Kingdom of Dalmatia
The Kingdom of Dalmatia (Croatian: Kraljevina Dalmacija; German: Königreich Dalmatien; Italian: Regno di Dalmazia) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entirety of the region of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar.
Kingdom of Dalmatia
Crown land of the Austrian Empire and part of Cisleithania in Austria-Hungary
Franjo Tomašić (first)
Mario Attems (last)
12 May 1797
29 October 1918
Demographic history[edit]
1818–1857[edit]
According to M. Lorković, the total population of Dalmatia numbered 297,912 in 1818; 326,739 in 1825; 338,599 in 1830; 390,381 in 1840; and 393,715 in 1850.[29][30]
Based on the 1857 census, the Kingdom of Dalmatia had 415,628 inhabitants.[31] According to an analysis of the 1857 census, 318,500 (76.5%) inhabitants were Croats, 77,500 (18.5%) were Serbs, and ca. 20,000 were Italian-speakers (5%).[32] The percentage of Dalmatian Serbs had been 19.9% in the 1830–50 period.[32] In the cities, the inhabitants were 71% Croat, 22% Italian and 7% Serb.[32] There were 745 Serbs in Kotor; in all other cities there were fewer than 400.[32] The number of Serbs in Dalmatia fell; however, in the north it rose.[32] Among the Orthodox, there was one priest for every 400 people, while among the Catholics, there was one priest for every 330 people.[32]
1880[edit]
The 1880 Austrian census, recorded the following ethnic groups in the Kingdom:
The major cities were (1900):[35]
From 1822 to 1868 the Kingdom of Dalmatia was administratively divided into four circles (counties, Italian: circoli or capitanati circolari, Croatian: okruzi or okružna poglavarstva) - Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik and Kotor - these were subdivided into smaller districts (Italian: distretti-preture, Croatian: kotari-preture), each comprised municipalities (Italian: comuni, Croatian: općine). In 1868 the circles were abolished and Dalmatia was divided into 13 larger (administrative) districts (Italian: distretti politici or capitanati distrettuali, Croatian: kotari or kotarska poglavarstva) whose capitals were (1880):
Districts, as governmental units with the government-appointed prefect (Italian: capitano distrettuale, Croatian: kotarski poglavar), were subdivided into judicial districts (Italian: distretti giudiziari, Croatian: sudski kotari) and these into municipalities (Italian: comuni, Croatian: općine) as local authorities with the elected municipal council (Italian: consiglio comunale, Croatian: općinsko vijeće)
and the mayor (Italian: podestà, Croatian: načelnik) elected by the council.
Religion[edit]
The Roman Catholic archbishop had his seat in Zadar, while the diocese of Kotor, diocese of Hvar, diocese of Dubrovnik, diocese of Šibenik and diocese of Split were bishoprics. At the head of the Orthodox community stood the bishop of Zadar.
The use of Croatian-Slavonic liturgies written in the Glagolitic alphabet, a very ancient privilege of the Roman Catholics in Dalmatia and Croatia, caused much controversy during the first years of the 20th century. There was considerable danger that the Latin liturgies would be altogether superseded by the Glagolitic, especially among the northern islands and in rural communes, where the Slavonic element is all-powerful. In 1904, the Vatican forbade the use of Glagolitic at the festival of SS. Cyril and Methodius, as likely to impair the unity of Catholicism. A few years previously the Slavonic archbishop Rajcevic of Zara, in discussing the "Glagolitic controversy", had denounced the movement as "an innovation introduced by Panslavism to make it easy for the Catholic clergy, after any great revolution in the Balkan States, to break with Latin Rome."
Head of the Austrian imperial administration in Dalmatia was Imperial-Royal Provincial Governor (Italian: I. R. Governatore Provinciale, Croatian: c. k. Guverner) appointed by the emperor. From 1852 he was known as Imperial-Royal Lieutenant (Italian: I. R. Luogotenente, Croatian: c. k. Namjesnik).
Military units in the kingdom at the start of the First World War: