John R. Oreskovich

The History of Lika, Croatia: Land of War and Warriors John R. Oreskovich

Merriam Press Military History. Lika is a region of Croatia known for its soldiers and poverty. This history of Lika has been divided into four epochs: the first, ancient Lika, when Lika was part of the Roman Empire; the second, Slav-Croatian Lika, that existed prior to the arrival of the Ottomans, when Lika was integrated into the European feudal system; the third, the Turkish wars, when the Habsburgs and their army controlled Lika; the fourth, from the 19th century to the present, when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the country that became Yugoslavia, replaced Austrian rule in Lika. The author's family is from the Lika region of western Croatia. This is the only known history of Lika in English.