Frano Supilo (Cavtat/Ragusavecchia, 30 November 1870 - London, 25 September 1917) was a Croatian politician and journalist. Cavtat ( Italian: Ragusavecchia, Greek: Επιδαυρος Epidauros) is a town in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia Cavtat ( Italian: Ragusavecchia, Greek: Επιδαυρος Epidauros) is a town in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Events 303 - On a voyage preaching the Gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens, France Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between A politician (from Greek " Polis " is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of Politics or a person A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices Journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events trends He was a major political figure in the twenty years preceding World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All
His career was a series of sharp political turns as he tried to reconcile Croatian national interests with the idea of a South Slav unity and simultaneously resist the imperial aspirations of Serbia, Italy, Hungary and the great European powers. The South Slavs are a southern branch of the Slavic peoples that live in the Balkans mainly throughout the former Yugoslavia (meaning "Land of Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic
As a journalist, he was one of the sharpest and most articulated Croatian political writers, with surprisingly modern concepts and ideas.
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Early career
His political career started when he became the founder and editor of Crvena Hrvatska (Red Croatia) from Dubrovnik (1890-99), a social/political paper based on the ideas of the Croatian Party of Rights and fighting for the unification of Dalmatia with Croatia. Red Croatia ( Latin: Croatia Rubea, Croatian: Crvena Hrvatska) was a name that a medieval document designated to the initial Slavonic ||-||-||-||-||-||-||} Dubrovnik (ˈdǔbro̞ːʋniːk Dalmatian: Ragusa; Latin: Ragusium, also Rhausium, Rhaugia; The Croatian Party of Rights (Hrvatska stranka prava HSP is a Right-wing Political party in Croatia, the oldest in the country Dalmatia ( Croatian: Dalmacija, see names in other languages) is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, situated mostly in modern Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between
Supilo played the main role in changing the public opinion, which expressed itself in several elections that brought down the Autonomous Party (pro-italian) and Serbian coalition that had gained power in the municipality of Dubrovnik in the 1880s with the support of the Habsburg court, which followed the policy of divide et impera. In Politics and Sociology, divide and rule (derived from Latin divide et impera) (also known as divide and conquer) is a combination He became one of the leaders of the Croatian Party of Rights in 1895. The Croatian Party of Rights (Hrvatska stranka prava HSP is a Right-wing Political party in Croatia, the oldest in the country After the party split, he campaigned against Josip Frank. Josip (Joseph Frank (b April 16, 1844 in Osijek; d December 17, 1911 in Zagreb) was a Croatian lawyer and
In 1900, he worked in Rijeka as the commissioner of the party's Dalmatian section, trying to use the paper he edited (Novi list, renamed into Riječki novi list in 1907) to influence Croatian politics, orienting it towards a political cooperation between the South Slavs and an agreement with the other peoples of Austria-Hungary that were suffering the policy of Germanization. Novi list (trans "new paper" is the oldest Croatian daily Newspaper published in Rijeka. The South Slavs are a southern branch of the Slavic peoples that live in the Balkans mainly throughout the former Yugoslavia (meaning "Land of Germanisation (also spelled Germanization) is either the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or Assimilation
The Croato-Serb Coalition
Along with Ante Trumbić and Josip Smodlaka, he was one of the initiators of the policy of the "New Course" and the creation of the Rijeka Resolution (1905) and the Croato-Serbian Coalition and its rise to power. Ante Trumbić ( May 17, 1864 - November 17, 1938) was an important Croatian politician in the early 20th century Supilo made a radical turn from the traditional policy of the Croatian Party of Rights from two aspects: ideological and pragmatically political. The Croatian Party of Rights (Hrvatska stranka prava HSP is a Right-wing Political party in Croatia, the oldest in the country
Ideologically, Supilo became the proponent of a "soft" Yugoslav unitarism. See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian He thought that Croats and Serbs (and later Slovenes) were a single people with three "tribes". Croats (Hrvati are a South Slavic people mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, Slovenes or Slovenians ( Slovene Slovenci, dual Slovenca, singular Slovenec, feminine Slovenke, dual Slovenki This idea, which seems strange today, was shared by many of his contemporaries, based on the late national awakening of Croats, Serbs and Slovenes (not to mention Macedonians, Bosniaks and Montenegrins), the territorial closeness of Serbs and Croats, and the facts that the two peoples have very similar official languages. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people The Bosniaks or Bosniacs (Bošnjak pl Bošnjaci bɔ'ʃɲaːt͡si are a South Slavic people living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Bosnia" Montenegrins ( Serbian: Црногорци/ Crnogorci) are a South Slavic people closely akin to the Serbs, associated to Montenegro In practice, it meant the creation of a coalition that virtually recognized Serbs as a political entity in Croatia for the first time in its history.
An even stronger turn was the negotiation of the coalition and Supilo with the Hungarian and Italian politicians from Austria-Hungary. It was a very brave and innovative move, but a total flop. Supilo played on the temporary conflict between the Vienna court and the Italian irredentists and Hungarian imperialists, the traditional Croatian opponents who claimed their rights to some Croatian lands. Irredentism is any position advocating Annexation of territories administered by another State on the grounds of common Ethnicity or prior historical possession He wanted to turn them into Croatian allies in the fight for the general democratization of the monarchy, which he believed would profit all peoples. But he estimated wrongly: the Italian and Hungarian imperialism was so deeply entrenched that it fell only after the world wars. As for Serbian nationalism, Supilo did not realize how stubborn were Serbian territorial claims over large parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between
When the Coalition won the elections of 1906, Supilo became a representative in the Croatian parliament and the leading figure of the Coalition. When the Hungarian parliament in spring 1907 decided that Hungarian would be the official language of the Croatian railroads, Supilo led the Croatian opposition in obstructing actions in the Hungarian parliament. He waged a strong campaign against the ban Levin Rauch, who supported the Hungarians. Ban (baːn is a Title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century Baron Levin Rauch de Nyék (1819 - 1890 was a politician from the Kingdom of Hungary in the late 19th century the viceroy of Croatia - Slavonia Supilo also initiated the fundamental constitutional issues on the status of Croatia. His radical attitude brought him in conflict with the Coalition leadership, which promoted a more careful policy with a view of another mandate.
Supilo tried to bring Croatian policy to the forefront of the South Slavs of Austria-Hungary in their fight for unification, while the Serbian part of the Coalition and some of its Croatian members wanted to harmonize Croatian policy with the Kingdom of Serbia, which would bring Croatia to a politically inferior position in relation to Serbia. Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country At the time of the "High Treason Trial" (1909), the politically motivated trial against the Serb public officials in the monarchy, initiated by the Viennese court because of the crisis around the annexion of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, Supilo advocated a strong support of Croats to the endangered Serbs to preserve the harmony of Croats and Serbs based on the principles from the Rijeka Resolution and the Zadar Resolution.
A desperate fight
His attitude caused a strong reaction of the Austrian circles, who used the Friedjung Trial, started by the Coalition, to try to compromise and politically discredit Supilo. Although the slander against him was unmasked at the trial, Supilo left the Coalition to make its position easier. The Coalition then accepted a compromise in the trial, which brought about the downfall of the ban Rauch, but also the agreement between the Coalition and the new ban Nikola Tomašić. From that time until the death of the monarchy and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918), the Coalition was a tool in the hands of the most influential and ablest pragmatic politician of the time in Croatia, Svetozar Pribićević, a Serb, who advocated unitarism and waited for the death of the monarchy to achieve unity with Serbia at any cost. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croato-Slovene ie Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene: Kraljevina Jugoslavija Svetozar Pribićević (Светозар Прибићевић born in Kostajnica, October 26, 1875, died in Prague, September 15 Supilo accused the opportunist policy of the Coalition leadership of compromising Croatia and giving it an inferior position in the unification with Serbia. He was right, but Pribićević never intended to give Croatia a significant position in the future South Slave state.
After the assassination in Sarajevo, Supilo fled to Italy. He, Trumbić and Meštrović started the action to free Croats, Serbs and Slovenians from Austro-Hungary and unite them with Serbia and Montenegro. Ivan Meštrović ( August 15, 1883 &ndash January 16, 1962) was a Croatian sculptor. He also participated in the creation of the Yugoslav Committee. Yugoslav Committee ( Jugoslavenski odbor) was a political interest group formed by South Slavs from Austria-Hungary during World War I aimed He tried to persuade the governments of the Triple Entente to create a Yugoslavia that would cover all the South Slav regions. The Triple Entente (" entente " — French for "agreement" was the name given to the loose alignment of the United Kingdom, the On his missions in Bordeaux, London and Sankt Petersburg in 1914-15, Supilo stood against the imperialist ambitions of Italy on the Adriatic and promoted a compromise in that issue. ( Gascon: Bordèu) is a port city in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest When he found out about the secret negotiations between the Triple Entente and Italy, he started a vigorous action to prevent the sacrifice of Croatian and Slovenian Adriatic regions to Italy.
Supilo proposed a democratic unity of the South Slavs and their national equality in a federal Yugoslavia. Such views brought him in conflict with the Serbian prime minister Nikola Pašić, the main realpolitik figure in the idea of Greater Serbia, and the compromising and politically immature majority in the Yugoslav Committee. Nikola P Pašić ( Serbian Cyrillic: Никола П Пашић, at the time also spelled Pashitch or Pachitch) ( December Realpolitik ( German: de real “realistic” “practical” or “actual” and de Politik “politics” refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia ( Serbian: Велика Србија Velika Srbija) applies to the key current within Serbian All this made him leave the Committee in June 1916.
Supilo continued trying to make the Entente interested in Croatia and an integral solution of the South Slav question based on national equality (his well-known letters to British, Italian and Russian politicians Grey, Sozzino and Sazonov). Edward Grey 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon KG, PC, DL ( 25 April 1862 &ndash 7 September 1933) better Sazonov is a surname and may refer to Sergey Sazonov, Russian politician V The hard and hopeless situation of Croatia within the colonialist manipulations and secret plans (Treaty of London), already divided between the Italian and Serbian imperialism, was too much for Supilo, who had a nervous breakdown and died in a mental hospital shortly after. London Pact ( Italian Patto di Londra) or more correctly the Treaty of London, 1915 was a secret Pact between Italy and Triple Mental breakdown (also known as nervous breakdown or snapping) is a non-medical term used to describe a sudden acute attack of Mental illness such as His death was immortalized by Krleža in his Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh: "Sopilovog Frana,/kem serce pregrizla horvacka je rana" (Frano Supilo, whose heart was eaten by the Croatian wound). Miroslav Krleža (mîroslaʋ křleʒa July 7, 1893 - December 29, 1981) was a leading Croatian writer and a figure in cultural life
Along with Stjepan Radić, Frano Supilo seems to be the greatest tragical figure of modern Croatian politics. Stjepan Radić ( 11 June 1871 &ndash 8 August 1928) was a Croatian Politician and the founder of the Croatian Peasant Machiavelli once said that armed prophets succeed, while the unarmed ones fail. This is true for Supilo: as the representative of the Croatian people in dark and insecure times, this unarmed prophet failed and was destroyed.
Works
In Croatian:
- Politika u Hrvatskoj (Politics in Croatia), reprint, Zagreb, 1953
- Politički spisi, članci, govori (Political writings, articles, speeches), Zagreb, 1970
- Izabrani politički spisi (Selected political writings), GM, Zagreb, 2000
References
In Croatian:
- Ivo Perić: Mladi Supilo (Young Supilo), Zagreb, 1996
- A series of articles in Kolo magazine, No. Zagreb (ˈzɑːgrɛb is the Capital and the largest city of Croatia. 8, Zagreb, 1998
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