Introduction: The Historical
Development of the Region Up Until 1918
Croatia became a vassal of the
Hungarian Crown in 1102. This relationship would continue
up to the Turkish victory over the Hungarians at the Battle
of Mohács in 1526. The Turks occupied only a portion of Croatia while the north western area around Agram
(Zagreb) belonged to the
Habsburg candidate for the throne of Hungary, and would experience
frequent incursions and Turkish raids in the century that
followed.
Slavonia
and Srem endured 150 years of Turkish occupation. As a
result, the local Roman Catholic population fled from the
area to avoid ongoing conflict and raids and the Turks
brought in new settlers as far north as the Sava River, who were Moslems and Orthodox Serbs
who were forced to resettle there. By and large, most of
the area was unpopulated and settlements were clustered
around fortresses. With the defeat of the Turks in their
second attempt to take Vienna in 1683 and their retreat throughout
Hungary the Austrian Imperial
Army and their allied forces proceeded to liberate all of
the territories that had once been part of Hungary. So that by 1686 after Buda
the capital of Hungary had been taken on August 12th
the battle of Mount Harsany took place, which was about 30
kilometers south east of Pécs. Charles of Lorraine attacked
the forces of the Grand Vizer and defeated them, which would
prove to be significant for the liberation of
Slavonia. Shortly afterwards Count Dünewald
crossed the Drava River and his army liberated all of
Slavonia with the exception of a few towns and by October 5,
1687 the city of Essegg, the capital of Slavonia was taken
and the first attacks down the Danube towards Srem were
undertaken by the onrushing Imperial forces with the Turks
in full flight.
Many towns fell to small contingents of troops along the Sava River. The major campaign undertaken by
the Imperial troops was under the command of Prince Max
Emmanuel of Bavaria, and
later Prince Louis of
Baden. They occupied all of Srem in 1688. On
August 6th the fortress of Belgrade fell to them. In
the following year they invaded Serbia and Bulgaria and
occupied the key fortresses. But then a great portion of
their troops had to withdraw to defend the
Rhineland
and the Pfalz from a French invasion. As a result the Grand
Vizer, Mustapha retook Serbia
and
Belgrade. His
invasion of Srem against Louis of Baden in 1691 failed and
he was defeated and lost his life at the Battle of
Slankamen.
The withdrawal of the Imperial troops to deal with the
French had lasting effects on Slavonia and Srem, in that the
Serbian Patriarch from Ipek along with 25,000 Serbian
families fled across the
Sava
River with the Imperial
forces. Emperor Leopold I allowed them to settle there and
granted them privileges. This resulted in a major increase
of the Serbian population in the region of the Wojwodina,
which would be crucial in the Revolution of 1848 when they
would attempt to declare an autonomous Serbian state.
Finally on September 11, 1697 Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Turks at the Battle of
Zenta, which led to the Peace of Karlowitz on January 26,
1699. Croatia
and Slavonia were ceded to
Austria, but south eastern Srem
remained as a buffer against Belgrade and the Turkish Empire.
In 1716 the war broke out again. The Turks were defeated at
Peterwardein on August 5, 1716. In the next year the
Imperial troops occupied the Banat, northern Transylvania
and on August 18, 1717 re-took Belgrade. The Peace of Passarowitz signed on
July 21, 1718 liberated all of the Banat and Srem from Turkish rule.
The liberated territories were placed under the jurisdiction
of the Royal Chancellery in Vienna. Prince Livius
Odescalchi, a nephew of Pope Innocent XI was given the lands
and title of Count of Srem in 1698. The Neo-Acqustica
commission established in Vienna to determine the ownership of lands and
estates in the formerly occupied Turkish territories in 1700
received few claims because very few of the Hungarian
nobility had survived the Turkish wars and occupation or had
no documented evidence to prove ownership to back up their
claims. As a result the lands and estates were sold to many
nobles or military commanders who were of German origin.
In 1718 the former Counties of Hungary were re-established. Croatia was unable to lay claim to Srem and
Slavonia, which now became part of the army
controlled Military Frontier District, a defensive measure
against future Turkish invasions. In 1751 the area became
incorporated into the Hungarian sphere of influence and
eventually part of its administration. The nobility of
Slavonia were most unhappy with this situation.
Throughout the 19th century, “nationalism” became
the big issue for the South Slavs who saw the Magyars
(Hungarians) as their enemies and a threat to their
aspirations, which would erupt in Croatia in the Revolution of
1848/1849.
The hope of the Croatians, as allies of the Habsburg Emperor
against the Hungarian rebels, was for a far-reaching
“national” autonomy with the introduction of the Croatian
language as the official government language, but these
hopes were not fulfilled. The centralization that took
place during the “Bach Era” in
Austria, created more bad
blood among the South Slavs,
especially because German was established as the governing
language throughout the Empire. They saw themselves under
the yoke of Vienna. The Croatians saw that the threat to
their national survival was no longer the Turks or
Hungarians, but the Germans. Hatred of all things German
broke out during the Croatian Sabor (parliament) in 1860 and
would affect future events right up to 1918. An attempt at
re-rapprochement with the Magyars was the new order of the
day.
The Hungarian-Austrian Compromise of 1867 was not well
received by the leading Croatians. The concept of Dualism
in the Empire was unacceptable to the Slavs, the Roman
Catholic bishop Josip Strossmayer and his political circle
were adamantly opposed to it. A Croatian-Hungarian
Compromise followed in January 30, 1868. The Compromise
allowed the Croatians autonomy in their domestic affairs and
matters of religion. It was an attempt on the part of the
Hungarians to prevent a united front and union of the Slavs.
Political parties of all stripes fought for control of the
Sabor beginning in the 1870’s; the National Party had the
support of the nobles who supported the Compromise with Hungary. The
supporters of the “South Slav” idea found expression in the
“Independent National Party” under the leadership of Bishop
Strossmayer. Their ideology was based on the principle of
the unity of all of the
South Slavs, except the Bulgarians. The
financial support for the party came from the coffers of the
bishop’s diocese. The third party was “Croatian Rights” who
were united with the Austrian Monarchy and its aspirations,
in effect they were the official anti-Serbian party. But
even this party was suspicious of both
Vienna and Budapest.
The 700,000 Serbian minority in Croatia
established their own Serbian Independent Party in Ruma in
1881 to safeguard their rights and demanded equality for
their minority. Their liberal approach was opposed by
others among the Serbs, who formed the “Radical Party”,
which leaned heavily on the Orthodox clergy for support and
leadership.
As the 19 century ended, the younger generation of
leadership sought to take advantage of the new issues that
divided
Austria and
Hungary to advance their
cause of a union of the South Slavs: Yugoslavia.
With the rise of the Kossuth Coalition that came to power in
Budapest in 1904 that sought full independence
from Austria, the Croatian opposition
parties offered support to the Magyars if they would support
Croatian self-determination. The Serbian parties also
followed suit with the same solution in 1905. As a result a
Croatian-Serbian Party was formed to work for autonomy and
the ideal of self-determination and unity of the
South Slavs and the destruction of the Habsburg
Danubian Monarchy. In the elections of 1906 the Coalition
won the majority of seats in the Sabor, and played the
leading role in the life and history of Croatia up to 1918. Friendship with
the Hungarians did not last very long. The annexation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, followed by the Balkan War
(1912-1913) were flashpoints of conflict and unrest among
the south Slavs finally resulting in Sarjevo and the
outbreak of World War I and the end of the Danubian
Monarchy.
Next:
The
Settlement of the Germans
