Hungarian Parliament on bilingual Coats of Arms in 1883

Abstract

The installation of bilingual coats of arms in Zagreb in August 1883 and their subsequent removal was an event that caused enormous discontent in Croatia and turned the Croats even more against the Hungarians. It preceded the events that led to the final dissolution of the Croatian-Hungarian state union. The National Movement of 1883, an unavoidable segment of Croatian history, continued in 1903 with recurring conflicts and protests against Budapest and the loyalist Croatian authorities. This paper analyses the debate in the Hungarian (central, common) parliament and the adoption of the parliamentary decision on the removal of bilingual plaques and the installation of “silent plaques”. It explains the reasons for placing Hungarian coats of arms in Croatia and for their removal, as well as the motives that led the Hungarian government to subsequently turn to the Hungarian Parliament for validation of its moves. Based on parliamentary files, it provides an insight into the course of the parliamentary debate (from October 2 to 12, 1883), the way in which decisions were made, and the opposition’s position on the “Croatian question”.