Theresian reform efforts in the regulation of the socioeconomic position of Roma in Croatia and Slavonia

Sažetak

The history of the Roma population on the Croatian area was marked by the periods
in which the Roma faced the impact of the repressive and assimilatory policy of the
state and local authorities towards them. Th e period of the reign of Maria Theresa and
Joseph II was marked by such a policy, as they issued numerous decrees on Roma. The
main goal of this policy was to reform the status of the Roma population by ordering
them the forced sedentarization, the prohibition of their identity, e.g. their name, the
use of their language and customs, doing their traditional professions and so on. As
the result of such a policy, the Roma should have become the integrated part of the
Habsburg society. The similar enlightened policy toward the Roma was conducted by
the other European rulers as well. Th is paper is based on the research of the archival
fonds of the Croatian State Archives, as well as the analysis of the relevant literature.