The '
Serbs of
Croatia' are the largest
national minority in that country. The total population of
Serbs who originate directly from
Croatia can safely be estimated at around 700,000 people. Due to various reasons, mainly the mass-flight after
Operation Storm, 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. About one million
Serbs have their origins in
Croatia.
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 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 loss of the heavily Serb populated Eastern
Srijem region, the incorporation of
Istria region into the
People's Republic of Croatia, and the non-inclusion of Croat dominated regions of
Bosnia and Herzegovina into the
People's Republic of Croatia, as had been done in the
Banovina of Croatia are examples of territorial changes that either increased or reduced the relative percentage of the Croatian population that was Serb.
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 places are
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Serbia and
Montenegro, where the estimates range from 150,000 to 400,000.
Geographical representation
The results of the 2001 Croatian census
Most Croatian Serbs are/were concentrated 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 16 municipalities with a Serb majority:
★
Dvor and
Gvozd in
Sisak-Moslavina county;
★
Krnjak in
Karlovac county;
★
Donji Lapac and
Vrhovine in
Lika-Senj county;
★
Erdut,
Jagodnjak and
Šodolovci in
Osijek-Baranja county;
★
Biskupija,
Civljane,
Ervenik and
Kistanje in
Šibenik-Knin county;
★
Borovo,
Markušica,
Negoslavci and
Trpinja in
Vukovar-Srijem county.
Culture
Main articles: Serbian culture
Prominent individuals
:''see also:
List of Serbs''
Many famed Serbs were born on the territory of today's
Croatia. These prominent individuals include:
scientist Nikola Tesla who had numerous 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.
Prince Beloš of the Uroš branch of the
House of Voislav, after holding numerous offices in the
Hungary and
Rascia, finally settled as
Ban of
Croatia in the
12th century.
Benedikt Kraljević was implanted 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 fiercely resisted attempts of the
Catholic Church for conversion and uniting 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 literal and scientific paper in Dalmatia - the "Serbian-Dalmatian Magazine" (''Srpsko-dalmatinski magazin'').
Svetozar Pribićević was the main representer 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 likelihood 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.
Mihailo Merćep was a famous bicyclist and flight pioneer. 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 is from
Lika. The actor
Rade Šerbedžija is from a village near
Korenica.
Predrag Stojakovic is a famous basketball player.
Petar Preradović was a famous Croatian writer. Milka Dudundić from Kostajnica is the wife of the Croatian President,
Stjepan Mesić.
Footballer
Milan Rapaić and
Dado Pršo are Croats of Serb heritage.
Language
Most of the Croatian Serbs use a neo-
shtokavian dialect of
Serbo-Croatian with ijekavian pronunciation, while those in eastern
Slavonia and
Baranja mostly use ekavian pronunciation. For reference, see the following maps of dialects:
[1] [2]
Although after dissolution of Yugoslavia respective nations started to call their language according to ethnic affiliation most Serbs in Croatia declared their language as Croatian and minor part as Serbian. Nevertheless, this shouldn't be considered a linguistic division but a personal preference.
The Serbian children receive education in standard
Serbian language and the Cyrillic script in schools of eastern Slavonia, as defined by Treaty of Erdut (which re-integrated the region into Croatia in 1997/1998).
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
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 linguists the first mention of Serbs is a
toponym - the ancient stronghold of ''Srb'' on the river
Una as early as the
9th century, citing the resemblance of the terms Serb & Srb. Croatian linguists reject this citing the noun "Srb" derived from the old Croatian verb "serbati" and denoting the spring of the river Una.
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 (referring to the ex Roman province).
According to one of the theories of the coming of Serbs onto the Balkan peninsula, they first came to western
Dalmatia to
Srb (at
Una) and then
Solin (near Split).
Pattern of Serb Settlement In Illyricum
According to
De Administrando Imperio (chapters 32-36) 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 is located in
Serbia and Duklja mostly in
Montenegro.
Late Middle Ages
Throughout the late Middle Ages, the term Vlach was both used as an umbrella term and interchangeable term with Serb. However, given the solidifying of modern national identities around the confessional rule (although not exclusively), most modern scholars equate the term Vlach with Serb. Most of the 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.
Serbian Despots have throughout the 15th century gained numerous vestiges in eastern
Slavonia, where they have ruled with title
Kingdom of Hungary baron because this territory is part of
Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. After the Ottoman Turks expelled the entity with the conquest of
Smederevo in 1459, the Titular Serb Despots continued to maintain baron title (and territory) on Hungarian soil until 1530
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 by 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.
Early Modern period
During
Ottoman Empire wars on there have been population migrations on today Croatia territory.
Croats has been leaving warzone and on place of them Ottomans has settled first orthodox
Vlachs and then Serbs. During centuries Vlachs will be assimilated to Serbs but evidence of this nation existance is
Statuta Wallachorum from 1630. In border regions of then Croatia Habsburgs will create
Military Frontier, mostly inhabited by Serbs and Vlachs. This two nations 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 peasants. This was requirement for their permanent stay in the region. Because 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 enforcement occupations in Croatia. The area of Military Frontier was merged with the Kingdom 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.
World War II
World War II was a dark age for Serbs in Croatia, because the
Ustaše organization came to power, formed
Independent State of Croatia, enacted racial laws aimed primarily against the Serbs, and killed people in large numbers, many in concentration camps. Conservative estimation of about 400,000 Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were massacred by the Ustasha during the entire war.
Recent history
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. Around 580,000 citizens declared themselves as Serbs. 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.
After the
Yugoslav wars, the numbers are:
★ Croats 89.6%, Catholics 87.8%
★ Serbs 4.5%, Orthodox Christians 4.4%
In the 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 or the
Dalmatian anti-Serb riots of May 1991.
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:
★ Integration at the current place of displacement.
★ Appalling economic conditions in areas they fled from, by and large rural ones.
★ Fear of prosecution for war crimes. The Croatian legal system, like the ICTY, has secret lists of war crimes suspects, and many a returnee was caught by surprise when the authorities arrested them upon re-entering the country. There were also cases where innocent people were arrested - people who were children at the time of the war.
★ Fear of retribution.
★ Ethnic discrimination.
★ Unfavorable property laws.
In 2004/2005, the government of
Serbia still had around 140,000 refugees of unsolved status from Croatia registered on its territory, while around 13,000 housing reparation demands had been pending with the Croatian authorities.
The property laws allegedly 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, and in 2005, this number was reduced to 385 housing units. 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.
With regard to reparation of war damages, the plight of the Serbs is similar to the plight of the Croats - the money and/or resources offered by the government often amount to only a small fraction of the value of the people's properties prior to the war. For example, even if the government pays for a new house, that house is often much smaller than the previous one. There are fewer options to reinstate people's livelihood - it's not really likely to get back one's livestock, or a job in a destroyed factory, or similar things. In a recent public protest, a group of Serbs from Vukovar who had worked in the Borovo shoe factory demanded that their pre-war employment was honoured as it was for the Croatian employees.
This has created the situation where many if not most Serbs from the former RSK areas only come to get some reparation and do not continue to actually live in Croatia.
The Croatian government denies any
ethnic cleansing on a large scale as is claimed by some of the Serbs (the latter also deny ethnic cleansing in the opening stages of the conflict). The successive post-war Governments have consistently worked with the local Serb representatives to rectify the war-related problems, with the support of the international community and under the watch of the independent media, but at the same time, 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. In 2005 and 2006, the presidents
Mesić of Croatia and
Tadić of Serbia exchanged official visits and both met with the respective national minorities in each country, hoping to improve relations.
Slow refugee return and slow prosecution of Croatian army personnel implicated in war crimes are regularly quoted by EU officials as 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
★
Prosvjeta - Serb Cultural Society
★
Reference to etymology of the name Srb
★
Reference to Istarski Razvod - related to etymology of Srb
References
★
Croatian census 2001 - see under "Crostat Databases"->"Censuses"
★ ''Development of Astronomy among Serbs II'', Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, , Belgrade: M. S. Dimitrijević, 2002.
★ Vladimir Ćorović. ''Illustrated History of Serbs'', Books 1 - 6. Belgrade: Politika and Narodna Knjiga, 2005
★ Nicholas J. Miller. ''Between Nation and State: Serbian Politics in Croatia before the First World War,'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997.
★ OSCE Report on Croatian treatment of Serbs
[3]
★ In an interview on Fokus (30 September 2005), Croat academic
Petar Simunovic explained that the name of Srb originates from an old Croatian verb serbati, srebati meaning "to sip", from which the noun "srb" has been derived. Thus "srb" denotes the spring of river Una, where the village lies. Compare this with the villages of Srbani (near Pula), and Srbinjak, both in Istria, which clearly have nothing to do with the Serbian name. The
Istarski razvod from 13th century mentions the name of srbar, meaning a water spring.
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