Showing posts with label Croatia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Croatia. Show all posts

June 25 - Independence Day in Croatia

   Posted on June 25, 2022     


This is an update of my post published on June 25, 2011:




A lot changed in Croatia in the year 1991. On May 19, there was a referendum about whether or not to break away from Yugoslavia. (About 94% of the population voted Yes, let's break away!). On May 30, the president announced the referendum results and declared Croatia independent. On June 25, the Croatian parliament formally joined it with its own declaration of independence. And on October 8, parliament cut all remaining ties with Yugoslavia.


When Yugoslavia broke apart, Slovenia, Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia,
Montenegro, and North Macedonia formed. 

Kosovo is only partially recognized. 

To commemorate this series of events, May 30 is Croatia's National Day, called (I gather) Statehood Day.

Some websites claim that, separately from the May holiday, either June 25 or October 8 (or possibly both?) is considered Independence Day. Whether or not these days are celebrated is hard to verify!

More about Croatia...

Croatia is the home of the cravat, or necktie.


This piece of clothing used to be part of the Croatian soldier's uniform, and it was seen and copied all over Europe in the early 1600s. The French king Louis XIV loved the cravat and adopted the fashion, and it became so popular it was commonplace.


It's interesting to note that "cravat" came from the French word for "Croat," which means "a person from Croatia"! But the method of typing a cravat became so important - and so varied! - that the words "tie" and "necktie" began to be used more and more as time went on.
 

Nowadays men can dress up or individualize their work clothes with ties—sometimes even wearing ties that are funny!


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

June 1 - International Children's Day in Croatia (and elsewhere!)

 Posted on June 1, 2021

This is an update of my post published on June 1, 2010:




Although many countries celebrate Universal Children's Day on November 20, and some countries celebrate their own version of Children's Day on other dates, more than 40 countries, many of them former Soviet Union states or communist countries, celebrate Children's Day on June 1. The list includes countries in South America (such as Ecuador), Africa (such as Ethiopia), Asia (such as Laos), and Europe (such as Croatia).

Croatia, which is located in south-central Europe, has in the past been (1) an independent kingdom, (2) linked with Hungry and Austria-Hungry, and (3) part of Yugoslavia, a formerly communist country.



Croatia is now an independent republic with a parliamentary government.


Riddled with Holes

More than half of Croatia is made up of karst landforms, which are created when water drains through rock and dissolves portions of the rock. Karst landforms include sinkholes and caves.

One of the most interesting sinkholes in the entire world is in Croatia. Called Crveno Jezero, or the Red Lake, this lake looks like a deep hole with nearly vertical walls. Some people say that the lake looks like it is at the bottom of a shaft or a pit. The walls feature some small caves, one of which starts above water level and ends below water level, and measuring the bottom of the lake is problematic since it extends down into a cave system of uncertain depth.


The Red Lake is actually deep blue. It is the sheer rocks around the lake that are red.

Visitors to the lake have to park at the top and look (carefully!) hundreds of meters down to the lake. An article I read said that there is no foot access “for tourists,” which hints that locals might have a way to get down there.

There is karst lake nearby called the Blue Lake. It's higher on the hill, and it is both wider and less deep. Tourists can climb down to the water of that lake (it doesn't sound easy, though!).


Some of the caves in Croatia are interesting because they are archaeological sites with ancient remnants of both Neanderthals and modern humans. (I know, ancient modern humans sounds like an oxymoron, a phrase that has opposite words. What I mean is that in these caves there are remnants of ancient homo sapiens sapiens.)

Vindija cave has these sorts of Neanderthal and human bones and artifacts, dating back to around 45,000 years ago, but it also has thousands of cave bear bones dating back more than 150,000 years.



The Caves of Cerovac are called the most beautiful caves of Croatia, but they seem to be especially famous for their paleontological and archaeological findings - the remains of prehistoric humans plus bones of cave bears, cave lions, wild horses, red deer, chomois, and other animals.

I did find a website that has some beautiful photos of rock formations in the Caves of Cerovac. Scroll down and down and down to see all the weird-but-neat-o formations.


In addition to caves, the karst landscape of Croatia has a LOT of scalloped land over which rivers tumble, split into dozens of teeny waterfalls that become one huge waterfall feature!








Caves on the Web

Here is a website about caves that's meant for kids!

And here is a simple experiment that gives some idea of how cave formations form.

Do you like the idea of a virtual cave tour? This cave is in Wales, faaarr from Croatia, but it's interesting to click-and-seek.

How Do Sinkholes Form?

That's the question I typed into Google, and I found this answer.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

June 22 - Anti-Fascist Struggle Day in Croatia

Posted on June 22, 2020

This national holiday marks the beginning of Croatian forces fighting against the German and Italian occupation during World War II. On June 22, 1941, the first armed resistance unit formed in a forest near Sisak. 

When I read "the first armed resistance unit," I assumed that this was the first such unit formed in Croatia. But according to Wikipedia, it was the first such formed in all of Europe!

I read that the Sisak armed group only had 77 fighters, and by the end of the war, that number had been cut down to only 38. The squad did mostly diversions - keeping the Nazis busy with fixing rail lines they damaged, for example. Another, smaller armed group started up near Vrgorac.

These squads of fighters inspired people all over Croatia and the surrounding region to join a resistance movement that is considered the most effective resistance of the war. I gather that the anti-fascist Croats were able to control lots of the previously occupied land. People rationed consumer goods, recycled materials, bought war bonds, and worked in war industries. 

Laying flowers and wreaths in cemeteries and at memorial parks is a popular way of honoring the anti-fascists. Opposing fascism today would be another good thing to do!



(By the way, even though some people misuse the label "antifa" as they hurt people or destroy property, other people who label themselves as antifa only use "violence" in self-defense of people being attacked by white supremacists or other fascistic groups. Some people pretend that antifa is an organized group of terrorists - but "antifa" isn't an organization, and few if any people using the label are rightly labeled as terrorists.  The truth is, "antifa" just means anti-fascist. And we should ALL be anti-fascist, shouldn't we?)

Sisak - the location of the beginning of Croatia's anti-fascist movement - is today considered the Mural Capital of Croatia:







Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)