Slavonia

Remnants of several Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures were found in all regions of Croatia,[3] but most of the sites are found in the river valleys of northern Croatia, including Slavonia. The most significant cultures whose presence was found include the Starčevo culture whose finds were discovered near Slavonski Brod and dated to 6100–5200 BC,[4] the Vučedol culture, and the Baden culture.[5][6] Most finds attributed to the Baden and Vučedol cultures are discovered in the area near the right bank of the Danube near Vukovar, Vinkovci and Osijek. The Baden culture sites in Slavonia are dated to 3600–3300 BC,[7] and Vučedol culture finds are dated to 3000–2500 BC.[8] The Iron Age left traces of the early Illyrian Hallstatt culture and the Celtic La Tène culture.[9] Much later, the region was settled by Illyrians and other tribes, including the Pannonians, who controlled much of present-day Slavonia. Even though archaeological finds of Illyrian settlements are much sparser than in areas closer to the Adriatic Sea, significant discoveries, for instance in Kaptol near Požega have been made.[10] The Pannonians first came into contact with the Roman Republic in 35 BC, when the Romans conquered Segestica, or modern-day Sisak. The conquest was completed in 11 BC, when the Roman province of Illyricum was established, encompassing modern-day Slavonia as well as a vast territory on the right bank of Danube. The province was renamed Pannonia and divided within two decades.[11]

Medieval Požega

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which included the territory occupied by modern-day Slavonia, the area became a part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom by the end of the 5th century. However, control of the area proved a significant task, and Lombards were given increasing control of Pannonia in the 6th century, which ended in their withdrawal in 568 and the arrival of Pannonian Avars and Slavs, who established control of Pannonia by the year 582.[12] After the fall of the Avar Khaganate at the beginning of the 9th century, in Lower Pannonia there was a principality, governed by Slavic rulers who were vassals of Francs. The invasion of the Hungarian tribes overwhelmed this state. The eastern part of Slavonia in the 9th century may have been ruled by Bulgars.[13] The first king of Croatia Tomislav defeated Hungarian and Bulgarian invasions and spread the influence of Croatian kings northward to Slavonia.[14] The medieval Croatian kingdom reached its peak in the 11th century during the reigns of Petar Krešimir IV (1058–1074) and Dmitar Zvonimir (1075–1089).[15] When Stjepan II died in 1091, ending the Trpimirović dynasty, Ladislaus I of Hungary claimed the Croatian crown. Opposition to the claim led to a war and personal union of Croatia and Hungary in 1102, ruled by Coloman.[16] In the 2nd half of the 12th century, Croatia and the territory between the Drava and the Sava were governed by the ban of all Slavonia, appointed by the king. From the 13th century, a separate ban governed parts of present-day central Croatia, western Slavonia, and northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, an area where a new entity emerged named Kingdom of Slavonia (Latin: regnum Sclavoniae), while modern-day eastern Slavonia was a part of Hungary. Croatia and Slavonia were in 1476 united under the same ban (viceroy), but kept separate parliaments until 1558.[17]

The Ottoman conquests in Croatia led to the 1493 Battle of Krbava field and 1526 Battle of Mohács, both ending in decisive Ottoman victories. King Louis II of Hungary died at Mohács, and Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg was elected in 1527 as the new ruler of Croatia, under the condition that he provide protection to Croatia against the Ottoman Empire, while respecting its political rights.[18][19] The period saw the rise to prominence of a native nobility such as the Frankopans and the Šubićs, and ultimately to numerous bans from the two families.[20] The present coat of arms of Slavonia, used in an official capacity as a part of the coat of arms of Croatia,[21] dates from this period—it was granted to Slavonia by king Vladislaus II Jagiellon on 8 December 1496.[22]

Luka Ibrišimović led a revolt against Ottomans in Požega.[23]

Following the Battle of Mohács, the Ottomans expanded their possessions in Slavonia seizing Đakovo in 1536 and Požega in 1537, defeating a Habsburg army led by Johann Katzianer, who was attempting to retake Slavonia, at Gorjani in September 1537. By 1540, Osijek was also under firm control of the Ottomans, and regular administration in Slavonia was introduced by establishing the Sanjak of Pojega. The Ottoman control in Slavonia expanded as Novska surrendered the same year. Turkish conquest continued—Našice were seized in 1541, Orahovica and Slatina in 1542, and in 1543, Voćin, Sirač and, after a 40-day siege, Valpovo. In 1544, Ottoman forces conquered Pakrac. Lessening hostilities brought about a five-year truce in 1547 and temporary stabilization of the border between Habsburg and Ottoman empires, with Virovitica becoming the most significant defensive Habsburg fortress and Požega the most significant Ottoman centre in Slavonia, as Ottoman advances to Sisak and Čazma were made, including a brief occupation of the cities. Further westward efforts of the Turkish forces presented a significant threat to Zagreb and the rest of Croatia and the Hungarian kingdom, prompting a greater defensive commitment by the Habsburg Monarchy. One year after the 1547 truce ended, Ivan Lenković devised a system of fortifications and troops in the border areas, a forerunner of the Croatian Military Frontier. Nonetheless, in 1552, the Ottoman conquest of Slavonia was completed when Virovitica was captured.[24] Ottoman advances in the Croatian territory continued until the 1593 Battle of Sisak, the first decisive Ottoman defeat, and a more lasting stabilisation of the frontier. During the Great Turkish War (1683–1698), Slavonia was regained in between 1684 and 1691 when the Ottomans abandoned the region—unlike western Bosnia, which had been part of Croatia before the Ottoman conquest.[19] The present-day southern border of Slavonia and the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina is a remnant of this outcome.[25][26]

The Ottoman wars instigated great demographic changes. Croats migrated towards Austria and the present-day Burgenland Croats are direct descendants of these settlers.[27] The Muslim population in Slavonia at the end of Turkish rule accounted for almost half of Slavonia's population who was indigenous, primarily Croats, less immigrants from Bosnia and Serbia and rarely genuine Turks or Arabs.[28] In the second half of the 16th century Vlachs from Slavonia were no longer an exclusive part of population because the Vlach privileges were attractive for many non-Vlachs who mixed with the Vlachs in order to get their status.[29] To replace the fleeing Croats, the Habsburgs called on the Orthodox populations of Bosnia and Serbia to provide military service in the Croatian Military Frontier. Serb migration into this region peaked during the Great Serb Migrations of 1690 and 1737–39.[30] The greatest Serb concentrations were in the eastern Slavonia, and Sremski Karlovci became the see of Serbian Orthodox metropolitans.[31] Part of the colonists came to Slavonia from area south of the Sava, especially from the Soli and Usora areas, continuing the process which already started after 1521. At beginning of the 17th century it seems that there was a new wave of colonization, about 10,000 families which are assumed to come from Sanjak of Klis or with less possibility from area of Sanjak of Bosnia.[32]

Pejačević manor in Našice

The areas acquired through the Treaty of Karlowitz were assigned to Croatia, itself in the union with Hungary and the union ruled by the Habsburgs. The border area along the Una, Sava and Danube rivers became the Slavonian Military Frontier. At this time, Osijek took over the role of the administrative and military centre of the newly formed Kingdom of Slavonia from Požega.[26] The 1830s and 1840s saw romantic nationalism inspire the Croatian National Revival, a political and cultural campaign advocating unity of all South Slavs in the empire. Its primary focus was the establishment of a standard language as a counterweight to Hungarian, along with the promotion of Croatian literature and culture.[33] During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 Croatia sided with the Austrians, Ban Josip Jelačić helping to defeat the Hungarian forces in 1849, and ushering in a period of Germanization policy.[34] By the 1860s, failure of the policy became apparent, leading to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and creation of a personal union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The treaty left the issue of Croatia's status to Hungary as a part of Transleithania—and the status was resolved by the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868, when the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia were united as the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.[35] After Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina following the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, the Military Frontiers were abolished and the Croatian and Slavonian Military Frontier territory returned to Croatia-Slavonia in 1881,[19] pursuant to provisions of the Croatian-Hungarian Settlement.[36][37] At that time, the easternmost point of Croatia-Slavonia became Zemun, as all of Syrmia was encompassed by the kingdom.[26]

Cathedral of St. Peter in Đakovo, a distinctive symbol of Slavonia[38]

On 29 October 1918, the Croatian Sabor declared independence and decided to join the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs,[18] which in turn entered into union with the Kingdom of Serbia on 4 December 1918 to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.[39] The Treaty of Trianon was signed in 1920, at the end of World War I, between the Allies of World War I and Hungary as one of the successor states to Austria-Hungary.[40] The treaty established the southern border of Hungary along the Drava and Mura rivers, except in Baranya, where only the northern part of the county was kept by Hungary.[41][42] The territorial acquisition in Baranya was not made a part of Slavonia, even though adjacent to Osijek, because pre-1918 administrative divisions were disestablished by the new kingdom.[43] The political situation in the new kingdom deteriorated, leading to the dictatorship of King Alexander in January 1929.[44] The dictatorship formally ended in 1931 when the king imposed a more unitarian constitution transferring executive power to the king, and changed the name of the country to Yugoslavia.[45] The Cvetković–Maček Agreement of August 1939 created the autonomous Banovina of Croatia incorporating Slavonia. Pursuant to the agreement, the Yugoslav government retained control of defence, internal security, foreign affairs, trade, and transport while other matters were left to the Croatian Sabor and a crown-appointed 'Ban'.[46]

In April 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by Germany and Italy. Following the invasion the territory of Slavonia was incorporated into the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi-backed puppet state and assigned as a zone under German occupation for the duration of World War II. The regime introduced anti-semitic laws and conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide against Serb and Roma populations,[47] exemplified by the Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška concentration camps,[48] but to a much lesser extent in Slavonia than in other regions, due to strategic interests of the Axis in keeping peace in the area.[49] The largest massacre occurred in 1942 in Voćin.[50]

Armed resistance soon developed in the region, and by 1942, the Yugoslav Partisans controlled substantial territories, especially in mountainous parts of Slavonia.[51] The Serbian royalist Chetniks, who carried out genocide against Croat civilian population,[52] struggled to establish a significant presence in Slavonia throughout the war.[49] Partisans led by Josip Broz Tito took full control of Slavonia in April 1945.[53] After the war, the new Yugoslav government interned local Germans in camps in Slavonia, the largest of which were in Valpovo and Krndija, where many died of hunger and diseases.[54]

Castle Mailáth, Donji Miholjac.

After World War II, Croatia—including Slavonia—became a single-party Socialist federal unit of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, ruled by the Communists, but enjoying a degree of autonomy within the federation. The autonomy effectively increased after the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, basically fulfilling a goal of the Croatian Spring movement, and providing a legal basis for independence of the federative constituents.[55] In 1947, when all borders of the former Yugoslav constituent republics had been defined by demarcation commissions, pursuant to decisions of the AVNOJ of 1943 and 1945, the federal organization of Yugoslav Baranya was defined as Croatian territory allowing its integration with Slavonia. The commissions also set up the present-day 317.6-kilometre (197.3 mi) border between Serbia and Croatia in Syrmia, and along the Danube River between Ilok and mouth of the Drava and further north to the Hungarian border, the section south of confluence of the Drava matching the border between the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and the Bács-Bodrog County that existed until 1918 and the end of World War I.[56]

In the 1980s the political situation in Yugoslavia deteriorated with national tension fanned by the 1986 Serbian SANU Memorandum and the 1989 coups in Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro.[57][58] In January 1990, the Communist Party fragmented along national lines, with the Croatian faction demanding a looser federation.[59] In the same year, the first multi-party elections were held in Croatia, with Franjo Tuđman's win raising nationalist tensions further.[60] The Serbs in Croatia, intent on achieving independence from Croatia, left the Sabor and declared the autonomy of areas that would soon become the unrecognized self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK).[61][62] As tensions rose, Croatia declared independence in June 1991; however the declaration came into effect on 8 October 1991.[63][64] Tensions escalated into the Croatian War of Independence when the Yugoslav National Army and various Serb paramilitaries attacked Croatia.[65] By the end of 1991, a high intensity war fought along a wide front reduced Croatia to controlling about two-thirds of its territory.[66][67]

Vukovar memorial cemetery

In Slavonia, the first armed conflicts were clashes in Pakrac,[68][69] and Borovo Selo near Vukovar.[70][71] Western Slavonia was occupied in August 1991, following an advance by the Yugoslav forces north from Banja Luka across the Sava River.[72] This was partially pushed back by the Croatian Army in operations named Otkos 10,[65] and Orkan 91, which established a front line around Okučani and south of Pakrac that would hold virtually unchanged for more than three years until Operation Flash in May 1995.[73] Armed conflict in the eastern Slavonia, culminating in the Battle of Vukovar and a subsequent massacre,[74][75] also included heavy fighting and the successful defence of Osijek and Vinkovci. The front line stabilized and a ceasefire was agreed to on 2 January 1992, coming into force the next day.[76] After the ceasefire, United Nations Protection Force was deployed to the occupied areas,[77] but intermittent artillery and rocket attacks, launched from Serb-held areas of Bosnia, continued in several areas of Slavonia, especially in Slavonski Brod and Županja.[78][79] The war effectively ended in 1995 with Croatia achieving a decisive victory over the RSK in August 1995.[80] The remaining occupied areas—eastern Slavonia—were restored to Croatia pursuant to the Erdut Agreement of November 1995, with the process concluded in mid-January 1998.[81]

After the war, a number of towns and municipalities in the region were designated Areas of Special State Concern.

Five counties of Slavonia:

  Brod-Posavina County

  Osijek-Baranja County

  Požega-Slavonia County

  Virovitica-Podravina County

  Vukovar-Syrmia County

Papuk, the second highest mountain in Slavonia

The Croatian counties were re-established in 1992, but their borders changed in some instances, with the latest revision taking place in 2006.[82] Slavonia consists of five counties—Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Virovitica-Podravina and Vukovar-Syrmia counties—which largely cover the territory historically associated with Slavonia. The western borders of the five-county territory lie in the area where the western boundary of Slavonia generally has been located since the Ottoman conquest, with the remaining borders being at the international borders of Croatia.[26] This places the Croatian part of Baranya into the Slavonian counties, constituting the Eastern Croatia macroregion.[83] Terms Eastern Croatia and Slavonia are increasingly used as synonyms.[84] The Brod-Posavina County comprises two cities—Slavonski Brod and Nova Gradiška—and 26 Municipalities of Croatia.[85] The Osijek-Baranja County consists of seven cities—Beli Manastir, Belišće, Donji Miholjac, Đakovo, Našice, Osijek and Valpovo—and 35 municipalities.[86] The Požega-Slavonia County comprises five cities—Kutjevo, Lipik, Pakrac, Pleternica and Požega—and five municipalities.[87] The Virovitica-Podravina County covers three cities—Orahovica, Slatina and Virovitica—and 13 municipalities.[88] The Vukovar-Srijem County encompasses five cities—Ilok, Otok, Vinkovci, Vukovar and Županja—and 26 municipalities.[89] The whole of Slavonia is the eastern half of Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia NUTS-2 statistical unit of Croatia, together with further areas of Central Croatia. Other statistical units correspond to the counties, cities and municipalities.[90] The five counties combined cover area size of 12,556 square kilometres (4,848 square miles), representing 22.2% of territory of Croatia.[91]

The boundaries of Slavonia, as a geographical region, do not necessarily coincide with the borders of the five counties, except in the south and east where the Sava and Danube rivers define them. The international borders of Croatia are boundaries common to both definitions of the region. In the north, the boundaries largely coincide because the Drava River is considered to be the northern border of Slavonia as a geographic region,[56] but this excludes Baranya from the geographic region's definition even though this territory is part of a county otherwise associated with Slavonia.[93][94][95] The western boundary of the geographic region is not specifically defined and it was variously defined through history depending on the political divisions of Croatia.[26] The eastern Croatia, as a geographic term, largely overlaps most definitions of Slavonia. It is defined as the territory of the Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Virovitica-Podravina and Vukovar-Syrmia counties, including Baranya.[96]

Orahovac Lake

Slavonia is entirely located in the Pannonian Basin, one of three major geomorphological parts of Croatia.[97] The Pannonian Basin took shape through Miocenian thinning and subsidence of crust structures formed during Late Paleozoic Variscan orogeny. The Paleozoic and Mesozoic structures are visible in Papuk, Psunj and other Slavonian mountains. The processes also led to the formation of a stratovolcanic chain in the basin 17 – 12 Mya (million years ago) and intensified subsidence observed until 5 Mya as well as flood basalts about 7.5 Mya. Contemporary uplift of the Carpathian Mountains prevented water flowing to the Black Sea, and the Pannonian Sea formed in the basin. Sediments were transported to the basin from uplifting Carpathian and Dinaric mountains, with particularly deep fluvial sediments being deposited in the Pleistocene during the uplift of the Transdanubian Mountains.[98] Ultimately, up to 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) of the sediment was deposited in the basin, and the Pannonian sea eventually drained through the Iron Gate gorge.[99] In the southern Pannonian Basin, the Neogene to Quaternary sediment depth is normally lower, averaging 500 to 1,500 metres (1,600 to 4,900 feet), except in central parts of depressions formed by subduction—around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in the Slavonia-Syrmia depression, 5,500 metres (18,000 feet) in the Sava depression and nearly 7,000 metres (23,000 feet) in the Drava depression, with the deepest sediment found between Virovitica and Slatina.[100]

The results of those processes are large plains in eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Syrmia, as well as in river valleys, especially along the Sava, Drava and Kupa. The plains are interspersed by the horst and graben structures, believed to have broken the Pannonian Sea surface as islands. The tallest among such landforms in Slavonia are 984-metre (3,228 ft) Psunj, and 953-metre (3,127 ft) Papuk—flanking the Požega Valley from the west and the north.[91] These two and Krndija, adjacent to Papuk, consist mostly of Paleozoic rocks which are 350 – 300 million years old. Požeška Gora and Dilj, to the east of Psunj and enveloping the valley from the south, consist of much more recent Neogene rocks, but Požeška Gora also contains Upper Cretaceous sediments and igneous rocks forming the main, 30-kilometre (19 mi) ridge of the hill and representing the largest igneous landform in Croatia. A smaller igneous landform is also present on Papuk, near Voćin.[101] The two mountains, as well as Moslavačka gora, west of Pakrac, are possible remnants of a volcanic arc related to Alpine orogeny—uplifting of the Dinaric Alps.[102] The Đakovo – Vukovar loess plain, extending eastward from Dilj and representing the watershed between the Vuka and Bosut rivers, gradually rises to the Fruška Gora south of Ilok.[103]

Plain near Đakovo after harvest

The Drava in Osijek

The largest rivers in Slavonia are found along or near its borders—the Danube, Sava and Drava. The length of the Danube, flowing along the eastern border of Slavonia and through the cities of Vukovar and Ilok, is 188 kilometres (117 miles), and its main tributaries are the Drava 112-kilometre (70 mi) and the Vuka. The Drava discharges into the Danube near Aljmaš, east of Osijek, while mouth of the Vuka is located in Vukovar. Major tributaries of the Sava, flowing along the southern border of Slavonia and through cities of Slavonski Brod and Županja are 89-kilometre (55 mi) the Orljava flowing through Požega, and the Bosut—whose 151-kilometre (94 mi) course in Slavonia takes it through Vinkovci. There are no large lakes in Slavonia. The largest ones are Lake Kopačevo whose surface area varies between 1.5 and 3.5 square kilometres (0.58 and 1.35 square miles), and Borovik Reservoir covering 2.5 square kilometres (0.97 square miles).[91] The Lake Kopačevo is connected to the Danube via Hulovski canal, situated within the Kopački Rit wetland,[104] while the Lake Borovik is an artificial lake created in 1978 in the upper course of the Vuka River.[105]

The entire Slavonia belongs to the Danube basin and the Black Sea catchment area, but it is divided in two sub-basins. One of those drains into the Sava—itself a Danube tributary—and the other into the Drava or directly into the Danube. The drainage divide between the two sub-basins runs along Papuk and Krndija mountains, in effect tracing the southern boundary of the Virovitica-Podravina County and the northern boundary of Požega-Slavonia County, cuts through the Osijek-Podravina County north of Đakovo and finally bisects the Vukovar-Syrmia County running between Vukovar and Vinkovci to reach Fruška Gora southwest of Ilok. The Entire Brod-Posavina County is located in the Sava sub-basin.[106]

Most of Croatia, including Slavonia, has a moderately warm and rainy continental climate as defined by the Köppen climate classification. Mean annual temperature averages 10 to 12 °C (50 to 54 °F), with the warmest month, July, averaging just below 22 °C (72 °F). Temperature peaks are more pronounced in the continental areas—the lowest temperature of −27.8 °C (−18.0 °F) was recorded on 24 January 1963 in Slavonski Brod,[107] and the highest temperature of 40.5 °C (104.9 °F) was recorded on 5 July 1950 in Đakovo.[108] The least precipitation is recorded in the eastern parts of Slavonia at less than 700 millimetres (28 inches) per year, however in the latter case, it mostly occurs during the growing season. The western parts of Slavonia receive 900 to 1,000 millimetres (35 to 39 inches) precipitation. Low winter temperatures and the distribution of precipitation throughout the year normally result in snow cover, and freezing rivers—requiring use of icebreakers, and in extreme cases explosives,[109] to maintain the flow of water and navigation.[110] Slavonia receives more than 2,000 hours of sunshine per year on average. Prevailing winds are light to moderate, northeasterly and southwesterly.[91]

The cuisine of Slavonia reflects cultural influences on the region through the diversity of its culinary influences. The most significant among those were from Hungarian, Viennese, Central European, as well as Turkish and Arab cuisines brought by series of conquests and accompanying social influences. The ingredients of traditional dishes are pickled vegetables, dairy products and smoked meats.[185] The most famous traditional preserved meat product is kulen, one of a handful Croatian products protected by the EU as indigenous products.[186]

Slavonia is one of Croatia's winemaking sub-regions, a part of its continental winegrowing region. The best known winegrowing areas of Slavonia are centered on Đakovo, Ilok and Kutjevo, where Graševina grapes are predominant, but other cultivars are increasingly present.[187] In past decades, an increasing quantity of wine production in Slavonia was accompanied by increasing quality and growing recognition at home and abroad.[188] Grape vines were first grown in the region of Ilok, as early as the 3rd century AD. The oldest Slavonian wine cellar still in continuous use for winemaking is located in Kutjevo—built in 1232 by Cistercians.[189]

Slavonian oak is used to make botti, large barrels traditionally used in the Piedmont region of Italy to make nebbiolo wines.[190]