On the initiative of

Croatian ban Ban of Croatia ( hr, Hrvatski ban) was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) an ...

Károly Khuen-Héderváry Count Károly Khuen-Héderváry de Hédervár, born as ''Károly Khuen de Belás'' ( hr, Dragutin Khuen-Héderváry, 23 May 1849 – 16 February 1918) was a Hungarian politician and the Ban of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in the late ninet ...

, in mid-October 1895

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Emperor Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

visited

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, at the time the capital of the

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia ( hr, Kraljevina Hrvatska i Slavonija; hu, Horvát-Szlavónország or ; de-AT, Königreich Kroatien und Slawonien) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation with ...

, in order to attend the opening of the Croatian National Theatre. A group of Croatian students used the visit to protest the rule of the Hungarian Khuen-Héderváry as Croatian ban. They were led by

Stjepan Radić Stjepan Radić (11 June 1871 – 8 August 1928) was a Croat politician and founder of the Croatian People's Peasant Party (HPSS), active in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He is credited with galvanizing Cro ...

, who would later form the influential Croatian People's Peasant Party.

Events

The emperor arrived in Zagreb by train on October 14, 1895. Upon his arrival a group of students chanted "Slava Jelačiću" ("Glory to Jelačić"), in reference to the former Croatian ban

Josip Jelačić Count Josip Jelačić von Bužim (16 October 180120 May 1859; also spelled ''Jellachich'', ''Jellačić'' or ''Jellasics''; hr, Josip grof Jelačić Bužimski; hu, Jelasics József) was a Croatian lieutenant field marshal in the Imperial-Roy ...

who had risen up against the Hungarians in the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

. That day the emperor attended the unveiling ceremonial completion of the Croatian National Theatre.1895 at the Croatian National Theatre
/ref> Music by

Ivan Zajc Ivan Zajc (also hr, Ivan plemeniti Zajc, it, Giovanni de Zaytz; ; August 3, 1832 – December 16, 1914), was a Croatian composer, conductor, director, and teacher who dominated Croatia's musical culture for over forty years. Through his ar ...

was subsequently performed inside the theatre. The following day, the emperor attended an honorary dance at the ''Kolo'' building. On this day a group of students led by

, then a 24-year-old student of the Faculty of Law, planned a burning of the Hungarian tricolour. On October 16, the final day of the imperial visit, the students marched to

Ban Jelačić Square Ban Jelačić Square (; hr, Trg bana Jelačića) is the central square of the city of Zagreb, Croatia, named after Ban Josip Jelačić. The official name is Trg bana Jelačića. The square is colloquially called ''Jelačić plac''. It is locate ...

where they chanted "Živio hrvatski kralj Franjo Josip I" ("Long live Croatian king Franz Joseph I"), "Slava Jelačiću" and "Abzug Magjari" ("Away with Hungarians"). They doused the Hungarian tricolour in

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

and set it on fire. They then marched towards the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

. The city police soon informed ban Khuen-Héderváry of the act, and he ordered that the students be arrested. By the end of the following day, 24 were arrested, Radić among them.

Aftermath

The students were subsequently charged for the incident.

was sentenced to six months in jail, Gjuro Balaško to five, and Milan Dorwald, Osman Hadžić,

Vladimir Vidrić Vladimir Vidrić (April 20, 1875 – September 29, 1909) was a Croatian poet, and is considered one of the major figures of Croatian Vienna Secession, secessionist poetry. Life Vidrić was born in Zagreb, to an affluent family of Slovenian o ...

, Josip Šikutrić, Vladimir Frank and Ivan Frank to four months, while the rest were mostly sentenced to two months. The students were all barred from the University of Zagreb while Stjepan Radić was barred from all universities in the empire. This led him to continue his studies abroad in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The other students went to the

Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...

and the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

. These students would form the basis of the Croatian Moderna, a cultural and political movement active at the turn of the century, characterized by anti-traditionalism,

cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizens ...

, and focus on artistic freedom. In 1897, the

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

group of students began publishing ''Hrvatska misao'', while in 1898 the

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

students began publishing ''Mladost''. The flag burning also resulted in a schism within the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava or HSP) is an extra-parliamentary nationalist political party in Croatia. The "right(s)" in the party's name refer to the legal and moral reasons that justify the independence and autonom ...

. Its leader

Fran Folnegović Fran Folnegović (17 February 1848 – 18 July 1903) was a Croatian politician. He was a member of the Sabor of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia elected on the Party of Rights ticket several times. Folnegović became one of the principal members o ...

distanced himself from the incident, and the dissenters, headed by

Ante Starčević Ante Starčević (; 23 May 1823 – 28 February 1896) was a Croatian politician and writer. His policies centered around Croatian state law, the integrity of Croatian lands, and the right of his people to self-determination. As an important memb ...

and

Josip Frank Josip Frank (16 April 1844 – 17 December 1911) was a Croatian lawyer and politician, a noted representative of the Party of Rights in the Croatian Parliament, and a vocal advocate of Croatian national independence in Austria-Hungary. Early li ...

, formed a splinter party,

Croatian Pure Party of Rights Croatian Pure Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska čista stranka prava or HČSP) is a far-right political party in Croatia founded in 1992. The party claims to be an ideological descendant of the identically named right-wing Anti-Serb sentiment, Serb ...

Notes

References

* * *{{cite journal, url=http://hrcak.srce.hr/57029, title=Spaljivanje mađarske zastave 1895. godine u Zagrebu, last=Racko, first=Ljerka, journal=Radovi Zavoda za hrvatsku povijest, volume=23, issue=1, pages=233–246, date=October 1990, language=hr, format=PDF, access-date=27 June 2017 History of Zagreb Visit Of Emperor Franz Joseph To Zagreb, 1895 Diplomatic visits by heads of state October 1895 events

Events

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References