Mirkovci ( sr-Cyrl, Мирковци, hu, Szegfalu, german: Sankt Emrich) is a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
and
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of the town of
Vinkovci
Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounde ...
in eastern
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 ...
. It is geographically within the
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 ...
and
Podunavlje
Podunavlje ( sr-Cyrl, Подунавље) is the name of the Danube river basin parts located in Serbia (Vojvodina, Belgrade and Eastern Serbia) and Croatia (Slavonia, Syrmia, and Baranya). Podunavlje is located on the southern edge of Pannonia ...
region. The village is located immediately southeast of Vinkovci separated from the rest of the town by Vinkovci-Gunja railway. At the time of 2011 Census, the local population was 3,283.
Mirkovci is a multiethnic settlement with Croat majority and Serb minority. Up until the end of the
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
Serbs were the majority population.
History
The area in which the village is located has been continually inhabited since the
Neolithic period
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
. During the Roman Empire
Colonia Aurelia Cibalae was established in the region during the reign of
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
and gained the status of urban settlement during the reign of
Caracalla
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...
. Emperors
Valentinian I
Valentinian I ( la, Valentinianus; 32117 November 375), sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor, he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces. Vale ...
and
Valens
Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...
were born in Cibalae.
![San Martino della Battaglia - Fresko Soldaten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/San_Martino_della_Battaglia_-_Fresko_Soldaten.jpg)
From 1526 to 1687 Syrmia was part of 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) ...
within the
Budin Eyalet
Budin Eyalet (also known as Province of Budin/Buda or Pashalik of Budin/Buda, ota, ایالت بودین, Eyālet-i Budin) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire in Central Europe and the Balkans. It was formed on the te ...
. At the end of this period the
Great Migrations of the Serbs
The Great Migrations of the Serbs ( sr, Велике сеобе Срба), also known as the Great Exoduses of the Serbs, refers mainly to two large migrations of Serbs from various territories under the rule of the Ottoman Empire to regions u ...
occurred resulting in Serb settlement in the region which was at the time part of
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 ...
. Mirkovci was established in 18th century within 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 acted as the ''
cordon sanitaire
''Cordon sanitaire'' () is French for "sanitary cordon". It may refer to:
*Cordon sanitaire (medicine), a cordon that quarantines an area during an infectious disease outbreak
*Cordon sanitaire (politics), refusal to cooperate with certain politic ...
'' against incursions from the Ottoman Empire in which Serb colonists were defending the Monarchy in return for land-grants and internal self-administration granted in ''
Statuta Valachorum''.
Soldiers from Mirkovci fought in
Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791)
The Austro-Turkish War was fought in 1788–1791 between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, concomitantly with the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792), Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) and Theatre War. It is sometimes referred to as the H ...
,
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, various battlefields during 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 ...
under the command of
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 ...
and
Joseph Radetzky von Radetz
Johann Josef Wenzel Anton Franz Karl, Graf Radetzky von Radetz ( en, John Joseph Wenceslaus Anthony Francis Charles, Count Radetzky of Radetz; cz, Jan Josef Václav Antonín František Karel hrabě Radecký z Radče; sl, Janez Jožef Vencelj ...
, the
Second Italian War of Independence
The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...
and the
Third Italian War of Independence
The Third Italian War of Independence ( it, Terza Guerra d'Indipendenza Italiana) was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in ...
.
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the population in ...
Church of St. Nicholas was constructed in period between 1804 and 1813. The village remained a part of the Slavonian Military Frontier until 1881 when the former was disestablished. Between 1881 and the end of
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 ...
rule the village was part 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 ...
and its
Syrmia County.
World War II
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, 107 ethnic Serbs were transferred and killed in the
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camps, extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in I ...
operated by the Croatian fascist
Ustashe regime. At that time Serbs living under the rule of
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...
were exposed to
. There are today 5 memorial plaques in
Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write ...
commemorating
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
and victims of Fascism which were set on the local community hall in 1958 during the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
time.
Croatian War of Independence
During the
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
, Mirkovci was under the control of Serb rebel forces. It was a part of the
self-proclaimed Self-proclaimed describes a legal title that is recognized by the declaring person but not necessarily by any recognized legal authority. It can be the status of a noble title or the status of a nation. The term is used informally for anyone declari ...
SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1991–1992),
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...
(1992-1995) and
United Nations protectorate
This is a list of territories which are directly administered, or once were, by the United Nations (UN). These are not to be confused with UN trust territories, which were run by a single country under a UN mandate.
List Current
Former
Se ...
of
Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia may refer to:
* SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1991–1992)
* Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1995–98)
See also
* United Nations Transitional Administration for Easte ...
(1995-1998). In his book ''Warrior's Honour: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience'', Canadian author
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...
writes;
* ''Theorists like
Samuel Huntington, would lead me to believe that there is a fault line running through the back gardens of Mirkovci
village in eastern Croatia with the Croats in the bunker representing the civilization of the
Catholic Roman West and the Serbs nearby representing
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
,
Orthodoxy
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 ...
, and the
Cyrillic
, bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця
, fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs
, fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic
, fam3 = Phoenician
, fam4 = G ...
East. ... here in Mirkovci, I don't see civilizational fault lines, geological templates that have split apart. These metaphors take for granted what needs to be explained: how neighbors once ignorant of very idea that they belong to opposed civilizations begin to think-and hate-in these terms, how they vilify and demonize people they once called friends...''
During the war, Mirkovci was the seat of the Municipality of Mirkovci which covered areas of pre-war Vinkovci Municipality within the Republic of Serbian Krajina. The village was one of the main centers of Serb rebellion in Eastern Croatia.
UNTAES peacekeeping mission
Between 1996 and 1998 Mirkovci was under the
administration.
Transitional Municipality of Mirkovci
The UNTAES mission made an executive decision to create the so-called Transitional Municipality of Mirkovci at the time of transition of the region to the control of the Croatian Government.
In January 1997 Transitional Administrator
Jacques Paul Klein
Jacques Paul Klein is a retired United States diplomat, who served as head of three United Nations peacekeeping missions: the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) from January 17, 1996, to August 1, 1997, the ...
established new municipalities of
Trpinja,
Negoslavci
Negoslavci ( sr-Cyrl, Негославци, hu, Negoszlovce) is a village and a municipality in Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. It is located south of the town of Vukovar, seat of the county. Landscape of the Negoslavci Municipality is ...
,
Markušica
Markušica ( sr-Cyrl, Маркушица, hu, Márkusfalva, german: Sankt Markus) is a village and a municipality in Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. Markušica is located south of the river Vuka and northwest of the town of Vinkovci. ...
,
Šodolovci
Šodolovci ( sr-Cyrl, Шодоловци, hu, Páznán) is a village and a municipality in Osijek-Baranja County in eastern Croatia. In 7 villages of the Šodolovci Municipality there was 1,653 inhabitants at the time of 2011 Census.
Landscape ...
and
Jagodnjak
Jagodnjak ((Croatian and Serbian pronunciation: ) sr-cyrl, Јагодњак, hu, Kácsfalu, german: Katschfeld) is a village and a municipality in the Osijek-Baranja County, Croatia. Landscape of the Jagodnjak Municipality is marked by the Drav ...
with Serb majority which are today part of the
Joint Council of Municipalities
sr, Заједничко веће општина
, logo = Joint Council of Municipalities Logo.png
, size = 150px
, alt =
, caption = Flag of The Joint Council of Municipalities
, ...
.
In Mirkovci and Tenja a suburb of
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
, the economic and cultural centre of Slavonia, were declared so called transitional municipalities with Serb ethnic majority which were to become part of Vinkovci and Osijek respectively after an additional transitional period of one year.
The new Transitional Municipality of Mirkovci covered the village of Mirkovci exclusively and not as in Krajina the entire area of pre-war Municipality of Vinkovci which were under the Serb rebel control.
Contemporary period
The period after the reintegration is marked by population increase, uncommon for the rest of the region, and the changing demographic composition of the village. A number of ethnic Croat refugees from
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
were settled in the village, while a significant number of Serbs decided to emigrate to
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 ...
or third countries in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and elsewhere. Today Croats constitute an absolute majority in the village with significant Serb minority. In 2010 the construction of the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church of
Aloysius Stepinac
Aloysius Viktor Cardinal Stepinac ( hr, Alojzije Viktor Stepinac, 8 May 1898 – 10 February 1960) was a senior-ranking Yugoslav Croat prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his de ...
was completed after 10 years of works making it the first Roman Catholic church in Mirkovci.
One of the political issues of local significance was the naming of streets in the village. Elected leaders of new Croat ethnic majority community wanted to change street names in the village which were named during the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and remained unchanged until the end of UNTAES mandate. At that time streets in Mirkovci were named after
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić,
Boško Buha
Boško Buha ( sr-cyr, Бошко Буха; 1926 – 27 September 1943) was a young Yugoslav Partisan and an honored icon of the Yugoslavian resistance during World War II.
Early life
Boško Buha was born into a Serb family in the Slavonian ...
,
Veljko Vlahović
Veljko Vlahović (Cyrillic: Вељко Влаховић; 2 September 1914 – 7 March 1975) was a Montenegrin politician and career army officer. He was one of the more prominent members of the Montenegrin branch of the Yugoslav Communist Party fro ...
,
Edvard Kardelj
Edvard Kardelj (; 27 January 1910 – 10 February 1979), also known by the pseudonyms Bevc, Sperans and Krištof, was a Yugoslav politician and economist. He was one of the leading members of the Communist Party of Slovenia before World War II. ...
,
People's Liberation Army of Macedonia
The Macedonian Partisans, officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia, sh, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odredi Makedonije was a communist and anti-fascist resistance movement formed in occupied Y ...
, 4 July-Fighter's Day and
29 November-Republic Day.
Majority needed for the change was achieved in August 2010 when the new names after
Vukovar
Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...
and other cities and rivers in Croatia were proposed to the City Council of Vinkovci.
Special 4 members commission was formed with 2 ethnic Croats and 2 Serbs tasked with creation of proposal for 42 new street names acceptable to both communities.
Geography
Mirkovci are bordering village between 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 ...
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 ...
. Its elevation is 95 meters above the
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
.
The village lies in a flatland north to the
Bosut river. The village is connected with the rest of the country by the
D46 state road connecting it with the town of
Vinkovci
Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounde ...
and continuing into
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 ...
as the
State Road 120 to the nearest town of
Šid
Šid ( sr-cyr, Шид, ) is a town and municipality located in the Srem District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It has a population of 14,893, while the municipality has 34,188 inhabitants. A border crossing between Serbia and ...
.
Education
Elementary School "Nikola Tesla"
Elementary School in Mirkovci was established in 1759 making it one of the oldest elementary schools in the region.
In 1877 it moved to its current location with expansions and renovations taking place in 1900, 1959, 1969, 1992 and 2006.
In 2006 the school took the name of