The Kingdom of Slavonia ( hr, Kraljevina Slavonija, la, Regnum Sclavoniae, hu, Szlavón Királyság, german: Königreich Slawonien, sr-Cyrl, Краљевина Славонија) was a kingdom of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

and the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

that existed from 1699 to 1868. The kingdom included northern parts of present-day regions of

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...

(today in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

) and

Syrmia Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the exce ...

(today in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

). The southern parts of these regions were part of the

Slavonian Military Frontier The Slavonian Military Frontier ( hr, Slavonska vojna krajina or ; german: Slawonische Militärgrenze; sr, Славонска војна крајина; hu, Szlavón határőrvidék) was a district of the Military Frontier, a territory in the ...

, which was a component of the

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (german: Militärgrenze, sh-Latn, Vojna krajina/Vojna granica, Војна крајина/Војна граница; hu, Katonai határőrvidék; ro, Graniță militară) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and l ...

separating the

from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Geography

The Kingdom of Slavonia was bounded by the

Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia may refer to: * Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), an independent medieval kingdom * Croatia in personal union with Hungary (1102–1526), a kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary * Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) (152 ...

to the west, the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

to the north and the east, and the

to the south. Together with the

, Slavonia was about 6,600 miles squared in area. It was divided into the three counties of Požega,

Virovitica Virovitica () is a Croatian city near the Hungarian border. It is situated near the Drava river and belongs to the historic region of Slavonia. Virovitica has a population of 14,688, with 21,291 people in the municipality (census 2011). It is als ...

and

. Besides a chain of mountains in the middle of the province, the remaining part of Slavonian Kingdom consisted of extensive plains and fertile eminences planted with vines and fruit trees.

Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) was founded in London in 1826, mainly at the instigation of Whig MP Henry Brougham, with the object of publishing information to people who were unable to obtain formal teaching or who pr ...

: The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, vol 22, p. 100-101

History

The Kingdom of Slavonia was formed from territories that the

gained from the

by the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the ...

(1699) that ended the Great Turkish War. Initially, it was a separate Habsburg land under joint civil-military administration that lasted from 1699 to 1745. The inhabitants were exempted from taxes, but were bound to military service. In 1745, the full civil administration was introduced and Kingdom of Slavonia, as one of the

Lands of the Hungarian Crown The "Lands of the Hungarian Crown"Laszlo PéterHungary's Long Nineteenth Century: Constitutional and Democratic Traditions in a European Perspective BRILL, 2012, pp. 51–56 was the titular expression of Hungarian pretensions to the various territo ...

, was administratively included into both

and

. Following the 1868 Settlement ('' Nagodba'') with the Kingdom of Hungary, Kingdom of Slavonia was joined with Kingdom of Croatia into the single

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 ...

, which although it was under the suzerainty of the Crown of Saint Stephen kept a significant level of self-rule.

Population

After the end of the Great Turkish War, Slavonia was left desolated as around 80% of its pre-war population fled. In order to improve its demographics, people that fled from Slavonia and whose property was taken by the Ottomans were allowed to return to their lands if they had valid ownership documents. Settlers from Bosnia also started migrating to Slavonia, fleeing from the Ottomans. In 1691, around 22,300 Catholics from Bosnian

Posavina Posavina ( sr-cyr, Посавина) is a geographical region that stretches along the Sava river, encompassing only the inner areas of the Sava river basin, that are adjacent or near to the Sava river itself, namely catch region spanning fro ...

moved to Slavonia. It is estimated that around 40,000 people lived in Slavonia in 1696. In 1698, its population increased to 80,000. The 1802 Austrian population data for the Kingdom of Slavonia recorded 148,000 (51.6%)

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 135,000 (47.2%)

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

and 3,500 (1.2%)

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. According to other statistical estimations, in 1787 in civil Slavonia there were 265,670 inhabitants, and in 1804/1805 there were 286,349 inhabitants, but from that number clergy and nobility were excluded. Only men were counted in that census. There were: 74,671

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 68,390

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

, 1,744 Calvinists, 97

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

and 160

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. Number of Orthodox Christians was higher in

: 32,090 Orthodox Christians and 12,633 Roman Catholics. In other two counties of Slavonia: Požega and Virovitica, as in city of Požega, Roman Catholics outnumbered Orthodox population. The official Austrian census of 1857 for Kingdom of Slavonia gives the following results (a section of Syrmia was in 1857 part of the

Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar , conventional_long_name = Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banate , common_name = Serbia and Banat , subdivision = Crownland , nation = the Austrian Empire , year_start = 1849 , date_start = 18 November , year_end = 1860 , date_end = ...

Požega County Požega County ( hr, Požeška županija; hu, Pozsega vármegye) was a historic administrative subdivision ('' županija'') of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. Croatia-Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Lands of the Crown of Sai ...

* 63,341

* 41,172

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

* 837

* 629

Greek Catholics The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

* 85 Calvinists * 44

Osijek County * 101,559

* 35,806

* 4,257 Calvinists * 1,784

* 629

* 69

Economy

The Kingdom of Slavonia was mostly an agricultural land, just like the

, and it was known for its silk production.

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and the breeding of cattle were the most profitable occupations of the inhabitants. It produced

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

of all kinds,

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, and great quantities of

liquorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liqu ...

. The quantity of wine produced was also large, especially in the county of Srem. In 1857 industrial employment (11.01%) was highest in the County of Osijek, while 72.3% were employed in agriculture (82.9% in the Požega County).Mariann Nagy - Croatia in the Economic Structure of the Habsburg Empire in the Light of the 1857 Census, page 88
/ref>

References

Literature