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{{Short description|Autonomous province (banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941}}
{{Infobox Former country
{{redirect|Banate of Croatia|other uses|Banate of Croatia (medieval)}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
| conventional_long_name = Banovina of Croatia | conventional_long_name = Banovina of Croatia
| native_name = ''Banovina Hrvatska''<br />Бановина Хрватска | native_name = Banovina Hrvatska<br>Бановина Хрватска
⚫ | subdivision = ]
| common_name = Croatia
⚫ | nation = the ]
| continent = Europe
| government_type = ] autonomous ]
| region = Balkans
| status = ] of ]
⚫ | government_type = ]
| p1 = Sava Banovina | p1 = Sava Banovina
| flag_p1 = Flag of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.svg | flag_p1 = Flag of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.svg
Line 19: Line 19:
| s1 = Independent State of Croatia | s1 = Independent State of Croatia
| flag_s1 = Flag of Independent State of Croatia.svg | flag_s1 = Flag of Independent State of Croatia.svg
| s2 = Kingdom of Italy{{!}}Italy | s2 = Fascist Italy
| flag_s2 = Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg | flag_s2 = Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg
| image_flag = Civil Flag of Banovina of Croatia.svg | image_flag = Flag of Banate of Croatia (1939-1941).svg
| flag_type = Civil flag | flag_type = ]
| image_coat = Greater coat of arms of the Banate of Croatia.svg | image_coat = Greater coat of arms of the Banate of Croatia.svg
| symbol_type = Coat of arms | symbol_type = ]
|coa_size = 70px
| image_map = Locator map Croatia Banovina in Yugoslavia 1939-1941.svg | image_map = Locator map Croatia Banovina in Yugoslavia 1939-1941.svg
| image_map_caption = Banovina of Croatia (red) within ] (light yellow) | image_map_caption = Banovina of Croatia (red) within ]<br />(light yellow)
⚫ | capital = ]
| common_languages = ]
| coordinates = {{coord|45|49|N|15|59|E|region:HR|display=it}}
⚫ | capital = Zagreb
| title_leader = ] |title_leader = ]
|leader1 = ]
⚫ | leader1 = Ivan Šubašić
| year_leader1 = 1939&ndash;1941 |year_leader1 = 1939–1941
| title_deputy = ]
⚫ | era = ]{{·}}]
⚫ | deputy1 = ]
| year_deputy1 = 1939–1941
⚫ | era = ]<br>]
| event_start = ] | event_start = ]
| date_start = 24 August | date_start = 24 August
| year_start = 1939 | year_start = 1939
| event1 = ] | event_end = ]
| date_event1 = 6 April 1941 | date_end = 6 April
⚫ | event2 = ]
| date_event2 = 1941&ndash;1945
| event_end =
| date_end =
| year_end = 1941 | year_end = 1941
| stat_year1 = 1939
| stat_area1 = 65456
| stat_pop1 = 4024601
| legislature = ] | legislature = ]
⚫ | today = ]<br>]<br>]<br>]
| currency = Yugoslav dinar
⚫ | today = {{flag|Croatia}}<br>{{flag|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}<br>{{flag|Serbia}}
}} }}


The '''Banovina of Croatia''' or '''Banate of Croatia''' ({{lang-sh|Banovina Hrvatska}}, Бановина Хрватска) was an ] (]) of the ] between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by combining the ] and ], but also with small parts of the ], ], and ]. Its capital was ] and it included most of present-day ] along with portions of ] and ]. It included area of 65,456&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and had population of 4,024,601. The Ban of the Banovina of Croatia during this period was ]. The '''Banovina of Croatia''' or '''Banate of Croatia''' ({{lang-sh-Latn-Cyrl|separator=|Banovina Hrvatska|Бановина Хрватска}}) was an ] (]) of the ] between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a merger of ] and ] ]s into a single autonomous entity, with small parts of the ], ], ] and ] banovinas also included. Its capital was ] and it included most of present-day ] along with portions of ] and ]. Its sole ] during this period was ].


==Background== ==Background==
In the ] of 1921, the ] had established 33 administrative districts, each headed by a government-appointed prefect. Both the Vidovdan Constitution in general and the administrative districts in particular were part of the design of ] and ] to maximize the power of the ethnic Serb population within the new state.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Yugoslavia: A Concise History|last=Benson|first=Leslie|publisher=palgrave macmillan|year=2001|isbn=0333792416|location=Hampshire|pages=|quote=The government produced a draft constitution, following intensive consultations between Pasiç and Pribiceviç, which opted for a centralized state with a strong monarchy and a single-chamber parliament, modelled on the Serbian constitution of 1903. Their draft proposed the creation of administrative districts, a balkanizing tactic intended to maximize the electoral power of the Serb vote.|url=https://archive.org/details/yugoslaviaconcis0000bens_i0i2/page/34}}</ref> The new constitution was passed in a political climate favorable to the Serbian centralists, as the Croatian regionalists chose to abstain from parliamentary duty, whereas the deputies of the ] were excluded by a parliamentary vote.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Twentieth Century|last=Jelavich|first=Barbara|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1983|isbn=9780521274593|series=History of the Balkans|volume=2|location=Cambridge|pages=|quote=After the elections the delegates of the Croatian Peasant Party met in Zagreb and decided not to participate in the assembly. As we have seen, the Communist Party was excluded by a vote of the assembly itself. A quarter of the elected representatives thus did not attend. Under these circumstances the Serbian centralists had a clear field, and the constitution, which was completed in June 1921, expressed their interests.|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbalkans0000jela/page/150}}</ref> An amendment to the electoral law in June of 1922 further stacked the deck in favor of the Serbian population, when electoral constituencies were created based on pre-war census figures, allowing Serbia to ignore its massive military casualties sustained in the ].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Yugoslavia: A Concise History|last=Benson|first=Leslie|publisher=palgrave macmillan|year=2001|isbn=0333792416|location=Hampshire|pages=|quote=Disaffection among the non-Serb nationalities was aggravated by the amended Electoral Law of June 1922, which created electoral constituencies on the basis of pre-war census figures, so that Serbia’s huge population losses during the Great War were ignored.|url=https://archive.org/details/yugoslaviaconcis0000bens_i0i2/page/39}}</ref> This only furthered the resentment felt by the proponents of a federate or confederate state towards the government, particularly the Croatian regionalists of the ] (HRSS) around ]. Radić was shot in parliament by a Serbian delegate in 1928 and died two months later. This provoked the withdrawal of the HRSS from the assembly, forged an anti-Belgrade mindset in Croatia and ultimately led to the collapse of the constitutional system of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Yugoslavia: A Concise History|last=Benson|first=Leslie|publisher=palgrave macmillan|year=2001|isbn=0333792416|location=Hampshire|pages=|quote=The next day, 20 June 1928, amid familiar scenes of disorder, Raciç opened fire in the debating chamber, killing two deputies and wounding three others, among them Radiç, who died two months later, although initially he seemed to make a good recovery; sufficiently so to maintain his hostility to cooperation with the Serbs.|url=https://archive.org/details/yugoslaviaconcis0000bens_i0i2/page/45}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of Yugoslavia|last=Calic|first=Marie-Janine|publisher=Purdue University Press|year=2014|isbn=9781557538383|location=West Lafayette|pages=104|quote=On the morning of 20 June 1928, Stjepan Radić appeared at the opening session of parliament. Although public confrontations in the preceding days had escalated to the point of murder threats, this consummate politician threw caution to the wind. One of the first people to speak that morning was Puniša Račić, a member of parliament for the Radical Party from Montenegro. Quite unexpectedly he found himself in a heated debate with the colleagues from the opposition. The president of the parliament was trying valiantly but unsuccessfully to restore order when Račić suddenly pulled out his pistol and shot in the direction of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) faction. Two members of parliament died immediately; two others were wounded. Radić, who had been shot in the stomach, died in August of complications. The assassination marked the tragic culmination of the domestic crisis that had been fatefully escalating since 1927. It turned Radić into a martyr, welded together Croat national politics, and provided the Peasant Party with enormous political capital. However, Yugoslav democracy had shattered, and the king declared a state of emergency.}}</ref>
The banovinas of Yugoslavia, established in 1929, deliberately avoided following ethnic or religious boundaries which resulted in the country's ], like other ethnic groups, being divided among several banovinas. Following a political struggle within the ] Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Croat leaders won ] for a new ethnic-based banovina with the ].

After fruitless efforts to fix the Serb-Croat divide and Croat abstention from government, including a cabinet headed by the nominally neutral Slovene ], ] intervened and, on 6 January 1929, established the ]. On 3 October 1929, the country was officially renamed ''Kingdom of Yugoslavia'' in an effort to unite the various ethnicities into a greater national identity. The new state had a new constitution, and in place of the 33 administrative districts of the Vidovdan Constitution, it instead established the banovinas. The banovinas were drawn in a way to avoid the old historical, regionalist or ethnic affiliations, but because the King still had a vested interest in maintaining the Serb dominance from which he drew most of his legitimacy as King, six of the nine Banovinas ended up with Serb majorities.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Yugoslavia: A Concise History|last=Benson|first=Leslie|publisher=palgrave macmillan|year=2001|isbn=0333792416|location=Hampshire|pages=|url=https://archive.org/details/yugoslaviaconcis0000bens_i0i2/page/53}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of Yugoslavia|last=Calic|first=Marie-Janine|publisher=Purdue University Press|year=2014|isbn=9781557538383|location=West Lafayette|pages=104}}</ref> Instead of uniting Serbs and Croats into a joint Yugoslav identity, there was widespread Croatian resentment against a perceived Serbian hegemony instead.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953|last=Djilas|first=Alexis|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1991|isbn=0674166981|location=London|pages=|quote=Although some supporters of the dictatorship were genuine Yugoslavists, including, as some evidence suggests, the king himself, Croats inevitably considered the dictatorship as thinly disguised "Serbian hegemony." Indeed, the dictatorship was bitterly resented in Croatia. Instead of dissolving traditional Croatian nationalism, the dictatorship strengthened the extremists.|url=https://archive.org/details/contestedcountry00djil_0/page/81}}</ref>

Over the course of the next ten years, the royal dictatorship grew in strength and ruled with authoritarian decrees,<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of Yugoslavia|last=Calic|first=Marie-Janine|publisher=Purdue University Press|year=2014|isbn=9781557538383|location=West Lafayette|pages=105|quote=During the royal dictatorship, the country’s unity became its chief priority. King Alexander juxtaposed “tribalism” with Yugoslav “nationalism” in order to overcome internal divisions of different kinds. The regime used draconian royal decrees and the state’s security apparatus to implement national and state unity by dictatorial means. Basic civil rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of association were suspended.}}</ref> climaxing in the tenure of ] as Prime Minister between 1936 and 1939. Stojadinović, who had adopted fascist symbolism, gestures and titles from ] in his aspirations to be Yugoslavia's strongman,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Yugoslavia: A Concise History|last=Benson|first=Leslie|publisher=palgrave macmillan|year=2001|isbn=0333792416|location=Hampshire|pages=|quote=Stojadinoviç developed a marked taste for the fascist trappings of power. After meeting with Mussolini, in December 1937, he adopted a version of the Roman salute and took to styling himself ‘Leader’ of his followers, though not, he said with characteristic equivocation when confronted by Prince Pavle about it, with any wish to emulate the Duce, to whom he had said exactly the opposite. Stojadinoviç aspired to be Yugoslavia’s strong man, and because of it he ended up an Axis stooge.|url=https://archive.org/details/yugoslaviaconcis0000bens_i0i2/page/65}}</ref> ultimately fell from grace because he lost the faith of minority representatives in February of 1939.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Yugoslavia: A Concise History|last=Benson|first=Leslie|publisher=palgrave macmillan|year=2001|isbn=0333792416|location=Hampshire|pages=|quote=Stojadinoviç formed a second administration, but at the beginning of February 1939 his Slovene and Muslim ministerial colleagues, together with Dragisa Cvetkoviç, a Serb, resigned, stating as their reason the government’s intransigence over the Croat problem. Stojadinoviç’s position was now untenable|url=https://archive.org/details/yugoslaviaconcis0000bens_i0i2/page/66}}</ref> He was replaced by ], who, in an effort to win Croat support for his government, opened talks with Radić's successor as leader of the Croatian regionalists, ]. In a compromise named after the two, the ] (also known as the ''Sporazum''),<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=A History of Yugoslavia|last=Calic|first=Marie-Janine|publisher=Purdue University Press|year=2014|isbn=9781557538383|location=West Lafayette|pages=120}}</ref> the central government made the concession of merging two of the nine banovinas, Sava and Littoral, into one, the Banovina of Croatia.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953|last=Djilas|first=Alexis|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1991|isbn=0674166981|location=London|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/contestedcountry00djil_0}}</ref>


==History== ==History==
On the basis of the Cvetković–Maček Agreement, and the Decree on the Banate of Croatia (''Uredba o Banovini Hrvatskoj'') dated 24 August 1939, the Banate of Croatia was created.<ref name="Croatian History Museum">{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The entire area of the ] and ]s was combined and parts of the ], ], ] and ] banovinas (districts ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]) were added to form the Banate of Croatia.<ref>] {{hr icon}}</ref> The borders of the Banate of Croatia are partly the historical borders of ], and partly based on the application of the principle of ethnicity according to which Bosnian and Herzegovinian territory with a majority ] population was annexed to the Banate.<ref name="Croatian History Museum" /> On the basis of the Cvetković–Maček Agreement, and the Decree on the Banate of Croatia (''Uredba o Banovini Hrvatskoj'') dated 24 August 1939, the Banate of Croatia was created.<ref name="Croatian History Museum">{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The entire area of the ] and ]s was combined and parts of the ], ], ] and ] banovinas (districts ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]) were added to form the Banate of Croatia.<ref>] {{in lang|hr}}</ref> The borders of the Banate of Croatia are partly the historical borders of ], and partly based on the application of the principle of ethnicity according to which Bosnian and Herzegovinian territory with a majority ] population was annexed to the Banate.<ref name="Croatian History Museum" />


Under the Agreement, central government continued to control ], internal ], ], ], and ]; but an elected ] and a crown-appointed ] would decide internal matters in Croatia. Ironically, the Agreement fueled ]. Maček and other Croats viewed autonomy as a first step toward full Croatian independence, so they began haggling over territory; Serbs attacked Cvetković, charging that the Agreement brought them no return to democracy and no autonomy; Muslims demanded an autonomous ]; and Slovenes and Montenegrins espoused ]. ] appointed a new government with Cvetković as prime minister and Maček as vice prime minister, but it gained little support.<ref></ref> Under the Agreement, central government continued to control ], internal ], ], ], and ]; but an elected ] and a crown-appointed ] would decide internal matters in Croatia. Ironically, the Agreement fueled ]. Maček and other Croats viewed autonomy as a first step toward full Croatian independence, so they began haggling over territory; Serbs attacked Cvetković, charging that the Agreement brought them no return to democracy and no autonomy; Muslims demanded an autonomous ]; and Slovenes and Montenegrins espoused ]. ] appointed a new government with Cvetković as prime minister and Maček as vice prime minister, but it gained little support.<ref></ref> In May 1940, fairly ] were held in rural municipalities, showing some weakening of support for Maček and Croatian Peasant Party due to poor economic showing.


In 1941, the ] ] occupied Yugoslavia, and establishing a government-in-exile in London. Legally, the Banovina of Croatia remained a part of the occupied Kingdom of Yugoslavia, while the Axis proceeded to dismember Yugoslav territory and the Banovina along with it. Some of the coastal areas from ] to ] and near the ] were annexed by ] but the remainder was added to the ]. As the ] became the ] with the success of the ], a new ] was established within it, succeeding the Banovina. In 1941, the ] ] occupied Yugoslavia, and establishing a government-in-exile in London. Legally, the Banovina of Croatia remained a part of the occupied Kingdom of Yugoslavia, while the Axis proceeded to dismember Yugoslav territory and the Banovina along with it. Some of the coastal areas from ] to ] and near the ] were annexed by ] but the remainder was added to the ]. As the ] became the ] with the success of the ], a new ] was established within it, succeeding the Banovina.


==Population== ==Population==
In 1939, the banovina of Croatia had a population of 4,299,430 of which three quarters was Roman Catholic, one-fifth was Orthodox, and 4 percent was Muslim.<ref name="Velikonja 146">], p. 146</ref> The banovina was divided into 116 districts (''kotari'') of which 95 had an absolute and 5 had a relative Catholic majority.<ref name="Velikonja 146"/> In 1939, the banovina of Croatia had a population of 4,299,430 of which three quarters was Roman Catholic, one-fifth was Orthodox, and 4 percent was Muslim.<ref name="Velikonja 146">], p. 146</ref> The banovina was divided into 116 districts (''kotari'') of which 95 had an absolute and 5 had a relative Catholic majority.<ref name="Velikonja 146"/> Although religious in nature as per Yugoslav homogeneity policy, the census also provided insight into ethnic make-up of the banovina as ethnic Croats and Slovenes were predominantly Catholic whereas other ethnicities were not.


==Sports== ==Sports==
The ] was the governing body of football within the Banovina. It organized ] and a ]. The Banovina of Croatia had four international matches: two pairs of home-and-away matches against ] and ]. The Croatian Rowing Championships were held on 29 June 1940.<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813094638/http://www.vk-jadran.hr/Povijest/Kronologija%20hrvatskog%20veslanja.html |date=August 13, 2009 }}</ref> The ] was the governing body of football within the Banovina. It organized ] and a ]. The ]-led Banovina of Croatia had four international matches: two pairs of home-and-away matches against ] and ]. The Croatian Rowing Championships were held on 29 June 1940.<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813094638/http://www.vk-jadran.hr/Povijest/Kronologija%20hrvatskog%20veslanja.html |date=August 13, 2009 }}</ref>


] played its first friendly game against ] on February 9, 1941 in ] and lost 6-1.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531223820/http://www.hockeyslovakia.sk/sk/clanok/prehlad-zapasov-a-timu-sr-od-roku-1940 |date=2013-05-31 }}</ref> ] played its first friendly game against ] on February 9, 1941 in ] and lost 6-1.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531223820/http://www.hockeyslovakia.sk/sk/clanok/prehlad-zapasov-a-timu-sr-od-roku-1940 |date=2013-05-31 }}</ref>


The ] was reconstituted on 5 October 1939 as the governing body of boxing within the entire Banovina of Croatia.<ref>{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The ] was reconstituted on 5 October 1939 as the governing body of boxing within the entire Banovina of Croatia.<ref></ref>


==Gallery== ==Gallery==
<center> <gallery class="center">
File:Banovina of Croatia religious map.png|Religious map of the Banovina Croatia by municipality, according to the 1931 census.
<gallery>
File:Banovina.png|Territory of Banovina Croatia compared to territory of the present-day Countries as well as the prior existing banates. File:Banovina.png|Territory of the Banovina Croatia compared to territory of the present-day countries as well as the prior existing banates.
File:Banovine Jugoslavia.png|] of the ] prior to the establishment of the Banovina of Croatia. File:Banovine Jugoslavia.png|] of the ] prior to the establishment of the Banovina of Croatia.
File:Flag of Banate of Croatia (1939-1941).svg|] ] and ] of the Banovina of Croatia {{FIAV|010010}} {{FIAV|historical}} File:Civil Flag of Banovina of Croatia.svg|] and ] {{FIAV|010010}} {{FIAV|historical}}
File:Coat of Arms of the Banate of Croatia.svg|Lesser coat of arms of the Banovina of Croatia File:Coat of Arms of the Banate of Croatia.svg|Lesser coat of arms of the Banovina of Croatia
File:Policajski znak Banovine Hrvatske MGZ 300109.jpg|Police ensign with motto "u službi" in ] meaning ''on duty'' in ]. File:Policajski znak Banovine Hrvatske MGZ 300109.jpg|Police ensign with motto "u službi" in ] meaning ''on duty'' in ].
File:Yugoslavia Ethnic 1940.jpg|Ethnic map of Yugoslavia, 1940.
</gallery> </gallery>
</center>


==See also== ==See also==
Line 89: Line 89:
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]


==Notes== ==Notes==
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|isbn=9781585442263 |isbn=9781585442263
|ref=Velikonja_2003 |ref=Velikonja_2003
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/religiousseparat0000veli
}} }}


==External links== ==External links==
{{commons category|Banovina of Croatia}} {{commons category|Banovina of Croatia}}
* {{hu icon}} * {{in lang|hu}}


{{banovine}} {{banovine}}


{{Coord missing|Croatia}}
{{Coord missing|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Banovina Of Croatia}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Banovina Of Croatia}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
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] ]
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]

Latest revision as of 14:54, 30 November 2024

Autonomous province (banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941 "Banate of Croatia" redirects here. For other uses, see Banate of Croatia (medieval).
Banovina of CroatiaBanovina Hrvatska
Бановина Хрватска
Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1939–1941
Flag of Banovina of Croatia Flag Coat of arms of Banovina of Croatia Coat of arms

Banovina of Croatia (red) within Kingdom of Yugoslavia
(light yellow)
CapitalZagreb
Area
 • Coordinates45°49′N 15°59′E / 45.817°N 15.983°E / 45.817; 15.983
Government
 • TypeDevolved autonomous banate
Monarch 
• 1939–1941 Peter II
Ban 
• 1939–1941 Ivan Šubašić
LegislatureParliament
Historical eraInterwar period
World War II
• Cvetković–Maček Agreement 24 August 1939
• Axis invasion of Yugoslavia 6 April 1941
Preceded by Succeeded by
Sava Banovina
Littoral Banovina
Zeta Banovina
Danube Banovina
Drina Banovina
Independent State of Croatia
Fascist Italy
Today part ofCroatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbia
Slovenia

The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia (Serbo-Croatian: Banovina Hrvatska, Бановина Хрватска) was an administrative subdivision (banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a merger of Sava and Littoral banovinas into a single autonomous entity, with small parts of the Drina, Zeta, Vrbas and Danube banovinas also included. Its capital was Zagreb and it included most of present-day Croatia along with portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Its sole Ban during this period was Ivan Šubašić.

Background

In the Vidovdan Constitution of 1921, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes had established 33 administrative districts, each headed by a government-appointed prefect. Both the Vidovdan Constitution in general and the administrative districts in particular were part of the design of Nikola Pašić and Svetozar Pribićević to maximize the power of the ethnic Serb population within the new state. The new constitution was passed in a political climate favorable to the Serbian centralists, as the Croatian regionalists chose to abstain from parliamentary duty, whereas the deputies of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia were excluded by a parliamentary vote. An amendment to the electoral law in June of 1922 further stacked the deck in favor of the Serbian population, when electoral constituencies were created based on pre-war census figures, allowing Serbia to ignore its massive military casualties sustained in the First World War. This only furthered the resentment felt by the proponents of a federate or confederate state towards the government, particularly the Croatian regionalists of the Croatian Republican Peasant Party (HRSS) around Stjepan Radić. Radić was shot in parliament by a Serbian delegate in 1928 and died two months later. This provoked the withdrawal of the HRSS from the assembly, forged an anti-Belgrade mindset in Croatia and ultimately led to the collapse of the constitutional system of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

After fruitless efforts to fix the Serb-Croat divide and Croat abstention from government, including a cabinet headed by the nominally neutral Slovene Anton Korošec, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia intervened and, on 6 January 1929, established the 6 January Dictatorship. On 3 October 1929, the country was officially renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia in an effort to unite the various ethnicities into a greater national identity. The new state had a new constitution, and in place of the 33 administrative districts of the Vidovdan Constitution, it instead established the banovinas. The banovinas were drawn in a way to avoid the old historical, regionalist or ethnic affiliations, but because the King still had a vested interest in maintaining the Serb dominance from which he drew most of his legitimacy as King, six of the nine Banovinas ended up with Serb majorities. Instead of uniting Serbs and Croats into a joint Yugoslav identity, there was widespread Croatian resentment against a perceived Serbian hegemony instead.

Over the course of the next ten years, the royal dictatorship grew in strength and ruled with authoritarian decrees, climaxing in the tenure of Milan Stojadinović as Prime Minister between 1936 and 1939. Stojadinović, who had adopted fascist symbolism, gestures and titles from Benito Mussolini in his aspirations to be Yugoslavia's strongman, ultimately fell from grace because he lost the faith of minority representatives in February of 1939. He was replaced by Dragiša Cvetković, who, in an effort to win Croat support for his government, opened talks with Radić's successor as leader of the Croatian regionalists, Vladko Maček. In a compromise named after the two, the Cvetković-Maček Agreement (also known as the Sporazum), the central government made the concession of merging two of the nine banovinas, Sava and Littoral, into one, the Banovina of Croatia.

History

On the basis of the Cvetković–Maček Agreement, and the Decree on the Banate of Croatia (Uredba o Banovini Hrvatskoj) dated 24 August 1939, the Banate of Croatia was created. The entire area of the Sava and Littoral Banovinas was combined and parts of the Vrbas, Zeta, Drina and Danube banovinas (districts Brčko, Derventa, Dubrovnik, Fojnica, Gradačac, Ilok, Šid and Travnik) were added to form the Banate of Croatia. The borders of the Banate of Croatia are partly the historical borders of Croatia, and partly based on the application of the principle of ethnicity according to which Bosnian and Herzegovinian territory with a majority Croat population was annexed to the Banate.

Under the Agreement, central government continued to control defense, internal security, foreign policy, trade, and transport; but an elected Sabor and a crown-appointed ban would decide internal matters in Croatia. Ironically, the Agreement fueled separatism. Maček and other Croats viewed autonomy as a first step toward full Croatian independence, so they began haggling over territory; Serbs attacked Cvetković, charging that the Agreement brought them no return to democracy and no autonomy; Muslims demanded an autonomous Bosnia; and Slovenes and Montenegrins espoused federalism. Prince Regent Paul appointed a new government with Cvetković as prime minister and Maček as vice prime minister, but it gained little support. In May 1940, fairly free local elections were held in rural municipalities, showing some weakening of support for Maček and Croatian Peasant Party due to poor economic showing.

In 1941, the World War II Axis Powers occupied Yugoslavia, and establishing a government-in-exile in London. Legally, the Banovina of Croatia remained a part of the occupied Kingdom of Yugoslavia, while the Axis proceeded to dismember Yugoslav territory and the Banovina along with it. Some of the coastal areas from Split to Zadar and near the Gulf of Kotor were annexed by Fascist Italy but the remainder was added to the Independent State of Croatia. As the Kingdom of Yugoslavia became the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia with the success of the Yugoslav Partisans, a new Federal State of Croatia was established within it, succeeding the Banovina.

Population

In 1939, the banovina of Croatia had a population of 4,299,430 of which three quarters was Roman Catholic, one-fifth was Orthodox, and 4 percent was Muslim. The banovina was divided into 116 districts (kotari) of which 95 had an absolute and 5 had a relative Catholic majority. Although religious in nature as per Yugoslav homogeneity policy, the census also provided insight into ethnic make-up of the banovina as ethnic Croats and Slovenes were predominantly Catholic whereas other ethnicities were not.

Sports

The Croatian Football Federation was the governing body of football within the Banovina. It organized a domestic league and a national team. The Jozo Jakopić-led Banovina of Croatia had four international matches: two pairs of home-and-away matches against Switzerland and Hungary. The Croatian Rowing Championships were held on 29 June 1940.

Croatia men's national ice hockey team played its first friendly game against Slovakia on February 9, 1941 in Bratislava and lost 6-1.

The Croatian Boxing Federation was reconstituted on 5 October 1939 as the governing body of boxing within the entire Banovina of Croatia.

Gallery

  • Religious map of the Banovina Croatia by municipality, according to the 1931 census. Religious map of the Banovina Croatia by municipality, according to the 1931 census.
  • Territory of the Banovina Croatia compared to territory of the present-day countries as well as the prior existing banates. Territory of the Banovina Croatia compared to territory of the present-day countries as well as the prior existing banates.
  • Banates of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia prior to the establishment of the Banovina of Croatia. Banates of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia prior to the establishment of the Banovina of Croatia.
  • Civil flag and ensign Civil flag and ensign Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag
  • Lesser coat of arms of the Banovina of Croatia Lesser coat of arms of the Banovina of Croatia
  • Police ensign with motto "u službi" in Croatian meaning on duty in English. Police ensign with motto "u službi" in Croatian meaning on duty in English.
  • Ethnic map of Yugoslavia, 1940. Ethnic map of Yugoslavia, 1940.

See also

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Notes

  1. Benson, Leslie (2001). Yugoslavia: A Concise History. Hampshire: palgrave macmillan. pp. 34-35. ISBN 0333792416. The government produced a draft constitution, following intensive consultations between Pasiç and Pribiceviç, which opted for a centralized state with a strong monarchy and a single-chamber parliament, modelled on the Serbian constitution of 1903. Their draft proposed the creation of administrative districts, a balkanizing tactic intended to maximize the electoral power of the Serb vote.
  2. Jelavich, Barbara (1983). Twentieth Century. History of the Balkans. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 150. ISBN 9780521274593. After the elections the delegates of the Croatian Peasant Party met in Zagreb and decided not to participate in the assembly. As we have seen, the Communist Party was excluded by a vote of the assembly itself. A quarter of the elected representatives thus did not attend. Under these circumstances the Serbian centralists had a clear field, and the constitution, which was completed in June 1921, expressed their interests.
  3. Benson, Leslie (2001). Yugoslavia: A Concise History. Hampshire: palgrave macmillan. pp. 39. ISBN 0333792416. Disaffection among the non-Serb nationalities was aggravated by the amended Electoral Law of June 1922, which created electoral constituencies on the basis of pre-war census figures, so that Serbia's huge population losses during the Great War were ignored.
  4. Benson, Leslie (2001). Yugoslavia: A Concise History. Hampshire: palgrave macmillan. pp. 45. ISBN 0333792416. The next day, 20 June 1928, amid familiar scenes of disorder, Raciç opened fire in the debating chamber, killing two deputies and wounding three others, among them Radiç, who died two months later, although initially he seemed to make a good recovery; sufficiently so to maintain his hostility to cooperation with the Serbs.
  5. Calic, Marie-Janine (2014). A History of Yugoslavia. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9781557538383. On the morning of 20 June 1928, Stjepan Radić appeared at the opening session of parliament. Although public confrontations in the preceding days had escalated to the point of murder threats, this consummate politician threw caution to the wind. One of the first people to speak that morning was Puniša Račić, a member of parliament for the Radical Party from Montenegro. Quite unexpectedly he found himself in a heated debate with the colleagues from the opposition. The president of the parliament was trying valiantly but unsuccessfully to restore order when Račić suddenly pulled out his pistol and shot in the direction of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) faction. Two members of parliament died immediately; two others were wounded. Radić, who had been shot in the stomach, died in August of complications. The assassination marked the tragic culmination of the domestic crisis that had been fatefully escalating since 1927. It turned Radić into a martyr, welded together Croat national politics, and provided the Peasant Party with enormous political capital. However, Yugoslav democracy had shattered, and the king declared a state of emergency.
  6. Benson, Leslie (2001). Yugoslavia: A Concise History. Hampshire: palgrave macmillan. pp. 53. ISBN 0333792416.
  7. Calic, Marie-Janine (2014). A History of Yugoslavia. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9781557538383.
  8. Djilas, Alexis (1991). The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953. London: Harvard University Press. pp. 81. ISBN 0674166981. Although some supporters of the dictatorship were genuine Yugoslavists, including, as some evidence suggests, the king himself, Croats inevitably considered the dictatorship as thinly disguised "Serbian hegemony." Indeed, the dictatorship was bitterly resented in Croatia. Instead of dissolving traditional Croatian nationalism, the dictatorship strengthened the extremists.
  9. Calic, Marie-Janine (2014). A History of Yugoslavia. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. p. 105. ISBN 9781557538383. During the royal dictatorship, the country's unity became its chief priority. King Alexander juxtaposed "tribalism" with Yugoslav "nationalism" in order to overcome internal divisions of different kinds. The regime used draconian royal decrees and the state's security apparatus to implement national and state unity by dictatorial means. Basic civil rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of association were suspended.
  10. Benson, Leslie (2001). Yugoslavia: A Concise History. Hampshire: palgrave macmillan. pp. 65. ISBN 0333792416. Stojadinoviç developed a marked taste for the fascist trappings of power. After meeting with Mussolini, in December 1937, he adopted a version of the Roman salute and took to styling himself 'Leader' of his followers, though not, he said with characteristic equivocation when confronted by Prince Pavle about it, with any wish to emulate the Duce, to whom he had said exactly the opposite. Stojadinoviç aspired to be Yugoslavia's strong man, and because of it he ended up an Axis stooge.
  11. Benson, Leslie (2001). Yugoslavia: A Concise History. Hampshire: palgrave macmillan. pp. 66. ISBN 0333792416. Stojadinoviç formed a second administration, but at the beginning of February 1939 his Slovene and Muslim ministerial colleagues, together with Dragisa Cvetkoviç, a Serb, resigned, stating as their reason the government's intransigence over the Croat problem. Stojadinoviç's position was now untenable
  12. ^ Calic, Marie-Janine (2014). A History of Yugoslavia. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. p. 120. ISBN 9781557538383.
  13. Djilas, Alexis (1991). The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953. London: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674166981.
  14. ^ Croatian History Museum
  15. Uredba o banovini Hrvatskoj (in Croatian)
  16. The Sporazum, Tripartitate Pact, and Outbreak of World War II
  17. ^ Velikonja (2003), p. 146
  18. Kronologija hrvatskog veslanja Archived August 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  19. PREHĽAD ZÁPASOV A-tímu SR od roku 1940 Archived 2013-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
  20. Povijest hrvatskog sporta: Boks

References

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