The People's Party () was a political party in the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia and the

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...

. It was founded in 1841 based on Croatian Illyrian movement. Because the movement did not distinguish

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

from other

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, ...

and instead called them all ''Illyrians'', the party was named the Illyrian Party (''Ilirska stranka'') when it was formed in late 1841, and it participated in the councils of

Varaždin County Varaždin County () is a county in Hrvatsko Zagorje. It is named after its county seat, the city of Varaždin. Geography The county contains the city of Varaždin, the towns of: Ivanec, Ludbreg, Lepoglava, Novi Marof and Varaždinske Top ...

and Bjelovar-Križevci County. It was one of the two parties in the 1843 session of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

. Some of its champions from this time included Janko Drašković, Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski,

Josip Juraj Strossmayer Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; ; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church, politician and benefactor (law), benefactor. Between 1849 and his death, he served as the Bishop of Đakovo, Bishop ...

and

Ivan Mažuranić Ivan Mažuranić (; 11 August 1814 – 4 August 1890) was a Croatian poet, linguist, lawyer and politician who is considered to be one of the most important figures in Croatia's political and cultural life in the mid-19th century. Mažuranić se ...

July victims

The July victims () were members of the Croatian People's Party who fell victim to a crackdown by the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n Imperial Army on July 29, 1845. With the restoration of

Zagreb County Zagreb County () is a county in Northern Croatia. It surrounds, but does not contain, the nation's capital Zagreb, which is a separate territorial unit. For that reason, the county is often nicknamed "Zagreb ring" (). According to the 2021 censu ...

, local elections were held around the

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n capital

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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. When it was announced that the Hungarian-allied candidate won, members of the People's Party took to St. Mark's Square to protest the result. The Croatian ban, ethnic Hungarian Franz Haller called on the Austrian army to empty the square. When the army moved in to empty the square, one of its officers was attacked by a protester. The army then moved in with force. In the end, thirteen of the People's Party's protesters were killed and 27 were injured. Due in large part to this incident, ban Haller left his post and bishop Juraj Haulik took his place soon after. This incident showed the tension developed between Croats who supported the Illyrian movement and the restoration of a unified Croatian Kingdom, and Hungarian-Croatians (Magyars) and some Croats who supported closer relations with Hungary (represented by the Croatian-Hungarian Party). In the following years, Croatia did gain some concessions as Croatian replaced

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

as the nation's official language.

Later history

In 1861, the People's Party sent 58 deputies in the Croatian Parliament out of a total of 106. It went under the name People's Liberal Party (). Also in 1861, in the

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia (; ; ) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entirety of the region of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar. History The Habs ...

, their sister party in Dalmatia was founded. Later in the 19th century, the party developed a more Magyar-oriented stance, which eventually caused a faction to form the Independent People's Party () in 1880, led by and 22 other parliamentary representatives. The party journal was ''Obzor'', giving rise to their members nickname ''obzoraši''. The People's Party remained in power but enabled a policy of

Magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...

, which resulted in major discontent with ban Khuen Hedervary in 1903. In 1905, the Independent People's Party joined the Croatian-Serbian Coalition (''Hrvatsko-srpska koalicija''), together with the

Party of Rights The Party of Rights () was a Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist political party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and later in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in 1861 by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik, two influ ...

, as well as the Independents and the Radicals. The People's Party was technically active until 1918, when

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

ceased to exist after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Legacy

The People's Party was not reformed in the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

. An unrelated people's party, the '' Pučka stranka'', was created in 1919, but it was a right-wing party, with different aims and origins to the original People's Party. It in turn ceased to exist on January 21, 1929. The Croatian People's Party, founded in 1990, claims lineage from the People's Party.

References

Sources

* (

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)

External links

* {{Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia parties Political parties established in 1841 Political parties disestablished in 1918 Political parties in Austria-Hungary Defunct political parties in Croatia 1841 establishments in the Austrian Empire