The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE >

but of course the empty title could not satisfy the Serbians, who felt that they had been once more deceived by Vienna, and the demand for national autonomy was stifled by a new period of blind absolutism and exclusive German centralisation.

When, in 1859, Austria lost Lombardy by the Italian war the path of Absolutism and Centralisation was abandoned and the Austrian nationalities were promised more freedom. Always considering the Magyars more dangerous than the Serbs, the Austrian Government in compliance with Magyar wishes cut short the life of the Serbian Vojvodina and its territory was partly incorporated with Croatia and partly with Hungary. As soon as this was accomplished the Prime Minister Schmerling sent an invitation to the Patriarch Rajaci¢ to come to Vienna with twenty deputies, to propose there the measures and guarantees for the preservation of the Serbian old privileges and legal exemptions especially in regard of the Serbian language and nationality.

Conscious of the bitter irony of such a procedure the Serbian Patriarch did not accept this invitation, but lodged an energetic and dignified protest against the abolition of the Serbian Vojvodina, and in an assembly of the national representatives formulated fresh demands for national autonomy in a narrower territory with an overwhelming Serbian population. But Vienna paid no attention.

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