Split,Dalmatia

Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, around which the city emerged.
Although the beginnings of Split is usually linked to the building of Diocletian's Palace, the city was founded as a Greek colony of Aspálathos much earlier. The Greek settlement lived off trade with the surrounding Illyrian tribes, mostly the Delmatae, who inhabited the (much larger) nearby city of Salona.In time, the Roman Republic became the dominant power in the region, and conquered the Illyrians in the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC and 219 BC. Upon establishing permanent control, the Romans founded the province of Dalmatia with Salona as the capital. The nearby town accordingly changed its name from "Aspálathos" to "Spalatum".
After almost dying from a sickness, the Roman Emperor Diocletian (ruled AD 284 to 305), great reformer of the late Roman Empire, decided to retire from politics in AD 305. The Emperor ordered work to begin on a retirement palace near his hometown, and since he was from the town of Dioclea near Salona, he chose the nearby seaside town of Spalatum for the location. Work on the palace began in AD 293 in readiness for his retirement from politics. The palace was built as a massive structure, much like a Roman military fortress. It faces the sea on its south side, with its walls 170 to 200 meters (570 to 700 feet) long, and 15 to 20 meters (50 to 70 feet) high, enclosing an area of 38,000m² (9½ acres). The Emperor retired exactly according to schedule, and became the first Roman emperor to voluntarily remove himself from office.[1] The palace water supply was substantial, fed by an aquaduct from Jadro Spring.[2]
Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476, Spalatum fell under the rule of the Byzantine Emperors. It grew very slowly as a satellite town of the much larger Salona. However, around AD 639 Salona fell to the invasion of Avars and Slavs, and was raised to the ground, with the majority of the displaced citizens fleeing to the nereby Adriatic islands. Following the return of Byzantine rule to the area, the Romanic citizens returned to the mainland under the leadership of the nobleman known as Severus the Great. They chose to inhabit Diocletian's Palace in Spalatum, because of its strong (more "medieval") fortifications. The palace was long deserted by this time, and the interior was converted into a city by the Salona refugees, making Spalatum much larger as the successor to the capital city of the province. Today the palace constitutes the inner core of the city, still inhabited, full of shops, markets, squares, with an ancient cathedral (formerly Diocletian's mausoleum) inserted in the corridors and floors of the former palace.As a part of the Byzantine Empire, the town had varying but significant political autonomy.

[edit] Middle Ages

Walls of the Roman Diocletian's Palace in Split.
The Medieval period in Split's Dalmatia province is marked by the waning power of the Byzantine Empire, and by the struggle of the neighboring powers, namely the Venetian Republic, the Kingdom of Croatia, and (later) the Kingdom of Hungary, to fill the power vacuum. [3]
The arrival of the South Slavs (mostly Croats) in the 7th century AD profoundly influenced the area. The hinterland and the islands were predominantly populated by the Croats, who began influencing the city itself. The early Medieval Croatian state (later the Kingdom of Croatia) founded neighbouring littoral cities (such as Šibenik), and encompassed the vast majority of the hinterland. In the following centuries Split developed an increasingly Croatian character, which can be seen in the architecture (particularly of churches) in the city and its surroundings. The city's Romanic population increasingly mingled with the surrounding populace.
To the north, the Venetian Republic began to influence the Dalmatian region from the 10th century, using its growing economic influence to gain control over the islands and the coastal cities. It gained control over the city during several periods, due mostly to the temporary weakness of the Croatian or Hungarian state.
With the decline of the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia held de-facto suzerainty over the city, granting it significant autonomy due to the state's feudal character. In the year 1102, Croatia was forced into a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary (see Croatian pacta conventa) by its King, Coloman. The city however maintained its significant degree of independence, and in 1312, it issued statues as well as currency of its own.

[edit] Venetian and Austrian rule

Split city harbour and the scenic Marjan hill.
During the 20-year Hungarian civil war between King Sigismund and the Neapolitan house of Anjou, the losing contender, Ladislaus of Naples, sold his "rights" on Dalmatia to the Venetian Republic for a mere 100,000 ducats. The much more centralized Republic took over the city by the year 1420, it was to remain under Venetian rule for 377 years (1420 - 1797).[4]The population was by that time largely Croatian, but besides Slavic, the common language was also Italian (a mixture of Tuscan and Venetian dialects). The autonomy of the city was reduced: the highest authority was a prince-captain, always of Venetian birth.
Despite this, Split eventually developed into a significant port-city, with important trade routes to the Ottoman-held interior through the nearby Klis pass. Culture flourished as well, Split being the hometown of Marko Marulić, a classic Croatian author. Marko Marulić's most acclaimed work, Judita (1501), was written in Split, and was published there in 1521. It is widely held to be the first modern work of Croatian literature. Still, it should be noted the advances and achievemnts were reserved mostly for the aristocracy: the illiteracy rate was extremely high, mostly because Venetian rule showed little interest in educational and medical facilities. Split was ruled by the Venetian Republic up to its downfall in 1797. After a brief period of Napoleonic rule (1806–1813), the city was allocated to the Empire of Austria by the Congress of Vienna. Large investments were undertaken in the city during that period, new streets were built and parts of the ancient fortifications were removed.[5]
During the period of the Austrian Empire Split's region, the Kingdom of Dalmatia, was a separate administrative unit. After the revolutions of 1848 as a result of the romantic nationalism, two factions appeared. One was the pro-Croatian Unionist faction (later called the "Puntari" faction), led by the People's Party and, to a lesser extent, the Party of Rights, both of which advocated the union of Dalmatia with Croatia-Slavonia which was under Hungarian administration. This faction was strongest in Split, and used it as its headquarters. The other faction was the pro-Italian Autonomist faction (also known as the "Irredentist" faction), whose political goals of wich varied from autonomy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to a political union with Italy.The political alliances in Split shifted over time. At the beginning, the Unionists and Autonomists were allied together, against centralism of Vienna. After a while, when the national question came to prominence, they separated. Under Austria, however, Split can generally be said to have stagnated. The great upheavals in Europe in 1848 gained no ground in Split, and the city did not rebel.

[edit] 20th century

[edit] Kingdom of Yugoslavia
After the end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the province of Dalmatia, along with Split, became a part of The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which in 1929 changed its name to Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Since both Rijeka and Zadar, the two other large cities on the eastern Adriatic coast, were annexed by Italy, Split became the most important port in Yugoslavia. In the new country, Split became the seat of new administrative unit, Littoral Banovina. The Lika railway, connecting Split to the rest of the country, was completed in 1925.

Split from the air.
After the Cvetković-Maček agreement, Split became the part of new administrative unit (merging of Sava and Littoral Banovina plus some Croat populated areas), Banovina of Croatia in Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

[edit] World War II
In April 1941, following the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Nazi Germany, Split was occupied by Italy and formally annexed one month later. Italian rule met heavy opposition from the Croat majority and almost a third of the population joined Josip Broz Tito's Partisans. The local football clubs refused to compete in the Italian championship; HNK Hajduk and RNK Split suspended its activities and later both joined the Partisans along with their entire staff. Soon after Hajduk became the official football club of the Partisan movement.
In September 1943, following the capitulation of Italy, the city was liberated by Tito's brigades with thousands of people volunteering to join the Partisans, only to be placed (by the Wehrmacht) under the occupation of the Nazi puppet NDH (the so called "Independent State of Croatia") just a few weeks later. During the occupation, some of the port facilities as well as parts of the old city were damaged by NDH and German bombing. In a tragic turn of events, besides being bombed by axis forces, the heavily pro-Partisan city was also bombed by the Allies, causing hundreds of deaths. Partisans finally liberated the city on October 26, 1944. On February 12, 1945 the Kriegsmarine conducted a daring raid on the Split harbor, damaging the British cruiser Delhi. Until the end of war Split was the provisional capital of Partisan-controlled Croatia.[6]

[edit] SFR Yugoslavia

The famous bell tower of the ancient Split cathedral.
After World War II, Split became a part of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, itself a constituent sovereign republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the period the city experienced its largest economical and demographic boom. Dozens of new factories and other companies were founded with the cities population increasing three times during the period. The city became the economic center of an area far exceeding the borders of Croatia and was flooded by waves of rural migrants from the undeveloped hinterland who found employment in the newly built factories, a part of large-scale industrialization and investment by the Yugoslav Federal government. The shipbuilding industry was particularly successful, with Yugoslavia becoming one of the world's top nations in the field. Many recreational facilities were also constructed with federal funding, especially for the 1979 Mediterranean Games, such as the Poljud Stadium, an architectural marvel. The city also became the largest passenger and military port in Yugoslavia and the center of the Yugoslav People's Army's (Croato-Serbian: Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija, JNA) Coastal Military District (equivalent of a field army) along with the headquarters of the Yugoslav War Navy (Croato-Serbian: Jugoslavenska Ratna Mornarica, JRM).
In the period between 1945 and 1990, the city was totally transformed and expanded, taking up the whole of the peninsula. In the same period (considered its golden age) it achieved an as yet unsurpassed GDP and employment level, far above the present day's, and became one of the largest cities in the whole of Yugoslavia.

[edit] Republic of Croatia

Split at night.
When Croatia declared its independence in 1991, Split had a large garrison of JNA troops (drafted from all over Yugoslavia), as well as facilities and the headquarters of the Yugoslav War Navy (JRM). This led to a months-long tense stand-off between the JNA and Croatian National Guard and police forces, occasionally flaring up with various incidents.
The most tragic such incident occurred in November 15 1991, when the JRM light frigate Split fired a small number of shells at the city. The damage was insignificant, but there were a few casualties. In this incident, only the old town was shelled, as it was exclusively Croat-populated. This was the only time in history that a city was bombarded by a military vessel bearing its name. On the same day of the attack, Croat forces damaged the light frigate, forcing it to be abandoned. Sailors of the JRM who had refused to attack Croat civilians, most of them Croats themselves, were left in the vessel's brig.