nica, Lipnica and Loznica, the villages around Loznica, and toŠabac.
Austro-Hungarians
For all its leadership to the region however, Banja Luka as a city was not modernised until Austro-Hungarian occupation in the late 19th century that brought westernisation to Banja Luka. Railroads, schools, factories, and infrastructure appeared, and were developed, which led to a modern city.
A Roman Catholic Franciscan monastery was built in the 20th century in Banja Luka’s neighbourhood of Petrićevac, near the "Kastel" fort.
Yugoslavia
After World War I, the town became the capital of the Vrbas Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The provincial capital owed its rapid progress to the first Ban Svetislav Milosavljević. During that time, the Banski dvor and its twin sister, the Administration building, the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, a theatre and a museum were built, the Grammar School was renovated, the Teachers College enlarged, a city bridge was also built and the park renovated. 125 elementary schools were functioning in Banja Luka in 1930. The revolutionary ideas of the time were incubated by the "Pelagić" association and the Students' Club. Banja Luka naturally became the organizational centre of anti-fascist work in the region.
World War II
During World War II, Banja Luka was occupied by the fascist forces of the Independent State of Croatia. Most of Banja Luka's Serbs and Sephardic Jewish families were deported to Croat-controlled concentration camps such as Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška. On 7 February 1942, CroatianUstaše paramilitaries, led by a Croatian Franciscan monk, Miroslav Filipović (aka Tomislav Filipović-Majstorović) killed more than 2,300 Serbs(among them 500 children) in Drakulić, Motike and Šargovac (a part of the Banja Luka municipality). The city's Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity was totally demolished by the Ustaše, as was the Church of
