Red Croatia
Encyclopedia
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (Roman province)
Dalmatia was an ancient Roman province. Its name is probably derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae which lived in the area of the eastern Adriatic coast in Classical antiquity....
and some other territories, in including part of present-day Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, greater part of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, the Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
part of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
and southeastern Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, stretching across the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
.
Another Red Croatia was between rivers Bug and Dniester according to Bruno of Querfurt
Bruno of Querfurt
Saint Bruno of Querfurt , also known as Brun and Boniface, is a sainted missionary bishop and martyr, who was beheaded near the border of Kievan Rus and Lithuania while trying to spread Christianity in Eastern Europe...
,and was part of Pechenegs tribal union and was 6th Pechenegs province. Red Croatia was neighbour to Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
and White Croatia
White Croatia
White Croatia is a vaguely defined area, said to lie somewhere in Central Europe, near Bavaria, beyond Hungary on south of Poland and west of Ukraine, and adjacent to the Frankish Empire from which the part of White Croats crossed the Carpathians and migrated in the 7th century into Dalmatia...
.
The term was first used in one version of the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea, which is as a whole dated to have been written in 1298-1300. It had been then mentioned by a number of sources that referenced the Chronicle across the ages in various languages and by a number of people of different backgrounds, until becoming in the 19th century during the Age of Romantic Nationalism
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
a central point of hot discussion and research, often a component part of Croatian nationalism
Croatian nationalism
Croatian nationalism is the nationalism of Croats or of Croatian culture. It arose in the 19th century in response to Magyarization of Croat territories under Hungarian rule, especially under the influence of Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik,...
and the national myth, in which Red Croatia was sometimes popularized as a historical state of the Croatian people and thus should become part of a Greater Croatia
Greater Croatia
Greater Croatia is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia...
. Today it is generally not considered that there ever was a political entity by the name of Red Croatia in the history of the region.
Crvena Hrvatska
Crvena Hrvatska
Crvena Hrvatska was a weekly Croatian Party of Rights political newspaper that spread the ideology of Ante Starčević in Dubrovnik, Dalmatia and that existed in 1890-1899 Austria-Hungary....
was also the name for a weekly Croatian Party of Rights political paper that spread the ideology of Ante Starčević
Ante Starcevic
Ante Starčević , was a Croatian politician and writer whose activities and works laid the foundations for the modern Croatian state.His works are base for Croatian nationalism, he is often referred to as Father of the Fatherland by Croats.-Life:...
in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
, Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
and that existed in 1890-1899 Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, edited by Frano Supilo
Frano Supilo
Frano Supilo was a Croatian politician and journalist. He was a major political figure in the twenty years preceding World War I....
.
Origins of the term
Red Croatia was first mentioned in the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea which was written by a Roman CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
priest in Doclea
Duklja
Doclea or Duklja was a medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of present-day southeastern Montenegro, from Kotor on the west to the river Bojana on the east and to the sources of Zeta and Morača rivers on the north....
. His work is not preserved in original, but only in copies since the 16th and 17th century, and has been dated from as early as the late 13th century to as far as the 15th century. It is most likely that it was written ca. 1300. There were numerous erroneous guesses and other plain errors regarding the identity of the writer, the most known being referring to him as "Archbishop Gregory" of a non-existent Archbishopric.
Most recent and detailed research identifies him as a member of the Cistercian order by the name of Rudger, of Bohemian ethnic origins, working in the Archbishopric of Split
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Split-Makarska
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Split-Makarska is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Croatia. The diocese was established in 3 century AD and was made archidiocese and metropolitan see in 10 century. Modern diocese was erected in 1828, when the historical archdiocese...
and for Croatian Ban
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
Paul Šubić who was from 1298 to 1301 Archbishop of Bar
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bar
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bar is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Montenegro. It is centred in the city of Bar . It was erected as a diocese in the 9th century and elevated to an archdiocese in 1089...
. If the Priest of Doclea didn't take the term from some unknown and unpreserved source while rewriting his work for a second edition and he is its inventor, it is believed that he did partially in political aspirations of the Šubić family over all Croato-Serb lands, which would also explain the lack of Red Croatia in the first version, which centered on Bosnia, the second one being written after Paul had taken the title "Lord of Bosnia".
Croatian linguist Petar Skok
Petar Skok
Petar Skok is a Croatian linguist, and one of the world's foremost onomastics experts.Skok was born in the village of Jurkovo Selo, Žumberak. From 1892 to 1900 he attended the Higher Real Gymnasium in Rakovac near Karlovac. At the University of Vienna he studied Romance and Germanic philology and...
has defined that this misinterpretation on the Priest's part is a result of transliteration of the Crmnica - Crvnica area in Montenegro, which also translates to Red Land.
According to the Dioclean priest imaginary kingdom of Slavs was divided into two regions: Maritima ( Littoral ) between Dinaric mountains and the Adriatic sea which was also defined as the area where the rivers from the mountains flow south into the sea and Serbia which encompassed everything between Dinaric mountains and the river Danube or as defined in the chronicle as the region where the rivers flow from the mountains to the north into the mighty river of Danube . Thus the Maritima encompassed only the areas in the Adriatic sea drainage basin while Serbia encompassed areas in the Black sea ( Danube ) basin . Maritima was further divide in two areas: White and Red Croatia with latter encompassing present day Hercegovina, southern portion of Montengro and northern Albania. On the other hand Dioclean's Serbia would encompass most of present day Serbia, northern part of Montenegro, most of the Bosnia and Croatia north of the Dinaric mountains.
Original references
The LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
version of the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea, known as "Gesta regum Sclavorum", was translated by Croat-Latin historian Ioannes Lucius (Ivan Lučić, the father of Croatian historiography) in 1666 and printed under the name "De Regno Dalmatiae et Croatiae" ("On the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia". The following is an excerpt (in Latin):
- "Post haec secundum continentiam priuiligiorum, quae lecta coram populo fuerant, scripsit priuilegia, diisit prouincias et regiones regni sui ac terminos et fines earum hoc modo: secundum cursum aquarum, quae a montanis fluunt et intrant in mare contra meridianam plagam, Maritima uocauit ; aquas uero, quae a montanis fluunt contra septentrionalem plagam et intrant in magnum flumen Donaui, uocauit Surbia. Deinde Maritima in duas diuisit prouincias: a loco Dalmae, ubi rex tunc manebat et synodus tunc facta est, usque ad Ualdeuino uocauit Croatium Album, quae et inferior Dalmatia dicitur.....Item ab eodem loco Dalmae usque Bambalonam ciuitatem, quae nunc dicitur Dyrachium, Croatiam Rubeam...."
The following is the translation to English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
:
- "And from the field of Dalmae (Duvno) to the city of Dyrrachium (DurrësDurrësDurrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
) is Red Croatia"
Modern
Numerous Montenegrin and Croatian researchers, linguists and historians (under the flag of Jevrem BrkovićJevrem Brkovic
Jevrem Brković is a Montenegrin writer , historian and a cultural activist...
and Vojislav Nikčević
Vojislav Nikcevic
Vojislav Nikčević was a Montenegrin linguist.He was born in Stubici, Nikšić, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and was educated at the University of Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia....
), aside from slowly standardizing a Montenegrin language
Montenegrin language
Montenegrin is a name used for the Serbo-Croatian language as spoken by Montenegrins; it also refers to an incipient standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian used as the official language of Montenegro...
separately from the Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, have confounded a theory of Montenegrin origin. They claim that the Montenegrins are not of Serb origin, but that they have been under heavy Serbian oppression for centuries, especially ever since the "genocidal Saint Sava
Saint Sava
Saint Sava was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja , and ruled the appanage of Hum briefly in...
that made us Orthodox", referring to the fact that Montenegrins were originally Roman Catholic Croats and claiming the reason of their present Orthodox faith is strictly due to the Serbian military intervention of Stefan Nemanja
Stefan Nemanja
Stefan Nemanja was the Grand Prince of the Grand Principality of Serbia from 1166 to 1196, a heir of the Vukanović dynasty that marked the beginning of a greater Serbian realm .He is remembered for his contributions to Serbian culture and...
in the 12th century. We should note, however, that Serbs back then were a mixture of Orthodox and Catholics, and religion was not an indicator of ethnic affiliation. The Montenegrin followers of this theory had to flee the 1990s
Balkanization
Balkanization, or Balkanisation, is a geopolitical term, originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other, and it is considered pejorative.The term refers to the...
Milošević-sponsored regime of Momir Bulatović
Momir Bulatovic
Momir Bulatović , formerly served as a Yugoslavian and Montenegrin politician. Bulatović became federal President of Montenegro while Montenegro was part of a Yugoslav federation, and also Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
, Milo Đukanović and Svetozar Marović
Svetozar Marovic
Svetozar Marović ; born March 31, 1955) is a lawyer and a Montenegrin politician. He was the only president of Serbia and Montenegro...
; finding refuge in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. Tuđman generally supported their research and the writing of a Montenegrin language in exile, while the group was propagating against the Yugoslav/Montenegrin/Serbian interventions in Croatia's War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, strictly criticizing the 1991-1992 attacks on Dubrovnik. In 1993 Montenegrin Orthodox Church
Montenegrin Orthodox Church
The Montenegrin Orthodox Church is an Orthodox Christian organization acting in Montenegro and Montenegrin emigration circles - e.g. the village of Lovćenac and the Montenegrin emigration colony in Argentina...
was created and up to now it struggles to take over the Orthodox property in Montenegro, which is under control of the Serbian Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
. After the late 1990s large turnover of Montenegro's policy to opposition of Slobodan Milosevic's control of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Brković and his followers returned. They tried to get some recognition in the Republic of Montenegro, supporting the uncanonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church
Montenegrin Orthodox Church
The Montenegrin Orthodox Church is an Orthodox Christian organization acting in Montenegro and Montenegrin emigration circles - e.g. the village of Lovćenac and the Montenegrin emigration colony in Argentina...
(and conversion to Catholicism at the same time) and the political fights under Milo Djukanovic against Serbia's influence in the Federation, as well as advocation for Montenegrin independence.
With dissidents from the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts
Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts
Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most important scientific institution of Montenegro....
, he formed the Doclean Academy of Sciences and Arts
Doclean Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Doclean Academy of Sciences and Arts is a scholar's academy in Montenegro...
, whose research was dedicated to the study of Red Croatia. One of the many ideals was the crossing of Montenegro (which is mostly Serbian Orthodox
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
) to Roman Catholicism, but with elements of Eastern Orthodoxy (in respect to the Orthodoxes of Montenegro). They are also calling for closer ties with Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, or more precisely the return of Red Croatia which would be autonomous inside a Greater Croatia
Greater Croatia
Greater Croatia is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia...
, together with a "White Croatia". This new "Red Croatia" is supposed to contain present-day Montenegro, Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
, southern Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
and most of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, as well as "Old Serbia" (Raška
Raška (state)
Principality of Serbia or Serbian Principality was an early medieval state of the Serbs ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty, that existed from ca 768 to 969 in Southeastern Europe. It was established through an unification of several provincial chiefs under the supreme rule of a certain Višeslav,...
and Metohija
Metohija
Metohija , is a large basin and the name of the region covering the southwestern part of Kosovo.It encompasses three of the seven districts of Kosovo, namely the historical :* District of Peć * District of Đakovica * District of Prizren...
). The general viewpoint is considered Greater Croatian nationalist irredentism
Greater Croatia
Greater Croatia is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia...
, which also sees Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
a component part of this Greater Croatia, as well as most of western Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
's Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
(Bačka
Backa
Bačka is a geographical area within the Pannonian plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east of which confluence is located near Titel...
and eastern Srem
Srem
Śrem is a town on the Warta river in central Poland. It has been situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999; from 1975 to 1998 it was part of the Poznań Voivodeship...
).
See also
- Savić Marković ŠtedimlijaSavic Markovic ŠtedimlijaSavić Marković Štedimlija was a Montenegrin-Croatian nationalist publicist and writer, best known for his revisionist theories on the origins of the Montenegrin people...
- Ivo PilarIvo PilarIvo Pilar was a Croatian historian, politician and jurist, considered the father of Croatian geopolitics. His book The South Slav Question is a seminal work on the South Slav geopolitical issues.- Early career :...
- Jevrem BrkovićJevrem BrkovicJevrem Brković is a Montenegrin writer , historian and a cultural activist...
- Doclean Academy of Sciences and ArtsDoclean Academy of Sciences and ArtsThe Doclean Academy of Sciences and Arts is a scholar's academy in Montenegro...
- History of CroatiaHistory of CroatiaCroatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...
- Timeline of Croatian historyTimeline of Croatian historyThis is a timeline of Croatian history. To read about the background to these events, see History of Croatia. See also the list of rulers of Croatia and years in Croatia.This timeline is incomplete; some important events may be missing...
- History of DalmatiaHistory of DalmatiaThe History of Dalmatia concerns the history of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland regions, stretching from the 2nd century BC up to the present....
- White CroatiaWhite CroatiaWhite Croatia is a vaguely defined area, said to lie somewhere in Central Europe, near Bavaria, beyond Hungary on south of Poland and west of Ukraine, and adjacent to the Frankish Empire from which the part of White Croats crossed the Carpathians and migrated in the 7th century into Dalmatia...
- DukljaDukljaDoclea or Duklja was a medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of present-day southeastern Montenegro, from Kotor on the west to the river Bojana on the east and to the sources of Zeta and Morača rivers on the north....
- TravuniaTravuniaTravunia was a medieval region, administrative unit and principality, which was part of Medieval Serbia , and in its last years, the Bosnian Kingdom . The county became hereditary in a number of noble houses, often kin to the ruling dynasty. The region came under Ottoman rule in 1482...
- ZahumljeZahumljeZachlumia or Zahumlje was a medieval principality located in modern-day regions of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia...
- Greater CroatiaGreater CroatiaGreater Croatia is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia...
- Frano SupiloFrano SupiloFrano Supilo was a Croatian politician and journalist. He was a major political figure in the twenty years preceding World War I....
