Home

Dubrovnik history From its establishment in the 7th century AD, the town was under the protection of the Byzantine Empire. After the Crusades, Ragusa/Dubrovnik came under the sovereignty of Venice (1205-1358), in 1358 it became part of the Hungarian-Croatian Kingdom.  Having been granted the entire self-government, bound to pay only a tribute to the king and providing assistance with its fleet, Dubrovnik started its life as a free state. The Ragusan Republic reached its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1526 Dubrovnik acknowledged the supremacy of the Turkish Sultan (annual tribute was paid to the Sultan). A crisis of Mediterranean shipping and especially a catastrophic earthquake on the April 6, 1667. that killed over 5000 citizens, including the Rector, leveling most of the public buildings, ruined the well-being of the Republic. With great effort the Republic recovered a bit,but still remained a shadow of the former Republic. In 1806, Dubrovnik surrendered to French forces, as that was the only way to cut a month's long siege by the Russian-Montenegrin fleets (during which 3000 cannon balls fell on the city). The French lifted the siege and saved Dubrovnik for the time being. The French army, led by Napoleon, entered Dubrovnik in 1806. In 1808 Marshal Marmont abolished the Dubrovnik Republic (est. 15th century) and amalgamated its territory into Illyrian provinces. In 1815, by the resolution of Congress of Vienna, Dubrovnik was annexed to Austria (later Austria-Hungary), and remained annexed until 1918, when it became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia from 1929). At the very beginning of the World War II, Dubrovnik was first part of the Independent State of Croatia. From April 1941 until September 1943 Dubrovnik was occupied by the Italian army and after that by the Germans. In October 1944 Partisans liberated Dubrovnik from the Germans and it became part of the second Yugoslavia in 1945. Despite the 1970s demilitarization of the old town by the Yugoslav People's Army in an attempt to prevent it from becoming a casualty of war, following Croatia's independence in 1991,the same army bombarded the old city on December 6, 1991, causing some damage. The rest of the city was less fortunate in the siege that lasted from October 1991 until May 1992. Casualty estimates in the conflict on this area vary. Some Serbian sources put it at 88 on both sides,while the Croatian Red Cross counted 114 killed civilians. As of 2003, most damaged buildings in the city have been repaired.