State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
Encyclopedia : S : ST : STA : State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Slovenian: Država Slovencev, Hrvatov in Srbov, Serbo-Croatian: Država Slovenaca, Hrvata i Srba/Држава Словенаца, Хрвата и Срба) was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. Note that the Serbs referred to in the State's name are those resident in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia-Slavonia (including Syrmia) and Dalmatia (including Boka Kotorska and Montenegrin Littoral), not the populations of the Kingdom of Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro and Vojvodina (including Banat, Bačka and Baranja).
The State was officially formed on October 29, 1918. Its governing body was the National Council (Narodno vijeće), composed ad hoc of influential politicians at the time. The President was a Slovene Dr Anton Korošec. The two vice presidents were a Serb Svetozar Pribićević and a Croat, Dr Ante Pavelić (not to be confused with Ante Pavelić who was the leader of the regime set up by the Germans in Croatia in 1941).
The aspirations of the new state were to include all territories of former Austria-Hungary inhabited by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. However, the Serbs in Vojvodina (including Banat, Bačka and Baranja regions) objected to this and formed their own administration under the supreme authority of Serbian National Board in Novi Sad. Vojvodina then joined to the Kingdom of Serbia on November 25, 1918. One day before this, on November 24, 1918, the region of Syrmia, which at first was part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, seceded from this state and also joined to the Kingdom of Serbia.
In order to avoid handing the navy to the winners, the Austrian Emperor gave the entire Austro-Hungarian Navy and merchant fleet, with all harbours, arsenals and shore fortifications to the National Council of SCS. They in turn sent diplomatic notes to the governments of France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States of America and Russia, to notify them that the State of SCS was not at war with any of them and that the Council had taken over the entire Austro-Hungarian fleet. However, the fleet was soon attacked and dismembered by the Italian Regia Marina.
The state was not internationally recognized before the National Council joined it with the Kingdom of Serbia (which already joined with the Kingdom of Montenegro, Vojvodina, and Syrmia), and formed the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on the 1 December 1918.
See also: History of Yugoslavia
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.