and the service sector. Tourism has increased significantly in recent years. The country has a social-security and universal-healthcare system, and primary and secondary level education is free. It is a member of the UN , the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ,
SECTION 20
#17327721560372992-646: Is also believed to be first mentioned as a land (horion Bosona) in Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus' De Administrando Imperio in the mid 10th century, at the end of a chapter entitled Of the Serbs and the country in which they now dwell . This has been scholarly interpreted in several ways and used especially by the Serb national ideologists to prove Bosnia as originally a "Serb" land. Other scholars have asserted
3128-509: Is devoted to the Serbian prince 's lands, and Bosnia is treated as a separate territory, though one that is particularly dependent on Serbs. The name of the land is believed to derive from the name of the river Bosna that courses through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer, the name Bosna could derive from Illyrian *"Bass-an-as", which in turn could derive from
3264-684: Is elected in the Republika Srpska . The current Croat member of the Presidency is Željko Komšić of the DF . The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina has two chambers, House of Representatives and House of Peoples . House of Peoples has 15 members, five Bosniaks, five Croats, and five Serbs. Bosniak and Croat members of the House of Peoples are elected in the Parliament of
3400-638: Is in De Administrando Imperio , a politico-geographical handbook written by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in the mid-10th century (between 948 and 952) describing the "small land" ( χωρίον in Greek ) of "Bosona" ( Βοσώνα ), where the Serbs dwell. Bosnia was also mentioned in the DAI (χωριον βοσονα, small land of Bosnia), as a region of Baptized Serbia. The section of the handbook
3536-756: Is scarce, but overall it appears the region was populated by a number of different peoples speaking distinct languages. In the Neretva Delta in the south, there were important Hellenistic influences of the Illyrian Daors tribe. Their capital was Daorson in Ošanići near Stolac . Daorson, in the 4th century BCE, was surrounded by megalithic , 5 m high stonewalls (as large as those of Mycenae in Greece), composed of large trapezoid stone blocks. Daors made unique bronze coins and sculptures. Conflict between
3672-540: Is subject to scholarly debate, came to predominate over the Slavs in the neighbouring regions. Croats "settled in area roughly corresponding to modern Croatia, and probably also including most of Bosnia proper, apart from the eastern strip of the Drina valley" while Serbs "corresponding to modern south-western Serbia (later known as Raška ), and gradually extended their rule into the territories of Duklja and Hum ". Bosnia
3808-758: The Alans and the Huns . By the 6th century, Emperor Justinian I had reconquered the area for the Byzantine Empire . Slavs overwhelmed the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries. Illyrian cultural traits were adopted by the South Slavs, as evidenced in certain customs and traditions, placenames, etc. The Early Slavs raided the Western Balkans, including Bosnia, in the 6th and early 7th century (amid
3944-729: The Ardiaei (originally a tribe from the Neretva valley region) began at 230 BCE and ended at 167 BCE. The most notable Illyrian kingdoms and dynasties were those of Bardylis of the Dardani and of Agron of the Ardiaei who created the last and best-known Illyrian kingdom. Agron ruled over the Ardiaei and had extended his rule to other tribes as well. From the 7th century BCE, bronze was replaced by iron, after which only jewelry and art objects were still made out of bronze. Illyrian tribes, under
4080-492: The Bosnia Eyalet until the formation of the short-lived Herzegovina Eyalet in the 1830s, which reemerged in the 1850s, after which the administrative region became commonly known as Bosnia and Herzegovina . On initial proclamation of independence in 1992 , the country's official name was the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina , but following the 1995 Dayton Agreement and the new constitution that accompanied it,
4216-647: The Bosnian parliament and growth of new political life. On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip , a Bosnian Serb member of the revolutionary movement Young Bosnia , assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand , in Sarajevo—an event that was the spark that set off World War I . At the end of the war, the Bosniaks had lost more men per capita than any other ethnic group in
Radobolja - Misplaced Pages Continue
4352-774: The Council of Europe , the Partnership for Peace , and the Central European Free Trade Agreement ; it is also a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean , established in July 2008. Bosnia and Herzegovina is an EU candidate country and has also been a candidate for NATO membership since April 2010. The first preserved widely acknowledged mention of a form of the name " Bosnia "
4488-501: The Croatian Defence Council (HVO) on 8 April 1992. HVO consisted of 20 to 30% of Bosniaks who joined HVO because local Muslim militias were unable to arm themselves. Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia was founded on 18 November 1991 as a community of municipalities where the majority of the population were Croats. In its founding acts, Herzeg-Bosnia had no separatist character. The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
4624-530: The Istanbul government might seek the outright return of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These factors caused the Austro-Hungarian government to seek a permanent resolution of the Bosnian question sooner, rather than later. Taking advantage of turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian diplomacy tried to obtain provisional Russian approval for changes over the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina and published
4760-766: The Migration Period ), and were composed of small tribal units drawn from a single Slavic confederation known to the Byzantines as the Sclaveni (whilst the related Antes , roughly speaking, colonized the eastern portions of the Balkans). Tribes recorded by the ethnonyms of "Serb" and "Croat" are described as a second, latter, migration of different people during the second quarter of the 7th century who could or could not have been particularly numerous; these early "Serb" and "Croat" tribes, whose exact identity
4896-530: The Ottoman Empire , under whose rule it remained until the late 19th century; the Ottomans brought Islam to the region. From the late 19th century until World War I , the country was annexed into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . In the interwar period , Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . After World War II , it was granted full republic status in the newly formed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . In 1992, following
5032-554: The Ottoman Empire , causing many of them to flee the area. In the 20th century, political turmoil and poor economic conditions caused more to emigrate . Ethnic cleansing within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s saw Croats forced to go to different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite having lived in numerous regions prior to the Bosnian War . The 2013 population census in Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded 544,780 residents registering as of Croat ethnicity. Croats settled
5168-609: The Siege of Sarajevo . On 12 May, Yugoslav People's Army left Bosnia and Herzegovina and left most of the arms to the Army of Republika Srpska , headed by Ratko Mladić . The first unit to oppose Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina was the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS) founded by Croatian Party of Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 18 December 1991. The Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia established its own force,
5304-699: The Washington agreement , according to which, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH)-controlled and HVO-controlled areas were united into the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina . After the Washington agreement was signed, the Croatian Army , HVO and ARBiH liberated southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina in seven military operations. In December 1995, the Bosnian War ended with
5440-515: The breakup of Yugoslavia , the republic proclaimed independence . This was followed by the Bosnian War , which lasted until late 1995 and ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement . The country is home to three main ethnic groups : Bosniaks are the largest group, Serbs the second-largest, and Croats the third-largest. Minorities include Jews , Roma , Albanians, Montenegrins, Ukrainians and Turks . Bosnia and Herzegovina has
5576-453: The 11th century, although it retained its own nobility and institutions. In the High Middle Ages , political circumstance led to the area being contested between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire. Following another shift of power between the two in the early 12th century, Bosnia found itself outside the control of both and emerged as the Banate of Bosnia (under the rule of local bans ). The first Bosnian ban known by name
Radobolja - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-412: The 11th century, and later fell under the jurisdiction of the Croatian Archdiocese of Split and in the 12th century under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Dubrovnik. Another connection of Bosnia with Croatia is that Bosnian rulers always used the political title " Ban Kulin " in similarity to their Croatian counterparts. Due to the scarcity of historical records, there are no definite figures dealing with
5848-437: The 4th century BCE, the first invasion of Celts is recorded. They brought the technique of the pottery wheel , new types of fibulas and different bronze and iron belts. They only passed on their way to Greece, so their influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina is negligible. Celtic migrations displaced many Illyrian tribes from their former lands, but some Celtic and Illyrian tribes mixed. Concrete historical evidence for this period
5984-676: The Austrian Empire, as the rest of the European countries, gained them. From 1815 to 1878 the Ottoman authority in Bosnia and Herzegovina was decreasing. After the reorganization of the Ottoman army and abolition of the Janissaries , Bosnian nobility revolted, led by Husein Gradaščević , who wanted to establish autonomy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and stop any further social reforms. During the 19th century, various reforms were made in order to increase freedom of religion which sharpened relations between Catholics and Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Soon, economic decay would happen and nationalist influence from Europe came to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since
6120-424: The Austrian-Hungarian administration's downplaying of ethnic differences and nationalism while trying to keep Croatian and Serbian influence on the country at bay, on the other hand, make it difficult to assess the actual ethnic allegiance at this period. According to the 1931 census, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 2,323,787 inhabitants of which Serbs made 44.25%, Muslims 30.90%, Croats 23.58% and others made 1.02% of
6256-452: The Bosnian Church, whose members apparently converted to Islam en masse . The present-day boundaries of Bosnia and Herzegovina were made in 1699 when the Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in order to establish peace between the Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Another significant event for Bosnian Croats is the boundary established by an agreement between the Republic of Ragusa and the Ottoman Empire, where Ragusans promised to give in
6392-412: The Bosnian heartland. Following his death in 1391, however, Bosnia fell into a long period of decline. The Ottoman Empire had started its conquest of Europe and posed a major threat to the Balkans throughout the first half of the 15th century. Finally, after decades of political and social instability, the Kingdom of Bosnia ceased to exist in 1463 after its conquest by the Ottoman Empire. There
6528-676: The Catholic population as a whole) were protected by official imperial decrees and in accordance and the full extent of Ottoman laws; however, in effect, these often merely affected arbitrary rule and behavior of powerful local elite. As the Ottoman Empire continued its rule in the Balkans ( Rumelia ), Bosnia was somewhat relieved of the pressures of being a frontier province and experienced a period of general welfare. A number of cities, such as Sarajevo and Mostar , were established and grew into regional centers of trade and urban culture and were then visited by Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi in 1648. Within these cities, various Ottoman Sultans financed
6664-411: The Croat population is 6%. Other Croat-majority or -plurality municipalities are enclaves in Central Bosnia and around Zenica ( Dobretići , Vitez , Busovača , Kiseljak , Usora , Kreševo , Žepče ). In ethnically mixed Jajce and Novi Travnik in Central Bosnia, Croats form 46% of the population. In Mostar area, Croats comprise the plurality of the population both in the municipality (48.4%) and
6800-487: The Croats. On 24 August 1939, the president of the Croatian Peasant Party , Vladko Maček and Dragiša Cvetković made an agreement ( Cvetković-Maček agreement ) according to which Banovina of Croatia was created on territory of Sava and Littoral Banovina and on districts of Dubrovnik , Šid , Brčko , Ilok , Gradačac , Derventa , Travnik and Fojnica. Around 30% of the present-day territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes part of Banovina of Croatia. Those parts had
6936-428: The Empire's westernmost province. The 18th century was marked by further military failures, numerous revolts within Bosnia, and several outbreaks of plague. The Porte's efforts at modernizing the Ottoman state were met with distrust growing to hostility in Bosnia, where local aristocrats stood to lose much through the proposed Tanzimat reforms. This, combined with frustrations over territorial, political concessions in
SECTION 50
#17327721560377072-505: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , while five Serb members are elected in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska . The 42 members of the House of Representatives are elected directly by voters, two-thirds are from the Federation while one-third is from the Republika Srpska. The Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists also of two chambers, House of Representatives , which consists of 98 members, and House of Peoples that consists of 58 members. Members of
7208-437: The Habsburg Empire whilst serving in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry (known as Bosniaken ) of the Austro-Hungarian Army . Nonetheless, Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole managed to escape the conflict relatively unscathed. The Austro-Hungarian authorities established an auxiliary militia known as the Schutzkorps with a moot role in the empire's policy of anti-Serb repression. Schutzkorps, predominantly recruited among
7344-464: The Illyrians and Romans started in 229 BCE, but Rome did not complete its annexation of the region until AD 9. It was precisely in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina that Rome fought one of the most difficult battles in its history since the Punic Wars , as described by the Roman historian Suetonius . This was the Roman campaign against Illyricum , known as Bellum Batonianum . The conflict arose after an attempt to recruit Illyrians, and
7480-447: The Institute for Education in Mostar. Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina speak Croatian , a standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian . Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as other two constitutive nations, have their representative in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The Presidency has three members, one Bosniak, one Croat, and one Serb. Bosniak and Croat are elected in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , while Serb
7616-399: The Kingdom of Croatia, which he accomplished by defeating various Croatian nobles and supporting Hungary. Thus, the Kingdom of Bosnia emerged, but part of the present territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina remained in the Kingdom of Croatia . Regarding culture and religion, Bosnia was closer to Croatia than the Orthodox lands to the east, and the Diocese of Bosnia is mentioned as Catholic in
7752-404: The Kingdom of Serbia as Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , which was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. This new state was characterized by Serbian nationalism , and was a form of " Greater Serbia ". Serbs held control over the armed forces and the politics of the state. With around 40% of Serbs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian leadership of the state wanted to implement
7888-426: The Middle East, just before the outbreak of war. However, after Croat and Bosniak forces reorganized in late May 1992, the Serbian advance was halted and their forces mostly remained in their positions during the war. The tensions between Croats and Bosniaks started on 19 June 1992, but the real war began in October. The Croat-Bosniak War was at its peak in 1993. In March 1994, the Bosniak and Croat leadership signed
8024-701: The Muslim (Bosniak) population, were tasked with hunting down rebel Serbs (the Chetniks and Komitadji ) and became known for their persecution of Serbs particularly in Serb populated areas of eastern Bosnia, where they partly retaliated against Serbian Chetniks who in fall 1914 had carried out attacks against the Muslim population in the area. The proceedings of the Austro-Hungarian authorities led to around 5,500 citizens of Serb ethnicity in Bosnia and Herzegovina being arrested, and between 700 and 2,200 died in prison while 460 were executed. Around 5,200 Serb families were forcibly expelled from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined
8160-570: The NDH, some actively opposed it by joining or supporting the Yugoslav Partisans , while others chose to wait, not attracted either by fascist Ustaše or communist-led resistance. After the Ustaše campaign of genocide and terror, targeting Serbs , Jews , and Roma , a brutal civil war ensued. At the same time, a parallel genocide against Croats and Bosniaks was carried out by the Yugoslav Royalist and Serbian nationalist Chetniks . The Ustaše regime also persecuted any opponents or dissidents among Bosnian Croats, especially communists , pre-war members of
8296-437: The Ottomans conquered Jajce and Banja Luka , thus destroying the Croatian defence line on Vrbas river. After that conquest, Croatia reduced to around 37,000 km . During the 18th century, Turkish rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina started to weaken, and after the Napoleonic Wars their rule rapidly decreased; the Ottoman Empire lost its demographic, civilization, and other reserves for military and territorial expansion, while
SECTION 60
#17327721560378432-432: The Ottomans. Quite a few Vlachs also became Islamized in Bosnia, and some (mainly in Croatia) became Catholics. The four centuries of Ottoman rule also had a drastic impact on Bosnia's population make-up, which changed several times as a result of the empire's conquests, frequent wars with European powers, forced and economic migrations, and epidemics. A native Slavic-speaking Muslim community emerged and eventually became
8568-399: The Proto-Indo-European root bʰegʷ- , meaning "the running water". According to the English medievalist William Miller , the Slavic settlers in Bosnia "adapted the Latin designation ... Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna and themselves Bosniaks ". The name Herzegovina means "herzog's [land]", and "herzog" derives from the German word for "duke". It originates from
8704-449: The Serbian advance, and in some places, they repelled the enemy. On 16 June 1992, the president of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman , and the president of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegović , signed an alliance according to which, Bosnia and Herzegovina legalized the activity of Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council on its territory. Bosnian Croat political leadership and the leadership of Croatia urged Izetbegović to form
8840-401: The South Slav Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (soon renamed Yugoslavia). Political life in Bosnia and Herzegovina at this time was marked by two major trends: social and economic unrest over property redistribution and the formation of several political parties that frequently changed coalitions and alliances with parties in other Yugoslav regions. The dominant ideological conflict of
8976-427: The Turkish censuses were biased, and they only numbered the houses and later exclusively included the male population. Throughout this period, the Catholic majority persisted in the southwest of the country (western Herzegovina), parts of central Bosnia, and Posavina, mostly in rural areas. During Austro-Hungarian rule (1878–1918), the number and share of Croats started to slowly increase. Croats from Croatia moved to
9112-491: The Western world. Officeholders usually rotated among the three ethnic communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the 1980s, many Bosnian Croat politicians were in high positions - for instance, Ante Marković , Branko Mikulić , and Mato Andrić . Citizens of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the referendum that was held between 29 February and 1 March 1992. The referendum question was: "Are you in favor of
9248-560: The Yugoslav state, between Croatian regionalism and Serbian centralization, was approached differently by Bosnia and Herzegovina's major ethnic groups and was dependent on the overall political atmosphere. The political reforms brought about in the newly established Yugoslavian kingdom saw few benefits for the Bosnian Muslims; according to the 1910 final census of land ownership and population according to religious affiliation conducted in Austria-Hungary, Muslims owned 91.1%, Orthodox Serbs owned 6.0%, Croat Catholics owned 2.6% and others, 0.3% of
9384-463: The aftermath are estimated at 64–79,000. According to the statistician Bogoljub Kočović , the relative war losses of Bosnian Croats, compared to their expected population in 1948, was 11.4%. According to the demographer Vladimir Žerjavić , 17,000 Bosnian Croats died in partisan ranks, 22,000 in NDH forces, while 25,000 lost their lives as civilians; of civilians, almost ¾ or 19,000 died as a result of Axis terror or in Ustaše concentration camps . At
9520-440: The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, the Croat People's Union (HNZ) become a political party; its ideology was very similar to that of the Croatian-Serbian Coalition in Croatia. In 1909, Stadler opposed such a policy and founded a new political party, the Croat Catholic Association (HKU), an opponent of the secular HNZ. HKU emphasized clerical ideals and religious exclusivity. However, Bosnian Croats mostly supported
9656-412: The annexation of Bosnia, but due to international disputes the issue was not resolved until the annexation crisis of 1908. Several external matters affected the status of Bosnia and its relationship with Austria–Hungary. A bloody coup occurred in Serbia in 1903, which brought a radical anti-Austrian government into power in Belgrade . Then in 1908, the revolt in the Ottoman Empire raised concerns that
9792-463: The annexation proclamation on 6 October 1908. Despite international objections to the Austro-Hungarian annexation, Russians and their client state, Serbia, were compelled to accept the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in March 1909. In 1910, Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph proclaimed the first constitution in Bosnia, which led to relaxation of earlier laws, elections and formation of
9928-627: The areas of modern Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 7th century. Constantine VII in De Administrando Imperio writes that Croats settled Dalmatia and from there they settled Illyricum and Pannonia There, they assimilated with native Illyrians and Romans during the great migration of the Slavs . The Croats adopted Christianity and began to develop their own culture, art, and political institutions, culminating in their own kingdom , which consisted of two principalities : Lower Pannonia ("Pannonian Croatia") in
10064-524: The arrival of the first Indo-Europeans , the area was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. The ancestors of the South Slavic peoples that populate the area today arrived during the 6th through the 9th century. In the 12th century, the Banate of Bosnia was established; by the 14th century, this had evolved into the Kingdom of Bosnia . In the mid-15th century, it was annexed into
10200-651: The cantons. In municipalities with a Croat majority or significant minority, schools with Croatian as an official language also exist, while in the territories where there is only a small number of Croats, Catholic centres perform education. Other education institutes are HKD Napredak , the Scientific Research Institute of the University of Mostar, the Croatian Lexicographic Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
10336-582: The city itself (49%). Mostar is the largest city in Herzegovina and the city with the largest Croat population in the country (51,216 in the area and 29,475 in the urban district). Croats comprise an overwhelming majority in the western part of both the city and the entire municipality. Croats comprise 41% of the population in Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje , a third in Vareš and Pelagićevo , and
10472-468: The collective memory of Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. An estimated 209,000 Serbs or 16.9% of its Bosnia population were killed on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war. The Ustaše recognized both Catholicism and Islam as the national religions, but held the position Eastern Orthodox Church , as a symbol of Serb identity, was their greatest foe. Although Croats were by far
10608-481: The concept of a separate Bosnian division receiving little or no consideration. The Cvetković-Maček Agreement that created the Croatian banate in 1939 encouraged what was essentially a partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina between Croatia and Serbia. However the rising threat of Adolf Hitler 's Nazi Germany forced Yugoslav politicians to shift their attention. Following a period that saw attempts at appeasement,
10744-625: The construction of many works of Bosnian architecture such as the country's first library in Sarajevo, madrassas , a school of Sufi philosophy , and a clock tower ( Sahat Kula ), bridges such as the Stari Most , the Emperor's Mosque and the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque . Furthermore, several Bosnian Muslims played influential roles in the Ottoman Empire's cultural and political history during this time. Bosnian recruits formed
10880-688: The country (14.57%). In the territory of the Herzeg-Bosnia , the percentage of Croats slightly changed, although, their total number was reduced. The first educational institutions of Bosnian Croats were monasteries, of which the most significant were those in Kreševo , Fojnica , Kraljeva Sutjeska and Tolisa , and later monasteries in Herzegovina, of which most significant are those in Humac and Široki Brijeg . The most significant people working for
11016-675: The country to work in the Austro-Hungarian administration or as teachers, doctors and officers. According to the Croatian author Vjekoslav Klaić , at the beginning of the period, in 1878, there were 646,678 Orthodox Christians (respectively Serbs, 48.4%), 480,596 Muslims (35.9%), 207,199 Catholics (respectively Croats, 15.5%) and 3,000 Jews (0.2%). In 1895, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 1,336,091 inhabitants, of which there were 571,250 Orthodox Christians (42.76%), 492,710 Muslims (36,88%), 265,788 Catholics (19.89%), 5,805 Jews (0.43%) and 53 others (0.04%). The slow process of nation-building on one hand and
11152-421: The country's history and introduced drastic changes in the political and cultural landscape. The Ottomans incorporated Bosnia as an integral province of the Ottoman Empire with its historical name and territorial integrity. Within Bosnia, the Ottomans introduced a number of key changes in the territory's socio-political administration; including a new landholding system, a reorganization of administrative units, and
11288-535: The country's population. Currently, according to the 2013 census , 91% of them live in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , while just 5.4% and 3.2% live in Republika Srpska and Brčko District , respectively. In Republika Srpska, Croat share in the entity population is just 2% (29,645), while in Brčko it stands at 20.7% (17,252). On the other hand, in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croats form 22.4% of
11424-466: The country, along the border with Croatia, from Kupres and Livno in the northwest along West Herzegovina to Ravno in the southeast ( Široki Brijeg , Ljubuški , Livno , Čitluk , Tomislavgrad , Čapljina , Posušje , Grude , Prozor-Rama , Stolac , Neum , Kupres , Ravno ). Around 40% of the country's and 45% of the Federation's Croats live here. The second is Posavina Canton in the north ( Orašje , Odžak , Domaljevac-Šamac ). This canton's share of
11560-596: The early Muslim conversions in Ottoman Bosnia in the 15th–16th century were among the locals who stayed rather than mass Muslim settlements from outside Bosnia. In Herzegovina, many Orthodox people had also embraced Islam. By the late 16th and early 17th century, Muslims are considered to have become an absolute majority in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Albanian Catholic priest Pjetër Mazreku reported in 1624 that there were 450,000 Muslims, 150,000 Catholics and 75,000 Eastern Orthodox in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There
11696-483: The east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest. In the south it has a 20 kilometres (12 miles) long coast on the Adriatic Sea , with the town of Neum being its only access to the sea. Bosnia has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In the central and eastern regions, the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and in
11832-453: The elementary education of Bosnian Croats in the 19th century were Ivan Franjo Jukić and Grgo Martić , who founded and organized elementary schools throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1887, many elementary schools were founded in Bosnia and Herzegovina along with the Order of Sisters of St. Francis , whose classes were led methodologically and professionally, so Bosnian Croat schools were, at
11968-644: The end of 1977, 8.8% of Bosnian recipients of veteran's pensions were Croats, while during the WWII Croats composed around 23% of the country's population. After the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the 6 constitutive republics of Socialist Yugoslavia. Intensive state campaigns of nationalization of property, followed by industrialization and urbanization variously affected Bosnian Croats. While some centers and areas prospered, other rural areas underwent depopulation and urban flight, as well as (most notably in western Herzegovina) high rates of emigration to
12104-471: The end of the Ottoman era and beginning of Austrian-Hungarian occupation, the same as elementary schools in rest of Europe. The educational system of Bosnia and Herzegovina during communism was based on a mixture of nationalities and the suppression of Croat identity. With the foundation of the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, Bosnian Croat schools took the educational system from Croatia. At
12240-469: The entity's population. Four out of ten Federal cantons have a Croat majority. All Croat-majority municipalities are located in this entity as well. According to the Croatian Ministry of Interior, 384,631 Croatian citizens had registered residence in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 2019. Most of the municipalities with a clear Croat majority form two compact regions. One is in the southwest of
12376-519: The inclusion of Bosnia in the chapter to merely be the result of Serbian Grand Duke Časlav 's temporary rule over Bosnia at the time, while also pointing out Porphyrogenitus does not say anywhere explicitly that Bosnia is a "Serb land". In fact, the very translation of the critical sentence where the word Bosona (Bosnia) appears is subject to varying interpretation. In time, Bosnia formed a unit under its own ruler, who called himself Bosnian. Bosnia, along with other territories, became part of Duklja in
12512-638: The influence of Hallstatt cultures to the north, formed regional centers that were slightly different. Parts of Central Bosnia were inhabited by the Daesitiates tribe, most commonly associated with the Central Bosnian cultural group . The Iron Age Glasinac-Mati culture is associated with the Autariatae tribe. A very important role in their life was the cult of the dead, which is seen in their careful burials and burial ceremonies, as well as
12648-561: The influential Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and Damat Ibrahim Pasha . Some Bosnians emerged as Sufi mystics, scholars such as Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi , Ali Džabić ; and poets in the Turkish , Albanian , Arabic , and Persian languages . However, by the late 17th century the Empire's military misfortunes caught up with the country, and the end of the Great Turkish War with the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 again made Bosnia
12784-805: The largest ethnic group to constitute the Ustaše, the Vice President of the NDH and leader of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization Džafer Kulenović was a Muslim, and Muslims in total constituted nearly 12% of the Ustaše military and civil service authority. Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina South America Oceania The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Croatian : Hrvati Bosne i Hercegovine ), often referred to as Bosnian Croats ( Croatian : bosanski Hrvati ) or Herzegovinian Croats ( Croatian : hercegovački Hrvati ), are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute
12920-498: The largest of the ethno-religious groups due to a lack of strong Christian church organizations and continuous rivalry between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, while the indigenous Bosnian Church disappeared altogether (ostensibly by conversion of its members to Islam). The Ottomans referred to them as kristianlar while the Orthodox and Catholics were called gebir or kafir , meaning "unbeliever". The Bosnian Franciscans (and
13056-553: The north, and Dalmatian Croatia in the south. Red Croatia , to the south, was land of a few minor states. One of the most important events of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early Middle Ages is the First Croatian Assembly held in 753 in Županjac (present-day Tomislavgrad). The second major event was the coronation of Tomislav , the first King of Croatia, in ca. 925, in the fields of Županjac. By this act, Pannonian Croatia and Dalmatian Croatia formed
13192-787: The north-east, and the plight of Slavic Muslim refugees arriving from the Sanjak of Smederevo into Bosnia Eyalet , culminated in a partially unsuccessful revolt by Husein Gradaščević , who endorsed a Bosnia Eyalet autonomous from the authoritarian rule of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II , who persecuted, executed and abolished the Janissaries and reduced the role of autonomous Pashas in Rumelia. Mahmud II sent his Grand vizier to subdue Bosnia Eyalet and succeeded only with
13328-622: The northeast it is predominantly flat. Herzegovina , the smaller, southern region, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city. The area has been inhabited since at least the Upper Paleolithic , but evidence suggests that during the Neolithic age, permanent human settlements were established, including those that belonged to the Butmir , Kakanj , and Vučedol cultures. After
13464-495: The now-banned Croatian Peasant Party , and those connected with the partisan resistance. The Ustaše executed many Bosnian Croats, for instance, resistance fighters and supporters Jakov Dugandžić, Mostar's Ljubo Brešan and 19-year old Mostar gymnasium student Ante Zuanić, as well as a prominent Mostar CPP member Blaž Slišković (in Jasenovac concentration camp ). Prominent Croat communist intellectual from Bosnia, Ognjen Prica ,
13600-531: The occupation and administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he also obtained the right to station garrisons in the Sanjak of Novi Pazar , which would remain under Ottoman administration until 1908, when the Austro-Hungarian troops withdrew from the Sanjak. Although Austro-Hungarian officials quickly came to an agreement with the Bosnians, tensions remained and a mass emigration of Bosnians occurred. However,
13736-576: The official name was changed to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia has been inhabited by humans since at least the Paleolithic , as one of the oldest cave paintings was found in Badanj cave . Major Neolithic cultures such as the Butmir and Kakanj were present along the river Bosna dated from c. 6230 BCE – c. 4900 BCE . The bronze culture of the Illyrians , an ethnic group with
13872-478: The only Catholic priests to be active in Bosnia. Before the Ottomans arrived in Bosnia, there were 35 Franciscan monasteries in Bosnia and four in Herzegovina. Some monasteries were destroyed and some were converted to mosques. In the 1680s there were only 10 Franciscan monasteries left in Bosnia. The Catholic Church in Bosnia divided its administration into two dioceses, one was the Croatian Bosnia diocese,
14008-495: The part which was not conquered by the Ottomans, and the other was Bosna Srebrena diocese. Between 1516 and 1524, planned persecution and forced Islamization of Catholics occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In that year, Franciscan monasteries in Kraljeva Sutjeska , Visoko , Fojnica , Kreševo and Konjic , and later in Mostar . It is believed that during that time, some 100,000 Croats converted to Islam. In 1528
14144-836: The partisans liberated most of Yugoslavia and NDH collapsed in May 1945, some NDH soldiers and civilians retreated to the British-occupied zone in Austria. Many of them were killed in the Bleiburg repatriations . In the closing stages of the war and the immediate aftermath, some Bosnian Croats who previously supported the Ustaše regime or were merely perceived as potential opponents of the new communist Yugoslavia were persecuted or executed (notably, Herzegovina friars ). Total casualties and losses of Bosnian Croats in World War II and
14280-428: The population was called Dobri Bošnjani ("Good Bosnians"). The names Serb and Croat, though occasionally appearing in peripheral areas, were not used in Bosnia proper. Bosnian history from then until the early 14th century was marked by a power struggle between the Šubić and Kotromanić families. This conflict came to an end in 1322, when Stephen II Kotromanić became Ban . By the time of his death in 1353, he
14416-467: The population. According to the 1991 census, Croats were 17.3% of the total population, and their number was 755,895. The total number of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina continued to fall, especially after the Bosnian War broke out in 1992. Soon, an exodus of Bosnian Croats occurred when a large number of Croats were expelled from central Bosnia and Posavina. According to the 1996 census, made by UNHCR and officially unrecognized, there were 571,317 Croats in
14552-406: The property. Following the reforms, Bosnian Muslims were dispossessed of a total of 1,175,305 hectares of agricultural and forest land. Although the initial split of the country into 33 oblasts erased the presence of traditional geographic entities from the map, the efforts of Bosnian politicians, such as Mehmed Spaho , ensured the six oblasts carved up from Bosnia and Herzegovina corresponded to
14688-560: The religious composition of medieval Bosnia. However, some Croat scholars suggest that a majority of Bosnia's medieval population were Catholics who, according to Zlopaša, accounted for 700,000 of 900,000 of the total Bosnian population. Some 100,000 were members of the Bosnian Church and other 100,000 were Orthodox Christians. In the middle of the 15th century, the Ottoman Empire started to conquer Bosnia. In 1451 they took Vrhbosna province and conquered Bosnia in 1463. Herzegovina
14824-464: The reluctant assistance of Ali Pasha Rizvanbegović . Related rebellions were extinguished by 1850, but the situation continued to deteriorate. New nationalist movements appeared in Bosnia by the middle of the 19th century. Shortly after Serbia's breakaway from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century, Serbian and Croatian nationalism rose up in Bosnia, and such nationalists made irredentist claims to Bosnia's territory. This trend continued to grow in
14960-761: The rest of the 19th and 20th centuries. Agrarian unrest eventually sparked the Herzegovinian rebellion , a widespread peasant uprising, in 1875. The conflict rapidly spread and came to involve several Balkan states and Great Powers, a situation that led to the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Gyula Andrássy obtained
15096-603: The revolt, for the first time, Bosnian Croats used the flag of Croatia. Soon after, the Orthodox population in East Herzegovina also revolted, which led to the Herzegovina Uprising . The Ottoman authorities were unable to defeat the rebels, so Serbia and Montenegro took advantage of this weakness and attacked the Ottoman Empire in 1876, soon after the Russian Empire did the same. The Turks lost
15232-532: The richness of their burial sites. In northern parts, there was a long tradition of cremation and burial in shallow graves, while in the south the dead were buried in large stone or earth tumuli (natively called gromile ) that in Herzegovina were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 m wide and 5 m high. Japodian tribes had an affinity to decoration (heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas , as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze foil). In
15368-591: The same time, University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar was renamed to University of Mostar with Croatian as the official language. This university is the only one in Bosnia and Herzegovina to use Croatian as the official language. After signing the Dayton accords, jurisdiction over education in Republika Srpska was given to the RS Government, while in the Federation, jurisdiction over education was given to
15504-457: The secular nationalist policy of the HNZ. HNZ and Muslim Nation Organization formed a coalition that ruled the country from 1911 until the dissolution of the Bosnian parliament in 1914. After World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the internationally unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which existed between October and December 1918. In December 1918, this state united with
15640-571: The signing of the Dayton agreement . However, the same agreement caused problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina and was largely ineffective. According to the information published by the Research and Documentation Centre in Sarajevo, 7,762 Croats were killed or missing. From the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 230,000 Croats were expelled, while from the territory of Republika Srpska , 152,856 Croats were expelled. Comprising 15.43% of
15776-795: The signing of the Tripartite Treaty , and a coup d'état , Yugoslavia was finally invaded by Germany on 6 April 1941. Once the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was conquered by German forces in World War II , all of Bosnia and Herzegovina was ceded to the Nazi puppet regime, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) led by the Ustaše . The NDH leaders embarked on a campaign of extermination of Serbs, Jews, Romani as well as dissident Croats, and, later, Josip Broz Tito 's Partisans by setting up
15912-481: The six sanjaks from Ottoman times and, thus, matched the country's traditional boundary as a whole. The establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929, however, brought the redrawing of administrative regions into banates or banovinas that purposely avoided all historical and ethnic lines, removing any trace of a Bosnian entity. Serbo-Croat tensions over the structuring of the Yugoslav state continued, with
16048-586: The state administration was very disorganized and the national conscience was very strong among the Christian population, the Ottoman Empire lost control over Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 19 June 1875 Catholic Croats, led by Don Ivan Musić , revolted because of high taxes in West Herzegovina. Their goal was to subordinate Bosnia to the rule of the Emperor of Austria, respectively King of Croatia. During
16184-399: The statehood of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the equality of Muslims, Croats, and Serbs in the country in its historic session in 1943. The first government of People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1945 included several prominent Croats - Jakov Grgurić (deputy prime minister), Cvitan Spužević (minister of construction), Ante Babić ( education ), and Ante Martinović (forestry). After
16320-513: The third most populous ethnic group, after Bosniaks and Serbs . They are also one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina . Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made significant contributions to the culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina . Most Croats declare themselves Catholics and speakers of the Croatian language . From the 15th to the 19th century, Catholics in Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina were often persecuted by
16456-531: The title of a 15th-century Bosnian magnate, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača , who was "Herceg [Herzog] of Hum and the Coast" (1448). Hum (formerly called Zachlumia ) was an early medieval principality that had been conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. When the Ottomans took over administration of the region, they called it the Sanjak of Herzegovina ( Hersek ). It was included within
16592-403: The total population. The first Yugoslav census recorded a decreasing number of Croats; from the first census in 1948 to the last one in 1991, the percentage of Croatians decreased from 23% to 17.3%, even though the total number increased. According to the 1953 census, Croats were in the majority in territories which became part of Banovina of Croatia in 1939. Their total number was 654,229, which
16728-605: The very beginning of the uprising against the Axis, many Bosnian Croats became commanders of partisan units (e.g., Josip Mažar-Šoša, Ivica Marušić-Ratko etc.), even though the units themselves were predominantly composed of Serbs. The territory that partisans liberated and managed to keep under their control from November 1942 to January 1943 (dubbed the Republic of Bihać ) included all of rural Western Herzegovina west of Neretva and Široki Brijeg, including Livno. Livno and its area, under partisan control from August to October 1942,
16864-619: The war in 1878, and this resulted in over 150,000 refugees who went to Croatia. After the Congress of Berlin was held in the same year, Bosnia and Herzegovina was transferred to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even after the fall of Ottoman rule, the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided. In the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia , Croatian politicians strived for the unification of the Kingdom of Dalmatia with Croatia. Another ambition of Croatian politicians
17000-629: Was Ban Borić . The second was Ban Kulin , whose rule marked the start of a controversy involving the Bosnian Church – considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church . In response to Hungarian attempts to use church politics regarding the issue as a way to reclaim sovereignty over Bosnia, Kulin held a council of local church leaders to renounce the heresy and embraced Catholicism in 1203. Despite this, Hungarian ambitions remained unchanged long after Kulin's death in 1204, waning only after an unsuccessful invasion in 1254. During this time,
17136-403: Was 767,247. In comparison to the 1971 census, for the first time, the percentage of Croats was below 20%, and after 1981, their percentage continued to fall. From 1971 to 1991, the percentage of Croats fell due to emigration into Croatia and Western Europe. Nevertheless, the fall in population percentage is only absent in western Herzegovina municipalities where Croats account for more than 98% of
17272-400: Was a general awareness in medieval Bosnia, at least amongst the nobles, that they shared a joint state with Serbia and that they belonged to the same ethnic group. That awareness diminished over time, due to differences in political and social development, but it was kept in Herzegovina and parts of Bosnia which were a part of Serbian state. The Ottoman conquest of Bosnia marked a new era in
17408-514: Was a lack of Orthodox Church activity in Bosnia proper in the pre-Ottoman period. An Orthodox Christian population in Bosnia was introduced as a direct result of Ottoman policy. From the 15th century and onwards, Orthodox Christians (Orthodox Vlachs and non-Vlach Orthodox Serbs) from Serbia and other regions settled in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Favored by the Ottomans over the Catholics, many Orthodox churches were allowed to be built in Bosnia by
17544-474: Was conquered in 1481, while northern Bosnia was still under Hungary and Croatia until 1527 when it was conquered by the Ottomans. After the Turkish conquest, many Catholic Bosnians converted to Islam, and their numbers in some areas shrank as many fled from fear of conversion and persecution. The Ottoman conquest changed the demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reducing the number of Catholics, and eliminating
17680-543: Was declared by the Bosnian Croat leadership as a temporary region, which after the war ended, would again become part of a united Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the beginning of the Bosnian War , Bosnian Croats were first to organize themselves, especially Croats in western Herzegovina who were already armed. At the end of May 1992, Croats launched a counter-offensive, liberating Mostar after a month of fighting. Also, in central Bosnia and Posavina, Croatian forces stopped
17816-629: Was founded in 1902, and in 1907 it was merged with the Croatian Society for Education of Children in Craft and Trade, also founded in 1902, into Croatian Cultural Society Napredak (Progress). Napredak educated and gave scholarships to more than 20,000 students. Students of Napredak were not only Bosnian Croats but also Croats from other regions. Kallay tried to unify all Bosnians into a single nation of Bosniaks, but he failed to do so after Bosnians created their national political parties. Before
17952-467: Was preoccupied with political struggles, which led to the collapse of the state after Dušan Simović organized a coup in March 1941 and after which Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia. King Alexander was killed in 1934, which led to the end of the dictatorship. In 1939, faced with killings, corruption scandals, violence, and the failure of centralized policy, the Serbian leadership agreed on a compromise with
18088-510: Was shot by Ustaše in Kerestinec prison . Families of Bosnian Croats who left to join the partisan resistance were usually interned or sent to concentration camps by Ustaše authorities. Numerous Bosnian Croats joined the partisan movement, fighting against the Axis forces and the Ustaše regime. Some of them included people's heroes such as Franjo Kluz , Ivan Marković Irac, Stipe Đerek, Karlo Batko, Ante Šarić "Rade Španac" and others. From
18224-460: Was successful in annexing territories to the north and west, as well as Zahumlje and parts of Dalmatia. He was succeeded by his ambitious nephew Tvrtko who, following a prolonged struggle with nobility and inter-family strife, gained full control of the country in 1367. By the year 1377, Bosnia was elevated into a kingdom with the coronation of Tvrtko as the first Bosnian King in Mile near Visoko in
18360-669: Was to incorporate the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Kingdom of Croatia. The Habsburg Governor Béni Kállay resorted to co-opting religious institutions. Soon, the Austrian Emperor gained support to name Orthodox metropolitans and Catholic bishops and to choose the Muslim hierarchy. The first Catholic archbishop was Josip Stadler . Both apostolic vicariates, Bosnian and Herzegovinian, were abolished, and instead, three dioceses were founded; Vrhbosna diocese with
18496-421: Was very important for Bosnian Croat resistance, as key CPP members Florijan Sučić and Ivan Pelivan joined the resistance and mobilized many other Croats. Bosnian Croats' representatives, among which Mostar lawyer Cvitan Spužević , also actively participated in the provisional assembly of the country, ZAVNOBiH (State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). ZAVNOBiH proclaimed
#36963