The Croats.
The Croatians and Slovenes occupy the two large provinces to the south of Hungary, Croatia and Slavonia, that lie between the Drave and Danube rivers on the north and the Save River and the Bosnian boundary line on the south. A large number of the same race also come to America from the adjoining provinces of Carniola, Carinthia, Styria, Istria and Dalmatia.
Croatia and Slavonia formed part of ancient Pannonia. The Slavs took possession about the seventh century after Ostrogoth and Hun had come and gone. They recognized the authority of the Emperors of the East until 1075, when their leader, Zwonimir Demetrius, threw off the Byzantine yoke and received the title of king from Pope Gregory VII. at Rome. The country was subdued by the Turks (1524) and, from the time of their expulsion some years later, has been considered a part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Croats took sides against the Magyars in the revolt of 1848, and Austria rewarded them by making them independent of Hungary, but in 1860 Austria's attitude changed, and to conciliate the Magyars she restored them to Hungary. They are not content. Their national feeling is intense, and, though loyal to the house of Hapsburg, they desire complete autonomy, with the Emperor of Austria as their king. They detest their Magyar rulers, and there exists as a consequence a constant clashing of Magyar and Slav throughout the provinces. This race of southern Slavs presents some peculiarities when compared with the recognized Slav type. They are dark-eyed and swarthy skinned (very different in complexion from the northern Slavs). Their heads are brachycephalic, not so much from great width as from a very short antero-posterior diameter. This peculiarity is striking if the subject be inspected in profile. The line of contour from the vertex of the skull to the root of the neck is almost perpendicular. Compared with the average Pole or Russian, who is not above medium height, they are very tall. Their stature is remarkable not only because it is so unlike that of the typical Slavs, but also because it is an exception to the general rule that European races are tall in the north and short in the south.
The Croats are of slighter build than Pole or Slovak, but they have fewer physical defects than any other Slavic people.
More than seven eighths of the males are unskilled laborers, strong and willing to work. The table given below shows how they were distributed in the United States during the year ended June 30, 1902:
