History of Vojvodina - Serbia and Yugoslavia

Serbia and Yugoslavia

At the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. On October 29, 1918, Syrmia became a part of the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On October 31, 1918, the Banat Republic was proclaimed in Timişoara, and the government of Hungary recognized its independence. This republic was short-lived; after several days, Serbian troops entered Banat and crushed the Republic.

On November 25, 1918, the Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci, and other Slavs of Vojvodina in Novi Sad proclaimed the unification of Vojvodina (Banat, Bačka and Baranja) with the Kingdom of Serbia (The assembly numbered 757 deputies, of whom 578 were Serbs, 84 Bunjevci, 62 Slovaks, 21 Rusyns, 6 Germans, 3 Šokci, 2 Croats, and 1 Hungarian). Most deputies of the assembly were Serbs, and other local Slavs, since they mostly came from Slavic-inhabited parts of Banat, Bačka and Baranja, and not from areas with non-Slavic (Romanian, German or Hungarian) populations. The assembly also formed a local provincial government (People's Administration) and parliament (Great People's Council), which administered Banat, Bačka and Baranja until March 11, 1919. One day before the Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci, and other Slavs of Banat, Bačka and Baranja, on November 24, the Assembly of Syrmia also proclaimed the unification of Syrmia with Serbia. On December 1, 1918, Vojvodina became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 and the Treaty of Trianon of 1920 defined the borders of the Kingdom with Romania and Hungary Vojvodina itself was internationally recognized as part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by the Treaty of Saint-Germain in September 10, 1919. According to these treaties, the Banat region was divided between Romania, Kingdom of SCS, and Hungary, while Bačka and Baranja were divided between the Kingdom of SCS and Hungary. These peace agreements would assign most Hungarian-inhabited and most Romanian-inhabited parts of Banat, Bačka and Baranja to Hungary and Romania respectively. In 1921, unsatisfied with the decision of the 1920 peace treaty to assign these territories to Hungary, the South Slavic population of Baranja and north-west Bačka proclaimed the short-lived Baranya-Baja Republic.

Between 1929 and 1941, the region was known as the Danube Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The capital city was Novi Sad. Danube Banovina consisted of Syrmia, Bačka, Banat, Baranja, Šumadija, and Braničevo regions. The population of this province was composed of: Serbs and Croats (56.9%), Hungarians (18.2%), Germans (16.3%), and others.