While the Neo-Byzantine style was in 19th-century architecture in Croatia exclusively used for architectural projects funded by the Serbian Orthodox Church, in the period shortly before the WWI, it also started to be used in the architecture of the Catholic Church. The crucial role in spreading the use of the style was played by the pioneer of Croatian modernist architecture Viktor Kovačić and his design for St Blasius’ Church in Zagreb (1910–1913). Neo-Byzantine appeared primary due to ideological and political reasons, because it served as a reference to the period of Croatian political independence in the early Middle Ages. Croatia was then a province within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy that was striving for greater autonomy or even independence. During the 1920s the Neo-Byzantine style emerged again in Croatian church architecture, primarily owing to architect Stjepan Podhorsky who applied the style in his numerous church building designs, including the large memorial church in Duvno (present Tomislavgrad in Bosnia-Herzegovina). The church was built in relation to the millennial celebration of the Croatian kingdom (925–1925), sponsored by the Karađorđević dynasty of the newly formed state of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes/Kingdom of Yugoslavia, that Croatia became part of in 1918.

虽然新拜占庭风格在 19 世纪的克罗地亚建筑中专门用于由塞尔维亚东正教会资助的建筑项目，但在第一次世界大战前不久，它也开始用于天主教堂的建筑。克罗地亚现代主义建筑先驱维克托·科瓦契奇 (Viktor Kovačić) 和他为萨格勒布圣布拉修斯教堂 (1910–1913) 设计的建筑在传播这种风格的使用方面起到了至关重要的作用。由于意识形态和政治原因，新拜占庭式似乎是主要的，因为它参考了中世纪早期克罗地亚政治独立时期。克罗地亚当时是奥匈帝国内的一个省，正在争取更大的自治权甚至独立。在 1920 年代，新拜占庭风格再次出现在克罗地亚的教堂建筑中，主要归功于建筑师 Stjepan Podhorsky，他将这种风格应用到他众多的教堂建筑设计中，包括 Duvno 的大型纪念教堂（现在位于波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的托米斯拉夫格勒）。教堂的建造与克罗地亚王国（925-1925）的千年庆典有关，由新成立的塞尔维亚、克罗地亚和斯洛文尼亚王国/南斯拉夫王国的 Karađorđević 王朝赞助，克罗地亚成为其一部分1918 年。