State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs | |||||||||||
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| 1918 | |||||||||||
 Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||||
 The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in 1918.Istria was a disputed area, officially ceded to Italy by theTreaty of Rapallo. SouthernCarinthia andLower Styria were also disputed areas, with theTreaty of Saint-Germain demarcating the border of the newly-createdKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes with Austria. | |||||||||||
| Status | Unrecognisedprovisional government seeking unification withSerbia | ||||||||||
| Capital | Zagreb | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| President of National Council | |||||||||||
• 1918 | Anton Korošec | ||||||||||
| Vice President | |||||||||||
• 1918 | Ante Pavelić Sr. | ||||||||||
• 1918 | Svetozar Pribićević | ||||||||||
| Legislature | National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar periodWorld War 1 | ||||||||||
• Proclaimedsecession | 29 October 1918 | ||||||||||
1 December 1918 | |||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• Estimate | 6,000,000 | ||||||||||
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TheState of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs[a] was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end ofWorld War I, bySlovenes,Croats andSerbs (Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of theAustro-Hungarian Empire. Althoughinternationally unrecognised, this was the first incarnation of aYugoslav state founded on thePan-Slavic ideology.[1] Thirty-three days after it was proclaimed, the state joined theKingdom of Serbia to form theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
The state's name derives from the three mainSouth Slavicethnic groups that inhabited it: theSlovenes,Croats, andSerbs.
The Croats identified in the name were those residing in the preceding kingdoms ofCroatia-Slavonia,Bosnia and Herzegovina andDalmatia (includingBoka Kotorska).
The Serbs identified in the name were those residing inBosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia-Slavonia,Dalmatia (includingBoka Kotorska andMontenegrin Littoral), not those residing in theKingdom of Serbia (which included the territory of the present-dayNorth Macedonia), nor those living in theKingdom of Montenegro orVojvodina (includingBanat,Bačka,Baranya).[2][3]
The Slovenes identified in the name were the residents of theDuchy of Carniola,Duchy of Styria,Duchy of Carinthia andPrekmurje.
In 1918, the final year of the War, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was suffering from an internal crisis accompanied by unrest amongst the multiple Slavic peoples within its borders.[4] TheSouth Slavic peoples were divided between various subdivisions of the monarchy:
Activities of the pro-Yugoslav forces in theTransleithanianKingdom of Croatia-Slavonia on 30 May 1917 resulted in adoption of theMay Declaration by the Yugoslav Club, a group of Croatian and Slovene deputies in theReichsrat (the legislature of Cisleithania in Vienna). The Declaration sought the unification of all the lands in the Habsburg monarchy populated by Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs in one independent entity.[5]
On 2–3 March 1918,[6] a grass-roots meeting was held inZagreb that included representatives of various aspects of public life as well as members of several political parties, primarily theMile Starčević faction of theParty of Rights led byAnte Pavelić and theSlovene People's Party.[7] The rulingCroat-Serb Coalition and its opposition theCroatian People's Peasant Party, however, were excluded. The meeting produced theZagreb 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 ofself-determination and possession of the territory they occupied, including the whole of Cisleithania.[8]
In July and August 1918, the so-called "People's organizations of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs" were formed inSplit (for Dalmatia),Sušak (for theCroatian Littoral) andLjubljana (for theSlovene lands) to advance these policies. In late August, the Croatia-Slavonia parties met again in Zagreb to discuss how to proceed and, in particular, how to gain the support of theCroat-Serb Coalition.[9]
On 14 September 1918,Austro-Hungarian Foreign MinisterStephan Burián von Rajecz issued a statement advocating a settlement of World War I by peace treaty and it became apparent that the war was coming to an end. By early October, the Slovene-Croat-Serb movement were planning to set up a National Assembly.Svetozar Pribićević, the leader of the Croat-Serb Coalition, confrontedSrđan Budisavljević, one of the leaders of this movement, in an effort to determine whether these plans were meant to undermine the Coalition, and the two reached an understanding whereby the Coalition would be invited to join any future National Council before a National Assembly was formed. At the same time, the organizers obtained support from the Croatian People's Peasant Party and theSerb People's Radical Party. On 5 and 6 October, a provisional assembly was convened and the formation of executive committees begun. Seats were apportioned to members of all parties,[7] but not without acrimony over thead hoc nature of the proceedings.[10]
The People's Council (Serbo-Croatian:Narodno vijeće,Slovene:Narodni svet) was established on 5–8 October 1918 in Zagreb, pursuant to the decisions reached in March 1918. The Council declared itself a political representative body of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs living in Croatia-Slavonia, Fiume, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Istria,Trieste,Carniola,Gorizia and Gradisca,Styria,Carinthia,Bačka,Banat,Baranya,Međimurje and elsewhere in southwest Hungary. The Council established its own Central Committee and Presidency, while one member of the Council was to be representative of a 100,000 people. In addition, it comprised five representatives of CroatianSabor, theDiet of Bosnia and Reichsrat for a total of 95 representatives. 32 voting members were required to form thequorum, and two-thirds majority was needed for any decisions. Members of regional parliaments were allowed to attend as non-voting observers. The Council elected up to 30 Central Committee members, who could appoint a further 10 to the committee by a two-thirds vote.[6]
TheKingdom of Hungary signed a truce with theAllies on 13 October 1918. Pavelić and others started negotiating with the Serbian envoy to the National AssemblyDušan T. Simović as soon as Simović had said that their military victory and the treaty with Hungary gave them right to most of the territory of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, whereas Pavelić said that they want unification withSerbia, but that they needed a federal state as well as a delineation of Croatian and Serbian population that would assume apopulation transfer. Simović rejected the talk of federalization and Pavelić yielded, and there was no further discussion on either issue.[11]
On 14 October 1918, Austrian foreign minister Burián asked for an armistice based on theFourteen Points outlined in January 1918 by American presidentWoodrow Wilson, whose Point 10 read: "The people of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity toautonomous development." Two days later, EmperorKarl issued a proclamation ("Imperial Manifesto of 16 October 1918"), which envisaged a significant modification the structure of the Empire by granting wide autonomy to its peoples, includingfederalization of Cisleithania.[12] Karl's proposal was rejected on 18 October by U.S. Secretary of StateRobert Lansing who said autonomy for the nationalities was no longer enough. On 19 October, theNational Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs declared itself the supreme representative body of all South-Slavic peoples in the monarchy.[6]
On 21 and 22 October, members of thePure Party of Rights who still advocated atrialist monarchy secured formal support for a trialist manifesto from Emperor Karl and Prime MinisterSándor Wekerle in Hungary, but the latter was deposed the next day.
Numerous mass rallies were held in Zagreb in support the Yugoslav cause, especially on 22 October.
On 28 October,Gyula Andrássy the Younger sent a peace note to the American government while theBan of Croatia,Antun Mihalović, reported to the Emperor and was dismissed with the instruction "Do as you please".[13] 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 Austro-Hungarian monarchy was disintegrating and that the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was an attainable goal.[14]
The state was proclaimed officially on 29 October 1918. Its first president was a Slovene,Anton Korošec. The two vice presidents were a Serb,Svetozar Pribićević, and a Croat,Ante Pavelić.[6]
The new state aspired to include all those territories of the formerAustria-Hungary that were inhabited by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Those representing theSerbs in Vojvodina, however – including those inBanat, Bačka and Baranja – objected and formed their own administration under the supreme authority of theSerbian National Board inNovi Sad.Vojvodina then joined theKingdom of Serbia on 25 November 1918. One day earlier, on 24 November 1918, the region ofSyrmia, which had become part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, seceded and also joined the Kingdom of Serbia.[2][3]
Military units loyal to the State engaged the Hungarian garrison inMeđimurje in November 1918.
In order to avoid handing them to theEntente Powers, Emperor Karl assigned the entireAustro-Hungarian Navy, the Austro-Hungarian merchant fleet and all Austro-Hungarian harbours, arsenals and shore fortifications to the National Council. The National Council sent diplomatic notes to the Entente governments notifying them that they had taken control of these assets and were not at war. The fleet, however, was soon attacked and dismembered by the Italian navy, theRegia Marina.
Austria-Hungary reached an armistice with Italy through theArmistice of Villa Giusti signed on 4 November 1918. This agreement stipulated that Italy could occupy large parts of the territory that had been included in the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Italian troops then occupied Istria and much of Dalmatia within theoccupation of the eastern Adriatic and remained there until 1921, when theTreaty of Rapallo came into effect.
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs did not obtain internationaldiplomatic recognition before it ceased to exist. In a note of 31 October, the National Council informed the governments of theUnited Kingdom,France,Italy and theUnited States that the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was constituted in the South-Slavic areas that had been part of Austria-Hungary, and that the new state intended to form a common state with Serbia and Montenegro. The same note was sent to the government of theKingdom of Serbia and the Yugoslav Committee in London. Serbia's prime ministerNikola Pašić responded to the note on 8 November, recognizing the National Council in Zagreb as "legal government of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes living in the territory of the Austria-Hungary", and notified the governments of the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the United States asking them to do the same.
On 23–24 November, the National Council declared "unification of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs formed on the entire, contiguous South-Slavic area of the former Austria-Hungary with the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro into a unified State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs". 28 members of the council were appointed to implement that decision based on National Council's adopted directions on implementation of the agreement of organization of the unified state with the government of the Kingdom of Serbia and representatives of political parties in Serbia and Montenegro. The instructions were largely ignored by the delegation members who negotiated withRegent Alexander instead.[6]
Stjepan Radić's Peasant Party participated in the National Council, but after it decided to merge with Serbia, they started to back off, calling the move foolish, and disputing the decision based on the fact that the Croatian Parliament never explicitly approved it.[15]
On 1 December, Regent Alexander proclaimed unification of "Serbia with lands of the independent State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs into a unifiedKingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes". As the National Council ceased to operate, it never formally ratified the proclamation, nor did the Parliament of Serbia, which took note of the declaration on 29 December 1918.[6]
The National Council's final important task was to appoint representatives to theTemporary National Representation in early 1919.[16]
Despite not obtaining international diplomatic recognition before being superseded by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes on 1 December 1918, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs still appears by name on theTreaty of Versailles, which was written between18 January 1919 and16 June 1919. It was signed on behalf of the King of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, rather than on behalf of the President of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.
24. studenog – Govor Stjepana Radića na sjednici središnjeg odbora Narodnog vijeća SHS –Gospodo! Još nije prekasno! Ne srljajte kao guske u maglu. 1. prosinca 1918. Adresa delegacije Narodnog vijeća SHS regentu Aleksandru i proglašenje nove države Kraljevstva Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca. Ulazak Hrvatske u ovu državnu tvorevinu Hrvatski sabor nije odobrio ni potvrdio, na što je opetovano ukazivao Stjepan Radić, osporavajući na taj način njezin legitimitet. 31. prosinca uDOM-u objavljen članak S. RadićaRepublika ili slobodna narodna država konstituanta ili narodni revolucionarni sabor.
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