Politics of Vojvodina - History of The Autonomist Movement

History of The Autonomist Movement

The movement for autonomy of Vojvodina was always led by local Serbs, who were largest ethnic group in the region. The roots of the autonomist movement date to 1691, when the Habsburg Emperor recognized the right of the Serbs to have one separate autonomous voivodship within the Habsburg Monarchy. The autonomy, however, was not realised at that time, and in 1790 (almost 100 years after the promise of the emperor), the Serbs organized their national assembly in Timişoara (today in Romania), where they asked for autonomy. These demands were, however, rejected by the Austrians.

In 1848, as a response to the policy of the revolutionary Hungarian government, the Serbs, in accordance with the right given in 1691, proclaimed the creation of an autonomous region named the Serbian Vojvodina. This time, the autonomy was recognized by the Habsburg emperor, and in November 1849, a separate Habsburg province named the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar was created as a political successor of the Serbian Vojvodina.

However, since the policy of the Habsburgs towards the Hungarians had changed, the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar was abolished in 1860, and most of its territory was incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. As a response to the abolition of the voivodship, the Serbs in 1861 organized national assembly known as the "Blagoveštenski Sabor", where they asked for reestablishment of the voivodship. The constitution of the voivodship was also adopted on the assembly. The rulers of the Monarchy, however, did not accepted these demands of the Serbs. Instead, the autonomy was in 1867 given to the Hungarians, and the Serbs found themselves in the Hungarian part of the Monarchy. The political struggle for the autonomy of Vojvodina, however, was continued by the Serb deputies in the parliament of the Kingdom of Hungary, until the end of the Monarchy in 1918.

A new opportunity for the autonomy of Vojvodina arisen in 1918, after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. On November 25, 1918, the Great people's assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs from Vojvodina decided to join this region to the Kingdom of Serbia, as well as to form a new autonomous government of Vojvodina known as the People's administration for Banat, Bačka and Baranja. Although, the government in Belgrade accepted the decision that Vojvodina join to Serbia, it did not recognize the People's administration. The People's administration was active until March 11, 1919, when it held its last session.

Since autonomy was not realised, and the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was a centralised country, the new autonomist movement emanated, again led by local Serbs. The Danube Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia formed in 1929, did not have a large degree of autonomy, thus the autonomist movement was also active after the creation of this province. The idea of an autonomous Vojvodina was also accepted by the communist party, and after occupation of Vojvodina by the Axis Powers in 1941, the communist party and its partisan resistance movement started a struggle against the occupation. The aim of this struggle, as it was presented by the communist party, was a future autonomous Vojvodina in which all ethnic groups would be equal. The Serbs, who were the main victims of the Axis regimes, as well as other peoples of Vojvodina, participated in this struggle, and after the end of the war, the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina was established.

After much of the autonomy of Vojvodina was revoked by Milošević's regime in 1989, the new movement for autonomy of the province emanated, supported by both the local Serbs, and the ethnic minorities. The view of the autonomist movement is that the revoking of the autonomy in 1989 had destroyed the economy of Vojvodina, thus for the improvement of the economy, Vojvodina need more autonomy. Unlike the political movement of Kosovar Albanians, the autonomist movement in Vojvodina never aimed for separation from Serbia, but only a significant level of autonomy for Vojvodina within Serbia.

On January 28, 2013 as an answer to the proposal of the Third Serbia political organization from Novi Sad to abolish the autonomy of Vojvodina the Vojvodina's Party presented a message "the Republic of Vojvodina" in Novi Sad. However, both political organizations are lacking any wider support among population of Vojvodina.