Original scientific paper
THE FORMATION OF THE STATE OF SLOVENES, CROATS, AND SERBS ON OCTOBER 29, 1918
Stanislava Koprivica-Oštrić
; Institute of Contemporary History, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In the process of creating a national political concentration of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, the central political representative body became the National Council of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs. Its program was to create a unitary state from the ethnic territory of the three peoples, but the precise form of the state was to be decided by a constituent assembly. On October 29, 1918, the Croatian Sabor adopted resolutions that shaped the executive committee of the National Council. The Sabor also severed all constitutional and legal ties with the Kingdom of Hungary, the Austrian empire, and the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. Croatia thus entered the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs as a sovereign and independent nation.
Following a series of unpleasant events, the National Council reduced its plans and accepted narrower borders in the south Slavic areas of the former monarchy. A narrow circle made decisions without convening the Council in full plenum and almost never convening either the Sabor or the Skupština.
On December 1, a special delegation in Belgrade adopted the greater Serbian model of unification, and a monarchy under the Karađorđević dynasty was immediately installed in the new joint state. The decisions of the Croatian Sabor were therefore swept aside, and the act of unification even violated the constitution of the Kingdom of Serbia. Thus, the Croatian state, whose sovereignty and independence was restored for a short time, was illegitimately swallowed up in the unitary monarchy. The ensuing Croatian political struggle is rooted in these illegitimate and unconstitutional acts.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
209969
URI
Publication date:
1.9.1993.
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