OSIJEK
Like elsewhere in the region,
Osijek’s development followed the same pattern of habitation and competing domination
by empires of the west and east. The region
has been inhabited since Neolithic times, with the earliest known culture being that of
the Illyrians (ancestors of today’s Albanians).
Next came the Celts, followed by the Romans. By
this time, what would eventually become the city of Osijek was a settlement known as
Mursa.
Hardly a sleepy settlement,
Mursa was the site of significant Roman battles in the 4th century. Goths, Huns, Franks, and Bulgars would follow, with
Mursa repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. The
Slavic ancestors of today’s Croats settled in the area by the 7th century
and the region would be ruled by the Croatian kings and under the influence of Hungary
during the Middle Ages. Sometime during this
period Mursa would be renamed Osijek; the name was first recorded
in 1332.
The
region became part of the Ottoman Empire from 1526 until 1687 when the Austrians defeated
the Turks. One Empire was traded for another,
as Osijek became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It was during this period that the Tvrdja fortress was built. By 1786, Tvrdja was united with the Lower and Upper
Towns and Osijek became the effective capital of the Slavonia region. Over the next century, what had been a trading
center because of its river location developed further into a regional center for crafts,
industry, and culture.
Following
the first World War, Austria-Hungary was dissolved and Croatia was united with other
southern Slavic nations into what would eventually become Yugoslavia.
This
would all change in 1991 when Croatia declared its independence from what it considered
the Serb-dominated state of Yugoslavia. With
Yugoslavia unwilling to accept the secession, the Yugoslav National Army was sent in to
Croatia. Cities in eastern Croatia (where
there were large populations of Serbs) were especially hard hit, with local Serb militias
joining the army forces and Croat militias defending Croatia’s independence. Although not as devastated as cities such as
Vukovar, Osijek suffered enormous losses of lives (through death or migration) and
destruction of buildings and infrastructure.
Osijek
was under UN transitional administration from 1996 to 1998 when it was officially returned
to Croatia. With a 1991 population of over
367,000, by 2001 the population had fallen to slightly more than 341,000. This downward shift reflects not only loss of life
and wartime migration, but also a shift in the makeup of the population, with many Serbs
leaving.
Personal Accounts
Crucible of War features the story of Dusana, a Serb who stayed in the area, thanks to her lifelong friendship with Vlasta, a Croatian colleague.
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