Part One
(Translator’s note. The following is a
translation and summarization of key sections of Dr. Oberkersch’s
book that would be of interest to English speaking Danube Swabians
whose families came from Syrmien, Slavonia, Croatia and Bosnia as well
as those with a general interest in the history and ultimate destiny
of the Danube Swabian people in the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia.)
Introduction:
The Historical Development of the
Region Up Until 1918
Croatia became a vassal of the Hungarian Crown in
1102. This relationship would continue up to the Turkish victory over
the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohács in 1526. The Turks occupied
only a portion of Croatia while the northwestern area around Agram
(Zagreb) belonged to the Habsburg candidate for the throne of Hungary,
and would experience frequent incursions and Turkish raids in the
century that followed.
Slavonia and Syrmien endured 150 years of Turkish
occupation. As a result, the local Roman Catholic population fled from
the area to avoid ongoing conflict and raids and the Turks brought in
new settlers as far north as the Sava River, who were Moslems and
Orthodox Serbs who were forced to resettle there. By and large, most
of the area was unpopulated and settlements were clustered around
fortresses. With the defeat of the Turks in their second attempt to
take Vienna in 1683 and their retreat throughout Hungary the Austrian
Imperial Army and their allied forces proceeded to liberate all of the
territories that had once been part of Hungary. So that by 1686 after
Buda the capital of Hungary had been taken on August 12th
the battle of Mount Harsany took place, which was about 30 kilometers
south east of Pécs. Charles of Lorraine attacked the forces of the
Grand Vizer and defeated them, which would prove to be significant for
the liberation of Slavonia. Shortly afterwards Count Dünewald crossed
the Drava River and his army liberated all of Slavonia with the
exception of a few towns and by October 5, 1687 the city of Esseg, the
capital of Slavonia was taken and the first attacks down the Danube
towards Syrmien were undertaken by the onrushing Imperial forces with
the Turks in full flight.
Many towns fell to small contingents of troops
along the Sava River. The major campaign undertaken by the Imperial
troops was under the command of Prince Max Emmanuel of Bavaria, and
later Prince Louis of Baden. They occupied all of Syrmien in 1688. On
August 6th the fortress of Belgrade fell to them. In the
following year they invaded Serbia and Bulgaria and occupied the key
fortresses. But then a great portion of their troops had to withdraw
to defend the Rhineland and the Pfalz from a French invasion. As a
result the Grand Vizer, Mustapha retook Serbia and Belgrade. His
invasion of Syrmien against Louis of Baden in 1691 failed and he was
defeated and lost his life at the Battle of Slankamen.
The withdrawal of the Imperial troops to deal with
the French had lasting effects on Slavonia and Syrmien, in that the
Serbian Patriarch from Ipek along with 25,000 Serbian families fled
across the Sava River with the Imperial forces. Emperor Leopold I
allowed them to settle there and granted them privileges. This
resulted in a major increase of the Serbian population in the region
of the Vojvodina, which would be crucial in the Revolution of 1848
when they would attempt to declare an autonomous Serbian state.
Finally on September 11, 1697 Prince Eugene of
Savoy defeated the Turks at the Battle of Zenta, which led to the
Peace of Karlowitz on January 26, 1699. Croatia and Slavonia were
ceded to Austria, but southeastern Syrmien remained as a buffer
against Belgrade and the Turkish Empire.
In 1716 the war broke out again. The Turks were
defeated at Peterwardein on August 5, 1716. In the next year the
Imperial troops occupied the Banat, northern Transylvania and on
August 18, 1717 re-took Belgrade. The Peace of Passarowitz signed on
July 21, 1718 liberated all of the Banat and Syrmien from Turkish
rule.
The liberated territories were placed under the
jurisdiction of the Royal Chancellery in Vienna. Prince Livius
Odescalchi, a nephew of Pope Innocent XI was given the lands and title
of Count of Syrmien in 1698. The Neo-Acqustica commission established
in Vienna to determine the ownership of lands and estates in the
formerly occupied Turkish territories in 1700 received few claims
because very few of the Hungarian nobility had survived the Turkish
wars and occupation or had no documented evidence to prove ownership
to back up their claims. As a result the lands and estates were sold
to many nobles or military commanders who were of German origin.
In 1718 the former Counties of Hungary were
re-established. Croatia was unable to lay claim to Syrmien and
Slavonia, which now became part of the army controlled Military
Frontier District, a defensive measure against future Turkish
invasions. In 1751 the area became incorporated into the Hungarian
sphere of influence and eventually part of its administration. The
nobility of Slavonia were most unhappy with this situation. Throughout
the 19th century, "nationalism" became the big
issue for the South Slavs who saw the Magyars (Hungarians) as their
enemies and a threat to their aspirations, which would erupt in
Croatia in the Revolution of 1848/1849.
The hope of the Croatians, as allies of the
Habsburg Emperor against the Hungarian rebels, was for a far-reaching
"national" autonomy with the introduction of the Croatian
language as the official government language, but these hopes were not
fulfilled. The centralization that took place during the "Bach
Era" in Austria created more bad blood among the South Slavs,
especially because German was established as the governing language
throughout the Empire. They saw themselves under the yoke of Vienna.
The Croatians saw that the threat to their national survival was no
longer the Turks or Hungarians, but the Germans. Hatred of all things
German broke out during the Croatian Sabor (parliament) in 1860 and
would affect future events right up to 1918. An attempt at
re-rapprochement with the Magyars was the new order of the day.
The Hungarian-Austrian Compromise of 1867 was not
well received by the leading Croatians. The concept of Dualism in the
Empire was unacceptable to the Slavs, the Roman Catholic bishop Josip
Strossmayer and his political circle were adamantly opposed to it. A
Croatian-Hungarian Compromise followed in January 30, 1868. The
Compromise allowed the Croatians autonomy in their domestic affairs
and matters of religion. It was an attempt on the part of the
Hungarians to prevent a united front and union of the Slavs.
Political parties of all stripes fought for control
of the Sabor beginning in the 1870’s; the National Party had the
support of the nobles who supported the Compromise with Hungary. The
supporters of the "South Slav" idea found expression in the
"Independent National Party" under the leadership of Bishop
Strossmayer. Their ideology was based on the principle of the unity of
all of the South Slavs, except the Bulgarians. The financial support
for the party came from the coffers of the bishop’s diocese. The
third party was "Croatian Rights" who were united with the
Austrian Monarchy and its aspirations; in effect they were the
official anti-Serbian party. But even this party was suspicious of
both Vienna and Budapest.
The 700,000 Serbian minorities in Croatia
established their own Serbian Independent Party in Ruma in 1881 to
safeguard their rights and demanded equality for their minority.
Others opposed the liberal approach among the Serbs, who formed the
"Radical Party", which leaned heavily on the Orthodox clergy
for support and leadership.
As the 19 century ended, the younger generation of
leadership sought to take advantage of the new issues that divided
Austria and Hungary to advance their cause of a union of the South
Slavs: Yugoslavia.
With the rise of the Kossuth Coalition that came to
power in Budapest in 1904 that sought full independence from Austria,
the Croatian opposition parties offered support to the Magyars if they
would support Croatian self-determination. The Serbian parties also
followed suit with the same solution in 1905. As a result a
Croatian-Serbian Party was formed to work for autonomy and the ideal
of self-determination and unity of the South Slavs and the destruction
of the Habsburg Danubian Monarchy. In the elections of 1906 the
Coalition won the majority of seats in the Sabor, and played the
leading role in the life and history of Croatia up to 1918. Friendship
with the Hungarians did not last very long. The annexation of Bosnia
and Herzegovina in 1908, followed by the Balkan War (1912-1913) were
flashpoints of conflict and unrest among the south Slavs finally
resulting in the outbreak of World War I in Sarajevo and the end of
the Danubian Monarchy.
The Settlement of the Germans
The migration of German settlers into the
Croatian and Slavonian areas prior to the occupation by the Turks, had
its origins in the beginning of the 16th century, chiefly
in the towns and cities, made up tradesmen, artisans, miners, and
merchants who came from all areas of Germany. The settlers arriving
after the liberation from the Turks again consisted of the same urban
classes but the majority now were peasant farmers. In both cases they
came in response to invitations from the nobles and landlords. At
times, of course, some individuals came on their own, taking the risks
that were involved.
Prior to the coming of the Turks, the first Germans
who arrived were priests and missionaries, most of them monks on
missions to extend the boundaries of the Roman Catholic Church and
later to stamp out heresy. At the end of the 8th century
the land was part of Charlemagne’s Empire and remained so until the
coming of the Magyars. In this period the local population was
Christianized and the central leadership provided for this was in
Bavaria.
There is a strong possibility and some evidence
that the south Slavs are of Gothic origin, especially the Bosnians.
Many of the names of the higher clergy in the Middle Ages are German.
All of this was contemporary with Stephen I of Hungary and his
Bavarian queen who also brought German monks, priests and
missionaries. Nikolaus of Guns in Hungary was later the Banus
(Governor) of Croatia from 1280 to 1281.
After the Tatar invasion and the recall of their
armies back to Asia, Bela IV of Hungary in 1243, invited Germans to
settle in Hungary promising freedom from some feudal taxes. His
brother Kolomann who was Count of Slavonia gave special privileges to
German monks at Weretz. The German population was increasing in the
area. Varasdin is the first and oldest German settlement in Croatia
and was established earlier than 1209. In 1231 Germans were also
reported living in Vukovar, Petrinja, Samobor, Agram, Kreuz and
Kopreinitz. The shoemakers of Agram were well known and the shoemaker’s
quarter was known as the "German village." Immigrants like
these soon filled the land and settled as both small and large groups.
The emergence of all of the cities and towns in Croatia and Slavonia
can be traced back to them. They also brought new ideas and farming
concepts to the peasant population. There were never any totally
German communities. In the early history of the towns Germans played a
leading role but as they became outnumbered they attempted to
guarantee their rights by law before they were totally swamped. This
lasted for a much longer period in those communities into which a
steady stream of German settlers continued to arrive: Agram and
Varasdin. This continuing flow of Germans now also included military
personnel, as the Turks became a threat throughout the Balkans. In
1579 they were involved in the re-establishment of the fortress at
Karlstadt. In 1645 it was reported that there were 300 German families
living in the city.
This tradition of "German towns" in
Croatia would continue well into the 19th century and 20th
centuries and there were continuing migrations of German settlers, but
only in those towns that were not occupied by the Turks. The Germans
simply disappeared in these areas. The Germans that could be found
there later arrived after the Turks had been driven out.
But how much of the German migration in the Middle
Ages consisted of peasant farmers? It is difficult to tell. There are
some areas in Syrmien that have names of possible former German
villages. The Germans working in the mines were probably Zipser Saxons
from Upper Hungary (Slovakia), who brought their own community
organization with them. They were especially present in Bosnia. In
1463 the Turks conquered Bosnia and that was the end of the German
mining communities.
It was a totally new situation after the Turks were
driven out of Croatia, Slavonia and Srem.
In 1700 there were fewer than 14,000 people living
in all of Slavonia after the Turks were through with it. To all
intents and purposes one could say that Syrmien was totally
uninhabited. The remaining towns contained most of the surviving
population.
The first stage of reconstruction and redevelopment
of the land was repairing and expanding the towns and fortresses to
withstand any reappearance of the Turks. The need was for construction
workers and skilled artisans. There were none. Esseg and Peterwardein
and their fortresses needed immediate attention and as a result the
two cities became the first of the new German towns after the
expulsion of the Turks. In 1690 Esseg was granted its municipal rights
and charter. The influx of merchants and skilled artisans who came
primarily from the Austrian territories continued throughout the 18th
century. Esseg maintained its German character well into the 20th
century although they were a minority of the population.
Semlin located at the confluence of the Sava and
Danube Rivers received its first German settlers in 1721 after the
Peace of Passarowitz. There was another large influx of new German
settlers after the Peace of Belgrade in 1739. Germans coming down the
Danube arrived in Belgrade and moved on from there to towns in
Syrmien. Peterwardein and Karolowitz experienced large growth in their
German populations. German sections of towns had names to that effect.
It was the norm. Germans from Belgrade were the founders of Neusatz
(Novi Sad). New Vukovar in effect was the German part of the town,
settled with 33 families between 1723 and 1725. There was a high rate
of mortality among the German settlers because of the climate and
summer epidemics of all kinds.
A massive immigration of German peasant farmers did
not take place here as it did to the north of the Drava and Danube
Rivers. After 1718 a portion of the land was under the control and
administration of the Royal Chancellery and the Department of War
while the rest belonged to various nobles without the resources to
develop their holdings. There were other obstacles: most of the land
was thick forest wilderness; it did not appear as if the land could be
developed agriculturally; wolf packs prowled the forests; security
against robbers and brigands was non-existent; settlers were offered
few concessions or inducements like freedom from taxes or military
service; many nobles had no interest in developing their estates and
wanted serfs to serve them at their bidding and not free peasants;
there were few government officials in the area to whom the settlers
could go for help and support; there were no roads and the settlers
would have to struggle with total isolation.
In spite of these kinds of difficulties, the Royal
Chancellery organized a settlement on the Crown lands at Kutjevo,
located in southern Hungary, between 1785 and 1787 at Josefsfeld-Kula
and Josefsdorf-Porec. These were the only government sponsored pioneer
settlements in the vicinity. The settlers came primarily from
Luxemburg, Alsace, Lorraine and the Pfalz. Two other villages were
also established but could not be sustained. The settlers in these
communities all become Croatianized within a generation or two.
Nor are the settlement attempts under the auspices
of the nobles in Syrmien and Slavonia very numerous. The noble Franz
von der Trenck established deutsch-Mihaljevci on the Mitrovac estate
in 1744. Later in 1752, retired soldiers founded Lukasdorf-Lukac. One
of the settlements numbered 8 men, 7 women and 33 children. In six
months 5 men, 3 women and 13 children had died.
Characteristic of all of these early efforts was
the small number of people involved. Only by an influx of later
settlers could the communities have survived. There was no economic
base to support the skilled artisans who had come with them and they
had to move on elsewhere.
More important settlement work was undertaken
during the Theresian phase of the Schwabenzug in Slavonia. A whole
line of farm villages were established in the vicinity of Essegg:
Krawitz in 1769, Hirshfeld-Sarwasch in 1769 after Magyars and Slavs
had left, Deutsch-Rieddorf sometime in 1768/1769 next to the Hungarian
village of Retfala, Terezovac-Suhopolje in 1770 and Antonsdorf-Kapan
in 1776.
There were other German settlers on estates in
Slavonia that were not able to establish permanent settlements for
various reasons and merged with their Slavic neighbors.
In Syrmien the following Theresian settlements were
established under royal auspices: Ruma, Sotting and Jarmin. All of
these later received an influx of German settlers. In Ruma the first
Germans came in 1746 and by 1784 there were 700 Germans settled there.
Most of the growth was due to the arrival of newcomers.
During the Josephinian settlement period
theGermanys settled the Prandau estates were in 1786 at
Josefsdorf-Josipovac. The first immigrants came from south western
Germany who were later joined by Germans from Bohemia. Settlers from
Württemberg founded Neustadt at Essegg in 1792.
The most important settlements during this epoch
were located in the Military Frontier District. The earliest was Neu
Gradiska in 1748 soon followed by Friedrichsdorf.
In 1783 Neu Slankamen and later in 1787 Semlin
received their first German settlers. In 1806 there was a large influx
of Germans from Bohemia who moved into Neu-Salankamen that greatly
strengthened the community.
In 1791, after many difficulties, Lutherans from
Württemberg settled Neu Pasua in eastern Syrmien. At the same time a
small German enclave was established in the Croatian village of Neu
Banovci, which was very close to Neu Pasua. Only through the later
migration of German families from Neu Pasau was the future of the
German community in Neu Banovci assured.
At the same time, (1790-1794) Karlowitz received 36
German families, Ruma received 26 families and Bukovitz another 20
families. Most of them came from Alsace, Lorraine, Württemberg,
Basel, Baden and Nassau (Hesse).
At the beginning of the 19th century new
communities were established in the Military Frontier District to
provide fresh produce to the towns and troops. Siegenthal was founded
in 1816 to serve Semlin. (Later it would be called Franztal.) The
first settlers here came from Lazarfeld in the Banat. In 1819 close to
Vinkovci, the Lutheran village of Neudorf was established. They were
Franconian pietists who had come from various Lutheran settlements in
the Batschka after having left Württemberg originally. In 1828
Hessendorf was established in the vicinity of Mitrovitz but there were
too few Germans to develop an ongoing German community.
At the beginning of the 19th century the
German settlements on both sides of the Drava and Danube Rivers were
experiencing a population explosion and a lack of land for expansion.
As a result Syrmien and then later Slavonia were the next areas of
expansion. But there were political and national issues and
sensibilities at work. While the nobles were anxious to raise their
own economic situation by making use of the their undeveloped lands
and estates they knew that in order for that to happen required an
increase in the population. There were Serbians residing there but
they were not seen as the answer to the problem. In fact, the area was
moving backwards economically as the Serbs refused to undertake the
cultivation of the land, preferring herding cattle.
At this point the nobles and landlords saw that
they had to take the initiative and went as far as looking for
settlers in Hungary but they also courted others, including Magyars,
Russians, Slovaks and many others. As a result the owner of the Ruma
estate called for Serbs to settle in 1746 in his new village of India,
and then he called for Czechs in 1825 who like the Serbs shortly
afterwards went on to other places. It was only in 1827 when the
Germans arrived and soon became the majority in a permanent
settlement. By 1848 they were 65.8% of the population of 1,500. He
also settled Germans in Putinci at that time, while other nobles
established Calma, Banostor, Cerevic and Greguerevci and Vukovar and
Sotting received more Germans as well.
Compared to the emerging daughter settlements
emerging in Syrmien very little development was taking place in
Slavonia. But in 1824 Johannisberg was settled with Germans from the
Egerland. Germans who came from the Tolna in Hungary in 1836 settled
Deutsch-Derschanitz later becoming Johannesdorf-Jovanovac. They had
been brought specially to begin the cultivation of tobacco. In 1843
Germans from Veszprem County in Hungary settled Neu Zoljani.
In addition to these contractual settlements
between a landlord/noble and a group, some individuals were simply
making their own arrangements and purchased land and houses.
To a great extent Slavonia remained a wilderness
and backwoods area, relatively untouched by an attempts at settlement.
With the emancipation of the serfs in 1848, the local population was
more unreliable than ever. The Swabian villages of Hungary and the
Batschka were overcrowded and there was now nowhere to go to seek a
living. The government in Vienna set the stage for a new settlement
movement.
The Regulation and Decree was issued by the Emperor
on December 31, 1858 and was addressed to the Kingdom of Hungary,
Croatia, Slavonia, the Serbian Vojvodina, the Banat and the Princedom
of Transylvania with a renewed call for agricultural settlement and
development of the Dual Monarchy.
Some of the regulations included: each settlement
requires a minimum of 1,000 Joch of land; homes for at least fifty
families must be provided; all members of the community, regardless of
their place of origin must be of one nationality and confession
(religious denomination). The intention of the decree was to provide a
supply of workers for the landholders, but the Emperor also stipulated
the need for providing incentives like tax exemptions. The government
sought to gain immigrants from other countries to strength its
population and broaden its economic base. The would-be-settlers would
become citizens of the Monarchy upon arrival; their sons born outside
of the Monarchy were free from military service; they were guaranteed
the free expression of their religion if they were recognized groups
in the Monarchy; cattle, machinery, goods, equipment, would pass
through customs at no cost.
To the consternation and disappointment of Vienna
there was no response from Germany. The mass migrations had ended with
Joseph II and now it was the United States of America that beckoned.
The results of the new settlement Patent of the
Emperor were hardly impressive in Croatia and Slavonia. Only ten
German settlements were established in response to it. Three were
established in 1866 by contracting with the landowners and their
agents at Blagorodovac, Eichendorf-Hrastovac and Antunovac. The
settlers came from Baranya, Tolna and Somogy Counties in Hungary. In
the same year there were also settlements established in Sokolovac and
Djulaves (later Miolovicevo), but the contract between the settlers
and the noble were only officially ratified in 1877. Dobrovac was also
settled in 1866 but the contract only finalized in 1881. Settlers from
the Böhmerwald settled in Filipovac in 1886. The village of Kerndia
was already settled in 1880/1881 but a contract with Bishop
Strossmayer was not signed until 1891. The last two communities were
Kapetanovo Polje settled in 1882 and Franjevac-Strizicevac in 1886 the
contracts for which were only ratified by their landlord later in
1891.
We need to be reminded that 80% of the land
involved was heavily forested wilderness and the chief task of the
colonists was clearing the land. The land they took over was often not
very fertile or at best marginal to say the least. They had to pay for
the house lot and garden and clear it and were given some of the wood
that they cut to use in the construction of their homes and other farm
buildings but often at high prices. No other language group or
nationality responded to the Patent except the Germans at a time when
anti-German feeling in Croatia was at its highest, but the nobles made
the adjustment because the Germans were industrious and would stick to
it no matter what happened. Exactly what they wanted.
But other settlement was taking place outside of
the Patent of the Emperor. Some of the landlords simply parceled out
the land. Groups of settlers obtained loans and mortgages to buy land
and create a settlement. But it was difficult to cope with the
elements, floods, isolation, hunger, epidemics and frequent crop
losses. Most of those who responded were from among the poor and they
overlooked the risks that were involved because of the possibility of
improving their lives and that of their families
With the Slavic peasantry freed from serfdom they
were anxious to sell the land and the house they had received and move
on, preferably into the towns. As a result, the price of land fell
dramatically in Slavonia and Syrmien after 1848. At the same time land
was scarce and expensive in other German settlement areas, especially
Swabian Turkey and the Batschka. Selling a small plot of land there
enabled them to buy a holding in Slavonia.
The new migration was from within the Monarchy and
resulted in the strengthening of the original settlements. It
especially had a very positive effect on the ethnic German Lutheran
communities. The Military Frontier District was an area where this was
most noticeable. The first settlers lured their families and friends
to join them in Slavonia or Syrmien. As a result villages where ethnic
Germans were a minority, by 1880 had become the majority. Banovci 64%,
Gasimci 53%, Mrzovic 57%, Slatinik 60%, Tomasanci 65%, Pisak 75%.
However, the success of the ethnic German communities led to jealousy
and anti-German feelings and subsequent actions against them.
During this period, both in Syrmien and Slavonia,
Germans from within the Monarchy settled in almost every single
village and bought land and stayed there at least for a time. For that
reason it would not be possible to note every such settlement, but
only those in which a large portion of the population were of ethnic
German origin.
Western and central Slavonia were the locales of
the most important of these newly established enclaves: Gross-Pisanitz
(1881), Palesnik (1882), Klein-Bastei (1885), Marjanci, Colinci
(1870), Kucanci (1876) Cacinci (1908) and the vicinity of Trnjani
(1890) and Garcin (1890). According to the mayor of Drenovac the last
two mentioned communities were settled in 1875 by colonists from the
Burgenland: Oberndorf, Kitzladen, Pinkafeld, Oberschützen,
Wörterberg, Althau and Sinnersdorf. A second group of settlers from
the Burgenland from the vicinity of Güns established themselves in
Uljanik by Daruvar and some individuals went on to Kutina and Dolci.
During this settlement with the exception of Gross-Pisanitz and
Cacinci, not more than one hundred or two hundred ethnic Germans were
involved, but they were strong enough numerically to survive and
maintain their ethnic German identity and in some places they formed
the majority of the local population some even eventually reaching
five hundred ethnic German inhabitants. These villages were also not
as scattered from one another as they were in other parts of Slavonia
and the contacts between villages were maintained and their ethnic
identity was protected and not threatened with assimilation as it was
in other areas that included: Selci, Satnica (1875), Pisak, Vucevci
(1850), Gortgani, Gasinci, Tomasanci, Semeljci, Kesinci, Viskorvci,
Forkusevci, Mrzovic (1858) Vrbica, Djurdjanci, Slatnik (1875) and
Drenje.
The same situation also prevailed in the following
settlements and enclaves in western Syrmia: Ilaca, Kukujevci, Bapska-Novak,
Schider Banovci, Nijemci (1870), Nustar, Ceric, Svinjarevci, Jankovci,
Tordinci, Vodjinci, Ivankovo, Orolik, Drenovci and Rajevo Selo (1883).
In eastern Smyrnia, south of Ruma the enclaves of
Nikinci, Hertkovci and Grabovci later resulted.
This inner migration within the Monarchy had a
powerful effect and influence on the strengthening of the ethnic
German Lutheran settlements in Croatia. Much of it was concentrated in
the Military Frontier District, which up until the Protestant Patent
was promulgated had to deal with a lot of difficulties, which were now
surmounted by the more liberal Military administration in its
interpretation of the new laws. Enclaves would emerge in Beska and
Krcedin (around 1859), Becmen (around 1860) in Surcin (around 1869)
and Obrez (around 1860). The settlement of Bezanija by families from
Neu Pasau began already in 1842. With the dispersal of the Military
Frontier District all of these settlements received new settlers and
developed new daughter settlements in Dobanovci (1875) and Asanja.
Bosnia was finally in the spotlight of European
history in the later half of the 19th century. It had been under
Turkish rule for over four hundred years and its population had
converted to Islam to a great extent. Austria-Hungary claimed its
sphere of influence at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 and formally
annexed Bosnia in 1908.
Economically it was a total mess. Minimal
cultivation of its land was taking place. No cattle rearing or sheep
herding was in existence. It was in need of development in every sense
of the word.
The earliest German settlement resulted from the
efforts of monks from Germany led by Franz Pfanner and resulted in the
village of Windhorst (1869). Settlers came from Baden, Rhineland,
Prussia and later from Westphalia, Hanover, Oldenburg and Holland.
Other villages were later established in the vicinity.
Franzjosefsfeld was established in 1886 in
northeastern Bosnia, the first Danube Swabian settlement, consisting
of 91 families from Franzfeld in the Banat who numbered 402 persons.
This was a Lutheran community later joined by others from Neu Pasau,
Tscherwenka, Schowe and other Lutheran villages in the Batschka and
Smyernia. They endured floods, bad crops and epidemics located in the
heart of a vast wilderness. Schonborn, known as Petrovo Polje was also
an early Lutheran settlement.
As the government got involved and established
"colonies" in Bosnia between 1891 and 1904 there were 54
colonies in all with over 9,000 inhabitants. Of these, twelve were
German with a total population of 1,800 persons. But attempts were
always made to put a stop to the government colonization program,
which was finally accomplished by law in 1906.
In 1891 the government established the colonies at
Branjevo and Dugo Polje. These settlers came from Lutheran villages in
the Batschka and a few families from Smyrnia. Dugo Polje was
established by nine Lutheran families from the Batschka and was the
smallest of the colonies.
Four more were established in 1894:
Dubrava-Königsfeld by twenty families from Slavonia, the Batschka,
Galicia and Moravia. Within two years only two men remained, when a
new re-settlement was undertaken. Settlers from Galicia established
Vrbaska-Karlsdorf. Prosara was established by twenty-one ethnic German
families from Galicia and Russia and proved to be the worst situation
in which to plant a colony. Eight families settled Korace, numbering
38 persons from Galicia.
In 1895 the government colony of Ukrinski was
established with settlers from Russia, Galicia, Slavonia, Swabian
Turkey and Bukovina and other areas. There were 300 persons, half of
whom were from Danube Swabian communities. In 1937 there was a
population of 1,096 persons. Because of floods and famine, the colony
moved to a new site and took on a new name: Schutzberg.
In 1895 the government at Vranovac established
another colony and most of the colonists came from Galicia and
southeran Russia (Black Sea Germans). In 1896 the colony of Kardar was
founded on the Sava River. The settlers came from Galicia who were
later joined by others from Slavnonia and the Banat. Also in 1896 the
colony of Ularici-Franzferdinandshöh (later Putnikovo Brdo) after the
heavily forested land was cleared the soil was found to be marginal
and sugar beet cultivation proved to be the only economically viable
crop. Later in 1898/1899 the colony of Sibouska was formed, the only
government sponsored ethnic German Roman Catholic agricultural
community. The settlers came from Galicia and Bukovina and maintained
a close relationship with the Lutheran community of Schützberg in
order to maintain their ethnic German identity.
The last government sponsored ethnic German colony
was Vrbovac in 1903/1904. The first settlers came from Galicia and
were later joined by families from the Banat. There were of course
also individuals and families who moved into Bosnia on their own and
not part of a planned settlement program. Some of these private
settlers also came from Galica, Bukovina and southern Russia. Often
these groups moved on to other colonies later as they were unable to
support an ethnic German school or develop congregational life as a
Diaspora group.
Some colonies developed factories, saw mills and
other businesses, while others remained very small and lived a rather
primitive, isolated existence. In 1912 a new colony was formed at
Sitnes, consisting of settlers from the other Bosnia colonies. On the
whole, life was more difficult and the land inferior on the government
colonies.
Croatia and the Colonization
Question
Prior to 1848, the Croatians paid little
attention to the small groups of settlers in the wilderness. It was
only in 1865 when the Croatian intelligentsia acknowledged that there
were ethnic German and Hungarian minorities present in their country.
In Syrmien, it was a different matter living there
among the Serbians who as early as 1846 and 1847 began expressing
their concern that they were being "replaced" by the
industrious ethnic Germans, whose hard work had led to success, which
unfortunately led to embitterment on the part of their Serbian
neighbors.
The nationalist press raised a hue and cry against
the "invaders" from the north even though they made a
tremendous contribution of the economy. Radicalization set in.
By and large there were voices of the opposition
but the government had to have a greater concern for the nation’s
finances rather than its nationalistic feelings. After 1848 there was
simply no let up in ongoing immigration and "foreign"
settlement. The entry of more and more Hungarian settlers and their
setting up of their Hungarian schools created quite an uproar. The
Croatians saw every minority as a threat and from their perspective
assimilation was the only solution. The Reich German threat eastwards
as the official policy of Prussianized Germany was read into the real
motivations of the ethnic German settlers moving into Croatia. This
would prove especially true in Bosnia were some of the settlers
actually came from the Reich.
When that argument failed to work, the Croatian
nationalists pictured the ethnic Germans as the tools and weapons of
the Magyars in their ongoing attempt to lord it over them. It was a
matter of the indolence of the Slavic peasants and the industriousness
of the "Swabians" and the economic consequences. The Danube
Swabians created an economic miracle in a marginal wilderness for
which the Slavs were not grateful as long as they were there.
Many areas of Slavonia were uninhabited and were of
no real economic value. Only settlers and capital investment could
change that. Many of the settlers brought capital with them. That
served as an antidote to the charge that they were opportunists and
carpetbaggers and ne’er-do-wells. By 1910, ten per cent of the
arable land was still undeveloped. First of all, the nobles preferred
ethnic German settlers and then Slovaks and Czechs who were seen as
their Slavic brothers. Their last choice was the Magyars (Hungarians)
who usually assimilated within one generation. It was the ethnic
Germans who resisted assimilation the longest. This would prove to be
dangerous in the future.
As neighbors the Danube Swabians got along with the
Croatian and Serbian populations. The government saw them as a
necessary economic evil at best, and as a threat to the unity of the
Slavs at the worst. It was the latter view that would prevail. The
answer was to make the Slavs industrious, thrifty and work focused so
that they no longer sold their land to the Danube Swabians. The
banking institutions would support their peasantry in this endeavor.
But there were only minor initiatives, especially in the new areas
opening for settlement. The Slavs decided they would rather be farm
laborers working for the ethnic Germans. All of the new settlement
laws of the government favored inner-migration and attempted to thwart
emigration elsewhere as much as possible. Still the population
stagnated. The only group that was affected was the Hungarians who
began to leave.
But as the 19th century ended, the major
issue was no longer immigration into Slavonia but the emigration of
countless thousands of young people to the United States and this also
included vast numbers of the Danube Swabian population. By the
outbreak of the First World War almost all immigration into Slavonia
had ceased and the presence of ethnic Germans, Hungarians, Slovaks and
the other nationalities was simply accepted as an economic and social
reality that had no political implications. There was no conspiracy or
a fifth column directed against the Croatians.
The ethnic German Population and the
Revolution of 1848
Political life in Croatian and Slavonia before
the Revolution was a mirror and reflection of neighboring Hungary. In
both countries, first place on the political spectrum were the nobles
and their agenda. The urban citizens in Hungary, however, were
awakening to issues that had no counterpart in Croatia and Slavonia.
German speaking nobles were landlords in Croatia and supported the
aspirations of the nobility of Hungary and as a special interest group
they took their cue from Budapest. The nationality question was of no
consequence to them. The German nobles also had no interest in
"national" politics as Germans. The "national"
movements began among the urban populations fed on
"romanticism", mostly the poorer classes who felt
discriminated against and the watchword became "Volk" (Folk)
and "folk language." The Danube Swabians formed the largest
single element in the urban settlements and went over to identifying
with the Croatian aspirations and gave up their mother tongue.
Most of the Croatian Nationalists were of ethnic
German origin and had German names! This was often through marriage.
Bishop Strossmayer is one important example. In his case it became
fanaticism. But under the surface this was not the cultural and social
movement born out of romanticism, but ethnic identification, another
word for nationalism and racism and had political implications: the
unification of the South Slavs. There was the demand for the use of
the Croatian language by the government administration over against
the use of Latin in the Counties and German in the courts. After 1840
this became more and more contentious.
In Esseg and other communities with a large Danube
Swabian population they sided with the nationalist movement and
supported their aspirations early in 1848 over the language issue.
They would support opposition against the Hungarian attempts to
suppress such a movement. In a petition they said the following:
"We all desire to be united with Croatia as we
always have been, but without breaking away from Hungary. We are happy
to accept the use of the Croatian language in all of the affairs of
the city governance; but we will also continue to use our own language
in out life and commerce…"
The Croatian Nationalist became more strident and
by May of 1848 they introduced the use of Croatian in all of the
affairs of Weretz County. The Danube Swabian population was caught
between the rival nationalistic groups and had to make a choice and
sided with the pro-Hungarian party. They were attracted by the
liberalism of Kossuth and a proposed new constitution with broader
freedoms. That act was a reflection of the basic liberalism of the
ethnic German population in Esseg, which were the ideals of the French
Revolution.
The Banus (Governor) Jelacic opposed the
aspirations of the Hungarian rebels and sided with the German-Austrian
Emperor, while the Danube Swabian population of Slavonia and Croatia
by and large followed the lead of Esseg in support of Kossuth and his
allies. To the horror of Jelacic, in April 1848 the Hungarian rebels
abolished serfdom and declared that all nobles and commoners were
equals!
May 30, 1848 the mayor of Esseg, Alois Schmidt left
for Budapest to declare the city of Esseg loyal to the Revolution. The
next day, the Town Council refused to accept or acknowledge Jelacic as
the Banus and sent no representatives to Agram to a meeting of the
Sabor to avoid participating in his installation. Jelacic would never
forget that. He would later disenfranchise the citizens when he
occupied the city and threatened to deport them to the United States.
It was only in 1850 that the Danube Swabian citizens regained their
civic rights.
In Syrmien things came a head before 1845. Eastern
Syrmien was heavily pro-Serbian, while western Syrmien was won over by
the pro-Hungarian party. The Germans by and large sided with the
Hungarians but not in an overt or political way. Ruma was an exception
where the German population supported the Serbs. But this would not
last long. By April 26, 1848 the ethnic German citizens complained to
the County Administrator about the agitation of the Serbian youth who
sowed hatred among the nationalities and threatened to beat up the
Danube Swabian population of Ruma. Other communities, like Semlin also
wrote letters of complaint to the same effect. This did not sit well
with the Serbian Nationalist leadership who sought to control the
Vojvodina where the largest ethnic German settlements were located.
The Military Frontier District was still under Hungarian control, but
most of the officers were German and they needed to be won over. The
Serbian leadership prepared a proclamation addressed to:
To Our ethnic German Brothers
"The Serbian nation has been forced to
preserve its national rights and freedoms by taking up the sword for
the sake of its religion, traditions and customs, its language and
nationality, in the face of the threats of the newly situated Magyar
government, which we will oppose forever.
The Serbian nation recognizes every religion,
nationality, language, traditions, and customs, the right to life and
ownership of every individual Danube Swabian brother and citizen. The
Serbian nation is not warring against ethnic German brothers, their
religion, life, nationality or traditions to destroy them, nor their
life, home and lands to destroy, plunder or rob, because such
cruelties are not consistent with our own national character.
Therefore, ethnic German brothers we acknowledge
before God and all nations, that the Serbian nation and its military
power has no aggressive intention against you, our Danube Swabian
brothers, nor will we limit your religious or citizenship rights, on
the contrary we will protect these rights as we face a common enemy
and honor our loyalty to his Majesty, the Emperor, Ferdinand I, as a
guarantee of your rights forever.
BUT WE ALSO ISSUE THIS WARNING…all those
ethnic Germans who oppose us or go over to the enemy will be treated
as our enemies.
Long live the Emperor, and King, Ferdinand I,
long lives the ethnic German and Serbian people. Long lives our
Brotherhood."
The relations between the local populations were
strained. On the local scene the Serbian population did not reflect
their leadership’s actions and attitudes towards the Germans.
Violence broke out in many communities this was especially true in
India. The priests of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches both
got into the act. On the whole the ethnic German and Slovak
populations wanted no part in these conflicts but were physically
forced to support the Serbs. The relations between the Serbs and the
Roman Catholic population in particular continued to get worse and
worse.
The Serbian leadership began to mobilize the entire
population regardless of nationality or religious confession. This led
to unrest and rebellion among the Danube Swabian population,
especially in the Military Frontier District. Troops had to be sent in
to restore order and arrested Danube Swabians and took them to
Karlowitz to the military barracks. The Serbs declared the Vojvodina a
part of their state and were faced by the opposition of the Roman
Catholic population. In response to the Serbian provocations, the
Roman Catholic population became more and more pro-Hungarian. As long
as the Hungarians and Serbs battled one another anarchy reigned in the
Vojvodina. Plundering, murder and robbery were the order of the day.
The Serbian population simply ran amok. The ethnic Germans, like those
in Bukowitz suffered greatly at their hands…
The Removal of the German Language
from Government and School
After 1860, the language issue in Croatia was
taken up with great vehemence and as a result German disappeared as
the language of the Courts.
By action of the Sabor on October 5, 1861 all
government authorities and officials had to be able to speak either
Croatian or Serbian. All representatives elected to the Sabor also had
to speak one of the languages. On October 13, 1861 the language of
instruction in the schools was to be Serbo-Croatian, and German could
no longer be taught as a subject in the high schools. But Emperor
Francis Joseph vetoed the new regulations. The Croatians found other
ways to impose their decree, beginning in the cities. But in most of
the ethnic German towns and cities, the Danube Swabians were able to
maintain the use of their language and elect mayors, parliamentary
representatives who were German speaking.
In 1868 the Compromise between Hungary and Croatia
and Slavonia was signed that granted some autonomy on domestic and
religious affairs.
It is interesting that in their negotiations with
the Hungarians they used Kossuth their fiercest enemy as their model.
Kossuth had said that the evolving middle class in the towns would be
the bearer of the national movement and the ultimate enemy would be
the Danube Swabians. "Our future depends on a middle class. The
nobles are easy to incorporate, but they are few, the source must be
the citizens of the free cities. But they must become Hungarians. Our
cities to a great extent are ethnic German, which means that commerce
and industry is in Danube Swabian hands. It is our nationality that is
threatened by them. They are the enemy. Kossuth’s words met a
responsive chord among the Croatians.
But Syrmien was a different story. No middle class
evolved among the early agricultural settlers. They brought their
clergy and teachers with them. After 1848 a few farmers sent their
sons to study for the priesthood or teaching. Their education was
either in Croatian or Hungarian and did not prepare them to function
as the intelligentsia of their peasant farmer society. In the 1880’s
and after the distance between the urban Danube Swabins and the
farmers in the isolated areas led to them growing farther and farther
apart in other ways as well. The end of both groups appeared to be
just ahead. Neither group was of any significant political importance.
The Danube Swabians in Syrmien found themselves
caught between the Serbs and the Croatians who each sought hegemony
over the other. Since the Serbs were the majority, the Croatians hoped
to catch up by assimilating all of the ethnic Germans into their
language group. They were quite successful in western Syrmien, but not
in the eastern part.
What happened was a resurgence of a "Danube
Swabian consciousness" among the ethnic German population. During
the last decade of the 19th century a "Danube Swabian
middle class" emerged in Ruma (with a population of 8,000 of whom
7,000 were ethnic Germans) as a result of some leading personalities
who had attended German speaking high schools outside of Srem,
Slavonia and Croatia, especially in Graz and Vienna in Austria. This
had a tremendous affect on the deepening of a ethnic German
consciousness on the part of all of the scattered Danube Swabian
populations. The first attempt at a Danube Swabian organization and a
newspaper began in Ruma, November 2, 1903. The first members were from
Ruma, India, Putinci, Beschka and Neu Slankaman. There were none from
western Syrmien or Slavonia because information did not flow freely
into those areas. The first edition of "Deutsche Volksblatt fur
Syrmien" (German People’s Paper fur Syrmien) was a weekly, with
a circulation of 2,000 copies. Soon other newspapers appeared in other
areas. This led to local libraries, agitation for German speaking
priests and teachers, assemblies and the like. The government
legislated against them, but the Danube Swabians had "friends at
court" and moved ahead.
The Croatian press and public reaction against the
ethnic German activism was to go on the attack everywhere. Serbs and
Croatians in Syrmien began to organize against the Danube Swabian
threat. After 1904, Ruma elected a Danube Swabian mayor and the
majority of the Town Council were ethnic Germans, India elected too
Danube Swabians of its twelve Town Council members, in Putinci it was
eleven out of twelve and the ethnic Germans won a majority in Sotting
in 1907. The Croatian Nationalist parties all had apoplexy.
Did this now mean that a Danube Swabian candidate
could win election to the Sabor? (Parliament).
There were two categories of voters: twenty-four
years of age, male, citizen, and a taxpayer. And the following could
vote simply on the basis of their profession: clergy, teachers,
physicians, notaries, all university faculty members, pharmacists,
engineers and professors. There were 88 seats in the Sabor for a
period of five years.
In 1907 the Social Democrats pointed out that out
of 2,500,000 men only 45,000 could vote. The electoral district of
Ruma, which included: Ruma, India, Putinci, Kraljevci, Petrovci and
Klein Rdinci had only an electorate of 1,108. This was one of the
largest of the electoral districts. There were six electoral districts
with less than 100 voters. This left the door open to buy votes. The
Danube Swabians joined all those calling for universal suffrage just
introduced in Austria in 1908. But the government hedged, afraid that
the ethnic German and Hungarian minority, which represented ten per
cent of the population, would elect their own representatives and
therefore influence the nation in some way.
In 1910 an election reform law was passed against
universal suffrage but expanding the electorate to 200,000 persons. As
a result in Ruma, the Danube Swabians were the majority of the
electors at 53.25%, while in Semlin they represented 36.26%. Of the
190,043 votes, 8,388 were ethnic Germans, which was 4.4%. No one was
happy with the reform.
In 1917 the number of seats was increased to 122
and all of the electoral districts were made the same size in terms of
the number of voters on the basis of the Croatian and Serbian
populations, to make sure the minorities did not have the population
to elect one of their own. There was no electoral district with a
Danube Swabian majority. The closest were Esseg-Upper Town 34.7%,
Semlin 38.3%, Esseg-Lower Town 37.3% and Dobrinci 31.0%.
