HERZEGOVINA By Myrhael Angel
Capital city of Herzegovina ........................................................3 Mostar ................................................................................................................... 3
Croats in Herzegovina ...............................................................10 Numerical status .........................................................................10 Education ...................................................................................10 Mijat Tomić ...............................................................................31 Robin Hood ...............................................................................32 Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia ........................................33
Capital city of Herzegovina The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, often referred to as Bosnian Croats, are the third most populous ethnic group in that country after Bosniaks and Serbs, and are one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[1] They are a native ethnic group of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made significant contributions to the culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their mother tongue is Croatian, and most identify as Roman Catholic, although there is a small minority of atheists.
MOSTAR
Mostar is a city and municipality in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inhabited by 105,797 people, it is the most important city in the Herzegovina region, its cultural capital, and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country. Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who in the medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva. From the 15th to the 19th century, Croats in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina were often persecuted under 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 different parts of BosniaHerzegovina, although having lived in numerous regions prior to the Bosnian War. According to the report by the Bosnia and Herzegovina statistics office, on the census of 2013 there were 544,780 Croats living in Bosnia
Croats settled the areas of modern Herzegovina in the 7th century.[3] native Illyrians and Romans during [6] The Croats adopted their own culture, art, and political own kingdom, which consisted of
Croatia and Bosnia and [4][5] There, they assimilated with the great migration of the Slavs.[4] Christianity and began to develop institutions, culminating in their two principalities: Pannonian
Croatia in the north, and
Dalmatian Croatia in the south
.
Coronation of King Tomislav, painted by Oton Iveković
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.[8] By this act, Pannonian Croatia and Dalmatian Croatia formed a united Croatian kingdom, which included Dalmatia and part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pannonia (eastern Slavonia and northeastern Bosnia), and Savia (western Slavonia).[4] A basic feature of that period in Croatia is its isolation from European cultural and political events which resulted in a small number of secular monuments
.
In 1102 Croatia entered into a union with the Kingdom of Croatia, started to
Kingdom of Hungary.
disassociate
After this, Bosnia, which was earlier part of the
with
Croatia. At first, Bosnia become a separate
principality under
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 part of the
Kingdom of Croatia, which he accomplished by
defeating
various
Croatian nobles and supporting Hungary.
Thus, the Kingdom of Bosnia emerged, but part of present territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina remained in the Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia. Regarding religion, Bosnia was closer to Croatia than the Orthodox lands to the east, and the Diocese of Bosnia is mentioned as Catholic in the 11th century, and later fell under the jurisdiction of the 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" in similarity with their Croatian counterparts. The specific religion in medieval Bosnia was Bogomilism and Bosnian Church, so some of the notable feudal lords in Medieval Bosnia were followers of this religion, such as Duke Hrvoje Hrvatinić. Due to the scarcity of historical records, there are no definite figures dealing with the religious composition of medieval Bosnia. However, Croat scholars generally 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 Bogomils and other 100,000 were Orthodox Christians.
Austria-Hungary
Even after the fall of the Ottoman rule, the population of the Kingdom of Croatia, Croatian politicians saw unification ambition of Croatian politicians was to incorporate the Croatia. The Bosnian Governor, Béni Kállay found more easily. Soon, the Austrian name Orthodox bishops and to choose The first Catholic Stadler.[28] Both Bosnian and abolished, and were founded; with a seat in Luka diocese with a Mostar-Duvno Mostar.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided and antagonistic.[26] In of the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Istria with Croatia. Another Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Kingdom of his support in religious institutions to govern Emperor gained support to metropolitans and Catholic Muslim hierarchy.[27] archbishop was Josip apostolic vicarates, Herzegovinian, were instead three dioceses Vrhbosna diocese Sarajevo, Banja seat in Banja Luka and diocese with a seat in
At the time, Bosnia and Herzegovina was facing a large 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. [27] During this period, the most significant event is Bosnian entry to 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 was founded in 1902, and in 1907 it was merged with 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 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.[30] However, Bosnian Croats mostly supported the secular nationalist policy of the HNZ.[31] HNZ and Muslim Nation Organization formed a coalition which ruled the country from 1911 until the dissolution of the Bosnian parliament in 1914.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
People gathered waiting for Stjepan Radić to arrive in Mostar in 1925 After the 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 the Kingdom of Serbia as Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes,[33]which was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929.[34] This new state was characterized by Serbian nationalism, and was a form of "Greater Serbia". Serbs held control over armed forces and politics of the state.[35] With around 40% Serbs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbian leadership of the state wanted to implement 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.[36] 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 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 dictatorship. In 1939, faced with killings, corruption scandals, violence and the failure of centralized policy, the Serbian leadership agreed a compromise with 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 become part of Banovina of Croatia. Those parts had a Croatian majority. Creation of Banovina of Croatia was one of the solutions to the "Croatian issue".[37] World war 2 After the collapse of Yugoslavia, a majority of Croats supported the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH)[citation needed]' as did the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[citation needed].NDH was established on 10 April 1941. However, later during the war, the Croats became divided; one side supported NDH while the other, the Yugoslav Partisans, supported the creation of communist Yugoslavia. Serbian Chetniks were also engaged in a war against the NDH and Partisans. Soon after it was created, NDH faced a brutal civil war, with the fiercest fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After NDH and the Axis Forces lost the war in May 1945, Croatian soldiers and civilians retreated to the British occupied zone in Austria in Bleiburg. Many of them were killed by the Yugoslav Partisans in an event remembered as the Bleiburg massacre or the "Way of the Cross" (Križni put).[38] Communist Yugoslavia During the communist era, Bosnia and Herzegovina were populated by three ethnic groups: the Croats, the Serbs and the Muslims (later re-designated as Bosniaks). Many Croats declared their nationality as Yugoslav and like all ethnic groups at the time, Croats collaborated and were friends with their fellow citizens, whilst also maintaining their culture, primarily through their following of Catholicism.
Bosnian War
HVO soldier fires a 122mm Howitzer D-30J 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.[39] The referendum question was: "Are you in favor of a sovereign and independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and nations of Muslims, Serbs, Croats and others who live in it?"[40] Independence was strongly favoured by Bosniak and Bosnian Croat voters, but the referendum was largely boycotted by Bosnian Serbs. The total turn out of voters was 63.6% of which 99.7% voted for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina On 5 April 1992, Serb forces started 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, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) on 8 April 1992. HVO consisted from 20-30% 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 majority of population were Croats. In its founding acts, Herzeg-Bosnia had no separatist character. The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia was declared by the Bosnian Croat leadership as a temporary region, which after war ended, would again become part of a united Bosnia and Herzegovina.[44]
Slobodan Milošević, Alija Izetbegović and Franjo Tuđman signing the Dayton Peace Accords on 14 December 1995 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 the Serbian advance, and in some places they repelled the enemy. On 16 June 1992, President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman and President 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 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 embargo to Bosnia and Herzegovina on the import of arms, Bosniak and Croat forces had difficulties fighting Serbian units, which were supplied with arms from 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 during 1993. In March 1994, the Bosniak and Croat leadership signed 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 the signing of the Dayton agreement. However, the same agreement caused problem 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 territory of Republika Srpska, 152,856 Croats were expelled.
Croats in Herzegovina Legal Status According to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Annex IV of the Dayton Peace Agreement), Croats are one of the three constituent peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Croatian language is one of the three official languages.
Numerical status According to the Federal Office for Statistic, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and census taken in 1961, Croats made up 21.7% of the total population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Ok In 1991, 760 852 inhabitans od Bosnia and Herzegovina declared itself Croats , which present 17,4 % of the total population. A new census is being schedule for 2013. Croatians live in the western part of Herzegovina, in the southwestern part of Bosnia, in the parts of eastern Herzegovina, in the central Bosnia and in the Bosanska Posavina region.
Education In the regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina where Croats make up the majority of local population, classes in elementary and high schools are organized based on the curriculum in the Croatian language. The program is based on the constitutional provisions and in accordance with the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina which also guarantee the equality of all three constituent peoples, as well as the rights of national minorities. The educational program is laid out in the federal Constitution, and by the legislation of each individual county. The entire curriculum in the Croatian language, in all its forms, has the objective to promote the Croat language, tradition, culture and the religious heritage of the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and therefore, it cannot be just reduced to a single target program. Regarding the subjects related to the natural science classes, such as mathematics or physics, these subjects also have a national and cultural focus. Among the Croatian people there are scientific, historical and cultural facts and figures and renowned individuals who belong to the scientific and cultural heritage of the entire Croatian people and, therefore, they are studied within each individual school subject (R. Bošković, F. Vrančić, A. Mohorovičić, M. Getaldić, S. Penkala, V. Prelog). These scientists, scholars and inventors are part of the wider Croat national heritage, each having his place in the curriculum and school textbooks in the Croatian language. The above mentioned items and names are part of the wider national heritage of great importance to the Croatian people and its
In the
16th century a traveler and writer Marco A. Pigaffetta wrote that almost everybody on the Turkish court in Constantinople knows the Croatian language, and especially soldiers. Marco Pigafetta in his "Itinerario'' published in London in 1585 states: "In Istanbul it is customary to speak Croatian, a language which is understood by almost all official Turks, especially military men." This can also be confirmed by the 1553 visit of Antun Vrancic, Roman cardinal, and Franjo Zay, a diplomat, to Istanbul as envoys of the Croat Hungarian king to discuss a peace treaty with the Turks. During the initial ceremonial greetings they had with Rustem - pasha Hrvat (= Croat) the conversation led in Turkish with an official interpreter was suddenly interrupted. Rustem - pasha Hrvat asked in Croatian if Zay and Vrancic spoke Croatian language. The interpreter was then dismissed and they proceeded in the Croatian language during the entire process of negotiations.
In the province of Molise in central Italy there is a small Croatian enclave (about 4,500 people), living today in several villages, inhabited in 15 villages in the 16th century by the Croats fleeing before the Turks. They preserved their ethnic identity and language even today. Since the 16th century a similar enclave has existed near Bratislava in Slovakia. The largest Croatian community of exiles dating from that period is in the area of Gradisce (Burgenland) in Austria and Hungary. One of the results of this forced migrations is that the most widespread surname in today's Hungary is Horvath, whose meaning is simply Croat. Also the family name Horvat is one of the most widespread in today's Slovenia. The surname Charvat (= Croat) in the present-day Czechia is a remaining of the presence of White Croats on this area since the Early Middle Ages. The family name Horwath and its variations is also very common in Austria (see the telephone book in Vienna). The most famous descendant of Gradisce Croats is without any doubt Joseph Haydn. It is interesting that King Ferdinand I (1515-1564) granted the Burgenland Croats in Austria the right to use Glagolitic Mass, see here.
In Slovenian part of Istria, near Italian border east of Trieste, there is the village of Hrvatini (literally - Croats). Also in Croatian part of Istria, northeast of Zminj, there is the village of Hrvatin. Several Istrian villages have names that are obviously related to those Croats who had to escape before the
.
Turks from the region Lika and Krbava
Even today Croatian women in some parts of Bosnia tattoo their hands with Christian symbols and stechak ornaments. This very old custom, used exclusively among Catholic Christians, had a special meaning in the period of the Ottoman occupation. In this way, by wearing indelible signs of their Christian religion, the forced conversion to Islam has been prevented. However, the custom itself is much older. For example, a Greek historian Strabo (1st century BC) mentions tattooing among inhabitants of this area. For more information see an article by Ciro Truhelka: Die Tätowirung bei den Katholiken Bosniens und der Hercegovina (published in Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen Aus Bosnien und der Hercegovina, herausgegeben vom Bosnisch-Hercegovinischen Landesmuseum in Sarajevo, redigiert von Dr. Moriz Hoernes, Vierter Band, Wien 1896). Bosnian Catholic Croats tattoo their hands and other visible parts of body with Christian symbols (usually with a small cross), like brow, cheeks, wrist, or below neck. This can be seen even today, not only in middle Bosnia, but also among exiled Bosnian women living in Zagreb.
Katarina Vukcic-Kosaca (1424-1478), the last Queen of Bosnia, ardent Catholic, wife of the Bosnian King Stjepan Tomasevic (1461-1463), is still one of the most beloved personalities among the Croats living in Bosnia. When Bosnia fell under the Ottoman rule in 1463, her two children (a boy and a girl) had been taken to slavery and educated in the spirit of Islam, her husband decapitated. She managed to escape to Dubrovnik, and then to Rome, where she had been deeply involved in the humanitarian activity of the Franciscan community (Aracoeli) becoming Franciscan Tertiary herself, to help Bosnian Croats under the Turkish rule. The above portrait of Katarina Kosaca, Bosnian Queen, was made by Giovanni Bellini, held in the Capitol Gallery of paintings in Rome.
She built a church of St. Katarina in a picturesque Bosnian city of Jajce (totally destroyed by the Serbs in 1993). Despite her very difficult position, she had always been treated as a Queen of Bosnia in official circles. Tormented by the tragedy of her homeland, lawful Queen Katarina bequested her Bosnian Kingdom to pope Sixto IV and Holly See in 1478 ("...in case that my islamised children are not freed and returned to Catholic faith"). Her grave in the Aracoeli church in Rome had a Croatian Cyrillic inscription until 1590 (with the coat of arms of the old Bosnian Kingdom and of the Kosaca family), when it had been replaced by translation into Latin. Even today, after more than five centuries, Croatian women wear black costumes in some parts of Bosnia in remembrance to her tragic life and kindness towards poor people. Beatified.
Let us continue our story on the history of medieval Bosnia. The tax in blood (devshirma) was the most tragic for Bosnian Catholics. It meant that every three or four years 300 to 1000 healthy boys and young men had to be taken by force to Turkey, converted to Islam and educated for military profession or religious disciplines. Some desperate mothers even mutilated their children trying to save them.
On the left photo you can see an interesting cross from the region of Duvno in Herzegovina (about 2 meters high). According to the legend, it represents a mother whose child was killed by the Turks. Here is another cross in front of the Fojnica franciscan monastery (the other side of the cross is ornamented):
It is also interesting to note that the language which the Turkish court in Constantinople officially used to communicate with the Balkan Slavs was Croatian. Many islamized Croats were present at the Turkish court as writers, officers, even grand viziers.
Two clearly visible Croatian Coats of Arms of Croatian troups at the 1526 battle at the Mohac field (Hungary) against the Turks. By the courtesy of Josip Sersic and Mijo Juric, Vienna, 2009. The photo below is a detail, to see larger drawing, click on it. The city of Vienna, capital of Austria, has been attacked by the Turks already in 1529. Among defensive forces Croatian troups participated under their flag. See encircled below, left of the Stephanusdome, the famous Vienna Cathedral.
! Croatian defensive forces under their Croatian flag in Vienna in 1529, during the first Turkish siege of the city. I express my deep gratitude to Josip Sersic and Mijo Juric, Vienna, for this information.
For more details see Croatian Coat of Arms.
During the second Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683, a Croatian village called Krowotendörfel, placed immediately near the city walls, has been destroyed, and since then it does not exist any more. The meaning of its name is precisely Croatian Village! Its position corresponded to contemporary Spittelberg near the Hofburg palace. For more details see [400 Jahre Kroaten in Wien]. Other names of Krowotendörfel can also be encountered in the literature: • Crabathen Derffel • Crabatendörfel • Croathndörfel • Krowotendörfel • Crabatendoerfel • Krawattendörfel • Croatendörfel • Kroatendörfel ... Among defenders of Vienna in 1683 was a renowned Croatian theologist and ecumenist panslavist Juraj Krizanic, who was assasinated
.
during the Turkish seige
:
The 1592 defeat of Croatian-Habsburg army near Brest was celebrated in Constantinople by showing 29 charriots with 172 captured dignitaries, 600 cut off heads, and 23 captured flags.
A legendary Croatian military commander Nikola Jurisic (born in the town of Senj, 1490-~1545) managed to stop sultan Sulejman the Magnificent (or Great) in 1532 near the town of Köszeg (Güns) at Austrian and Hungarian border. Nikola Jurisic had about 700 Croatian soldiers, the Turks about 32,000 people. The Turkish onsloughts lasted for three weeks. The aim of sultan Sulejman was to occupy Vienna. It is interesting that two years earlier Nikola Jurisic visited sultan Sulejman in Constantinople as a deputy of King Ferdinand. Here is a document depicting cut off heads of Croats killed after the battle at Petrinja near Zagreb in 1592
Nikola Zrinski Junior (1620-1664), a Croatian statesman and writer, described in his epic ``The siege of Siget'' the heroic death of his grandfather Nikola Subic Zrinski in 1566, which entered all the historical annals of the 16th century.
With his 2500 brave soldiers, mostly Croats, he was defending the fortress of Sziget in southern Hungary against 90,000 Turks.
The Turkish troops were under the sultan Sulejman the Great and supplied by 300 cannons. It took them a month to defeat the Croatian soldiers, who all died a terrible death in the final battle. Despite his promise, the King Maximillian Habsburg did not help Nikola Subic Zrinski. Historians say that the Turks had almost 30,000 dead. Cardinal Richelieu, the famous French minister at the court of King Lui XIII, wrote the following: A miracle was necessary for the Habsburg Empire to survive. And the miracle happened in Sziget. The above mentioned epic was written in the Hungarian language. Though written by the Croat, it is regarded to be one of the greatest achievements of the early Hungarian literature. See also here (in Croatian).
Nikola Subic Zrinski, his oath taken in Siget in 1566., and his original signature in the Glagolitic script. Ivan Zajc has composed the opera Nikola Subic Zrinski, which is very popular in Japan, especially its tune "U boj, u boj!" (on this web page you can listen to a Japanese choir singing this song in Croatian!).
•
• It is worth noting that Dominko Zlataric, famous 16th century Croatian writer in Dubrovnik, dedicated some of his translations from Greek classics to Juraj Zrinski, son of the above mentioned Sziget hero Nikola Subic Zrinski. Zlataric stated that he translated Greek verses into Croatian ("u hrvatski izlozene").
In 1660 a Dutch scientist Jakov Tollins payed a visit to Nikola Zrinski Junior in Cakovec, and was impressed by his huge library (now a part of the National Library in Zagreb). Besides his native Croatian, Nikola Zrinski Jr read Hungarian, German, Latin, Italian and Turkish perfectly, and he was not stranger to French and Spanish.
It is not widely known that in the 16th century the town of Bihac was Croatian capital. Hasan-pasa Predojevic, an islamized Croat, occupied Bihac in 1592. About 2000 people were killed and 800 Croatian children taken to slavery and educated in the spirit of Islam. A real turning point which meant the beginning of the fall of the Ottoman expansion to Croatian historical lands (and to Europe) was a defeat of Hasan-pasa Predojevic in a battle at Sisak near Zagreb in 1593, which echoed in the whole of Europe.
Ban (Viceroy) Petar Zrinski (1621-1671) and Fran Krsto Frankapan (1643-1671), both outstanding as statesmen and writers, are among the most beloved figures in the history of Croatia. They had a great successes in liberating the areas occupied by the Turks. However, the Viennese Military council, instead of supporting them to free the rest of the Hungarian and Croatian lands, signed a shameful peace treaty with Turkey, by which the liberated territories had to be handed back to the Turks. The result of the rebellion against Vienna was a cruel public decapitation of Zrinski and Frankapan in Wiener Neustadt near Vienna in 1671. The remains of these two Croatian martyrs were buried in the Cathedral of Zagreb in 1919.
It is interesting that, while in prison from 18th April 1670 to 30th April 1671, Fran Krsto Frankapan translated Molier's "George Dandin" into Croatian, written in Paris in 1669, ie. only two years earlier. This was was its first European translation. Frankopan is the author of very famous Croatian verses Navik on zivi ki zgine posteno (Forever he lives who dies honorably). Petar Zrinski was also very educated, being a statesman, poet, composer, polyglot. He presented his legendary sword to the town of Perast in Boka kotorska during his sojourn there in 1654. The letter sent by Petar Zrinski to his wife Katarina (in Croatian) just a day before his death is one of the most deeply moving texts ever written in the Croatian language. It was very soon translated and
published in
Vienna, 1671, 1672, Vienna, 1671, 1691,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9
Croatian (Moje drago serce), English (My dear soul), London, German (Mein liebes Herz), French (Ma chere Femme), Paris, Italian: ◦ Mio Cuore, Vienna, 1671, ◦ C a r i s i m a C o n s o r t e , Latin (Delicium meum), Vienna, Spanish (Querida Esposa mia), Dutch (Myn Liefste Hert), 1671, Hungarian (Anna Catharina),
Dresden, 1672, 1671, Madrid, 1687, Amsterdam, Budapest, 1671.
His wife Katarina, also an outstanding poetess, was imprisoned by general Spankau in a monastery in Graz, where she went insane and died in extreme poverty. Even the son of Peter and Katarina - Ivan Antun, the last of the Zrinski's, was imprisoned in Graz, solely because he belonged to this outstanding noble family. He died after 20 years of prison in Schlossberg in Graz out of pneumonia. For more details see [Bartolic]. Ana Katarina Frakapan translated a prayer book (Putni tovarus) from German into Croatian language (Heruatczki jezik) and published in Venice in 1661:
Vsega Hervatczkoga i Szlovinskoga osrzaga... - Of the entire Croatian and Slavonian state...
These six centuries old noble Croatian families died out and their property was robbed. It should be stressed that both Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankapan went to Vienna
voluntarily, where they have been arrested. During the trial they defended themselves claiming that only Croatian Parliament (Hrvatski Sabor) can try them. In their burgs they had a considerable collection of books and works of art, which after confiscation are held in Austria (many of them in Austrian National Library). A period of the influence of the absolutistic Viennese politics had started. Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan (1825-1871), by Dr. Vinko Grubisic •
Marc Forstall (Marcus Forestal, +1685), an Irish monk of Augustinian order, was a chancellor of Nikola nad Petar Zrinski. In 1664 he wrote a genealogical treatise about the family of Zrinski, kept in the National and University Library in Zagreb. • Even today some descendants of the Zrinski family (Sdrin, Sdrinias) live in Greece. See an interesting article by Dionisis pl. Sdrinias (Greece). photo from Croatian Historical Musem
Map dedicated to Petar Zrinski, ban of Croatia. The map was created at the workshop of Joannes Blaeu in Amsterdam as an addition to the work by Ivan Lucic, "De Regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae libri sex", Amsterdam, 1666. Blaeu had inserted the map in Atlas Maior in 1667, and dedicated it to the Croatian ban Petar Zrinski (bottom of the map, in the middle): To the most illustrious and noble lord, Prince Peter of Zrin, the ban of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia, hereditary ban of the Littoral, hereditary captain of the Legrad fortress and Medimurje peninsula, master and hereditary prince of Lika, Odorje, Krbava, Omis, Klis, Skradin, Ostrovica, Bribir etc.., Master of Kostajnica and the sliver mine at Gvozdansko, councillor and chamberlain to his anointed imperial majesty, master Ioannes Blaeu dedicates this map. Text from Croatian Historical Musem. Note Croatian coat of arms on the map.
The earliest mention of a Catholic bishopric in Bosnia dates from 1089 (i.e. from the 11th century). It was called Bosnian Bishopric, and its center was in Vrhbosna (today's Sarajevo). Deep traces were left by the Bosnian Franciscans, present on Bosnian soil since 1291 (only 80 years after the foundation of the Franciscan order). They were beloved by people, for being educated and humble, for keeping the national and religious identity of the Croats. In 1376 they had 35 Catholic monasteries and about 400 missionaries (the Fojnica (Hvojnica) monastery is on the photo on the left; on the right is the famous Visovac
monastery on the Krka river, founded in 1445 by Bosnian Franciscans from Kresevo, middle Bosnia; shelled by the Serbs in 1991). In Turkish time, by a special Charter (Ahdnama, 1463) from the Sultan, the Bosnian Franciscans and their Croatian Catholics had a guaranty to live in peace and freedom in his Empire. However, in reality it was rather different. Three Franciscan bishops in Bosnia had been killed by the Turks despite ostensible protection: in 1545, 1564, 1701, not to mention priests and ordinary people. From 1516 to 1853 a decree was issued by the Turks that Catholics are not allowed to build new churches, but only to repair those built before 1463.
Kraljeva Sutiska (or Kraljeva Sutjeska = Royal Gorge) $
An old and contemporary inscriptions in Croatian
Cyrillic in Kraljeva sutiska (on the left: + V ime Bozje, se lezi Radovan Pribilovic, na svojoj zemlji plemenitoj, na Ricici; bih s bratom se razmenio, i ubi me Milko Bozinic, sa svojom bratijom; a brata mi isikose i ucnise vrhu mene krv nezaimitnu vrhu; Nek (zna) tko je moj mili. Even some of Catholic churches built before 1463 were transformed into Muslim mosques (for example in Foca, Bihac, Jajce, Srebrenica, etc.). So in 18th century only three monastic Catholic churches were left (in Fojnica, Kraljeva Sutiska and in Kresevo), and two small churches (in Podmilacje and Vares), see [Gavran, IV, p. 103.
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About Ahdnama and the question of its authenticity see two articles by Sasa Sjeverski in Stecak, Sarajevo, 56/1998, pp 28-29, and 57/1998, pp 14-15.
$$ An outstanding European intellectual of his time was Georgius Benignus (Juraj Dragisic, ?1454 - 1520), a Croat born in Bosnia, in the town of Srebrenica. Today the richest library in Bosnia-Herzegovina is in the Franciscan monastery of Mostar (bombed by the Serbs in 1992). The most famous Croatian Franciscan is St. Nikola Tavelic (born in Sibenik about 1340-1391), a missionary in Bosnia and Yerusalem, a martyr whom Pope Paul VI proclaimed a Saint in 1970. We should also mention another Franciscan-capuchin, St. Leopold Mandic (1866-1942), who was a forerunner of today's Ecumenism. The Franciscan province in Bosnia was called Bosna Srebrena (Bosnia Argentum)
The names of many toponyms in this area, as well as elsewhere, reveal its Croatian origin: • • • • • • •
A district in Sarajevo was called HRVATIN in the past. It would be in vain to search for typical Serbian Orthodox church names like eparchy (eparhija), episcopacy (episkopija), hrischan anywhere in Bosnia before the 15th century.
FRANCISCAN MONASTERIES IN BOSNIA - HERZEGOVINA BEFORE 1463 i.e. monasteries that we know to have existed before the Turkish occupation of Bosnia in 1463. Central and western Bosnia:
HRVATSKE njive (HRVAT = CROAT) on the river Drina near Zvornik, the nearby village HRVACICI, the village of HRVATI near Tuzla, HRVATI near Brcko, HRVATSKO brdo near Repnik, HRVATOVCI near Gradacac, the village BISKUPICI (Biskup = bishop; and not Episkopici'') etc.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Bihac, Krupa, Obrovac, Bila Stina, Otoka, Kamengrad, Ostrovica, Bilaj, Podnovi, Zvecaj, Livce, Krupa,
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Kraljeva Sutjeska (Sutiska), Olovo, Kresevo, Lasva (near Travnik), Kastela u Zahoru Jajce, Jezero, Greben, Vesela Straza, Rama, Livno, Duvno, Glamoc, Podbila,
Northern and north-eastern Bosnia: 27 Srebrenica, 28 Ljubovija, 29 Teocak, 30 Zvornik, 31 Polje kod Bijeljine, 32 Bijeljina, 33 Gradovrh kod Tuzle, 34 Soli (Tuzla) 35 Mile (Milosevac), 36 Modrica, 37 Skakava, 38 Tesanj, 39 Glaz.
Hum (today's Herzegovina): 40 Mostar, 41 Ljubuski, 42 Konjic. Just for comparison, immediately before the Serbian aggression that started in 1991/92 Bosnian Franciscans had altogether 25 monasteries (three of them outside of Bosnia - Herzegovina: two in Belgrade and one in the Kosovo region).
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Very important franciscan monastery of Plehan with the accompanying church have been completely destroyed in 1992., using two tons of explosive, during Greater Serbian aggression on Bosnia - Herzegovina (1991-1995), see [Baltic, p. 6 of dr. fra Andrija Zirdum's introduction].
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A well known fact from the history of Bosnia (as well as recent) is that successes in the defense of the Croatian territories from Turkish onslaughts were followed by savage reprisals over the remaining Croatian Catholics in occupied areas (in today's Bosnia - Herzegovina and parts of Croatia). In this way many Catholic churches and monasteries disappeared and large ares in Bosnia had been emptied from the Croats. Especially infamous was gazi Husref - Beg, army leader of sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (16th century). In this way the emptied areas had been populated by Muslim and Valachian settlers. Catholic churches were transformed into mosques like in Srebrenica, nearby Zvornik on the river of Drina, and in many other places.
Another important and well documented fact regarding Krstyans in Bosnia is that liturgical books of the Bosnian Church had been transliterated from the Croatian Glagolitic sources into Croatian Cyrillic (Bosancica). Thus Krstyans are very closely related to the Croatian Glagolitic tradition. Croatian Glagolitic sources related to Bosnia and Herzegovina (see also [Damjanovic, Glagoljica na podrucju danasnje BiH]): • Kijevci fragment found near Kozara mountain found in NW Bosnia, 11/12th centuries, in its character very close to Glagolitic stone inscriptions in Western Slavonia (12/13th centuries) discovered in 1996, • the Grskovic fragment of Apostle (12th century), • the Mihanovic fragment of Apostle (12th century), • inscription of prince Miroslav from Omis, 12th century (Croatian Cyrillic and Glagolitic), • short Glagolitic inscription from Posusje (Grac), containing only two letters (T or V), according to Branko Fucic 12/13th centuries, see [Damjanovic, Glagoljica na tlu danasnje BiH] • a leaf of Glagolitic parchment, known as the Split fragment (12/13th centuries), held in the treasury of the Split Cathedral, probably from Bosnia, • Glagolitic inscription in Livno, (content: A SE PI / SA LU / KA DI / AK / 13 / 6 / 8) 1368, (and three more fragments, groblje sv. I've) • Many thanks to dr. fra Bono Vrdoljak, Livno, for this information • Sokolska isprava, Glagolitic quickscript document from 1380, from western Bosnia (at that time part of Croatia, in Turkish time called Turkish Croatia), • Kolunici inscription, 14/15th centuries, found near Bosanski Petrovac, with OSTOJA inscribed twice (the first one is mirror, in reverse order), see [Fucic] • Inscription from Dragelja, south of Bosanska Gradiska, lost (there is no photo or drawing) • Cajnice Evangelistary, 14/15th centuries, contains a part written in the Glagolitic script (St John, 17-20), and a Glagolitic alphabet (incomplete and rather deformed), • Glagolitic inscription from Bihac (kept in Fojnica), is still studied, • two glagolitic fragments on parchment from 14th century are today in the Franciscan Monastery Livno (Gorica) • Glagolitic document from Ostrozac near Bihac in BiH, 1403, vellum with seal on purple silk ribbon, (kept in the archives of prices' of Auersperg in Ljubljana in 1890's, today probably in National Library of Ljubljana, [Lopasic, p. 294]), • Hrvoje Glagolitic Missal, 1404 (held in Constantinople, Library of Turkish sultans Topkapi Saray), • Venice collection (Mletacki zbornik), written in the Cyrillic, was transcribed from glagolitic original (Josip Hamm) • Glagolitic inscription from Golubici near Bihac in western Bosnia (ie. Turkish Croatia), carved in 1440 and in 1442, mentioning knez Tomas (ie. Prince Toma Kurjakovic) from Krbava; it is held in the famous Franciscan monastery in Fojnica in central Bosnia; this is the largest glagolitic inscription found on today's Bosnia and Herzegovina, see [Fucic, Glagoljski natpisi, p. 164];
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A detail from the above Croatian Glagolitic monument from Golubici
• Glagolitic page from the Manuscript of Krstyanin Radosav, 1443 - 1461, transcribed into standard Croatian Glagolitic in 18th century by Matija Sovic; the book contains also two Croatian Glagolitic abecedariums, see one of them; according to Josip Hamm the whole cyrillic book of Radosav was transcribed from glagolitic original; Radosav wrote the Nikoljsko evandjelje, which was also transcribed from glagolitic original; • the first and the second Glagolitic inscription from the vicinity of Banja Luka (Slatina) from 1471 (photos from [Poviest], see also [Fucic, Glagoljski natpisi -> Slatina]), Glagolitic muniments from Ostrozac, Ripac, Rmanja, Blagaj, Covac, Bihac, and Pec (mentioned by [Kresevljakovic]), Glagolitic inscription above the main entrance of Fehtija mosque in the town of Bihac in western Bosnia, designating the year 1527 in glagolitic characters (Cc, Fi, I, Zz). The mosque used to be the dominican church before the arrival of Turks. See [Fucic, Glagoljski natpisi, p. 96]. Some glagolitic books are held in the Franciscan convent Gorica in Livno. [1] [2] Glagolitic inscription with very cultivated letters, from Buzim near Bihac in western Bosnia (ie. Turkish Croatia), mentioning Prince Juraj Mikulicic, who built the fortress of Buzim against the Turks; mentions among others that "U nu vrime va vsei hrvatskoj zemlji boljega covika ne bise..." (ie. "At that time there was not a better
man in the whole Croatian land...", see the second line on the inscription below); it dates from the end of 15th century, and is held in the Museum of the City of Zagreb, see [Fucic, Glagoljski natpisi, p. 112].
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Bihac, 1543, cursive glagolitic document (Archives of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb, Acta Croatica), see [Lopasic, p. 301]. • Bihac, 1573, message written in the Glagolitic script about Turkish preparations to attack the town; with seven seals, see [Lopasic, p. 305]. • See [Jolic, Duvanjski popovi glagoljasi, pp 297-301], and [Damjanovic, Jezik hrvatskih glagoljasa] There is no doubt that the oldest phase of the Bosnian and Herzegovinean literature was Glagolitic. Numerous Cyrillic manuscripts were translated from older Glagolitic books. This can be seen for instance in the Mostar Evangelistary from the 14th century, written by Mihajlo Grk, held in the Archive of the Serbian Academy in Belgrade. The last three glagolites in Bosnia died in 1834. The last known glagolitic priest in Bosnia was Jakov Čotić (1727-1807), nicknamed Jako Čota, who lived in Kupres (Rastično). See Glas koncila, 6. June 2010. Here is an interesting monument from central Bosnia with inscription for which it is difficult to decide is it Croatian glagolitic, cyrillic, or something else: It is interesting that in 1390, Jadwiga, the Polish Queen and her husband Wladyslaw Jagiello (Vladislaus Jagiello), founded a Glagolitic monastery under the invocation of The Saint Cross. It was established in Kleparz, the quarter of Krakow. Glagolitic liturgy existed there for about 100 years. Queen Jadwiga's mother was the princess Elzbieta Bosniaczka, that is, Elizabeth of Bosnia.
One of undoubtedly Croatian linguistic characteristics in Bosnia is a very widespread use of the ikavian dialect (an amazing literature has been written in the ikavian version of the Croatian language, since the time of Marko Marulic in the 15th century, and also earlier by Glagolitic scribes). Even today many Croats in Istria, Dalmatia, Gorski Kotar, Slavonia, Baranja use it, as well as the Croats in Austria (Gradisce area), Hungary and Yugoslavia (Srijem, Backa). Many traces of its use can be heard also in Bosnia, both among the Croats and Muslims, despite intensive serbization of the language in the period of 1918-1991.
$ The reader may be surprised to know that there are even traces of runic script on the territory of BiH, like the one from the village of Breza in central Bosnia, dating from 5-6th centuries. Besides the ikavian dialect, the Croats also use two more dialects: • ikavian, • ijekavian, • ekavian.
To make out the difference, see how `milk' is written in these three dialects: MLIKO, MLIJEKO, MLEKO, or `grandfather': DID, DJED, DED. Another classification of dialects can be made according to how ``what'' is written (= ca, kaj, sto): • cakavian, • kajkavian, • stokavian.
The Croats use all these three dialects. Cakavian exists only among the Croats and is spoken mostly along the Croatian coast and on the islands. Today kajakvian is used to a much lesser extent. Stokavian is the official dialect which is the most widespread. Serbian, Bulgarian and Russian languages are also stokavian. In Croatia one can encounter each of nine possible combinations of speeches: ikavian-cakavian, ikavian-stokavian, ikavian-kajkavian, ijekavian-cakavian, ijekavian-stokavian (being the most widespread), ijekavian-kajkavian etc. Ekavian-stokavian dialect is typical for the Serbs.
The ikavian dialect is spoken also in Slovakia, Ukraine and Bielorussia, which is a consequence of the common history and very probably of the common roots with the Croats in the early Middle Ages. Croats are ethnically also very close to the Czech and Polish people. Important representatives of the Croatian resistance against the Turkish penetration, that entered our national epic literature, are
•
What Jeanne d'Arc is for France, Mila Gojsalic is for Croatia. In 1543 she saved the Poljica Principality from the furious attack of 6,000 Turks. She managed to break into the Turkish camp, found the ammunition magazine next to Pasha's tent, and sacrificing her life - blew up the entire encampment. • Petar Kruzic (16th century), the famous defender of the Klis fortress near Split. After the fall of Klis in 1537 Kruzic was decapitated by the Turks. His sister Jelena had to pay 100 gold coins for his head, which was buried in the Franciscan Monastery of Trsat, Rijeka. We know these details from a manuscript preserved from that time, written in the Glagolitic script. See [Fucic, Terra Incognita]. • Mijat Tomic (17th century), legendary Herzegovinean from Duvno, • Vuk Mandusic (17th century), the famous defender of the Sibenik hinterland. His sabre is held in the Visovac Monastery. • Ilija Smiljanic (17th century), defender of the Zadar hinterland (Ravni Kotari). All of them have been killed by the Turks. In the vicinity of Zadar (in Ravni Kotari) there are two neighbouring villages bearing surprising names, unique in the world, which witness about extremely complex history of Croatia: This Croatian national costume from Ivanjska, international competition in China, 2004, where Puretic, Svjetlo Rijeci; published in [Maric, About 50,000 books have been stolen from the the Greater Serbain aggression on BiH. About been returned to the Faculty by the Serbs. For not returned. Stolen books from various second hand bookshops in Belgrade. Many individuals from western European
BiH, has been proclaimed the most beautiful at the 60 countries have participated (photo by Josip Orlovic]) library of the Sarajevo Theological Faculty during a half of the books of lesser importance have example, the important Bosniensia Collection is still Croatian and BiH libraries can be seen in various of these plundered books have been sold to countries.
Very important cultural society of Croats in BiH is Napredak (meaning "progress"; not to be confused with Progress, which is the name of the cultural society of Serbs in BiH). Napredak was founded in 1902 and existed continuously until 1949, when the communist Yugoslav rule dissolved the society and its numerous offices and branches, and confiscated the entire movable and immovable property (buildings, libraries, books, cars, schools, bookshops, stationer's, bookbinderies, etc). The official 1949 document mentions even confiscation of "eventual organizations of Napredak not mentioned in the document". And Napredak was also the proprietor of cultural and historical collections, choirs, brass orchestras, student dormitories.
! Napredak calendar book from 1907, note Croatian Coat of Arms
Gabrijel Jurkic (1868-1974) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
was outstanding Croatian painter See his biography (in Croatian).
Mijat Tomić
Mijat Tomić (died 1656) is remembered in Croatian history and folk epics as the leader of outlaws or brigands (hajduks) who fought against Ottoman Empire rule in the area known today as Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He was born in the village of Brišnik near Tomislavgrad. Although his exact birth date is uncertain, Mijat is said to have lost his parents at a young age, and by 1640, was known to have had at least two brothers and two sisters. As a child, Mijat was reputed to have been physically strong, a characteristic that was later proven in future battles. One legend states that he won while competing in some games popular with the local Muslim population. The defeat did not sit well with the Muslims and they decided that he should be killed. Mijat then fled to the mountain Vran, marking the beginning of his life as a hajduk.[1] Facts about the life of Mijat Tomić were published in the 18th century book Cvit razgovora naroda i jezika iliričkoga aliti rvackoga (1747) by Franciscan priest, Filip Grabovac. In reference to Tomić, Grabovac claimed that, following his death, "never existed a real hajduk like him nor will there ever be one".[2] Mijat Tomić died on or around 20 July 1656 (on the feast day of St. Elijah) in Doljani, a settlement near Jablanica in present-day Bosnia-Hercegovina. Many poems and legends are in the agreement that he was betrayed by his godfather, Ilija Bobovac. A Venetian source about Mijat's death states that there were more cheers in Sarajevo on the news of his death "than when news arrived about the capture of Baghdad" a few years earlier (1638)
Robin Hood Real Robin Hood we can say freely say it was Mijat Tomić from Herzegovina. Hajduk is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, brigands, highwaymen or freedom fighters in Southeastern Europe, and parts of Central and Eastern Europe. In the Ottoman Empire, the term hajduk was used for Balkan bandits, brigands, while for the South Slavs it was used for bandits who "protected" Christians against perceived Ottoman oppression. In the 17th century, the concept was firmly established in the Ottoman Balkans, related to increased taxes, Christian victories against the Ottomans, and general security decline. Hajduk bands predominantly numbered one hundred men each, with a firm hierarchy under one leader. They targeted Ottoman representatives and rich people, mainly Muslims, for plunder or punishment to oppressive Ottomans, or revenge. In Balkan folkloric tradition, the hajduk (hajduci or haiduci in the plural) is a romanticised hero figure who steals from, and leads his fighters into battle against, the Ottoman or Habsburg authorities. They are comparable to the English legend of Robin Hood and his merry men, who stole from the rich (which as in the case of the hajduci happened to be also foreign occupants) and gave to the poor, while defying seemingly unjust laws and authority. In reality, the hajduci of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries commonly were as much guerrilla fighters against the Ottoman rule as they were bandits and highwaymen who preyed not only on Ottomans and their local representatives, but also on local merchants and travelers. As such, the term could also refer to any robber and carry a negative connotation. Facts about the life of Mijat Tomić were published in the 18th century book Cvit razgovora naroda i jezika iliričkoga aliti rvackoga (1747) by Franciscan priest, Filip Grabovac. In reference to Tomić, Grabovac claimed that, following his death, "never existed a real hajduk like him nor will there ever be one".[2] Mijat Tomić died on or around 20 July 1656 (on the feast day of St. Elijah) in Doljani, a settlement near Jablanica in present-day Bosnia-Hercegovina. Many poems and legends are in the agreement that he was betrayed by his godfather, Ilija Bobovac. A Venetian source about Mijat's death states that there were more cheers in Sarajevo on the news of his death "than when news arrived about the capture of Baghdad" a few years earlier (1638).[3]
Illyrian period
The Illyrian movement was a 19th-century pan-South that had the goal to standardize the regionally literary languages in Croatia, and finally merge them Specifically, three major groups of there had been several literary Illyrian movement Ljudevit Gaj worked to bring about a Kajkavian-speaking Zagreb, Gaj – a version of Shtokavian that eventually Croatian
Slavic political and cultural movement in Croatia differentiated and orthographically inconsistent into a common South Slavic literary language. dialects were spoken on Croatian territory, and languages over four centuries. The leader of the standardized the Latin alphabet in 1830–1850 and standardized orthography. Although based in supported using the more populous Neo-Shtokavian became the predominant dialectal basis of both
and Serbian literary language from the 19th century on.[21] Supported by various South Slavic proponents, Neo-Shtokavian was adopted after an Austrian initiative at the Vienna Literary Agreement of 1850,[20] laying the foundation for the unified Serbo-Croatian literary language. The uniform Neo-Shtokavian then became common in the Croatian elite.[20] In the 1860s, the Zagreb Philological School dominated the Croatian cultural life, drawing upon linguistic and ideological conceptions advocated by the members of the Illyrian movement. [22] While it was dominant over the rival Rijeka Philological School and Zadar Philological Schools, its influence waned with the rise of the Croatian Vukovians (at the end of the 19th century).
Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia The Croatian Republic of Republika Herceg-Bosna) was an proto-state in Bosnia and November 1991 under the name Bosnia (Croatian: Hrvatska cultural, economic and territorial Herzegovina. In its proclaimed borders 30% of the country, but did not territory as parts of it were lost to
Herzeg-Bosnia (Croatian: Hrvatska unrecognised geopolitical entity and Herzegovina. It was proclaimed on 18 Croatian Community of HerzegZajednica Herceg-Bosna) as a "political, whole" in the territory of Bosnia and Herzeg-Bosnia encompassed about have effective control over the entire the Army of Republika Srpska at the
beginning of the Bosnian War. The armed forces of Herzeg-Bosnia, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), initially fought in an alliance with the Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), but their relations deteriorated throughout late 1992. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared HerzegBosnia unconstitutional on 14 September 1992. In early 1993 the Croat–Bosniak War fully escalated in central Bosnia and spread to Herzegovina. On 28 August 1993 HerzegBosnia was declared a republic following the proposal of the Owen-Stoltenberg Plan, envisioning Bosnia and Herzegovina as a union of three republics. Its capital city was Mostar, which was then a war zone, and the effective control centre was in Grude. In March 1994 the Washington Agreement was signed that ended the conflict between Croats and Bosniaks. Under the agreement, Herzeg-Bosnia was to be joined into the Croat–Bosniak federation, but it continued to exist until it was formally abolished in 1996. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicated in a 2001 judgement that HerzegBosnia was founded with the intention to secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina and unite with Croatia. Etymology The term Herzeg-Bosnia (Croatian: Hercegand was used as a synonym for Bosnia and connotations. It was often found in folk and Herzegovina. One of the earliest writer Ivan Zovko in his 1899 book customs of Herzeg-Bosnia". Croatian 1908 book "Herzeg-Bosnia on the occasion century the name Herzeg-Bosnia was used Kreševljaković and Dominik Mandić and Mladen Lorković. Its usage decreased in the and the proclamation of the Croatian the 1990s it is used as a name for a Croat After the Washington Agreement was signed Bosnia and Herzegovina was created, one of In 1997, that name was declared Court of the Federation of Bosnia and
Bosna) appeared in the late 19th century Herzegovina without political poems as a more poetic name for Bosnia mentions of the term was by Croatian "Croatianhood in the tradition and historian Ferdo Šišić used the term in his of annexation". In the 1st half of the 20th by historians such as Hamdija Croatian politicians Vladko Maček and 2nd half of the 20th century until 1991 Community of Herzeg-Bosnia.[1] Since territorial unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina. in March 1994 and the Federation of its cantons was named "Herzeg-Bosnia". unconstitutional by the Constitutional Herzegovina, and officially renamed "Canton 10". Background
Main article: Breakup of Yugoslavia In early 1991, following the 14th Extraordinary Congress of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, the leaders of the six Yugoslav republics began a series of meetings to solve the crisis in Yugoslavia. The Serbian leadership favored a federal solution, whereas the Croatian and Slovenian leadership favored an alliance of sovereign states. Izetbegović proposed an asymmetrical federation on 22 February, where Slovenia and Croatia would maintain loose ties with the 4 remaining republics. Shortly after that, he changed his position and opted for a sovereign Bosnia as a prerequisite
for such a federation.[4] On 25 March 1991, Croatian president Franjo Tuđman met with Serbian president Slobodan Milošević in Karađorđevo, allegedly to discuss the partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[5][6] On 6 June, Izetbegović and Macedonian president Kiro Gligorov proposed a weak confederation between Croatia, Slovenia and a federation of the other four republics, which was rejected by Milošević. On 13 July, the government of Netherlands, then the presiding EC country, suggested to other EC countries that the possibility of agreed changes to Yugoslav Republics borders could be explored, but the proposal was rejected by other members.[8] In July 1991, Radovan Karadžić, president of the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska, and Muhamed Filipović, vice president of the Muslim Bosniak Organisation (MBO), drafted an agreement between the Serbs and Bosniaks which would leave Bosnia in a state union with SR Serbia and SR Montenegro. The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP BiH) denounced the agreement, calling it an anti-Croat pact and a betrayal. Although initially welcoming the initiative, Izetbegović also dismissed the agreement.[9][10] From July 1991 to January 1992, during the Croatian War of Independence, the JNA and Serb paramilitaries used Bosnian territory to wage attacks on Croatia.[11] The Croatian government helped arm the Croats and Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, expecting the war to spread there.[12][11] By late 1991 about 20,000 Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly from the Herzegovina region, enlisted in the Croatian National Guard.[13] During the war in Croatia, Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović gave a televised proclamation of neutrality, stating that "this is not our war", and the Sarajevo government wasn't taking defensive measures against a probable attack by the Bosnian Serbs and the JNA.[14] Izetbegović agreed to disarm the existing Territorial Defense (TO) forces on the demand of the JNA. This was defied by Bosnian Croats and Bosniak organizations that gained control of many facilities and weapons of the TO. Establishment In October 1991 the Croat village of Ravno in Herzegovina was attacked and destroyed by Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) forces before turning south towards the besieged Dubrovnik.[17] These were the first Croat casualties in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Izetbegović did not react to the attack on Ravno. The leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina initially showed willingness to remain in a rump Yugoslavia, but later advocated for a unified Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 12 November 1991, on a meeting chaired by Dario Kordić and Mate Boban, local party leaders of the HDZ BiH reached an agreement to undertake a policy of achieving an "age-old dream, a common Croatian State" and decided that the proclamation of a Croatian banovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be the "initial phase leading towards the final solution of the Croatian question and the creation of a sovereign Croatia within its ethnic and historical [...] borders."[19] On the same day, the Croatian Community of Bosnian Posavina was proclaimed in municipalities of northwest Bosnia in Bosanski Brod. On 18 November, the autonomous Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia (HZ-HB) was established, it claimed it had no secessionary goal and that it would serve a "legal basis for local self-administration".[21] The decision on its establishment stated that the Community will "respect the democratically elected government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina for as long as exists the state independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina in relation to the former, or any other, Yugoslavia".[22] Boban was established as its president.[23] One of Boban's advisers stated that Herzeg-Bosnia was only a temporary measure and that the entire area will in the end be an integral part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[24] From its inception the leadership of Herzeg-Bosnia and HVO held close relations to the Croatian government and the Croatian Army (HV).[25] At a session of the Supreme State Council of Croatia, Tuđman said that the establishment of Herzeg-Bosnia was not a decision to separate from Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 23 November, the Bosnian government declared Herzeg-Bosnia unlawful.
On 27 December 1991, the leadership of the HDZ of Croatia and of HDZ BiH held a meeting in Zagreb chaired by Tuđman. They discussed Bosnia and Herzegovina's future, their differences in opinion on it, and the creation of a Croatian political strategy. Stjepan Kljuić favored that Croats stay within Bosnia and Herzegovina while Boban said that, in the event of Bosnia and Herzegovina's disintegration, Herzeg-Bosnia should be proclaimed an independent Croatian territory "which will accede to the State of Croatia but only at such time as the Croatian leadership [...] should decide." Kordić, the vice president of Herzeg-Bosnia, claimed that the spirit of Croats in Herzeg-Bosnia had grown stronger since its declaration and that Croats in the Travnik region were prepared to become a part of the Croatian State “at all costs [...] any other option would be considered treason, save the clear demarcation of Croatian soil in the territory of Herzeg-Bosnia."[27] On the same meeting, Tuđman said that "from the perspective of sovereignty, Bosnia-Herzegovina has no prospects" and recommended that Croatian policy should be one of "support for the sovereignty [of Bosnia and Herzegovina] until such time as it no longer suits Croatia."[28] He based this on the belief that the Serbs did not accept Bosnia and Herzegovina and that Bosnian representatives did not believe in it and wished to remain in Yugoslavia,[29] and thought that such a policy would avoid a war.[30] Tuđman declared "it is time that we take the opportunity to gather the Croatian people inside the widest possible borders". Bosnian War Between 29 February and 1 March 1992 an independence referendum was held in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina.[32] The referendum question was: "Are you in favor of a sovereign and independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and nations of Muslims, Serbs, Croats and others who live in it?"[33] 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.[34] On 8 April 1992 the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) was formed and was the official military of Herzeg-Bosnia.[6] A sizable number of Bosniaks also joined the HVO,[12] constituting between 20 and 30 percent of the army.[35] The legal rationale for the formation of HVO was seen in the laws of Yugoslavia that allowed citizens to organize their own self-defense when their government was unable of unwilling to defend them. Boban said that the HVO was formed because "thirteen Croatian villages in the municipality of Trebinje - including Ravno - were destroyed and the Bosnian government did nothing thereafter". At the beginning of the war a Croat-Bosniak alliance was formed, but over time there were notable breakdowns of it due to rising tensions and the lack of mutual trust,[36] with each of the two sides holding separate discussions with the Serbs, and soon there were complaints from both sides against the other.[37] The designated capital of HerzegBosnia, Mostar, was besieged by the JNA and later the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) from April 1992. In late May, the HVO launched a counter-offensive and, after more than a month of fighting, managed to suppress the VRS forces from Mostar and the surrounding area.[38] The Croatian and Herzeg-Bosnia leadership offered Izetbegović a confederation of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Izetbegović rejected it.[24] On 3 July 1992, the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia was formally declared, in an amendment to the original decision from November 1991.[39][24] It adopted the Croatian dinar as its currency and Croatian as the official language. It had its own school curriculum and a local government system.[40] In the preamble it was attested:[41] "Faced with the ruthless aggression of the Yugoslav Army and Chetniks against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, with the tremendous number of lives lost, with the suffering and pain, with the fact that age old Croatian territories and goods are being coveted, with the destruction of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its legally elected bodies, the Croatian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in these difficult moments of their history when the last Communist army of Europe, united with the Chetniks, is endangering the existence of the Croatian people and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are deeply aware that their future lies with the future of the entire Croatian people."
On 21 July 1992, the Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia was signed by Alija Izetbegović and Franjo Tuđman, establishing a military cooperation between Bosnian and Croatian forces.[42] Although it was often not harmonious, it resulted in the gradual stabilisation of the defence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Weapons for the Bosnian army were sent through Croatia despite the arms embargo.[12] At a session held on 6 August, the Bosnian Presidency accepted HVO as an integral part of the Bosnian armed forces.[43] On 14 September 1992, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the proclamation of HerzegBosnia unconstitutional.[44] The Croatian Community of Bosnian Posavina was formally joined into Herzeg-Bosnia in October 1992.[20] Throughout late 1992, tensions between Croats and Bosniaks increased and in early 1993 the Croat–Bosniak War fully escalated.[45] Clashes spread in central Bosnia, particularly in the Lašva Valley.[46] Within two months most of central Bosnia was under ARBiH control. In late July 1993 the Owen-Stoltenberg Plan was proposed by U.N. mediators Thorvald Stoltenberg and David Owen that would organize Bosnia and Herzegovina into a union of three ethnic republics.[47] Serbs would receive 53 percent of territory, Bosniaks would receive 30 percent, and Croats 17 percent. The Croats accepted the proposal, although they had some objections regarding the proposed borders. The Serbs also accepted the proposal, while the Bosniak side rejected the plan, demanding territories in eastern and western Bosnia from the Serbs and access to the Adriatic Sea from the Croats. On 28 August, in accordance with the Owen-Stoltenberg peace proposal, the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia was proclaimed in Grude as a "republic of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina". However, it was not recognised by the Bosnian government. Washington Agreement Main article: Washington Agreement On 26 February 1994 talks began in Washington, D.C. between the Bosnian government leaders and Mate Granić, Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs to discuss the possibilities of a permanent ceasefire and a confederation of Bosniak and Croat regions.[50] By this time the amount of territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by the HVO had dropped from 20 percent to 10 percent.[51][52] Boban and HVO hardliners were removed from power[53] while "criminal elements" were dismissed from ARBiH.[54] Under strong American pressure,[53] a provisional agreement on a Croat-Bosniak Federation was reached in Washington on 1 March. On 18 March, at a ceremony hosted by US President Bill Clinton, Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdžić, Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granić and President of Herzeg-Bosnia Krešimir Zubak signed the ceasefire agreement. The agreement was also signed by Bosnian President Alija Izetbegović and Croatian President Franjo Tuđman. Under this agreement, the combined territory held by the Croat and Bosnian government forces was divided into ten autonomous cantons. It effectively ended the Croat-Bosniak War. Aftermath In November 1995 the Dayton Agreement was signed by presidents of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia that ended the Bosnian war. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was defined as one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and comprised 51% of the territory. The Republika Srpska comprised the other 49%. However, there were problems with its implementation due to different interpretations of the agreement.[55] An Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was to be created by merging units from the ARBiH and the HVO, though this process was largely ineffective.[56] The Federation was divided into 10 cantons. Croats were a majority in three of them and Bosniaks in five. Two cantons were ethnically mixed, and in municipalities that were divided during the war parallel local administrations remained. The return of refugees was to begin in those cantons. [57] The agreement stipulated that Herzeg-Bosnia be abolished within two weeks.
The Federation acted only on paper and failed to function as a working government, despite the pressure from Washington and with presidents Tuđman and Izetbegović assuring that Croat and Bosniak politicians would join together in the new government. On 14 August 1996 it was agreed that Herzeg-Bosnia will be formally abolished by the end of that month.[59] On 24 May 1997, the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia association was founded in Neum as the main institution of Croats in the country. According to a 1999 report by the European Stability Initiative (ESI), Herzeg-Bosnia structures continued to function and a parallel government acted to expand the independence of its financial institutions. HDZ leaders claimed that "the Herzeg-Bosnia side could not accept a common financial system, because such a system did not allow the Bosnian Croats to finance their own army and to follow up on their own social obligations in the long term."[61] Parallel Herzeg-Bosnia budgetary systems collect revenue from Croat-controlled cantons. The Herzeg-Bosnia payments bureau controls Croat economic activity and there are separate Croat public utilities, social services, social insurance funds, and forestry administrations. A segregated education system with a Herzeg-Bosnia curriculum and textbooks from Croatia is maintained.[62] According to the ESI report, Herzeg-Bosnia continued receiving financial support from Croatia, particularly the Ministry of Defence. The pension and education systems and the salaries of Croat politicians and military officers are subsidized by the Croatian government.[63] An Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report two years after the end of the war concluded that Herzeg-Bosnia became "in every respect, from military and security matters to business ties, part of Croatia." Area and population
The Croatian Communities of Bosnian Posavina and Herzeg-Bosnia within its proclaimed borders in November 1991 extended at about 30% of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 1991 census, in that territory there were 1,238,512 people with ethnicities as follows.[66] • Croats – 556,274 (44.91%) • Bosniaks – 398,092 (32.14%) • Serbs – 203,612 (16.44%) • Yugoslavs – 56,092 (4.53%) • Others – 24,505 (1.98%) During the initial negotiations organized by the international community, the Croatian side advocated for a Croat national unit at some 30% of Bosnia and Herzegovina – slightly altered borders of the Croatian Communities, but with Croat enclaves around Žepče, Banja Luka and Prijedor included.[66] This maximalist approach was done for a better position during negotiations, which would inevitably reduce the excessive demands to an optimal envision of a Croat unit. Based on later statements of Herzeg-Bosnia leading officials, the optimal range of a Croat territorial unit was within the borders of the 1939 Banovina of Croatia, thus excluding Bosniak and Serb majority areas on the outskirts of Herzeg-Bosnia. Those borders would include around 26% of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ethnic composition of this area in 1991 was:[67] • Croats – 514,228 (50.94%)
• Bosniaks – 291,232 (28.85%) • Serbs – 141,805 (14.05%) • Yugoslavs – 44,043 (4.36%) • Others – 18,191 (1.80%) In the beginning of the war JNA and VRS forces gained control of Serb majority areas that were proclaimed part of Herzeg-Bosnia. By late 1992 Herzeg-Bosnia lost Kupres, most of Bosnian Posavina, and Jajce to VRS.[68] The territory under the authority of Herzeg-Bosnia became limited to Croat ethnic areas in around 16% of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[69] The arrival of Bosniak refugees from areas captured by the VRS to HVO-controlled parts of central Bosnia and Mostar altered the ethnic structure and reduced the share of Croats. Economy In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was the poorest republic of the SFR Yugoslavia, along with Socialist Republic of Macedonia. Infrastructure and industry were poorly developed. The economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina totally faded during the Bosnian War. Many companies, which were successful before the war, were robbed and destroyed just at the beginning of the war. There was no economic activity due to the Yugoslav wars. Agricultural output was diminished, the traffic infrastructure was in collapse, construction was almost non-existent, and unemployment was very high. As a result of the wars, between 1992 and 1995, industrial production declined by 80% and an already poor infrastructure declined further. Croats left the war the most prosperous. Former Yugoslav companies were left without headquarters which were located on the territory of Herzeg-Bosnia. All banks were based in Sarajevo. Following the proclamation of the Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, the Bosnian Government requested from the Presidential Council of Herzeg-Bosnia that a bank be established for financing the newly founded community of municipalities. In November 1992, the Croatian Bank of Mostar was founded to finance the Community and later Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatian Defence Council. In the whole territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the official currency was the Bosnia and Herzegovina dinar, but Herzeg-Bosnia used the Croatian dinar and later the Croatian kuna and Deutschmarks. Military Main article: Croatian Defence Council The Croatian Defence Council (Croatian: Hrvatsko vijeće obrane, HVO) was formed on 8 April 1992 and was the official military of Herzeg-Bosnia, although the organization and arming of Bosnian Croat military forces began in late 1991. Each district of Herzeg-Bosnia was responsible for its own defence until the formation of four Operative Zones with headquarters in Mostar, Tomislavgrad, Vitez and Orašje. However, there were always problems in coordinating the Operative Zones. On 15 May 1992 the HVO Department of Defense was established. By that time the HVO Main Staff, Main Logistics Base, Military Police, and Personnel Administration were also formed.[72] The backbone of the HVO were its brigades formed in late 1992 and early 1993. Their organization and military equipment was relatively good, but could only conduct limited and local offensive action. The brigades usually had three or four subordinate infantry battalions with light artillery, mortars, antitank and support platoons. A brigade numbered between few hundred to several thousand men, but most had 2-3,000.[73][74] In early 1993 the HVO
Home Guard was formed in order to provide support for the brigades.[75] The HVO forces became better organized as time passed by, but they started creating guards brigades, mobile units of professional soldiers, only in early 1994. [76] The European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM) estimated the strength of the HVO in the beginning of 1993 at 45,000–55,000.[77] In July 1993, CIA estimated the HVO forces at 40,000 to 50,000 men. Culture The Government of Herzeg-Bosnia founded the National Theatre in 1993 in Mostar. From 1994 it had the title of Croatian National Theatre in Mostar and was the first one with the prefix Croatian. The first play performed in this theatre was A Christmas Fable (Božićna bajka) by Mate Matišić. Foundations of a new building were laid in January 1996. Education The Ministry of Education of Herzeg-Bosnia adopted Croatian as the official language and followed the education programme of Croatian schools. As the war escalated, teaching in schools and the University of Mostar was suspended in May 1993 for the remainder of the academic year. The Faculty of Pedagogy of the University of Mostar, located in western Mostar, moved its teaching from the city to Široki Brijeg and Neum where there were no major armed conflicts. It returned to Mostar in 1994. Sport Organized football competitions in Bosnia and Herzegovina were canceled in 1992 due to the war. The First League of Herzeg-Bosnia as the top football league started on 20 April 1994 and was divided into two groups. The League was organized by the Football Federation of Herzeg Bosnia. The winner of the first season, that was played only in Spring, was NK Mladost-Dubint Široki Brijeg. The league was played for seven years, with NK Široki Brijeg winning five and NK Posušje two trophies. Legacy Main article: Croat entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina Since 2005, there have been attempts by irredentists to restore Herzeg-Bosnia by creating a new third entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was started under the leadership of Ivo Miro Jović, as he said "I don't mean to reproach Bosnian Serbs, but if they have a Serb republic, then we should also create a Croat republic and Bosniak (Muslim) republic". The Croat representative on the federal Bosnian Presidency, Željko Komšić, opposed this, but some Bosnian Croat politicians advocated for the establishment of a third (Croatian) entity.[82] Dragan Čović, president of one of the main Croatian parties in Bosnia, Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that "all Croatian parties will propose that Bosnia and Herzegovina be divided into three ethnic entities, with Sarajevo as a separate district. Croatian politicians must be the initiators of a new constitution which would guarantee Croats the same rights as to other constituent peoples. Every federal unit would have its legislative, executive and judiciary organs”. He claimed the two-entity system is
untenable and that Croats have been subject to assimilation and deprived of basic rights in the federation with Bosniaks. Petar Matanović, president of the Croatian National Council, opposed creating a third entity, claiming that the division of Bosnia into four federal units would lead to a new war. He added that "we have to establish the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina in accordance with European standards and then regulate entities. It seems to me that this agreement entails an intention to strengthen entities and weaken the country."[84] Stjepan Mesić, former president of Croatia, opposed the creation of a third entity, stating that: “if the current division of Bosnia Herzegovina into two entities does not function, it will not function with divisions into three entities”.[85] At a 31 January 2009 conference, Franjo Komarica, the Roman Catholic bishop of Banja Luka, stated: "...[O]ne's birth place is the most holy site for every man. Many of you think that the Croatian people failed the test. While other peoples successfully or less successfully advocated for the realisation of their unquestionable right to their birth place, it seems the Croat people gave others their heads to carry them. Because of this the Croats have proved to be spineless and greatest cowards because they forgot their place of birth ... - I have ground my teeth to the gums pleading that politicians make it possible for people to return to their homes. We have dozens of people who have a court verdict that they can return to their homes, but that is not being made possible for them".[86] In 2009, Miroslav Tuđman, son of the late Franjo Tuđman, called for the establishment of a Croatian entity.[87][88] Čović stated, “We want to live in Bosnia-Herzegovina where Croats will be equal to the other two peoples according to the Constitution.” In 2013, six political and military leaders of Herzeg-Bosnia, Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković, Valentin Corić, and Berislav Pušić, were convicted in a first instance verdict by the ICTY for being part of a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) against the non-Croat population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ICTY also ruled, by a majority, that Tuđman, Šušak and Boban were part of a JCE, whose goal was to annex or control territory that was part of the Banovina of Croatia in 1939.[90] Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti, the presiding judge in the trial, issued a separate opinion in which he contested the notion of a joint criminal enterprise.[91] In February 2017, Croatian Peasant Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina's president Mario Karamatić said his party will demand a reestablishment of Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia in its 1995 shape if the Republika Srpska secedes. [92] Karamatić declared Croats have been "fooled" by the 1994 Washington Agreement that abolished HerzegBosnia and established the Croat-Bosniak Federation, which was also "broken" numerous times and that Croats have the right to recede to the status quo ante, i.e., Herzeg-Bosnia.[93] As far as the Herzeg-Bosnia's tentative territory, Karamatić proposed the area served by the electricity utility Elektroprivreda HZ HB,[94] which covers most areas of Croat habitation.[95] 18 November is celebrated as the holiday in West Herzegovina Canton as the day of Herzeg-Bosnia's foundation.[96] One of the cantons of the Federation used the name "Herzeg-Bosnian Canton", but this name was deemed unconstitutional by the Federation Constitutional Court, and it is officially referred as Canton 10.[97] A memorial plaque in honor of Herzeg-Bosnia and Mate Boban was placed in downtown Grude.
