Regnum.hr is a creative educational platform designed to promote the values, symbols, and heritage of the rich Croatian history, with the primary goal of transmitting the values and pride to prominent Croats, from the seventh century all the way to the present day.
We want to address those who are the bearers of the future of the Croatian people, our children, and new generations, for whom we have prepared a series of products so that through learning through play, they would develop healthy patriotism and a sense of national pride from the earliest age., based on the knowledge of the rich Croatian history and raising awareness of the importance of numerous Croats who have personally inscribed themselves in the history books on a global level, but also on learning about the importance and significance of Croatia as a country and its historical regions for the development and survival of Europe in the most difficult historical times.
Behind this project stands a small team of young people whose fathers voluntarily participated in the creation of an independent and free Croatia, and who wish to direct their knowledge toward shaping new generations that will, we hope, lead Croatia to the prosperity our fathers dreamed of when they were creating it. The future leaders of Croatia, by developing a sense of patriotism from an early age through a series of educational content, we believe, will sincerely love the Homeland and in everything they do, work in its interest and in the interest of the general society, as opposed to narrow personal interests and the desire for enrichment.
We want to share with you what inspired us to start this story.
The arrival of Croats to this area
7th c.
According to legend, Croats settled in this area in the seventh century when they came over the Carpathians from the region of “White Croatia”. The Croats, who arrived at the invitation of the Byzantine Emperor to protect the Byzantine borders, were led by five brothers (Hrvat, Klukas, Kosenjec, Muhlo, and Lobel) along with two sisters (Tuga and Buga).
From that time until today, Croats have lived peacefully in their own country, and according to the promise they made long ago, they have never waged wars of conquest on the territory of other countries, but have only defended their own land from various conquerors.
The first mention of the name Hrvatska (Croatia)
879.
During the reign of Duke Branimir, the then head of the Church, Pope John VIII, sent him a letter in which he conveyed his blessings to him and the entire Croatian people. This act recognized Duke Branimir as having, as it was stated, “earthly authority over all of Croatia”. At that time, this meant the highest level of international recognition of a state, making Croatia an internationally recognized sovereign state.
The letter sent to Branimir was dated June 7, 879. However, from the content of the letter, which includes the passage: “For on the day of the Lord’s Ascension, as we served Mass at the altar of St. Peter, we raised our hands high and blessed you, and all your people, and all your land…”, it is evident that Croatia was internationally recognized earlier, on the feast of the Ascension, which that year was celebrated on May 21.
The first printed book in Croatia
1483.
The “Missale Romanum Glagolitice” is the first Croatian book printed in Glagolitic, the historical Croatian script. This book was printed only 28 years after the first ever printed book, the Gutenberg Bible.
Croatia was at the very forefront of book printing in the early times, thus the first Croatian book was printed only 6 years after the first book printed in Paris, while some larger European centers waited much longer for such an endeavor after the first book was printed in Croatia. In Berlin, the first book was printed 58 years after the book printed in Croatia, and in Moscow, even 70 years later.
Antemurale Christianitatis
1519.
“The Bulwark of Christianity” or “Antemurale Christianitatis” is the title given to Croatia by Pope Leo X in a letter to Ban Petar Berislavić. In 1522, at the German Imperial Diet in Nuremberg, the term “Zwingermaurer” (fortress) was used for Croatia, and the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Habsburg spoke of the “knightly Christian people” of Croats as standing like a shield in front of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and thus the whole of Central Europe and the Western Christian world.
Through their multiple defenses of Europe from invaders, especially the Ottomans, Croats have forever inscribed themselves in the history of Western civilization as nearly invincible warriors, because Croatia has never been conquered by anyone.
The first public show of the Croatian tricolor flag
1848.
The Croatian tricolor, “red-white-blue”, is one of the most recognizable Croatian symbols, along with the globally known “Croatian checkerboard”. It was first publicly flown in 1848, more precisely on June 5, 1848, not yet as the official national flag but as the flag of Ban Josip Jelačić, on the occasion of his inauguration.
The same year, for the very first time, the arrangement of the national colors as “red-white-blue” was officially defined, in the newspapers “Novine” edited by Ljudevit Gaj. Its colors are heraldically founded, taken from the historical coats of arms of Croatian lands: red and white from the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Croatia, and the third, blue, from the coats of arms of the Kingdoms of Slavonia and Dalmatia.
Proclamation of sovereignty and independence of Republic of Croatia
1991.
By a plebiscitary majority of 93.24%, the Croatian people expressed their wish to live in an independent, sovereign, and free Croatia through a referendum. This was a continuation of the political changes that began in 1990. In 1991, decisions were made to break all ties with communist Yugoslavia, which were voted on by the Croatian Parliament, established on May 30, 1990.
Based on these decisions, the prerequisites for international recognition of Croatia were created. Iceland was the first country to recognize Croatia, on December 19, 1991, and Croatia received broader international recognition on January 15, 1992.
The victory in the defensive and liberating Homeland War
1995.
After the political decisions to sever all ties with communist Yugoslavia, the Greater Serbian aggression flared up, and a bloody war ensued until 1995, during which the Croats affirmed their independence and freedom through a series of military victories against a significantly more powerful serbo-communist aggressor.
The crowning of all victories was the magnificent military-police operation “Storm”, which laid the foundation for the enduring freedom and independence of the Croatian people. To all Croatian warriors who, through the centuries, and especially in the 1990s, contributed to Croatian freedom and independence with their lives, we pay eternal recognition and lasting honors, for it is to them we owe our freedom and the opportunity to spread the story of the glorious Croatian history.
Nurturing the entire Croatian tradition, the wealth of our cultural heritage, and proud of our great figures, from warriors and military leaders, through inventors and scientists, to athletes who spread the glory of the Croatian name around the world, we decided to start our story. Thank you for helping us tell it!