Serbs of Croatia

File:Srbs croatia.JPG

Famous Serbs who emerged from historic Croatian territory, from left to right: Baltazar Bogišić, Svetozar Boroević, Milutin Milanković, Nikola Tesla, Patriarch Pavle, Rade Šerbedžija.

The Serbs of Croatia are the largest national minority in the Republic of Croatia.

Population

Territorial distribution of Serbs in the Socialist Republic of Croatia according to the 1981 Yugoslav population census

The total population of Serbs who originate from Croatia can safely be estimated at around 600,000 people. Due to various reasons, only a fraction of Croatian Serbs actually still live in their native homeland of Croatia: 201,631 according to the 2001 population census. They currently comprise around 4,5% of Croatia's total population.

The number of Serbs in Croatia was much larger in 1991, when they numbered at least 581,663 and over 12,2% of the total population of Croatia. The exact figure from 1991 is disputed since a large number of Serbs declared themselves as Yugoslavs, a group which at the time numbered another 106,041 people. The largest exactly recorded number of Serbs in a census was in 1971 when there were 626,789 Serbs in SR Croatia (over 14% of the total at the time). During World War II, Serbs comprised 30% of the population of the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945) and lived on one half of its soil, but that territory also included all of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 1931 census in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia recorded around 633,000 Serbs in the Croatian territories, but the state and province borders were different at the time so this number may not be precise. The 1840 Austrian population census conducted in Croatia and Slavonia, 504,179 Serbs were registered, which formed 32% of Croatia's population.

The large decrease in the number of Serbs in Croatia was caused by the Yugoslav wars, more specifically the 1991-1995 Croatian war of Independence. The majority of the population continues to live in exile. The largest place is Serbia and Montenegro, where sources range from 150,000 up to 400,000 Serbs from Croatia. The second place is Bosnia and Herzegovina, where more than 150,000 Serbs of Croatia have settled. The exact number and percentage fluctuates as Serbs keep returning to Croatia, or in turn emigrating again.

State	Number	Percentage
Croatia	202,365	4.5%
Serbia and Montenegro	150,000-400,000
Bosnia and Herzegovina	150,000
Elsewhere in the world	100,000
Total	600,000-750,000

Geographical representation

Most Croatian Serbs are/were concentreted in regions of Banija, Kordun, Lika, Northern Dalmatia, Western and Eastern Slavonia, Srem and Baranja. Smaller groups of Serbs can be also found elsewhere in Slavonia and Dalmatia, Bilogora, Moslavina, Gorski kotar and Istria. Serbs can be also found in all major cities in Croatia; the largest concentration of Serbs in Croatia is probably in Zagreb.

In 2001 there were four counties where the Serbs numbered over 10% of the population: Vukovar-Srijem county, Sisak-Moslavina county, Karlovac county and Lika-Senj county. There were 18 municipalities with a Serb majority.

Culture

Main article: Serbian culture

Prominent individuals

see also:List of Serbs

Many famed Serbs were, in fact, born on historic Croatian territory. Among these prominent foreign-borns include: scientist Nikola Tesla who had numerious inventions, the most famous arguably being the discovery of the trophase electricity, geophysicist Milutin Milanković who confounded the Theory of Ice Age, mathematician Jovan Karamata, Austro-Hungarian General Svetozar Boroević von Bojna, Josif Runjanin (the composer of the Croatian national anthem Our Beautiful Homeland), botanist Josif Pančić and writers Dejan Medaković, whose father was an appealed member of the Croatian Parliament; Vladan Desnica, whose ancestor Ivan Desnica was from a noble family and leader of the Military Frontier; Simo Matavulj; and Sava Mrkalj, the attempted reformer of the Serbian language.

The mother of the founder of the Croatian Party of Rights and father of modern Croatian national ideologies Ante Starčević was a Serb. The wife of the Croatian Ban Mladen III Šubić, who was also the mother of Ban Mladen IV Šubić, Jelena Nemanjić, was a Serb.

Prince Beloš of the Uroš branch of the House of Voislav, after holding numerious offices in the Hugary and Rascia, finally settled as Ban of Croatia in the 12th century.

Benedikt Kraljević was implaced by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1810 as the first Episcope of the reformed[ Orthodox Episcopy of Dalmatia. He promoted Napoleon's reforms in the Orthodox Church in Dalmatia and worked on subjecting it to the Metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci. After his conflicts with his vikar in Boka kotorska, Gerasim Zelić, he secretly worked on Greek Catholicism as soon as the Austrian Empire acquired Dalmatia. He was forced by the people and Metropolitan Stracimirović to leave in 1823. In 1828, Josif Rajačić was elected as Episcope of Dalmatia. He fiercly resisted attempts of the Catholic Church for conversion and uniating of his subjects; his plights were continued by his successors: Živković, Mutibarić and Knežević. A certain Ivanić was Vice-ban of the Croatian Banate in 1939 - 1941.

Dr Božidar Petranović founded in Zadar in the 19th century the first Serbian litteral and scientific paper in Dalmatia - the "Serbian-Dalmatian Magazine" (Srpsko-dalmatinski magazin).

Svetozar Pribićević was the main representator of the Serbs from Austro-Hungary, a politician in the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, one of the most powerful men of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and creator of the Croato-Serbian opposition with Stjepan Radić. He died as a writer in Czechoslovakia's capital, Prague in exile.

Jovo Stanisavljević Čaruga was a famous outlaw in Slavonia during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia who started his own "revolution" by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor in the likehood of Robin Hood. Jovanka Budisavljević Broz was the wife of the leader of the World War II Yugoslav Partisans Josip Broz Tito. Jovan Rašković was the initiator of a movement for Serbian autonomy within Croatia.

Count Medo Pucić was one of the most prominent men of the 19th century Dubrovnik. Balthazzar Bogišić was the creator of the first constitution of Montenegro. Marko Car was the initiator of a movement to convert all Catholic Serbs to Orthodox Christians. Other famous Catholic writers were Milan Rešetar and Pero Budmani. Jovan Sundečić was also a prominent figure.

The current Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Pavle is from Slavonia. Father of politician Nenad Čanak in Serbia and Montenegro is from Lika. The actor Rade Šerbedžija is from a village near Korenica.

Language

Most of Croatian Serbs speak neo-shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian language with ijekavian pronunciation, while those mostly in Eastern Slavonia and Baranja have ekavian pronunciation[[1]][[2]]. A Croatian Serb by the name of Sava Mrkalj had attempted to reform the language before Vuk Karadžić, but failed to finish his work.

Religion

Most of Serbs in Croatia are Serbian Orthodox. There is one Metropolinate divided in 4 Dioceses:

• Metropolitanate of Zagreb, Ljubljana and whole Italy, with a See in Zagreb
  • Eparchy of upper Karlovac, with a See in Karlovac
  • Eparchy of Dalmatia, with a See in Šibenik
  • Eparchy of Osječko polje and Baranja, with a See in Dalj
  • Eparchy of Slavonia, with a See in Daruvar

Smaller part, Serbs that live un Žumberak are Greek-Catholics. There are also numerous Orthodox monasteries across the country: Krka Monastery, Krupa Monastery, Dragović Monastery, Lepavina Monastery and Gomirje Monastery being one of them. Many Orthodox churches were demolished during recent war.

History - Early Middle Ages

Toponyms and early appearances

According to Serbian historians the first mention of Serbs is a toponym - the ancient stronghold of Srb on Una as early as the 9th century. Many Croatian historians dispute this.

According to the Royal Frankish Annals of the Frankish historian Einhard, Prince Liudevit of Pannonia (continental Croatia) fled to the Serbs in 822, tricked the Serbian ruler by killing him and taking the power over Serbs for himself. At this time, the Serbs controlled the greater part of Dalmatia (reffering to the ex Roman province), the western border being Una.

According to one of the theories of the coming of Serbs onto the Balkan peninsular, they first came to western Dalmatia to Srb (at Una) and then Solin (near Split).

Old Serbian lands in the southeast

File:Principalities02.png

The southern Dalmatian principalities according to De administrando imperio

According to De Administrando Imperio from 950, written by Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos, the following lands in the south of the Roman province of Dalmatia were settled by the Serbs:

• Raška
• Duklja
• Pagania (Narenta)
• Zahumlje (Zachlumoi)
• Travunia and Konavli

Of these areas, Pagania/Narenta bordered on a Croat area, and it was inhabited by what are described as unbaptized Serbs. The other regions did not directly border the Croat lands (although the description of the high country is unclear in the document), and were Christian.

Most of Pagania/Narenta and small southern parts of Zahumlje and Travunia and Konavli are today part of Croatia, and the rest is mostly part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Raška and Duklja are mostly in Serbia and Montenegro.

History - Late Middle Ages

Throughout the late Middle Ages, the term "Vlach" was used for Serbs. That is because the majority of Serbian migrants that passed through Croatian lands were nomads. During the Tartar hordes that passed on a raiding campaign through Hungary in 1242, there is a mention of these Vlachs-Serbs as having just been settled in Cetina, Knin and Lika.

Wilhelm of Tyre explained during the second half of the 12th century that the Serbs live majorily in forests and have vast flocks and supplies of milk, cheese, butter, honey and wax, but do not know agriculture.

There are three major Serbian Orthodox monasteries in northern Dalmatia: Krupa, started by King Stephen Uroš II Milutin in 1317. It was finished by Emperor Stephen Uroš IV Dušan in 1346; both being of the House of Nemanja. Krka was built in 1346 bz the wife of ban Mladen Šubić, Jelena, sister of Stephen Dušan. Dragović was also built in the 14th century, but it was moved stone by stone during the construction of an artificial Peruča lake nearby during Communist Yugoslavia.

The Serb King of Rascia Stefan Dragutin of the House of Nemanja was granted numerious lands by the Hungarian King Ladislaus IV, creating a vast independent realm known as the Kingdom of Syrmia. Slavonia was included in that realm which lasted from 1282 to 1316. His realm was inherited by his son, Vladislav II who reigned shortly in 1316, but reigned almost all of Slavonia excepts for the fiefs of the Zrinski and Frankopan lords.

History - Early Modern period

Most of the Serbs came in Croatia during Ottoman intrusions and were settled by Turkish authorities along the border with the Austrian empire. When they conquered these areas Austrians kept the special territorial organization of the area, called Military Frontier, mostly inhabited by Serbs. Serbs were required to serve certain amount of years in Austrian army and after it they would be granted land and be able to work free on becoming free peasents. This was requirement for their permanent stay in the region. Cause of this Serbs were regarded as some kind of Military class in the region. This tradition lasted till breakup of Yugoslavia where Serbs were over presented in military and law inforcement occupations in Croatia. The area of Military Frontier was merged with Banate of Croatia in 1881 after Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed by Austro-Hungaria. Since unification of Croatia and Military Frontier vice-ban was always Serb.

During the last two decades of the 19th century Croatian viceroy Khuen Hedervary, a Hungarian, relied on Serb parties in the Croatian parliament to maintain a governing majority. Because of this the Serbs came to occupy a disproportionate share of civil service posts in Croatia, causing resentment on the part of the majority Croatian population.

History - Recent

The census of 1991 was the last one held before the war in Croatia, marked by ethnic conflict between the Orthodox Serbs and the Catholic Croats. In the ethnic and religious composition of population of Croatia of that time, those two sets of numbers are quoted as important:

• Croats 78.1%, Catholics 76.5%
• Serbs 12.2%, Orthodox Christians 11.1%

There were two major sets of population movements during this period - the first one during the earlier stage of the war, around 1991, and the second one during the later stage of the war, around 1995. The first movement peaked at around 550,000 on the Croatian side; the second movement peaked at around 200,000 on the Serbian side.

After the end of the war of the 1990s and everything else that it entailed, the numbers are:

• Croats 89.6%, Catholics 87.8%
• Serbs 4.5%, Orthodox Christians 4.4%

In earlier stages of the war, most of the Croats of eastern Slavonia, Baranja, Banija, Kordun, eastern Lika, northern Dalmatian Zagora and Konavle fled those areas as they were under Serbian military control. Conversely, most of the Serbs from Bilogora and northwestern Slavonia fled those areas as they were under Croatian military control. In later stages of the war, most of the Serbs of western Slavonia, Banija, Kordun, eastern Lika and northern Dalmatian Zagora fled those areas as they came under Croatian military control.

The population change is seen by some as a campaign of ethnic cleansing. There were several incidents of what can be pretty clearly explained as ethnic cleansing:

• the attacks on and the subsequent expulsion of Croatian population from the villages and towns of Škabrnja, Kijevo, Vukovar, Lovas, etc;
• and conversely the attacks on and the subsequent expulsion of Serbian population from places such as the Medak pocket, as well as the events such as the Gospić massacre.

Although widely assumed to be a war in which ethnic cleansing was generally used, no international institution has yet established a clear pattern that would indicate that either side in the war in Croatia committed ethnic cleansing on the scale of the whole country, including the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague. However, the leader of the rebel Serbs Milan Babić was indicted, plead guilty and was convicted for persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, a crime against humanity, which combined with the content of his indictment implies that there was ethnic cleansing on the whole area of Krajina.

The war ended with military victories of the Croatian government in 1995 and subsequent peaceful reintegration of the remaining renegade territory in eastern Slavonia in 1998. The exodus of the Krajina Serbs in 1995 was prompted by the advance of the Croatian troops, but it was still mostly self-organized rather than forced. All of them have been officially called upon to stay shortly before the operation, and called to return after the end of the hostilities, with varying but increasing degrees of guarantees from the Croatian government. All persons that participated in the rebellion but committed no crimes were pardoned by the government in 1997.

Most Croat refugees returned to their homes, while two thirds of the Serbs remain in exile; the other third either returned or had remained in Zagreb and other parts of Croatia not directly hit by war.

The current reasons why many Serb refugees still have not returned vary: for non-civilians, it is fear of prosecution for war crimes (Croatian legal system, like the ICTY, has secret lists of war crimes suspects) and fear of retaliation; for civilians, it is unfavourable property laws, ethnic discrimination by local authorities, and last but not the least, appalling economic conditions in the rural areas they inhabited.

In 2004/2005, the government of Serbia still had around 140,000 refugees from Croatia registered on its territory, while around 13,000 housing reparation demands had been pending with the Croatian authorities.

The property laws, in particular, favor Croats who immigrated into the previously predominantly Serb-inhabited areas after having been forced out of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Serbs. Under the current law, a person who occupies someone else's previously vacated house and does not have alternative accommodation (such as their own home or a place in a refugee camp), is allowed to stay in someone else's private property as a refugee, without being charged for squatting. The number of such individuals and families has dropped significantly in the 2000s, and a certain amount of property was returned to its previous owners. However, at the same time not all of the former refugees actually left the same houses, and instead remained in the occupied houses illegally. In 2004, the authorities noted around 1,400 houses still occupied by former refugees. The courts and the police are generally hesitant to evict these to avoid public protest of the Croat majority, causing much disagreement between the Croat and Serb communities in these locations.

The Croatian government denies any ethnic cleaning on a large scale as is claimed by some of the Serbs, and has consistently worked with the international community and the local Serb representatives to rectify the war-related problems, though cooperation on the lower levels has been lacking. The participation of the largest Serbian party SDSS in the Croatian Government of Ivo Sanader has eased tensions to an extent, but the refugee situation is still politically sensitive.

Slow refugee return and slow prosecution of Croatian army personnel implicated in war crimes are some of the main obstacles to Croatia's application to the European Union.

See also

• Croatia
• List of Serbs
• Republic of Serbian Krajina
• Serbs

External links

• The Serbs in the Former SR of Croatia

References

• Development of Astronomy among Serbs II, Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, M. S. Dimitrijević, Belgrade, april 2002

• Ilustrated History of Serbs, Books 1 - 6, Vladimir Ćorović, Politika, Narodna Knjiga, 2005