Udbina
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Udbina is a settlement and a municipality in historical
Krbava Krbava (; ) is a historical region located in Mountainous Croatia and a former Catholic bishopric (1185–1460), precursor of the diocese of Modruš and present Latin titular see. It can be considered either located east of Lika, or indeed as ...
, in the
Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...
region of
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
. Administratively, it is part of the
Lika-Senj County Lika-Senj County (, ) is a county in Croatia that includes most of the Lika region and some northern coastline of the Adriatic near the town of Senj, including the northern part of the Pag island. Its center is Gospić. The county is the leas ...
.


Geography

Udbina is located in the large karst field called
Krbava Krbava (; ) is a historical region located in Mountainous Croatia and a former Catholic bishopric (1185–1460), precursor of the diocese of Modruš and present Latin titular see. It can be considered either located east of Lika, or indeed as ...
. It is approximately 45 kilometres from Gospić, the county capital and nearest sizeable town. The field has a small airport, the only one in Lika.


Climate

Between 1996 and 2015, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was , on 3 August 1988. The coldest temperature was , on 13 January 2003.


History

Udbina was one of
Illyria In classical and late antiquity, Illyria (; , ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; , ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. The Ancient Gree ...
n territories. In the medieval Kingdom of Croatia, Udbina was known as ''Civitas Corbaviae'' (Town of Krbava) and was the seat of a Diocese of Corbavia from 1185, when it was separated from the Archdiocese of Split, until 1460, when the diocese seat moved to the Krbava's former canonical territory of
Modruš Modruš is a village, former episcopal see, and current Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. T ...
due to Ottoman military campaigns in the area. The Bishop's Court was built during Bishop Bonifacio in the 14th century. In the Middle Ages, Udbina was a seat () of the historic
Krbava Krbava (; ) is a historical region located in Mountainous Croatia and a former Catholic bishopric (1185–1460), precursor of the diocese of Modruš and present Latin titular see. It can be considered either located east of Lika, or indeed as ...
County. The name Udbina was mentioned for the first time in 1493, following the Battle of Krbava Field in which the
Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
under ban
Emerik Derenčin Emerik Derenčin (, ) was a Hungarian-Croatian nobleman remembered as the commander of the Croatian troops in the 1493 Battle of Krbava Field. He was a member of the Derencsényi family from the kindred of Balog. Prior to becoming the ban, D ...
and the
Frankopan The House of Frankopan (, , , ) was a Croatian noble family, whose members were among the great landowner magnates and high officers of the Kingdom of Croatia in union with Hungary. The Frankopans, along with the Zrinskis, are among the mos ...
s suffered defeat from the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. The medieval fortified town, from which only the remains were preserved, was governed in 1509 by Ban
Ivan Karlović Ivan Karlović (c. 1485 – 9 August 1531), also known as by his Latin name ''Johannes Torquatus'', was the Count of Krbava. His life during critical periods of Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War was marked by constant efforts to stop Ottoman ...
and between 1527 and 1689 by the Turks as part of the
Eyalet of Bosnia The Eyalet of Bosnia (; By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters ; ), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a ''beylerbeylik'') of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ...
.The 1712 census of Lika and Krbava records that 44 Croatian, 6
Bunjevci Bunjevci ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Bunjevci, Буњевци, ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=, separator=" / ", Bunjevac, Буњевац, sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=, separator=" / ", Bunjevka, Буњевка) are a South Slavs, South Slavic sub-ethnic ...
and 20 Vlach families live in Udbina. Ancient tombstones were discovered near the remains of the ''Church of St. Mark Graveyard'' (Named after the folk tradition that martyr saint and several heroes of the Battle of Krbava were buried on the site), which was a shrine with a triangular ending destroyed by the Serbs in 1942. In the vicinity, near Mutilić, there are ruins of the old ''Church of St. Augustine'' (quadrangular sanctuary with a bell tower). In the late 19th and early 20th century, Udbina was part of the Lika-Krbava County of the
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...
. According to the 1910 census, the town of Udbina was inhabited by a Croat majority and Serb minority; 1,317 Croats and 621 Serbs. The government of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...
erected in Udbina a monument to the King Alexander I which was removed after the establishment of the
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...
(NDH). During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Udbina was part of NDH's territory. Local gendarmerie sergeant Drakulić gave 200 rifles to the local Serbs, which on 12 April 1941 began with an ethnic cleansing of
Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...
from Gračac to Gospić. On 13 July 1941, Catholic priest Father Mate Mugoša delivered a sermon to his parishioners in Udbina pledging allegiance to the
Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...
and calling for the extermination of Serb population in Croatia, which preceded massacres of Serbs. In 1942, Serbs burned two Catholic churches, ''Church of St. Nicholas'' and ''Church of St. Mark Graveyard''. In December of the same year, the Croatian population was expelled from Udbina. In order to conceal ruins, Serbs after the war built a hotel on the site of the ''Church of St. Nicholas'', and used stone from the ''Church of St. Mark Graveyard'' for building a sheep barn. In addition, Serbs also destroyed the Church of St. Augustin in Mutilić and the Catholic cemetery in Korija.Ive Sertić: Hrvati su prognani prije 60 godina. Hrvati u Udbini (2), Rubrika: Jeka. Hrvatsko slovo, 17 January 2003, p. 29. During the war, many local Serbs were killed by Ustaše and local Croats by
Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
and
Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...
. The Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas (filial of the Church of the Holy Transfiguration of Mutilić) was also destroyed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Most Croats fled from Udbina after the massacre on the eve before the St. Lucy's Day. Croats fled through Trovro mountain all the way to Lovinac. After World War II, the new Yugoslav authority took away the houses and lands from the Croats and gave them to Serbs who comprised Udbina's majority, as confirmed by 1961–91 censuses, with smaller numbers of Croats and Muslims. It seems that there was a ''Franciscan monastery of St. John'' on the "Udbina hill". Yugoslav authorities erected a monument to the Yugoslav Partisans on the site without doing any archeological research or getting approval from the '' Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments''. During the construction of the Partisan monument, remains of medieval edifices and human bones were found on the site. In
SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
, Udbina was part of the Korenica municipality. During the
Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...
, Udbina was under control of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. During that time, the remaining Croats from Krbava were forced to leave. The only remaining Croatian settlement on Krbava, Podlapač was saved from the Serb militias by the UNPROFOR's Czech battalion. The local airport was used as an airbase for offensive operations against Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in direct defiance of
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
's
Operation Deny Flight Operation Deny Flight was a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation that began on 12 April 1993 as the enforcement of a United Nations (UN) no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United Nations and NATO later expanded the ...
. The airstrip was eventually destroyed by a NATO's 39 aircraft-strong strike on 21 November 1994. Udbina was taken over by Croatian forces on 7 August 1995, during
Operation Storm Operation Storm ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Operacija Oluja, separator=" / ", Операција Олуја) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory f ...
. In the 2001 census, 51% of Udbina's population were Croats, mostly from Bosnia. Today, Udbina is a part of the
Lika-Senj County Lika-Senj County (, ) is a county in Croatia that includes most of the Lika region and some northern coastline of the Adriatic near the town of Senj, including the northern part of the Pag island. Its center is Gospić. The county is the leas ...
. In recent years, Udbina recorded an increase in tourist visits.


Demographics

In 2021, the municipality had 1,334 residents in the following 26 settlements: * Breštani, population 13 * Bunić, population 96 * Čojluk, population 3 * Debelo Brdo, population 47 * Donji Mekinjar, population 15 * Frkašić, population 21 * Grabušić, population 49 * Jagodnje, population 21 * Jošani, population 38 * Klašnjica, population 1 *
Komić Komić ( sr-cyr, Комић) is a village in the Udbina municipality in the Lika region of central Croatia. The 2011 population was 20. History Near the village once was the Fort Komić which was built by Kurjaković family in the 14th century. ...
, population 14 *
Krbava Krbava (; ) is a historical region located in Mountainous Croatia and a former Catholic bishopric (1185–1460), precursor of the diocese of Modruš and present Latin titular see. It can be considered either located east of Lika, or indeed as ...
, population 35 * Kurjak, population 15 * Mutilić, population 36 * Ondić, population 25 * Pećane, population 21 * Podlapača, population 55 * Poljice, population 9 * Rebić, population 11 * Srednja Gora, population 9 * Svračkovo Selo, population 9 * Šalamunić, population 24 * Tolić, population 2 *Udbina, population 738 * Vedašić, population 2 * Visuć, population 25 According to the 2011 census, there were 1,875 residents in the municipality, of which 51% were Serbs and 45% were Croats.


Historic sites

* Udbina Castle * Cathedral of St. James Senior in Krbava


Politics

In 2016, on the instructions of Vlaho Orepić, Minister of Interior in the Cabinet of Tihomir Orešković, Croatian police started intensive patrols and checking out the residence of local population and that resulted in 71 deletions from the residence register. Voices of criticism of police action were raised, including that of the Deputy Mayor of Udbina, Milan Uzelac, claiming that the action is disproportionately and primarily targeted at the
Serbs of Croatia The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in C ...
and promoted by a president of a local right wing organization close to the ruling
Bridge of Independent Lists The Bridge (), previously known as Bridge of Independent Lists () until November 2020, is a political party in Croatia founded in 2012. The party is led by Božo Petrov, its founder and the former mayor of Metković, deputy prime minister and s ...
. Representatives of local Serb population organized a meeting with Serb National Council to discuss the issue. 2011 census was the first post-war census at which Serbs of Croatia, many of whom left the area during the
Operation Storm Operation Storm ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Operacija Oluja, separator=" / ", Операција Олуја) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory f ...
, constituted the majority of local population. Minister Vlaho Orepić in his statements prior to Police activities in Udbina and the rest of the country called out the Serb minority for election manipulation with the fictive residences.


Minority councils and representatives

Serbian and Croatian are co-official at the municipal level in Udbina. As of 2023, most of the legal requirements for the fulfillment of bilingual standards have not been carried out. Official buildings do have Cyrillic signage, but not street signs, traffic signs or seals. Cyrillic is not used on any official documents, nor are there public legal and administrative employees proficient in the script. Preserving traditional Serbian place names and assigning street names to Serbian historical figures is legally mandated, but not carried out. Almost uniquely among all municipalities in Croatia where it is mandated (along with the Slovaks of Punitovci), neither minority national symbols nor holidays are officially celebrated, in spite of the fact that 43% of local government employees were Serbs. Directly elected minority councils and representatives are tasked with consulting tasks for the local or regional authorities in which they are advocating for minority rights and interests, integration into public life and participation in the management of local affairs. At the
2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections The 2023 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections () were held on 7 May in certain regional (counties) and local administrative units (municipalities and towns & cities). Background Elections were announced in Nar ...
Serbs of Croatia The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in C ...
fulfilled legal requirements to elect 10 members minority council of the Municipality of Udbina.


Notable locals

*
Rade Šerbedžija Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors ...
(born 1946), actor, born in Bunić * Tomislav Sertić (1902–1945), Ustasha General, born in Udbina * Petar Smiljanić - leader of a Morlach clan, born in Udbina * Jovanka Broz (1924–2013), wife of Yugoslav president
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...
, born in Pećane * Vojislav Korać, born in Debelo Brdo.


References


External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Lika-Senj County Municipalities of Croatia