These battles belong to a centuries-long struggle for the control of the Adriatic eastern coast between Slavs (mainly Croats and [[Slovenia|Slovenians]]) and Italians. A struggle that hugely increased during the [[Austria|Austro]]-Hungarian Empire, when the Italian irredentism and the Slavic nationalism at the end of the XIX century created a bloody confrontation in the Adriatic area. | These battles belong to a centuries-long struggle for the control of the Adriatic eastern coast between Slavs (mainly Croats and [[Slovenia|Slovenians]]) and Italians. A struggle that hugely increased during the [[Austria|Austro]]-Hungarian Empire, when the Italian irredentism and the Slavic nationalism at the end of the XIX century created a bloody confrontation in the Adriatic area. |