Delnice is a city in Croatia. They are located in the area of Gorski kotar, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The area of the City of Delnice is 230 km2. The population density is 27.22 inhabitants per km2.
Formation of Shares
Due to impassability and forest
cover, the settlement of Gorski Kotar began only at the end of the
13th and the beginning of the 14th century. Important economic
events were recorded only in the 15th century. The names of Delnice,
Brod na Kupi and some other nearby settlements were first mentioned
in 1481 in a document by which the Parliament in Zagreb ordered
Prince Stjepan Frankopan and his son not to collect any taxes on
their estates in the Gorski Kotar region.
According to some
sources, the settlement originated in the area of today's Lučice
(first mentioned in a document from 1639) and was entirely
Chakavian, while other sources indicate the origin of Delnički potok
- today a tourist resort just outside the city.
The shares
were under the rule of the Frankopan family, and by hereditary
contract, in 1544, they became the property of the Zrinskis. The
area was devastated and displaced during the Turkish destruction,
and the resettlement began in the 17th century when the Zrinski
family brought the population (using the Kajkavian expression) from
their Pokuplje estates: Čabra, Brod and Gerova. New Delnice was
created on a somewhat lower site, managed by Petar Zrinski from 1649
to 1670, and together with his brother Nikola he brought to an end
organized traffic and trade, and thus progress. A Catholic parish
was also founded.
In the Middle Ages, Delnice was part of the
Modruška parish. In the 16th century, they were deserted due to the
penetration of the Turks and development stopped until the
construction of the roads Karolina (18th century) and Louisiana
(19th century) and the railway Karlovac - Rijeka.
Roads and
railways
Although Karolina did not pass through the settlement
itself, she brought the first traffic route to this area. At the
beginning of the 19th century, the construction of the Louisiana
Road began, which passes through the place and creates conditions
for the development of the economy. New houses are being built along
the road and the center of the town is being formed. The wood
industry, agriculture, animal husbandry and small business are
developing. The development was mostly contributed by renting
(transporting goods by carriage from the interior to the sea and
vice versa) by which corn, wheat and wood were sold in the Littoral
and exchanged for salt, fish and fruit. This prompted the opening of
inns and lodgings. Road traffic is declining only with the
construction of the railway Karlovac - Rijeka, which thus becomes
the carrier of further development.
The railway was built
from 1869 to 1873, and was put into operation in 1875. Immediately
after launch, it takes precedence in transportation because costs
are lower, transportation cheaper, and travel faster and safer. The
railway, in addition to the decline in road traffic, initially led
to the emigration of the population to later contribute to the
creation of many new jobs and the possibility of the return of
emigrants.
20th century
On July 21, 1921, in Delnice,
Alija Alijagić, a member of the left-wing terrorist organization Red
Justice, assassinated Milorad Drašković, the Minister of the
Interior of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The reason
for the assassination was the adoption of the so-called Obzna in
1920, by which the government of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes banned the work of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, that
is, significantly reduced the scope of civil liberties in the
monarchy. The assassins voluntarily surrendered to the authorities,
using the court process to affirm their political work. Alija
Alijagić was sentenced to death, and the other assassin, Rodoljub
Čolaković, was sentenced to many years in prison.
During
World War II, in April 1941, Delnice was occupied by Italian troops.
Preparations for the uprising soon began in the city, and the
population joined the partisans. Fierce battles were fought around
the city between the partisans and the Italians, and later the
Germans. The partisans finally captured the city on July 13, 1944.
During the Homeland War, there was a large JNA weapons depot in
Delnice, which was occupied by Croatian police in the second half of
1991 - one of the few in the area.