 | McLae´s guide to Croatia |  |
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The City Split
The rise of the Medieval Croatian state in the hinterland provoked in the following centuries a slow Croatization of Split, which can be seen in the architecture of churches in the city and surroundings, and which led to the unity of the church with Split at the center in 928. One of the first known rulers of Split was Count Petar (1222-1225), also as Duke of Zahumlje (1198-1227). At the beginning of the 12th century Split was led by Hungarian nobility. The city however mantained independence, as in 1312 it issued statues and had a currency of its own. Venetian Republic took control of Split in 1420, when the population was almost exclusively Croatian. The autonomy of the city remained, though somewhat reduced: the highest authority was a prince-captain who was always of Venetian birth.
During the Middle Ages and the Venetian rule Split developed into an important port city with trade routes to the interior through the nearby Klis pass. Culture flourished as well, Split being the hometown of Marko Marulic, a classic Croatian author. Marulic wrote Judita (1501 in Split, and published 1521) it there. It is widely held to be the first modern work of literature in Croatian. Under Austria, however, Split stagnated. The general upheavals in Europe starting in 1848 gained no ground in Split. Split in the 20th century: After the end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the province of Dalmatia, along with Split, became a part of The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which in 1929 changed its name to Yugoslavia). After both Rijeka and Zadar, the two other large cities on the eastern Adriatic coast, went to Italy, Split became the most important port in Yugoslavia. The Lika railway, connecting it to the rest of the country, was completed in 1925. In April 1941, following Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, Split was occupied by Italy and formally annexed one month later. In September 1943, following capitulation of Italy, the city was liberated by Partisans only to be occupied by the Wehrmacht a few weeks later. During the occupation, some of the port facilities as well as parts of the old city were damaged by Allied bombing. Partisans finally liberated the city on October 26th 1944. On February 12th 1945 the Kriegsmarine conducted a daring raid on the Split harbour, using explosive boats and damaging the British cruiser Delhi in the process. Until the end of war Split was provisional capital of partisan-controlled Croatia.
After WWII, Split became a part of Croatia, itself a constituent republic of the socialist federal Yugoslavia. It continued to grow and develop as an important commercial and cultural center. The city drew a large number of rural migrants who found employment in the newly built factories, a part of a large-scale industrialization effort. In the period between 1945 and 1990, the population tripled and the city expanded, taking up the whole peninsula. When Croatia declared independence in 1991, Split had a large garrison of Yugoslav People's Army, guarding the facilities and headquarters of the JRM - the Yugoslav Navy. This led to months of tense stand-off between JNA and Croatian military and police forces, occasionally interrupted by various incidents. The most spectacular such incident occurred in November 1991, when JRM, including the light frigate Split dropped a small number of shells on the city, not seriously damaging any part of the city, but, unfortunately with human casualties. This was the only time in history that city was bombarded by a military vessel bearing its name. On the same day of the attack, the light frigate "Split" was damaged and abandoned, its sole victim a soldier who refused to fight, who was left in vessel's jail cell. JNA finally evacuated all of its facilities in January 1992 Split is sometimes credited as Dalmatia's capital, but there is no such governmental unit as Dalmatia today. |
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