Transformations of the ”autonomus Vojvodina” idea

The idea of an autonomous region of Vojvodina had its origins in Serbian political thought and the new political, demographic and cultural circumstances and opportunities which emerged beginning in the 17th century. During the 1848 Revolution Serbs within the Habspburg monarchy proclaimed a new political entity, ”Serbian Vojvodina”, which incorporated parts of southern Hungary, Croatia and the Military Border. The Hungarian governments’ refusal to countenance what it saw as separatism led to a bloody civil war. In November 1849, following the suppression of the Hungarian revolt, emperor Franz Joseph granted the Serbs a territory larger than they demanded, which led to their being outnumbered by other ethnic communities. This duchy lasted only for a decade. In a self-proclaimed effort to break with the complex problems of the past and to take into account the particularities of local history, ethnic structure, and cultural distinctiveness, the communist government of Yugoslavia awarded territorial autonomy to Vojvodina in the aftermath of the Second World War