Zadar is an ancient city about 3000 years old and was referenced for the first time in history in the 4th century B.C. as a settlement of the Illyrian tribe of Liburnians. Originally Zadar was a small island just off the shoreline of the Damlatian coast. This made Zadar's location easy to protect. The Roman's built a modern city here around 50 BC complete with roads, temples and a public forum. Ruins of old Roman forum still stand today.

When the Western Roman empire fell Zadar became part of the Byzantine empire. In the 7th century Zadar became the capital of the Byzantine province of Dalmatia and at the beginning of the 9th century Zadar became the home of bishop Donatus and the Byzantine leader Paulus.

Do a quick google search with the words “siege of Zadar” and you get page after page of links to the abominations that have plagued Zadar.

In 998 AD, the Bulgarians captured the city and in 1202, the Christian crusaders attacked Zadar at the request of the Venetians who had their eye on Zadar for many years. After wintering in Zadar, these crusaders conquered Constantinople the following year. In 1346 Zadar was again under Venetian rule. The winged lion symbolizing St. Mark (patron saint of Venice) still stands guard above the city gates proclaiming that Zadar is ruled by the Queen of the Adriatic. During the 16 & 17th centuries, the Ottoman Turks attempted to conquer Zadar multiple times, however, the Venetian’s fortified city walls successfully held. And in 1806, when Venice surrendered to Napoleon, Zadar was under Naploeon's rule for a brief period. In 1813, the Austrians with the help of the British, invaded and so Zadar finally became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Of course, WW1 would change everything. Ironically, or perhaps inevitably, the fuse was lit in Sarajevo, with the assassination of the Austrian Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand who was the younger brother of Franz Jospeh the Emperor of Austria. The visit of Franz Jospeh to Zadar is described in the Zadar city history. The "war to end all wars" (or the peace to end all peace) ended the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. New nations were born from the ashes of these empires and in 1946, the communist revolutionary, Josip Broz Tito declared the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia a sovereign nation. He died in 1980 and within 11 years, Zadar was yet again, a war zone.