Flag of Croatia
History
Historical regions of Croatia: Slavonia (purple), Croatia proper (red), Istria (green) and Dalmatia (blue).
The local name for Croatia is Hrvatska. The English name is based on the Latin version that first appeared in the Middle Ages, and which in turn is an adaptation of the Slavic name.
Medieval Croatia
South Slav tribes immigrated to the region in the 6th century AD. Most Roman settlements were destroyed and the existing Roman population fled to the Dalmatian coast. This brought the coastal area into the Venetian sphere of influence until its dissolution in 1797.
The Kingdom of Croatia in 950 AD.
Croatia was not part of the Byzantine sphere of influence which resulted in most Croats being Roman Catholic as opposed to the majority of Serbians, who have common ancestors, being Orthodox. In the Middle Ages Croatia was a kingdom spanning across today's Bosnia. Croatia entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary in 1102.
Habsburg Croatia (1542-1918)
Croatia was the site of many battles fought by the advancing Ottoman Empire, who conquered present-day Bosnia in the 16th century. The Battle of Mohacs in 1542 caused Slavonia to become Ottoman, and Croatia proper becoming a Habsburg crown land.
Croatia as part of the Austrian Empire in the 1700's. Venetian Dalmatia and the Republic of Ragusa are shown as well.
Parts of Croatia were put under direct imperial control as military frontiers. These areas were settled by many Serbs seeking refuge from the Ottomans. During the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s these areas, named Krajina or 'Frontier', resisted Croatian independence but were conquered by Croatian forces in 1995. A majority of Serbs have left these regions since.
In 1699 Slavonia was added to Habsburg Austria after the Great Turkish War. In 1868 these were merged to form the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia within Hungary, as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The military districts were merged with Croatia-Slavonia in 1881, after Bosnia was occupied which made the frontier status obsolete.
Croatia within the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of 1878 until 1914. Croatia-Slavonia (17), Dalmatia (5) and the south part of Austria-Littoral (Küstenland, number 7) make up modern Croatia, with some minor border changes to Serbia and Montenegro to the east.
Dalmatia (695-1815)
Dalmatia followed a different course. Most of Dalmatia was part of the Republic of Venice throughout history, with the exception of the semi-independent Republic of Ragusa around present-day Dubrovnik. In 1797 Venice was dissolved by Napoleon, who formed the French Illyrian Provinces out of the Dalmatian coast. Ragusa was incorporated in 1807. In 1815 the Austrians, one of the victorious powers in the Napoleonic Wars, established the Kingdom of Dalmatia along the coast and Austria-Littoral around the Istrian Peninsula.
Part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1941)
After World War I the Croatians seceded from Austria-Hungary and joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. Istria and Zadar (Zara) were awarded to Italy, leading to tensions between the neighbouring countries. The unified kingdom was renamed to Yugoslavia in 1929.
Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945)
Italy, Germany and Bulgaria invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, and partitioned the country in many parts. The Independent State of Croatia was a puppet state, officially an Italian protectorate until 1943, that covered most of Croatia and Bosnia, with the exception of Dalmatia which was annexed by Italy.
The partition of Yugoslavia during the first two years of the Axis occupation (1941-1945), with the Independent State of Croatia as its largest entity. Parts of Dalmatia were ceded to Italy, but annexed by Croatia after Mussolini's regime collapsed in 1943.
The Independent State of Croatia was run by the fascist Ustaše movement, who were responsible for killing around 350,000 people, mostly Serbs but also Jews and Roma, in an attempt to turn Croatia in an ethnically homogeneous state. Many more were expelled or forcefully converted to Roman Catholicism. The atrocities committed by the Ustaše movement has left deep scars in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia that fed the animosity between the nationalities during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990's.
Many people, Croatians included, joined resistance groups, divided between conservative and royalist Četniks and communist Partisans led by Josep Broz Tito, the future leader of socialist Yugoslavia. The Partisans eventually defeated all their enemies in 1945.
Socialist Croatia (1945-1991)
Croatia was a republic within the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia between 1945 and 1991. The period saw a gradual rise in Croatian nationalism. In 1971 a group of Croatian prominents demanded more autonomy in the Croat Spring. Their demands were met in the 1974 Yugoslav constitution, but the death of Tito in 1980 and the dire state of the Yugoslav economy saw nationalism on the rise that decade. In 1990 Franjo Tuđman, one of the participants in the Croat Spring, became president of the SR Croatia, and organised a referendum on independence a year after which was ratified by a large majority.
Croatian War (1991-1995)
Croatian independence was answered with a military intervention of the Yugoslav Army and an insurgency by Serbian separatists in Croatia's Krajina regions (the former Habsburg Military Frontier Regions) who wished to merge their territories with Serbia. Though initially successful, the Serbs of Krajina were defeated after a Croatian offensive in 1995, ending the Croatian War with most of the Serb minority leaving the new country.
Recent history (1995-date)
Croatia was able to reconstruct its infrastructure and economy gradually in the decade after the war. After a couple of years tourists started reappearing on the many beautiful sceneries of the Dalmatian coast. Croatia joined the EU in 2013, and is expected to join the eurozone in a matter of years.
Currency and coins
In the Middle Ages it was common to use marter furs as a means of payment in the Kingdom of Croatia. These furs were named Kuna and this explains the name of the modern currency.
The first Croatian coins date from the 12th century. In the 13th century small silver coins named Banovci were introduced. These were inscribed with Latin 'Sclavonia'. The Dalmatian cities were minting their own mone, Venetian money also circulated. The Republic of Ragusa minted its own coins until its dissolution in 1815. From the 14th to 16th century some Croatian Bans (local title for leader) issued silver money.
During the Napoleonic Wars the French issued silver siege coinage for the town of Zara (Croatian: Zadar). These are extremely rare.
With the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia in 1941 the Kuna was introduced at par with the Yugoslav Dinar and 20 Kuna to the Reichsmark. This Kuna's subdivision was named Banica. Zinc coins of 1 and 2 Kune were issued, but the 1 Kuna is very rare. In 1945 the Kuna was replaced by a new Yugoslav Dinar at a rate of 40 to 1.
With independence in 1991 Croatia converted the 1990 Yugoslav Dinar into its own Croatian Dinar at par. This currency suffered from inflation and was replaced by the Kuna in 1994 at a rate of 1000 to 1. This time the subdivision was named Lipa.
The second Kuna was managed in a tight range versus the Deutschmark and later Euro, with an exchange rate of around 7.5 HRK/€ that has held well for 20 years now. It is expected that the Euro will replace the Kuna within a couple of years.
The second Kuna's coins have stayed the same in terms of size and composition since their introduction in 1994. The language used on the legends of the obverses alternate from Croatian to Latin. A number of circulating commemoratives have been issued as well in the commonly used denominations. Next to these 25 Kuna commemorative coins are issued yearly, but these do not circulate commonly.
Coins from Slavonia (Hungarian States):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hongrie-etats-2.html#devise1531
Coins from Spalato (Split):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hongrie-etats-5.html#devise2958
Venetian Dalmatia & Albania:
1 Soldo
2 Soldi
Coins of Croatia:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/croatie-1.html
Coins of the Republic of Ragusa:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/ragusa-1.html