History of Serb Cultural Autonomy in Croatia casualties on a municipal level The contemporary Serb National Council postulate its cultural tradition in historical precedence of non-segregationist and non-territorial bodies of Serb cultural autonomy in the territory of modern-day Croatia. Section Four (4) of Article One (1) of the Statute of the Serb National Council explicitly enumerate following historical foundations of Serb cultural autonomy based on which the body function: • A) Historical documents issued by Emperors of the
House of Habsburg in 1690, 1691, 1695, 1706, 1713, 1715, 1732 and 1743 and explicitly naming the 1779
Declaratory Rescript of the Illyrian Nation. • B)
Austrian Empire and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire legal articles of 1790, 1848 and 1868. • C)
Franz Joseph I of Austria Rescript issued to the
Patriarch of Karlovci Samuilo Maširević on 10 October 1868. • D) The Law of the 14 May 1887 and other acts related to Serb rights enacted by the Sabor (Parliament) of the
Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. • E) 1918 document of the
National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs of the
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. • F) Documents of the
State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia affirming Serbs from Croatia, together with Croats, as equal constituents of the Council and its work which represent the foundation of the post-
World War II Croatian constitutional organization.
Dissolution of Yugoslavia The first multi-party elections in the
Socialist Republic of Croatia in
1990 took place during the political crisis within the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the disintegration of the
League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and growing
ethnic tensions between Croats and Serbs. The majority of Croatian Serbs voted for the reformed
League of Communists of Croatia yet it surprisingly ended up only second in the elections. A significant part of the numerous Serb community in Croatia feared that the new government led by then nationalist
Croatian Democratic Union may permit or initiate some of the oppressive policies experienced during the
World War II Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia. Those fears were instrumentalized to the advantage of nationalist
Serb Democratic Party which established control over most of the Serb majority communities to complete ethnic separation. Nationalist Serb leadership goals were facilitated by the involvement of the
Yugoslav People's Army, particularly in
multicultural eastern parts of
Slavonia (
Podunavlje) which will form
SAO Eastern Slavonia, the region where Serbs were not the majority and the Serb Democratic Party did not even exist at the time of 1990 elections. On 8 December 1991
Serb Democratic Forum was established in
Lipik (only two days after the government forces took control of the town) to prevent the further escalation of the
Croatian War of Independence and to seek peaceful resolution of the conflict. At that time initial phase of the war was already finished which led to the effective separation of Serbs and Croats. Serbs in areas controlled by the Croatian Government and Croats in the Republic of Serbian Krajina were exposed to persecution and expulsion. In 1992 Serbs in the areas controlled by the Croatian Government started their first initiatives to establish a cultural coordination body. The group intended to establish the Serb National Sabor on the model of historical bodies existing in
Austrian Empire from the 17th to the 19th century. The initiative was condemned by the members of
Croatian Parliament and
Croatian Government as an effort to create a parallel Parliament of Croatia and the following negative
media campaign accused the initiative of being more dangerous and
perfidious than the
separatist actions of Serbs in self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. This led to the failure of the initiative and absence of any new initiative until the late 1995 and early 1996. , site of signing of the
Erdut Agreement in 1995
Formation The Serb National Council
constituent assembly was held in 1997 in
Zagreb at the incentive of the Alliance of Serbian Organizations and its members
Prosvjeta,
Serb Democratic Forum, Serb Community of Rijeka and Istria and the
Joint Council of Municipalities of eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Syrmia. In addition, founding members were also
Independent Democratic Serb Party, Baranja Democratic Forum, Association of Serb Refugees and Expellees from Croatia, representatives of some church parishes of the
Serbian Orthodox Church, members of Parliament of Serb ethnicity and respectable individuals. ==Statute==