Istria is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at the top of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Kvarner Gulf, the peninsula is shared by three countries: Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy, 90% of its area being part of Croatia. Most of Croatian Istria is part of Istria County.
Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, with a population of 52,220 in 2021. It is known for its multitude of ancient Roman buildings, the most famous of which is the Pula Arena, one of the best preserved Roman amphitheaters. The city has a long tradition of wine making, fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism. It was the administrative centre of Istria from ancient Roman times until superseded by Pazin in 1991.
Pazin is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves.
The Istrian–Dalmatian exodus was the post-World War II exodus and departure of local ethnic Italians as well as ethnic Slovenes and Croats from Yugoslavia. The emigrants, who had lived in the now Yugoslav territories of the Julian March, Kvarner and Dalmatia, largely went to Italy, but some joined the Italian diaspora in the Americas, Australia and South Africa. These regions were ethnically mixed, with long-established historic Croatian, Italian, and Slovene communities. After World War I, the Kingdom of Italy annexed Istria, Kvarner, the Julian March and parts of Dalmatia including the city of Zadar. At the end of World War II, under the Allies' Treaty of Peace with Italy, the former Italian territories in Istria, Kvarner, the Julian March and Dalmatia were assigned to now Communist-helmed Federal Yugoslavia, except for the Province of Trieste. The former territories absorbed into Yugoslavia are part of present-day Croatia and Slovenia.
Kršan is a village and municipality in the eastern part of Istria County, Croatia.
Francesco Giovanni Bonifacio was an Italian Catholic priest, killed by the Yugoslav communists in Grisignana ; he was beatified in Trieste on 4 October 2008.
The foibe massacres, or simply the foibe, refers to mass killings and deportations both during and immediately after World War II, mainly committed by Yugoslav Partisans and OZNA in the then-Italian territories of Julian March, Kvarner and Dalmatia, against local Italians and Slavs, primarily members of fascist and collaborationist forces, and civilians opposed to the new Yugoslav authorities. The term refers to some victims who were thrown alive into the foibe, deep natural sinkholes characteristic of the Karst Region. In a wider or symbolic sense, some authors used the term to apply to all disappearances or killings of Italian and Slavic people in the territories occupied by Yugoslav forces. Others included deaths resulting from the forced deportation of Italians, or those who died while trying to flee from these contested lands.
Istrian Italians are an ethnic group from the Adriatic region of Istria in modern northwestern Croatia and southwestern Slovenia. Istrian Italians descend from the original Latinized population of Roman Histria, from the Venetian-speaking settlers who colonized the region during the time of the Republic of Venice, and from the local Croatian people who culturally assimilated.
The House of Pola is an Italian noble family currently living in the Czech Republic. The origins of the House of Pola date back at least until 990. The name of the family refers to the town of Pula in Istria County, Croatia, which was in their possession from 1271 until 1331.
Maria Pasquinelli was an Italian teacher and member of the Fascist party convicted for the killing of British Brigadier Robert de Winton in Pola on 10 February 1947. She carried out the assassination in protest of the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus.
The Memorial Centre Lipa Remembers is a museum commemorating the killing of 269 civilians - mostly elderly, women and children - in April 1944 in Lipa, Croatia. The massacre was perpetrated by the German military, together with Italian and Chetnik collaborationist forces.
The Croatian Partisans, officially the National Liberation Movement in Croatia, were part of the anti-fascist National Liberational Movement in the Axis-occupied Yugoslavia which was the most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement. It was led by Yugoslav revolutionary communists during the World War II. NOP was under the leadership of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (KPJ) and supported by many others, with Croatian Peasant Party members contributing to it significantly. NOP units were able to temporarily or permanently liberate large parts of Croatia from occupying forces. Based on the NOP, the Federal Republic of Croatia was founded as a constituent of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia.
The Vrsar airport bombing was a Yugoslav Air Force strike on the Crljenka airport near Vrsar—an air sports airport in the Istrian peninsula. The airstrike occurred on 21 December 1991, possibly as an attempt to stop the training of Croatian pilots, who had deserted the Yugoslav Air Force and were being trained in Vrsar. Other than being a training facility, the airport had a significant logistical value. However, since an attack was expected only on the strategically more important Pula Airport the airport had little defences, and the Croatians were caught unaware, with the alarm sounding ten minutes after the attack. Two people were killed in the raid, while the airport was damaged.
Joakim Rakovac was an Istrian anti-fascist, partisan and national hero of Yugoslavia. The circumstances of his death and the identity of his murderers are debated, and he is thought by some to have been murdered by the Yugoslav partisans.
Zvane (Ivan) Črnja was a prominent Croatian poet, prose writer, essayist, culturologist, screenwriter, playwright and filmologist, journalist, publicist, polemicist and publisher. He's considered one of the most important names that Istria gave to Croatia in the 20th century. His aliases include: Osip Suri, Barba Zvane, and Filus.
Antun Kalac was a Croatian poet, writer, playwright, literary translator, and revivalist of Croatian nationalism among the Istrian people. He was also a Catholic priest.
Ernest Jelušić was a Croatian priest and politician who was known for his involvement in the Croatian national revival.
Šime Kurelić was a Croatian politician from Pićan and a revivalist of Croatian nationalism among Istrian Croats.
This electoral term of the Central Committee was elected by the 4th Congress of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) in 1928, and was in session until the convocation of the 5th Congress in 1948. Mid-term elections were organised by the 4th Conference in 1934 and the 5th Conference in 1940. A Temporary Leadership was established in 1938; it received the approval of the Communist International in 1939, in the aftermath of the purge of the CPY, which killed several leading Central Committee members.
