History d'Istrie

In a cave near Pula (Sandalja), but also in Koper, the results of archaeological excavations attest to the presence of man in Istria as early as the Paleolithic period. Tools, ceramics and various everyday objects found also provided information on the life of hunter-gatherers and fishermen in the Neolithic period (6000-2000 BC).

During the Bronze Age, the first sedentary inhabitants were Indo-European tribes who settled in what is now Croatian territory. The Illyrians, Dalmatians, Liburnes and Histres colonized the coast and the archipelagos. The latter have bequeathed their names to the peninsula.

After a first incursion on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, the Romans had to face the Illyrians on their lands (Histria, Liburnia, Dalmatia). These Illyrian Wars correspond to three separate military campaigns, one against Queen Teuta, the second against the adventurer Demetrios of Pharos and the last against King Gentius.

On the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, the first Roman conquests began in the 3rd century BC, after a short Greek colonization. A tenth administrative region(regio X Venetia e Histria) was created in 7 BC. This was followed by a long period of Roman colonisation, until the division of the Latin Empire in two under Diocletian.

The territory of present-day Croatia saw the collapse of Roman civilization in the West, followed by Late Antiquity, a prosperous period for the Histria region, dominated by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The peninsula is adorned with superb religious buildings.

From the 7th century onwards, the region was plundered several times by Slavic (ancestors of the Slovenes and Croats) and Magyar pirates. The village of Sipar (Umag) is destroyed, which directly affects the authority of Basil I, Roman Emperor of the East in the 9th century. The Empire later succeeded in attaching these peoples to Byzantine Dalmatia.

The south-western part, mostly Italian, remains Byzantine. The north-eastern half, mainly populated by Slovenes and Croats, became an autonomous margraviate (marquisate) in the Germanic (Carolingian) Empire.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the entire Adriatic coast, most of the Dalmatian city-states and the south-eastern half of Istria fell under Venetian rule, while the first Habsburgs penetrated the north-western half and the interior of the Istrian peninsula. For the Serenissima, gaining ground in these territorial waters was the means of controlling the trade routes between East and West, while at the same time building up a formidable source of income. The ports (Pula, Poreč, Rovinj) accepted the military protectorate in order to limit Hungarian overflows. But the cities also had to give up their surrounding land.
From the 14th century onwards, the City of the Doges applied a veritable "venitisation" of the Istrian coastline, both politically and eco-maritime as well as artistically. During these four centuries, the linguistic and cultural characteristics of Italy had a lasting influence on the landscape and the people. All along the coast, Venice chose raised sites, peninsulas to build the port towns, surmounted by the traditional campanile, which can be seen from afar. This colonization, at its height from the 16th to 18th centuries, left behind an organized urbanization (ramparts, fortifications, pavement), a refinement in architecture and civil and religious art.

After the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, Istria and Dalmatia changed guardianship. Successively, the two regions were attached to the Habsburg Empire, the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and then to the Illyrian Provinces of the French Empire.

The incursion of Napoleon Bonaparte's regime into Croatia was short-lived, but full of repercussions. At the end of the two Dalmatian campaigns, the French emperor conceded the southern Adriatic possessions to Austria and in 1809 founded the Illyrian Provinces (Istria, Kvarner, Dalmatia, the Bay of Kotor). At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Austria recovered parts of Istria and Dalmatia that had belonged to Venice. The Austrians took over the ports of Pula and Rijeka, built shipyards there for their war arsenal and laid out new routes to connect the maritime infrastructure to the capitals (Vienna, Budapest, Zagreb).

Italy, which had allied itself with Prussia, lost the naval battle of Lissa (island of Vis) but recovered the Veneto, bringing the Austrian coast, with Trieste as its capital, closer to the Istrian border. This Austrian coastal area(Küstenland) included the princely county of Görz (now Italian Friuli), the county of Istria as far as Fiume (Rijeka) and included the Gulf of Kvarner and its large islands.

Within the dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the union of the neighbouring countries gives rise to the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Under the reign of Peter I of Serbia, the kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro are merged with the Slovenian and Croatian populations. Under Alexander I, it was renamed the kingdom of Yugoslavia on October 3, 1929, but on October 9, 1934, the king was assassinated in Marseilles by Ante Pavelić, leader of the Croatian Ustashi

At the end of the First World War, a peace treaty is signed between Germany and the Allies. Sanctions against Germany and its Axis allies are taken, leading to territorial reshuffles and the break-up of the German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires.

Important Croatian territories were allocated to Italy, including Istria, but not Fiume, which reverted to the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In reaction, the Italian military writer, the fascist Gabriele D'Annunzio, occupied the town with his militia for almost a year.

The Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign a treaty, which aims to ensure the independence of Fiume, recognized by the United States, France and the United Kingdom. The free micro-state will only last until 3 March 1922, when it will be overthrown by a coup d'état and then annexed again by Italy.

After the German invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Istria and a large part of Dalmatia were annexed by Mussolini's Italy. Axis forces set up satellite regimes, notably in Croatia. In Zagreb, power was handed over to the Ustashi ultranationalists. It is the triumphant return of Ante Pavelić, which sets up a policy of persecution of political opponents (Serbs, antifascists, Croatian communists). He introduces racial laws against Jews and Gypsies, opens deportation and/or concentration camps. This war caused nearly 300,000 deaths in Croatia. In the summer of 1941, the Croatian resistance, allied with the Chetniks (monarchist party of Yugoslavia), was organised. Some anti-fascist Partizan were led by the communist Josip Broz, known as Tito. In June 1943, the Croatian maquis set up a civil staff, which became theFederalna Država Hrvatska (Federal State of Croatia).

After the Second World War, Tito took the lead in six republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia) and two autonomous regions (Kosovo and Vojvodina). Istria is claimed by Yugoslavia and Italy.

At the beginning of 1946, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FPRY) enacted its Constitution. It takes up the founding principles of the totalitarian model of the Stalinist Soviet Union. It is the end of the monarchy and the beginning of a system which admits the intervention of the State in all fields (economic, political, social and cultural).

Under UN control, the Treaty of Paris created this territory, which resulted in the city being split in two: one Anglo-American, with a majority of Italians (zone A), the other Yugoslav (zone B), including the city of Capodistria (Koper), with Italians, Slovenes and Croats. But a large part of the population of zone B is abandoning this region, driven by communist terror and massacres of the foibe.

The evocation of this period of terror, carried out by Tito's communist partisans against fascist political opponents, soldiers and civilians, most of them Italian, remains a sensitive issue, even today, between Italy and Croatia. These mass executions took place after the signing of the armistice in 1943, following Mussolini's departure. Thousands of people were killed in the Istrian territories, sometimes with living bodies thrown into deep natural karstic graves(foibe). Nearly 250,000 exiles fled the region. The film Rosso Istria, directed by Maximiliano Hernando Bruno (2017), recounts these historical facts, long commemorated only by neo-fascists. It provoked strong reactions on the social networks between the extreme right and the other Italian parties. Now, in Italy, February 10 is established as a day of remembrance for the victims of the foibe.

Slovenia now has an opening to the Adriatic Sea including the southern coastal area. Belonging to Croatia for 90% of its territory, Istria is still claimed by Italy, which will only keep Trieste, cutting the city off from its hinterland.

Based on self-management, decentralisation, the relaxation of collectivism and planning, the non-aligned movement was established by the Brioni Declaration on the largest island of the Istrian archipelago, off Pula. In his island residence, Tito invites the signatory leaders Nehru and Nasser (India and Egypt). He urges them to protect themselves from the influence of the United States and the USSR, then in the midst of the Cold War.

Italy and Yugoslavia have agreed on maritime boundaries. After 1992, these sea borders, which surround fishing zones, will be recognised by the states born from the break-up of Yugoslavia: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and then Montenegro.

After Tito's death (May 4, 1980), the system of alternating presidencies every four years failed to satisfy parliamentarians, and solved neither national problems nor political and economic inequalities. As economic drivers, Croatia and Slovenia demanded greater representation in Belgrade's centralizing assemblies. In May 1989, Slobodan Milošević's seizure of power reignited the battle for Greater Serbia. Milošević, the ultranationalist, abolished the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina, and put his supporters in charge of Montenegro. In short, he wanted to control all the Yugoslav authorities. On May 30, Croatian presidential elections are won by Franjo Tuđman, a former partisan army general. Three months later, Croatian Serbs self-proclaimed the Autonomous Republic of Krajina. On June 13, 1991, the Yugoslav Army (JNA), now staffed entirely by Serb soldiers, launched its first attack on Croatia, while the Zagreb Parliament declared national sovereignty and independence. A quarter of the country soon fell into Serb hands. Serbian terrorists, infiltrated into Croatia and supported by the JNA, carry out deadly raids in the Lika, Kordun, Banija and Eastern Slavonia regions. Fighting raged in the town of Vukovar, the Dinara-Velebit massifs and the Krajina region. Conflict pitted Croats, Serbs and Bosnians against each other, the latter supported by foreign jihadist militias. Zadar, Šibenik and Dubrovnik came under rocket fire and bombardment. The fall of Vukovar on November 18, 1991 was a massacre. Several hundred people were killed and at least 20,000 civilians displaced. On December 14, 1995, the Dayton Accords, signed with the Serbs and Bosnians, put an end to the conflicts that had left almost 15,000 people dead and 50,000 wounded in the former Yugoslavia.

The Istria region was not affected by the shooting. However, its economy suffered a severe recession following a sharp fall in tourism. The region took part in the "war for the fatherland" effort. There was a real surge of solidarity. Hotel complexes on its coastline, barracks and second homes were requisitioned to temporarily accommodate a considerable mass of refugees and exiles fleeing besieged Croatian towns. Istrian companies helped rebuild Croatian infrastructure in the region.

The two republics become independent. While retaining the internal Yugoslav borders of Istria (1954), both new democracies will be recognized by the international community. Croatia joins the ranks of the UN and regains its entire territory by reconquering Slavonia to the east.

The Republic of Croatia participates in this pact of understanding between the countries of the zone. It aims to assist the neighbouring states in their plans for democratic and economic reforms. Croatia's accession to the European Union is signed in July 2013. At the same time, identity resurgences in Istria are still present. The Euroregion Istria party is still in the news. It works for the fusion of Croatian Istria with Northern Italy and Slovenia.

In the second round, former Social Democrat Prime Minister Zoran Milanović came out on top with 52.7% of the vote, ahead of outgoing President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. The election brought the Socialists back to power, but also saw the rise of national-populism, with singer Miroslav Škoro scoring well (24.45% of the vote in the first round).

First cases confirmed in Zagreb. After months of sanitary restrictions in Europe, Croatia aims to save its 2020 summer tourist season. By implementing a sanitary protocol (Free Covid), it has succeeded better than its Italian neighbor in keeping the pandemic at bay, with only 50 cases of Covid per 100,000 inhabitants and 25% of its population vaccinated. On entry to its territory, it activated the European system (PCR tests). Local authorities are even opening vaccination centers at tourist sites.

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Croatia, the strongest felt in 140 years, causing enormous material damage in the north of the country and in the capital, where not only civilian buildings but also historical monuments and museums were partially destroyed.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine begins. In March, a Soviet-made military reconnaissance drone crashes in a park on the outskirts of Zagreb. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković deplores the lack of response in NATO airspace and calls for "closer cooperation" between member countries. In spring 2022, his government will release financial aid (66 billion euros of public money) to welcome Ukrainian refugees and to combat rising energy prices and in the agri-food sector.

On June 15, 2022, Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob announced that the border fence with Croatia would be dismantled. Some 200 km of barbed wire, covering almost a third of the border route, was erected during the migration crisis of 2015. At the time, more than half a million migrants crossed from Slovenia via Croatia to Italy or Austria.

At the beginning of the year, Croatia joined the Schengen area, thus normalizing border tensions with Slovenia. At the same time, the country became a member of the euro zone, benefiting from full use of the common currency.

Between July and September 2024, Croatian parliamentary elections will be held, followed by the first round of presidential elections at the end of the year, with a possible second round in early January 2025.