State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
Encyclopedia
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 after its dissolution at the end of the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

, and Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

. The state was internationally unrecognized.

Name

In Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...

 and Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

 the State was known as the Država Slovenaca, Hrvata i Srba (Cyrillic script
Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script for the Serbian language, developed in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two standard modern alphabets used to write the Serbian language, the other being Latin...

: Држава Словенаца, Хрвата и Срба; dr̩ˈʒaʋa sloˈʋenatsa xr̩ˈʋataɪ ˈsr̩ba), while in Slovene it was known as the Država Slovencev, Hrvatov in Srbov.

Serbs referred to in the state's name were those resident in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

, Croatia-Slavonia (including Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....

), and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

 (including Boka Kotorska and Montenegrin Littoral
Montenegrin Littoral
The Montenegrin Littoral is a region in Montenegro which borders the Adriatic Sea. Prior to the Creation of Yugoslavia, the Montenegrin Littoral was not part of the Kingdom of Montenegro, but rather a bordering region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, latterly part of the State of Slovenes, Croats,...

 up to Spič
Spic
Spic is an ethnic slur used in the United States for a person of Hispanic background.-Etymology:Some in the United States believe the word is a play on their pronunciation of the English "speak."...

 near Bar
Bar, Montenegro
Bar is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has a population of 17,727...

), not the population of the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...

 (which included the territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

), nor the Serbs in Kingdom of Montenegro
Kingdom of Montenegro
The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe during the tumultuous years on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Legally it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolutist in practice...

 and Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...

 region (including Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...

, Bačka
Backa
Bačka is a geographical area within the Pannonian plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east of which confluence is located near Titel...

 and Baranja
Baranya (region)
Baranya or Baranja is a geographical region between the Danube and the Drava rivers. Its territory is divided between Hungary and Croatia...

) as those territories were not included in the short lived state.

History

Creation

In the final year of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was suffering from an internal crisis caused by the unrest amongst its numerous Slavic populations. At the time, the South Slavic peoples were divided between various subdivisions of the Monarchy:
  • Austrian Littoral
    Austrian Littoral
    The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate...

    , Duchy of Carniola
    Duchy of Carniola
    The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana...

     and the Kingdom of Dalmatia
    Kingdom of Dalmatia
    The Kingdom of Dalmatia was an administrative division of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1815 to 1918. Its capital was Zadar.-History:...

     were under Austrian jurisdiction - in Cisleithania
    Cisleithania
    Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...

    , and in addition the Duchy of Styria
    Duchy of Styria
    The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...

     and the Duchy of Carinthia
    Duchy of Carinthia
    The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....

     also included a significant South Slavic population
  • Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
    Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
    The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia or Croatia Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was part of the Hungarian Kingdom within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen or Transleithania...

     and Corpus separatum (Fiume)
    Corpus separatum (Fiume)
    The Corpus separatum of Fiume was the name of the legal and political status of the city of Fiume , instituted by Empress Maria Theresa in 1776, determining the semi-autonomous status of Fiume within the Habsburg Empire until the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 - the longest-lasting...

     were under Hungarian jurisdiction - in Transleithania, and in addition the Kingdom of Hungary
    Kingdom of Hungary
    The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

     proper included Prekmurje
    Prekmurje
    Prekmurje is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region settled by Slovenes and lying between the Mur River in Slovenia and the Rába Valley in the most western part of Hungary...

    , Međimurje, Baranja and territories that formerly were part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar which also included a significant South Slavic population
  • Austro-Hungarian Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina had a specific status, particularly after the Bosnian crisis
    Bosnian crisis
    The Bosnian Crisis of 1908–1909, also known as the Annexation crisis, or the First Balkan Crisis, erupted into public view when on 6 October 1908, Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Germany and France...



The Yugoslav parliamentary club, consisting of South Slavic deputies in the Reichsrat, the parliament of Cisleithania, initiated activities to strengthen the pro-Yugoslav forces in the Transleithanian Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In early March 1918, a grass roots meeting was held in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 with representatives of various aspects of public life as well as several political parties, led by Mile Starčević's Party of Rights and the Slovene People's Party
Slovene People's Party (historical)
The Slovene People's Party was a Slovenian political party in the 19th and 20th centuries, active in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Between 1907 and 1941, it was the largest and arguably the most influential political party in the Slovene Lands...

, but notably excluding the ruling Croat-Serb Coalition
Croat-Serb Coalition
The Croat-Serb Coalition was a major political alliance in Austria-Hungary during the beginning of the 20th century that governed the Croatian lands . It represented the political idea of a cooperation of Croats and Serbs in Austria-Hungary for mutual benefit...

 or the opposition Croatian People's Peasant Party. This group brought forward a joint resolution that proclaimed the unity of the people of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (a "unified nation" with the latter described as equal "tribes" whose peculiar historical positions and desires are to be accommodated), demanded a right of self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...

, and the entire territory they occupied, including the whole of eastern Adriatic (Cisleithania at the time).

In July and August 1918, the People's organizations of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs were formed in Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

 (for Dalmatia), Sušak
Sušak
Sušak is a part of the city of Rijeka in Croatia, where it composes the eastern part of the city.In 1924, Rijeka belonged to the independent Free State of Fiume, which had been created four years earlier under the Treaty of Rapallo, but in the Treaty of Rome the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and...

 (for the Croatian Littoral
Croatian Littoral
The Croatian Littoral is a geographical term that refers to the narrow coastal strip along the Adriatic Sea in Croatia extending from east the city Rijeka south to Karlobag...

) and Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

 (for the Slovene lands
Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...

), which aimed to advance these policies in practice. The opposition parties in Croatia-Slavonia then met again in Zagreb in late August to discuss how to proceed, in particular how to get the Croat-Serb Coalition
Croat-Serb Coalition
The Croat-Serb Coalition was a major political alliance in Austria-Hungary during the beginning of the 20th century that governed the Croatian lands . It represented the political idea of a cooperation of Croats and Serbs in Austria-Hungary for mutual benefit...

 to join them.

On September 14, 1918, Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister
Foreign Ministry of Austria-Hungary
The Foreign Ministry of Austria-Hungary was the ministry responsible for the foreign relations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the formation of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 until it was dissolved in 1918....

 Burián had issued a statement advocating a peace treaty, and it was apparent that the war was coming to an end. By early October 1918, the Slovene-Croat-Serb movement planned to set up a National Assembly, and one of the leaders of this movement Srđan Budisavljević was confronted by Svetozar Pribićević
Svetozar Pribicevic
Svetozar Pribićević was an ethnic Serb politician from Croatia who worked hard for creation of unitaristic Yugoslavia. However, he later became a bitter opponent of the same policy and of the dictatorship of king Aleksandar Karađorđević...

, the leader of the Croat-Serb Coalition, in an effort to determine whether these efforts were meant to undermine the Coalition. The two came to an understanding, and the Coalition would be formally invited to the future National Council before the National Assembly was formed. At the same time, the organizers obtained support from the Croatian People's Peasant Party as well as the Serb People's Radical Party. On October 5 and 6, they held an initial assembly and started with formation of executive committees, apportioning seats to members of all parties, causing some acrimony over the ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....

 nature of the proceedings.

Numerous meetings were held in October, coinciding with the Emperor Karl's proclamation of a Manifesto on federalization of Cisleithania, that was dismissed by the group. On October 28, Gyula Andrássy the Younger
Gyula Andrássy the Younger
Count Gyula Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka the Younger was a Hungarian politician.The second son of Count Gyula Andrássy, the younger Andrássy became under-secretary in the Sándor Wekerle ministry in 1892; in 1893, he became Minister of Education, and, in June 1894, he was appointed...

 sent a peace note to Washington, and the same day the Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers and after 1102 viceroys of Croatia. From earliest periods of Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Bans as a rulers representative and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually become chief government officials in...

 Antun Mihalović
Antun Mihalović
Antun Mihalović was a politician from Croatia. He served as ban of Croatia from 29 June 1917 until 20 January 1919. He was a member of a noble family Mihalović, which oldest known member came from Macedonia to Croatia in 1733.-External links:* at Rulers.org...

 reported to the Emperor, who dismissed him saying "Do as you please". The Ministry of War had also decided to allow the local military commands to approach the people's councils in order to help maintain law and order. All this was taken as a sign that the Monarchy was disappearing and that the State of the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs is an attainable goal.
The state was officially formed on 29 October 1918. Its governing body was the National Council (Narodno vijeće). The president was a Slovene, Anton Korošec
Anton Korošec
Anton Korošec was a Slovenian political leader, a prominent member of the conservative People's Party, a priest and a noted orator....

. The two vice presidents were a Serb, Svetozar Pribićević
Svetozar Pribicevic
Svetozar Pribićević was an ethnic Serb politician from Croatia who worked hard for creation of unitaristic Yugoslavia. However, he later became a bitter opponent of the same policy and of the dictatorship of king Aleksandar Karađorđević...

, and a Croat, Ante Pavelić (politician born 1869).

The aspirations of the new state were to include all territories of the former Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 that were inhabited by Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs. However, the Serbs in Vojvodina (including the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...

, Bačka
Backa
Bačka is a geographical area within the Pannonian plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east of which confluence is located near Titel...

, and Baranja
Baranya (region)
Baranya or Baranja is a geographical region between the Danube and the Drava rivers. Its territory is divided between Hungary and Croatia...

 regions) objected to this and formed their own administration under the supreme authority of the Serbian National Board in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

. Vojvodina then joined the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...

 on 25 November 1918. One day before this, on 24 November 1918, the region of Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....

, which at first was part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, had seceded from the state and also joined the Kingdom of Serbia.

Conflict with Italy

In order to avoid handing the navy to the Entente Powers
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...

, the Austrian Emperor gave the entire Austro-Hungarian Navy
Austro-Hungarian Navy
The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine , abbreviated as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine....

 and merchant fleet, including all harbours, arsenals, and shore fortifications, to the National Council of the state. The National Council sent diplomatic notes to the governments of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 to notify them that the state was not at war with any of them and that the council had taken over the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet. The fleet, however, was soon attacked and dismembered by the Italian Regia Marina
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...

.

Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 reached an armistice with Italy through the Armistice of Villa Giusti signed on November 3, 1918. This agreement stipulated that Italy could occupy large parts of the territory included in the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Italian troops occupied Istria and much of Dalmatia. This occupation lasted until 1921, when the Treaty of Rapallo
Treaty of Rapallo, 1920
The Treaty of Rapallo was a treaty between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , signed to solve the dispute over some territories in the upper Adriatic, in Dalmatia and in the region which became known as the Julian March.The treaty was signed on 12 November 1920 in...

 came into effect.

Unification with Serbia

The State did not obtain international diplomatic recognition
Diplomatic recognition
Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state...

 before it ceased to exist. On 1 December 1918, the National Council joined the state with the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...

 (which also included the territory of former Kingdom of Montenegro
Kingdom of Montenegro
The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe during the tumultuous years on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Legally it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolutist in practice...

 within its borders) to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

See also

  • History of Yugoslavia
  • Verigar issue
    Verigar issue
    Verigar is the first postage stamp series issued in Slovenia after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy at the end of World War I....

  • Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)
    Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)
    The Slovene March or Slovene krajina was the traditional denomination of the Slovene-speaking areas of the Vas and Zala County in the Kingdom of Hungary from the late 18th century until the Treaty of Trianon in 1919...

  • Timeline of Croatian history
    Timeline of Croatian history
    This is a timeline of Croatian history. To read about the background to these events, see History of Croatia. See also the list of rulers of Croatia and years in Croatia.This timeline is incomplete; some important events may be missing...


External links

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