Zadar's History

In 1813 Austria, assisted by the English Navy, conquered Dalmatia and formed a special administrative region with its center in Zadar. Austria did not fulfill the wishes of the people of Zadar to be united with Hungry (and thus with Croatia). On the contrary, Austria introduced a policy of Italianization in the city, with the use of the Italian language, thereby making communication with the interior impossible. Nevertheless, Zadar was the center of the national revival in Dalmatia. Between 1844 and 1849, the literary magazine Zora Dalmatinska (Dalmatian Dawn) was published and the editor was, for a time, the Croatian poet Petar Preradovic. A Croatian primary school was opened in 1885 and a grammar school in 1897.

The end of World War I brought national liberation to most of the eastern Adriatic coast but not to Zadar. The Rapallo Treaty ceded Zadar to Italy and a policy of enforced Italianization was introduced. Italian fascist regime tried to erased every trace of anything Croatian -- culture, language, and even the surnames of Zadar's citizens. During this time more than half of the citizens chose to leave Zadar and were replaced by Italian immigrants. During World War II, the bombs of the Allies destroyed Zadar. After WWII, Zadar became part of Tito's Yugoslavia.

Since World War II, Zadar has been raised from the ruins, many cultural and historic monuments have been restored and the city has developed as a strong economic and tourist center. But in 1991 when Serbs irregulars and the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) attacked, Zadar found itself on the very edge of the territory occupied by the rebels. Connections with Zagreb were cut for over a year, and the only link was via the island of Pag. Zadar was once again severely damaged in the war. Its historical bastions were damaged (Grimani, Moro, Kopnena Vrata, Kaštal, and Veliki arsenal), as were sacred buildings (Church of St. Chrysogonus, the Convent of St. Mary, St. Anastasia and St. Simeon). What was in essence a siege of the city lasted until January 22, 1993, when the Croatian army liberated a good deal of the hinterland of Zadar as well as Maslenica Bridge. This meant that Zadar was once again linked with Zagreb but it continued to be attacked until 1995 when the Croatian Oluja (Storm) liberated the whole of the hinterland.




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