The governments of Austria and Hungary each tried to colonize Croatia over a period of several centuries: they imposed their languages on the Croatian people and settled many Austrian and Hungarian colonists in Croatia. Croatian romantic nationalism emerged to counteract the non-violent but apparent Germanization and Magyarization.
Unemployment reached a peak of circa 22% in late 2002 due to many overdue bankruptcies. It has since been steadily decreasing, powered by growing industrial production and rising GDP rather than only seasonal changes (tourism). The GDP rose to the level it had in 1990 only 2003.
In an economy traditionally based on agriculture and livestock, peasants comprised more than half of the Croatian population until after World War II. Pre-1945 industrialization was slow and centered on textile mills, sawmills, brickyards, and food-processing plants.
A change of leadership was far from a solution to the war with the Turks, in fact, the Ottoman Empire gradually expanded in the 16th century to include most of Slavonia, western Bosnia and Lika.
After the Bihac fort finally fell to the army of the Bosnian vizier Hasan-pasha Predojevic in 1592, only small parts of Croatia remained unconquered. The remaining 16,800 km˛ were referred to as the remnants of the remnants of the once great Croatian kingdom.
Illyria was a sovereign state until the Romans conquered it in 168 BC. The Western Empire organized the provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia, which after its downfall passed to the Huns, the Ostrogoths and then to the Byzantine Empire. Forebears of Croatia's current Slav population settled there in the 7th century.
The most commonly accepted facts about the origin of the Croats are that they originate from Slavic tribes that lived in and around today's Poland. The early Croat people, as well as the Serb people, is believed to have been mixed Slavs and the Iranian-speaking Alans according to many modern scholars. It is unclear whether the Alans contributed much more than a ruling caste or a class of warriors; the evidence on their contribution is mainly philological and etymological.
Ambroz Matija Gubec and other leaders of the mutiny raised peasants to arms in over sixty fiefs throughout the country in January 1573, but their uprising was crushed by early February. Matija Gubec and thousands of others were publicly executed shortly thereafter, in a rather brutal manner in order to set an example for others.
The Illyrian movement was rather broad in scope, both nationalist and pan-Slavist. It would eventually develop into two major causes:
In recorded history, the area was inhabited by the Illyrians, an Indo-European people who spoke the Illyrian language. The Liburn, Iapod and Delmat tribes inhabited various parts of the Adriatic coastline and interior between modern Istria and Herzegovina.
The Hungarian king introduced a variant of the feudal system. Large fiefs were granted to individuals who would defend them against outside incursions thereby creating a system for the defence of the entire state. However, by enabling the nobility to seize more and more economic and military power, the kingdom itself lost influence to the Frankopan, Šubic, Nelipcic, Kacic, Kurjakovic, Draškovic, Babonic and other families.
The President of the Republic (Predsjednik) is head of state and elected for a five-year term. In addition to being the commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the procedural duty of appointing the Prime minister with the consent of the Parliament, and has some influence on foreign policy.