Serbs of Croatia

Serbs of Croatia

Срби у Хрватској Srbi u Hrvatskoj
Flag of Serbs of Croatia as defined by the Serb National Council
Total population
123,892 (2021)[1]
Languages
Croatian and Serbian (standard varieties of Serbo-Croatian)
Religion
Serbian Orthodox Church
Related ethnic groups
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbs of Vojvodina, Serbs of Montenegro, Kosovo Serbs

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v t e

The Serbs of Croatia (Serbo-Croatian: Срби у Хрватској / Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs (Serbo-Croatian: Хрватски Срби / Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in Croatia. The community is predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christian by religion, as opposed to the Croats who are Catholic.

In some regions of modern-day Croatia, mainly in southern Dalmatia, ethnic Serbs possibly have been present from the Early Middle Ages. Serbs from modern-day Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina started actively migrating to Croatia at a time the Habsburg monarchy was engaged in a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire. Several migration waves happened after 1538, when the Emperor Ferdinand I granted them the right to settle on the territory of the Military Frontier. In exchange for land and exemption from taxation, they had to conduct military service and participate in the protection of the border. They populated the Dalmatian Hinterland, Lika, Kordun, Banovina, Slavonia, and western Syrmia. From the beginning of the 20th century, the Croat-Serb Coalition led by Croat Frano Supilo and Serb Svetozar Pribićević governed the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia until the dissolution of Austria-Hungary. After the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 (later renamed to Yugoslavia), a few thousand Serbs moved to Croatian territory. During World War II, Serbs were targeted for extermination as part of genocide by the Ustashas in the Nazi German puppet state Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

After the beginning of the breakup of Yugoslavia and Croatia's proclamation of independence, the Serbs living in Croatia rebelled against the Croatian government and proclaimed the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) on parts of Croatian territory, which led to the Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995). Several RSK leaders have been later convicted of war crimes by the ICTY. After the Croatian Army's Operation Storm, the RSK ceased to exist, its territory was reincorporated into Croatia, and approximately 200,000 Serbs fled from the country. In the post-war period, Serbs were exposed to discriminatory measures and rhetoric, including barriers to employment and property rights, and use of the minority languages. Denial of genocide in the NDH has also been a prominent issue at times. Following the 2020 elections, Boris Milošević, member of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and President of the Serb National Council, was elected one of the four Deputy Prime Ministers. Shortly afterward, the Croatian authorities and representatives of the Serbs marked the events of the 1991–95 war together. The expelled Croatian Serbs were the largest refugee population in Europe prior to the 2022 Ukraine war.^[2]

Many prominent Croatian Serbs have become internationally recognized in their fields, such as Nikola Tesla, Milutin Milanković, Sava Šumanović, Rade Šerbedžija, Siniša Mihajlović and Peja Stojaković. According to the 2021 census, there were 123,892 Serbs living in Croatia (3.2% of the population) which are recognized as a national minority by the Croatian Constitution and therefore have three permanent seats in the Croatian Parliament.