Book Description

This new addition to Greenwood's Histories of the Modern Nations series provides a comprehensive introduction to the intertwined histories of Croatia and Slovenia, two Balkan nations and former members of the Yugoslav Federation. The recent histories of Croatia and Slovenia have been relatively stable, as both countries have merged successfully into modern Europe. But how did these countries arrive at such a place? The History of Croatia and Slovenia provides factual overviews of these countries' political systems, geographical details, significant individuals, and more. The volume opens with the prehistoric and ancient roots of these states, though this history predates their modern ethnic and linguistic identities as we know them. Chapters cover the Roman period, followed by barbarian waves and the countries' subsequent absorption into the Venetian, Hungarian, and Holy Roman Empires. The modern period of national awakening in the nineteenth century, when the ethno-genesis of modern Croatia and Slovenia began, is covered in great detail. The volume additionally covers subsequent turbulent events such as WWI, WWII, the Holocaust, Communist Yugoslavia, and its civil wars of the 1990s, through the events of 2019. Written in approachable yet scholarly language, this volume is ideal for high school and university students, as well as any reader interested in Balkan or European history.