The Kingdom of Dalmatia (; ; ) 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.
History
The Habsburg monarchy had annexed the lands of Dalmatia after the Napoleonic War of the First Coalition: when Napoleon Bonaparte launched his Italian Campaign into the Habsburg duchies of Milan and Mantua in 1796, culminating in the Siege of Mantua, he compelled Emperor Francis II to make peace. In 1797 the Treaty of Campo Formio was signed, whereby the Habsburg emperor renounced possession of the Austrian Netherlands and officially recognized the independence of the Italian Cisalpine Republic. In turn, Napoleon ceded to him the possessions of the Republic of Venice, including the Dalmatian coast (Venetian Dalmatia) and the Bay of Kotor (Venetian Albania). The Republic of Venice had sided with Austria in order to defend her Domini di Terraferma and was occupied by French troops on 14 May 1797. The treaty ended the centuries-long history of the Venetian Republic.
The newly acquired Habsburg crown land stretched from the Rab Island and Karlobag in the north down the Adriatic coast to Budva in the south, while the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) retained its independence until 1808. When in 1804 Francis II created the title of Emperor of Austria for himself (as Francis I), he also added that of "King of Dalmatia" (Dalmatiae Rex). However, the possessions were again lost after the Austrian defeat in the Battle of Austerlitz and the 1805 Peace of Pressburg, when they temporarily formed part of the French Illyrian Provinces. Not until the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15 was the Kingdom of Dalmatia formed from the regained territories, now including the former Republic of Ragusa and stretching down to Sutomore in the southeast.
Around 1850, the Austrians had the Prevlaka fortress erected to control the maritime traffic in the Bay of Kotor. Upon the Revolutions of 1848, Dalmatia was temporarily under the control of Ban Josip Jelačić of Croatia. However, the Italian-speaking elite dominating the Diet of Dalmatia urged autonomy for the kingdom as an Austrian crown land against the Croatian national revival movement's demand for a Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia. In the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, a unification with the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was denied. While Croatia-Slavonia was incorporated into the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, Dalmatia remained a crown land of the Cislethanian (Austrian) half of the Dual Monarchy.
The kingdom was a separate administrative division of Austria-Hungary until 1918, when its territory except for Zadar and the islands of Lastovo and Palagruza which were annexed by the Kingdom of Italy became part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). As a result of the Vidovdan Constitution (in 1921), the majority of the kingdom was divided into the Split Oblast and Dubrovnik Oblast, with the Bay of Kotor being administratively split off to the largely Montenegrin Zeta Oblast.
Background
The Republic of Venice, between the 9th century and 1797, extended its dominion to Istria, the islands of Kvarner and Dalmatia, when it was conquered by Napoleon. Istria and Dalmatia were then aggregated to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805, and annexed to the Illyrian Provinces in 1809 (for some years also the Republic of Ragusa was included, since 1808).
After the fall of Napoleon (1814) Istria, the islands of Kvarner and Dalmatia were annexed to the Austrian Empire. From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Italian and Slavic communities in Dalmatia had lived peacefully side by side because they did not know the national identification, given that they generically defined themselves as "Dalmatians", of "Romance" or "Slavic" culture.
First Austrian Administration Many workers and citizens throughout Dalmatia were revolted by the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. A strong movement for unification of Dalmatia with Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia emerged. The Franciscans and many other members of the clergy held gatherings, for example in the village of Gornji Karin, where they demanded unification. They were joined by Archbishop Lelije Cipiko of Split, the Bishop of Makarska and the Orthodox clergy. In June 1797, they formed a delegation which planned to travel to Vienna and ask the Emperor to approve unification but they were pre-empted by the Treaty of Campo Formio, so they decided to contact the Croatian Ban instead. By the Treaty of Campo Formio, signed on 18 October 1797 between the French First Republic and the Habsburg monarchy, Venetian territories were divided between the two states with the Habsburg Monarchy gaining Istria and Dalmatia.
The Austrian army, with about 4,000 soldiers, was led by the Croatian general Mathias Rukavina von Boynograd in claiming the newly acquired territories. Rukavina, a supporter of the unification of Dalmatia and Croatia-Slavonia, was named Military Governor of Dalmatia. The people and the clergy were delighted to see the arrival of a Croat-led army composed predominantly of ethnic Croats. However, Dalmatia was treated as a newly conquered territory and so it had no autonomous government but was directly subjected to the government in Vienna.
In 1798, the Imperial and Royal Government (; ), headed by the governor, was founded in Zadar. Members of the government and the governor were appointed by the Emperor and were subordinated to the Imperial and Royal Court Committee for Istria, Dalmatia, and Albania in Venice (; ), and since 1802 to the Viennese Royal Chamber's Section for Dalmatia and the Bay of Kotor (). Dalmatia was divided into administrative-court districts, headed by the rectors and judge-administrators. Seats of the districts were in Cres, Krk, Rab, Pag, Zadar, Nin, Novigrad, Skradin, Šibenik, Knin, Sinj, Trogir, Split, Klis, Omiš, Brač, Hvar, Korčula, Imotski, Makarska, Poljica and Metković.
In 1802, the Habsburg court officially rejected the request for the unification of Dalmatia with the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. During its short first administration of Dalmatia, the Austrian government did little to change the existing Venetian system and implemented only limited reforms in education and the judiciary. In 1803, a gymnasium was opened in Zadar. After the Austrian defeat against Napoleon, according to the provisions of the 1805 Peace of Pressburg, Dalmatia was handed over to the French, who annexed it to Napoleon's client state of the Kingdom of Italy. That ended the first Austrian administration of Dalmatia.
From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Italian and Slavic communities in Dalmatia had lived peacefully side by side because they did not know the national identification, given that they generically defined themselves as "Dalmatians", of "Romance" or "Slavic" culture.
French Administration Following the Peace of Pressburg, Napoleon sent General Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor to take over Dalmatia. In February 1806, the French occupied northern Dalmatia down to the Neretva River. The Bay of Kotor, which was also given to the French by the Peace, was held by the Russians and their Montenegrin allies. In addition, the Russians also occupied the Korčula and sought to capture the Republic of Ragusa.Ferdo Šišić, Hrvatska povijest, Kratki pregled povijesti republike dubrovačke, Zagreb, 1913.
End of the Republic of Ragusa
According to the provisions of the Peace of Pressburg, France was entitled to all of Dalmatia and the Bay of Kotor. The territory of the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) cut off terrestrial connection between those French territories.Ferdo Šišić, Hrvatska povijest, Kratki pregled povijesti republike dubrovačke, Zagreb, 1913 With Napoleon's army on one side, and the weakened Ottoman Empire on other, the Republic was no longer safe. On 27 May 1806, endangered by the Russians, the Republic surrendered without resistance to the French troops. A French force of about 1,200 soldiers under the command of General Jacques Lauriston entered the city under the false pretenses. Since the entry of the French army into Dubrovnik, war operations in the Ottoman Empire, led by the joint Russian military and Montenegrin paramilitary forces, who were assisted by Serb population from the hinterland, began. At the beginning of October 1806, with the help of General Auguste de Marmont, the hostile Russian army was expelled from the territory of the Dubrovnik Republic. Shortly thereafter, the French took over Dubrovnik's government. The needs of a large number of French troops financially exhausted Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik's mercantile navy was destroyed or lost in the Mediterranean ports, and the once very lucrative trade with the hinterland was interrupted. On 31 January 1808 General Marmont, with Napoleon's approval, dissolved Dubrovnik's Senate and abolished Dubrovnik's independence. After the abolition of the Republic, the Dubrovnik area with Bay of Kotor was subjected to Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy and between 1810 and 1814 included in the French Illyrian Provinces.
Dalmatia under the French
Soon after the occupation of Dalmatia, Napoleon appointed General Vincenzo Dandolo to the position of the provéditeur général of Dalmatia (appointed on 28 April 1806) and General Auguste de Marmont to the position of a military commander of Dalmatia (appointed on 12 June 1806).http://www.filatelija.net/crticeizpp5.htm Dalmatia was administratively linked to the Kingdom of Italy whose seat was in Milan. On 14 October 1809, Illyrian Provinces were created with the Treaty of Schönbrunn. The center of the Dalmatian Government (), led by the General Dandolo, was in Zadar. Italian become the official language. Dalmatian interests were advocated (only formally) by the so-called Dalmatian minister without portfolio who worked at the then central government of the Kingdom of Italy in Milan. Ivan Stratico served as a Minister for a long time. Proveditura Generale was divided into six departments (judiciary, internal affairs, finance, military affairs, teaching, accounting) that were led by the department heads. In addition, there were also 1 police and 1 military supervisor. All of them were subordinated to the Secretary-General () who was Proveditore Generale's right hand. Main Council of Dalmatians () was an advisory body. It was composed of 48 members who were chosen by the Government from the districts, one or more from each, according to the number of districts' inhabitants. The first members were appointed by the Government alone, and after each year 12 of them would resign, after which the Council proposed a list from which the Government would then pick 12 new candidates and appoint them to serve on the council. The council was presided over by the Proveditore Generale and it discussed various subjects relevant for Dalmatia. Councils' conclusions were only valid after Proveditore Generale'''s formal confirmation.Ferdo Šišić, Hrvatska povijest, Austrijska i francuska dalmacija i Ilirija (1797.-1815.), Zagreb, 1913.