History of Vojvodina - Habsburg Monarchy

Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburg Monarchy took control of the territory of present-day Vojvodina among other lands by the treaties of Karlovci (1699) and Požarevac (1718). The areas adjacent to the Ottoman territory (entire Syrmia and eastern Bačka) were incorporated into the Military Frontier (its Slavonian, Tisa, and Danube sections), while western Bačka was incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. The Banat of Temeswar was established as a separate military province of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1718, and remained under military administration until 1751, when Maria Theresa introduced a civil administration. The Banat province was abolished in 1778. The southern part of the Banat remained inside the Military Frontier (Banat Krajina) until it was abolished in 1871. In 1745, northern Syrmia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Slavonia, a Habsburg land, mainly inhabited by Serbs and Croats. (According to 1790 data, population of the Kingdom of Slavonia was composed of: Serbs (46.8%), Croats (45.7%), Hungarians (6.8%), etc.) The south-eastern parts of Syrmia remained within the Military Frontier.

The end of the Ottoman rule dramatically altered the demographic character of the territory of present-day Vojvodina region, as much of the ethnic Serb population had been decimated through warfare. The Muslim population also fled from the region and some of them found refugee in Ottoman Bosnia. The Serbian patriarch, Arsenije III Čarnojević, fearing the revenge of the Ottomans for the Serbian rebellion, immigrated in the last decade of the 17th century to the Habsburg Monarchy with about 60–70,000 Serb refugees, but they mostly settled in the territory of what is now Republic of Hungary and only small part of them settled in western Bačka in present-day Vojvodina. However, because of this event, the Habsburg Emperor promised religious freedom to all Serbs in the Habsburg Monarchy, as well as the right to elect their own "voivod" (military and civil governor). Much of the territory of present-day Vojvodina where Serbs lived was incorporated into the Military Frontier.

The emperor also recognized Serbs as one of the official nations of the Habsburg Monarchy and he recognized the right of Serbs to have territorial autonomy within one separate voivodship. This right, however, was not realized before the revolution in 1848–1849. The immigration of Serbs to the Habsburg Monarchy was maintained during the 18th century. In 1687, the northern parts of the region were settled by ethnic Bunjevci.

During the Kuruc War (1703–1711) of Francis II Rakoczi, the territory of present-day Vojvodina was a battlefield between Hungarian rebels and local Serbs who fought on the side of the Habsburg Emperor. Serbs in Bačka suffered the greatest losses. Hungarian rebels burned Serbian villages and many Serbs were expelled from Bačka. Darvas, the prime military commander of the Hungarian rebels, which fought against Serbs in Bačka, wrote: "We burned all large places of Rascia, on the both banks of the rivers Danube and Tisa". It is estimated that Hungarian forces killed about 100,000 Serbs.

During the Habsburg rule many non-Serb colonists also settled in the territory of present-day Vojvodina. They were mainly (Catholic) Germans and Hungarians, but also Ruthenians, Slovaks, Romanians, and others. The Donauschwaben, or Danube Swabians established many settlements in the area during the reign of Maria Theresa.

Because of this colonization, Serbs lost the absolute ethnic majority in the region, and territory of present-day Vojvodina became one of the most ethnically diverse regions of Europe. However, there was also some emigration from the territory of present-day Vojvodina: after the Tisa-Moriš section of the Military Frontier was abolished, many Serbs from the north-eastern parts of Bačka left this region and immigrated to Russia (notably to Nova Serbia and Slavo-Serbia) in 1752, and this region was then populated with new Hungarian settlers. Many Hungarians came after 1867, when Austro-Hungarian Compromise was reached and Austria-Hungary as a dual monarchy was established. Serbs, however, remained the single largest ethnic group in the territory of present-day Vojvodina, until the second half of 20th century, when they became the absolute majority again.

"The long 19th century" (1789–1914) was marked by rapid population increase, prosperity, sustained economic development, expansion of the transportation infrastructure, and despite the birth of the various national and reform movements also of relatively peaceful inter-ethnic relations and the reconstruction of the educational system. It was a period of integration into Europe, both economically and spiritually.

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, territory of present-day Vojvodina was the cultural centre of the Serbian people. Especially important cultural centres were: Novi Sad, Sremski Karlovci, and the monasteries of Fruška Gora. In the first half of the 19th century, Novi Sad was the largest Serb city; in 1820 this city had about 20,000 inhabitants, of whom 2/3 were Serbs. Novi Sad had an elected mayor that was alternately German or Serb. The Matica Srpska moved to that town from Budapest in 1864. The Serbian gymnasiums of Novi Sad and Sremski Karlovci were at the time considered to be among the best in the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. Novi Sad has been referred to as "the Serb Athens" for this reason.