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== While Visiting the Croatia Coast==

== While Visiting the Croatian Coast==

*Preceding unsigned comment added  on Wikipedia's Talk-pages ''by'' ''IP 200.112.16.153'' (28 December 2009)

*Preceding unsigned comment added  on Wikipedia's Talk-pages ''by'' ''IP 200.112.16.153'' (28 December 2009)

*Comment edited by Peter Zuvela.

*Comment edited by Peter Zuvela.

* Original text was written by Edwin Veggian: ''Now Your History Belongs To Us''

* Original text was written by Edwin Veggian: ''Now Your History Belongs To Us''

While visiting the '''Croatia''' coast (Dalmatia) of the Adriatic Sea, western journalists usually admire her ancient towns. They notice almost everywhere that the regional architecture is “heavily influenced” by a “Venetian” flavour. Years ago, a famous chef posing in front of a XVI century Dalmatian building for a documentary, claimed that its architecture was “quintessentially Croatian“. In the past, certain Western writers were almost convinced (and disgusted) that Croatians “imitated” Venetian and Italian Renaissance architecture in building Dalmatian towns.  

While visiting the [[Croatia|Croatian]] coast (Dalmatia) of the Adriatic Sea, western journalists usually admire her ancient towns. They notice almost everywhere that the regional architecture is “heavily influenced” by a “Venetian” flavour. Years ago, a famous chef posing in front of a XVI century Dalmatian building for a documentary, claimed that its architecture was “quintessentially Croatian“. In the past, certain Western writers were almost convinced (and disgusted) that Croatians “imitated” Venetian and Italian Renaissance architecture in building Dalmatian towns.  

'''Today''', Croatian and international tourist guides are presenting the rich artistic patrimony of Dalmatian coastal towns as essentially “Croatian” or “a reflection of Croatia‘s history“. They almost never mention the autochthonous Italians (about 80.000 in the late 1800s) who lived there since Roman times and who built those architectural jewels before disappearing in modern times. Where did they go? Almost all of them became refugees. They were the victims of the first ethnic cleansing documented in the Balkans.  

'''Today''', Croatian and international tourist guides are presenting the rich artistic patrimony of Dalmatian coastal towns as essentially “Croatian” or “a reflection of Croatia‘s history“. They almost never mention the autochthonous Italians (about 80.000 in the late 1800s) who lived there since Roman times and who built those architectural jewels before disappearing in modern times. Where did they go? Almost all of them became refugees. They were the victims of the first ethnic cleansing documented in the Balkans.  

=== Republic of Ragusa ===

=== Republic of Ragusa ===

Take for example the history of the '''Republic of Ragusa''', (officially the city is known as Dubrovnik only from 1919 on). Ragusa has been an independent republic governed since the Middle Ages by a Latin/Illyrian families. When it was abolished in 1808 by the Napoleonic army, the small but influential and immensely rich maritime republic left a gigantic archive in which all government documents were written, first in Latin, then in ''Dalmatian'' (an extinct Romance language formerly spoken in the Dalmatia region of Croatia,)<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian_language Wikipedia: Dalmatian language]</ref> and finally in modern Italian (the Republic had an office in charge of translations from Slavic vernacular). In the daily business of the government and in diplomacy - Ragusa had over 80 consulates in every major European and Middle Eastern city -, the official language of the small republic was Italian. Furthermore, The Republic of Ragusa is remembered as ”The fifth Maritime Republic of Italy” (with Venice, Pisa, Amalfi and Genoa). For centuries, the well-to-do Ragusan families sent their children to study in the Italian universities. Across the Adriatic sea, Ragusans had daily contacts with Italy. The celebrated libraries of Ragusa were full of Italian editions of every kind, but no books printed in Slavic languages. Today in some Croatian history books the real history of Ragusa disappears almost completely.  

Take for example the history of the '''Republic of Ragusa''', (officially the city is known as Dubrovnik only from 1919 on). Ragusa has been an independent republic governed since the Middle Ages by a Latin/Illyrian families. When it was abolished in 1808 by the Napoleonic army, the small but influential and immensely rich maritime republic left a gigantic archive in which all government documents were written, first in Latin, then in ''Dalmatian'' (an extinct Romance language formerly spoken in the Dalmatia region of Croatia,)<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian_language Wikipedia: Dalmatian language]</ref> and finally in modern Italian <ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=eQIEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4&dq=Sir+John+Gardner+Wilkinson+Italian+is+spoken+in+all+the+seaports+of+Dalmatia&hl=en&ei=qP6qTLiWJoPRcdXJ8KAE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Dalmatia and Montenegro: With a journey to Mostar in Herzegovina.Volume 1] by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (p4).

 

 

 

 

* "Two hundred years later that, is, early in the tenth century you might have heard Slavish and [[Latin]] spoken had you walked in the streets of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), just as you hear Slavish and '''Italian''' today; for as times of peace followed times of war, the Greek and Roman inhabitants of Rausium intermarried with the surrounding Slavs, and so a mixed race sprang up, a people apart from the rest of Dalmatia"</ref>(the Republic had an office in charge of translations from Slavic vernacular). In the daily business of the government and in diplomacy - Ragusa had over 80 consulates in every major European and Middle Eastern city -, the official language of the small republic was Italian. Furthermore, The Republic of Ragusa is remembered as ”The fifth Maritime Republic of Italy” (with Venice, Pisa, Amalfi and Genoa). For centuries, the well-to-do Ragusan families sent their children to study in the Italian universities. Across the Adriatic sea, Ragusans had daily contacts with Italy. The celebrated libraries of Ragusa were full of Italian editions of every kind, but no books printed in Slavic languages. Today in some Croatian history books the real history of Ragusa disappears almost completely.  

The historians maintain that Dubrovnik ''“is an important page of the history of Croatia”'', although Ragusa had only commercial liaisons with a Croatian territory that has not been a state for nine centuries. They repeat obsessively that the maritime republic was Croatian “almost since the beginning of her history”, that her merchant fleet was completely Croatian. Every family of the town’s aristocracy - Basilio, Cerva, Ghetaldi, Luccari, Menze, etc. - is given arbitrarily “the equivalent Croatian name“. All Ragusan state institutions are receiving Croatian denominations; all monasteries in town are presented as “Croatian”, although the clergy was Italian. You find all these misappropriations in [[Wikipedia]] “the free encyclopaedia” site, where the authors (clearly Croats) are demonstrating how grotesque are their pretensions when, at a certain point, they report the list of Ragusan senators who attended the last session of their Greater Council, the one in which it was announced that the glorious republic was dissolved (29th of August 1814): of a little over forty incontestable Italian names of the senators, only one is of Croatian origin: Marino Domenico, count of Zlatarich.  

The historians maintain that Dubrovnik ''“is an important page of the history of Croatia”'', although Ragusa had only commercial liaisons with a Croatian territory that has not been a state for nine centuries. They repeat obsessively that the maritime republic was Croatian “almost since the beginning of her history”, that her merchant fleet was completely Croatian. Every family of the town’s aristocracy - Basilio, Cerva, Ghetaldi, Luccari, Menze, etc. - is given arbitrarily “the equivalent Croatian name“. All Ragusan state institutions are receiving Croatian denominations; all monasteries in town are presented as “Croatian”, although the clergy was Italian. You find all these misappropriations in [[Wikipedia]] “the free encyclopaedia” site, where the authors (clearly Croats) are demonstrating how grotesque are their pretensions when, at a certain point, they report the list of Ragusan senators who attended the last session of their Greater Council, the one in which it was announced that the glorious republic was dissolved (29th of August 1814): of a little over forty incontestable Italian names of the senators, only one is of Croatian origin: Marino Domenico, count of Zlatarich.  

*The Renaissance painter Lorenzo De Boninis, born in Dubrovnik, is presented in Croatian history books and tourist guides as “Lovro Dobricevic”

*The Renaissance painter Lorenzo De Boninis, born in Dubrovnik, is presented in Croatian history books and tourist guides as “Lovro Dobricevic”

*Nicola Fiorentino, an Italian born XVI century architect active for decades in Dalmatia, becomes the fake Croat “Nikola Firentinac“.

*Nicola Fiorentino, an Italian born XVI century architect active for decades in Dalmatia, becomes the fake Croat “Nikola Firentinac“.

===Robert D. Kaplan===

===Robert D. Kaplan===

In 1998, writing for “The Atlantic” magazine''' Robert D. Kaplan''' (author of influential “Balkan Ghosts”)<ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7zx8HswRGmMC&dq=Robert+D.+Kaplan++“Balkan+Ghosts”&hl=en&ei=M0c1TPaVLI3fcf2V7csD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA Balkan Ghosts:] A Journey Through History ''by'' Robert D. Kaplan </ref> seemed to be the first American essayist to reveal the truth about the suppression of the Italian past of Ragusa by Croatia (and by extension of Dalmatia). ''“A nasty, tribal principality, he wrote - who are attempting to transform, in the old Republic, its character subtly from that of a sensuous, cosmopolitan mélange into a sterile, nationalistic uniformity”''.  

In 1998, writing for “The Atlantic” magazine''' Robert D. Kaplan''' (author of influential “Balkan Ghosts”)<ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7zx8HswRGmMC&dq=Robert+D.+Kaplan++“Balkan+Ghosts”&hl=en&ei=M0c1TPaVLI3fcf2V7csD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA Balkan Ghosts:] A Journey Through History ''by'' Robert D. Kaplan </ref> seemed to be the first American essayist to reveal the truth about the suppression of the Italian past of Ragusa by Croatia (and by extension of Dalmatia). ''“A nasty, tribal principality, he wrote - who are attempting to transform, in the old Republic, its character subtly from that of a sensuous, cosmopolitan mélange into a sterile, nationalistic uniformity”''.  

== References ==

== References ==