Croatia Guide

National revival in Croatia started in 1813 when the bishop of Zagreb Maksimilijan Vrhovac issued a plea for the collection of “national treasures”. In the beginning of the 1830s, a group of young Croatian writers gathered in Zagreb and established the Illyrian movement for national renewal and unity of all South Slavs within the Habsburg Monarchy. The most important focus of Illyrians was the establishment of standard language as a counter-weight to Hungarian, and the promotion of Croatian written literature and official culture. Important members of this movement were Count Janko Drašković who wrote a pamphlet in 1832 which created movement, Ljudevit Gaj who received permission from royal government of Habsburg Monarchy for printing first newspaper in Croatian, Josif Runjanin writer of lyrics for the Croatian national anthem, Vatroslav Lisinski composer of the first Croatian opera “Ljubav i zloba” (“Love and Malice”, 1846) and many others.

Fearful of first Hungarian and then Habsburg pressure of assimilation Kingdom of Croatia has always refused to change official language which has stayed Latin until middle of 19 century. Only on 2 May 1843 Croatian language has been first time spoken in parliament and it has become official only because of popularity of Illyrian movement in 1847.