MAPS OF HISTORY · HISTORY OF · Croatia
ONE LAND · 7 ATLASES
Croatia, on the map of history
What was Croatia before it was Croatia? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History collection — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.
Dalmatia (mod. Croatia) · The Rise and Fall of Rome, 264 BC – AD 476
| 264 BC | Tribal peoples & confederations — the opening position |
| AD 14 | Roman territory |
| AD 476 | Former Roman lands (lost) |
Croatia & Dalmatia (mod. Croatia) · The Crusades, 1095–1291
Croatia and Dalmatia, united with Hungary from 1102, held the Adriatic port of Zara (Zadar). It was there, in 1202, that the debt-ridden Fourth Crusade committed its first outrage — storming a Catholic Christian city for Venice, and earning the excommunication that foreshadowed the far greater disgrace to come at Constantinople.
| 1095 | Latin Christendom — the opening position |
OPEN THE CRUSADES ON THE LIVING MAP →
Croatia (under Hungary) · The Mongol Empire, 1206–1294
| 1206 | Other settled powers (Jin China, Christendom, Delhi) — the opening position |
OPEN THE MONGOL EMPIRE ON THE LIVING MAP →
Croatia · The Age of Revolutions, 1775–1848
| JUL 1789 | The conservative monarchies — the opening position |
OPEN THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS ON THE LIVING MAP →
Croatia (Hungary) · The Great War, 1914–1918
| JUL 1914 | The Central Powers — the opening position |
| NOV 1918 | Empires in collapse (1918–19) |
| JUN 1919 | Neutral |
| NOV 1918 | Empires in collapse (1918–19) |
Croatia · The War Room — WW2, 1936–1945
The wartime “Independent State of Croatia” was an Axis puppet whose Ustaše regime ran its own camps (Jasenovac) against Serbs, Jews and Roma. Croatia was also a heartland of Tito’s multi-ethnic partisans — both truths at once; the 1990s wars reopened these wounds.
| MAY 1941 | Axis allies & puppets — the opening position |
| MAY 1941 | Axis allies & puppets |
| MAY 1945 | Soviet Union |
Croatia · The Cold War, 1945–1991
| AUG 1945 | Soviet-aligned states — the opening position |
| OCT 1949 | Communist, outside Moscow’s bloc |
| DEC 1991 | In upheaval / changing sides |
| MAY 1949 | Communist, outside Moscow’s bloc |
| DEC 1991 | In upheaval / changing sides |
OPEN THE COLD WAR ON THE LIVING MAP →
THE DISPATCH
One short letter when a new atlas opens — and a printable atlas study guide of your choice is yours now, free.
NO TRACKING · YOUR ADDRESS IS USED FOR THE DISPATCH AND NOTHING ELSE · UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME