“Hungarians ruled Croatia (with some border changes and parts occupied by Turkey) until 1918, even when Hungary was under rule by the Austrian Empire.”
What is different is that when my grandfather was born in 1868, his parents’ world had been ruled for 300 years by Austria, not Hungary. Hungary had ruled Croatia, but not for some areas. While looking at Austrian maps of the 1800s, I came across multiple Croatias and Slavonias. Seeing multiple Croatias made me think that Donji Kosinj might be in a different Croatia. So, I ended with, “(his parents) did not live in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, nor were they part of Hungary when my grandfather was born.”
So, what is the reality? Why are there multiple Croatias?
He was born in The Croatian Military Frontier. Yes, it still is Croatia, but quite a different place compared to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, which was considered “crown land” of Austria and subject to Hungary. This Croatian Military Frontier was not subject to Hungary, and that the rules they lived under Austria might have been different. For better, or for worse?
The Croatian Military Frontier had been politically separated from The Kingdom of Croatia 300 years earlier. The Militärgrenze is the Austrian name (German) for Military Frontier. The Croations called it, "Hrvatska Vojna Krajina". In Croatian, “Hrvatska” is Croatia, “vojna” means war, and “krajina” is border or borderland. The border areas were set apart from the crownland areas and administered directly by Austria - to stop invasion and acquisition of land by the Ottoman Empire.
See a mid 1800s map below, which shows various territories, designated as military frontiers, and what it might have looked like when my grandfather was born. His birthplace, Donji Kosinj, falls within one of these military frontiers. The Croatia in the map does not look much like the Croatia from the earlier centuries, or of present-day Croatia. The military frontiers date back to the 1500s, and their areas have changed over time.
In the 600 years from the last king of Croatia (1091 AD) until my grandfather’s birth (1868), there is too much history to cover. Intertwined histories of Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Venetia, and the Ottoman Empire, along with ancient names of lands and language make it complex. Much of encyclopedic or timeline history is a multitude of military battles won and lost, and who was king– all of it very complex and tedious to sort through.
Learning about the krajinas made it more interesting. I will cover some brief history prior to the frontier, during, and after the Croatian Krajina in the next couple of posts. The significance of living in the Military Frontier is its impact on the people and its role in Croatia’s history. It is a continually devastated area, drawing the toughest of peoples, and has a legacy of conflict that eventually led the region to war...one last time...as recently as 15 years ago.
Lastly, birthday greetings to the main character in this blog, my grandfather, Ivan (John) Crnkovich. He was born on this day, May 25th, in Croatia. He spent his final 26 birthdays in America.
!!Sretan Rodendan!! (SHRAY-tan Rho-jen-DA) ??
Happy Birthday!
P.S. Auntie Rose, who speaks Croatian, had a couple of ways to say Happy Birthday, none of which I could say or remember. Even with translation audio available on the web, some phrases are not easy to grasp!
