being the Maria Louisa, which connects Karlstadt with Fiume, and
the Josephina, which passes inland from Zengg. Many excellent
highways were built for strategic purposes before the abolition of
the Military Frontier in 1881. The railways, which are all owned
and managed by the Hungarian state, intersect most parts of the
country except the mountains south of Ogulin, where there is,
nevertheless, a considerable traffic over the passes into Dalmatia
and Bosnia. Agram is the principal railway centre, from which
lines radiate S. W. to Fiume, W. into Austria, N.N.E. to Warasdin
and into Hungary, and S.E. into Bosnia by way of Kostajnica.
The main line eastward from Agram passes through Brod, where it
meets the Bosnian system, and on to Belgrade; throwing out two
branch lines to Brčka and Šamac in Bosnia, and several branches
on the north, which traverse the central watershed, and cross the
Hungarian frontier at Zákány, Barcs, Esseg, Erdar and Peterwardein.
Above Agram the Save is used chiefly for floating rafts of timber;
east of Sissek it is navigable by small steamboats, but, despite its
great volume, the multitude of its perpetually shifting sandbanks
interferes greatly with traffic. Steamers also ply on the Una, the
Drave below Barcs, and the Danube. The marshes of Syrmia are
partially drained by the so-called “Canal of Probus,” the one large
artificial waterway in the country, said to have been cut by the
Romans in the 3rd century.
Chief Towns.—The principal towns are Agram, the capital, with 61,002 inhabitants in 1900; Esseg, the capital of Slavonia (24,930); Semlin (15,079); Mitrovica (11,518); Warasdin (12,930); Karlstadt (7396); Brod (7310); Sissek (7047); Djakovo (6824); Karlowitz (5643); Peterwardein (5019); Zengg (3182); and Buccari (1870). These are described in separate articles. The centre of the coasting trade is Novi, and other small seaports are San Giorgio (Sveto Juraj), Porto Ré (Kraljevica) and Carlopago. Agram, Gospić (10,799), Ogulin (8699), Warasdin and Bjelovar (6056) are respectively the capitals of the five counties which belong to Croatia proper,—Agram (Hung. Zágráb), Modruš–Fiume, Lika-Krbava, Warasdin (Varasd) and Bjelovar (Belovár-Körös); while the capitals of the three Slavonian counties, Virovitica (Veröcze), Požega (Pozsega) and Syrmia (Szerém), are Esseg, Požega (5000) and Semlin.
Population and National Characteristics.—The population rose from 1,892,499 in 1881 to 2,416,304 in 1900, an increase of little less than one-third, resulting from a uniformly low death rate, with a high marriage and birth rate, and characterized by that preponderance of male over female children which is common to all the South Slavonic lands. More than 75% of the inhabitants are Croats, the bulk of the remainder being Serbs, who predominate in eastern Slavonia. Outside Croatia-Slavonia, the Croats occupy the greater part of Dalmatia and northern Bosnia. There are large Croatian settlements in the south of Hungary, and smaller colonies in Austria. The numbers of the whole nation may be estimated at 3,500,000 or 4,000,000. The distinction between Croats and Serbs is religious, and, to a less extent, linguistic. Croats and Serbs together constitute a single branch of the Slavonic race, frequently called the Serbo-Croatian branch. The literary language of the two nations is identical, but the Croats use the Latin alphabet,[1] while the Serbs prefer a modified form of the Cyrillic. The two nations have also been politically separated since the 7th century, if not for a longer period; but this division has produced little difference of character or physical type. Even the costume of the Croatian peasantry, to whom brilliant colours and intricate embroideries are always dear, proclaims their racial identity with the Serbs; their songs, dances and musical instruments, the chief part of their customs and folk-lore, their whole manner of life, so little changed by its closer contact with Western civilization, may be studied in Servia (q.v.) itself. In both countries rural society was based on the old-fashioned household community, or zadruga, which still survives in the territories that formed the Military Frontier, though everywhere tending to disappear and be replaced by individual ownership. The Croatian peasantry are least prosperous in the riverside districts, where marsh-fevers prevail, and especially beside the Save. Even in many of the towns the houses are mere cabins of wood and thatch. As in Servia, there is practically no middle class between the peasants and the educated minority; and the commercial element consists to a great extent of foreigners, especially Germans, Hungarians, Italians and Jews. Numerically this alien population is insignificant. The Italians are chiefly confined to the coast; the Germans congregate at Semlin and Warasdin; the Slovenes are settled along the north-western frontier, where they have introduced their language, and so greatly modified the local dialect; the gipsies wander from city to city, as horse-dealers, metal workers or musicians; there are numerous Moravian and Bohemian settlements; and near Mitrovica there is a colony of Albanians. It is impossible to give accurate statistics of the alien population; for, in the compilation of the official figures, language is taken as a test of nationality, an utterly untrustworthy method in a country where every educated person speaks two or three languages. Croatian nationalists also maintain that official figures are systematically altered in the Hungarian interest.
Constitution and Government.—By the fundamental law of the 21st of December 1867 Austria-Hungary was divided, for purposes of internal government, into Cisleithania, or the Austrian empire, and Transleithania, or the kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia. In theory the viceroy, or ban of Croatia-Slavonia is nominated by the crown, and enjoys almost unlimited authority over local affairs; in practice the consent of the crown is purely formal, and the ban is appointed by the Hungarian premier, who can dismiss him at any moment. The provincial government is subject to the ban, and comprises three ministries—the interior, justice, and religion and education,—for whose working the ban is responsible to the Hungarian premier, and to the national assembly of Croatia-Slavonia (Narodna Skupština). This body consists of a single chamber, composed partly of elected deputies, partly of privileged members, whose numbers cannot exceed half those of the deputies. There are 69 constituencies, besides the 21 royal free cities which also return deputies. Electors must belong to certain professions or pay a small tax. The privileged members are the heads of the nobility, with the highest ecclesiastics and officials. As a rule, they represent the “Magyarist” section of society, which sympathizes with Hungarian policy. The chamber deals with religion, education, justice and certain strictly provincial affairs, but even within this limited sphere all its important enactments must be countersigned by the minister for Croatia-Slavonia, a member, without portfolio, of the Hungarian cabinet. At the polls, all votes are given orally, a system which facilitates corruption; the officials who control the elections depend for their livelihood on the ban, usually a Magyarist; and thus, even apart from the privileged members, a majority favourable to Hungary can usually be secured. The constitutional relations between Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia are regulated by the agreement, or nagoda, of 1868. This instrument determines the functions of the ban; the control of common interests, such as railways, posts, telegraphs, telephones, commerce, industry, agriculture or forests; and the choice of delegates by the chamber, to sit in the Hungarian parliament. See also below, under History.
For administrative purposes Croatia-Slavonia is divided into 8
rural counties, already enumerated; besides the 4 urban counties,
or municipalities of Agram, Semlin, Warasdin and Esseg.
These are subdivided into rural and urban communes,Local adminis-
tration.
each with its representative council. The affairs of each
rural county are managed by an assembly chosen for 6
years, which comprises not only elected members, but delegates
from all the cities except Agram and Esseg, with certain high
ecclesiastics and officials.
The highest judicial authority is the supreme court or Septemviral Table, which sits at Agram, and ranks above the royal courts of appeal, the county courts of first instance,Justice. and the district courts or magistracies.
Fully four-fifths of the population belong to the Roman Catholic Church, which has an archbishop at Agram and bishops at Zengg and Djakovo. There are about 12,000 Greek Catholics, with a bishop at Kreuz (Križevac). The Serb congregations,Religion. who had previously been classed as Orthodox Greek, were officially recognized as members of the Orthodox Church of Servia after 1883. Their episcopal sees of Karlowitz and Pakrac depend upon the metropolitanate of Belgrade; but from 1830 to 1838 Karlowitz was itself the headquarters of the Servian Church.
During the 19th century strenuous efforts to better the state of education were made by Bishop Strossmayer (1815–1905) and other
- ↑ It is important to notice the value of the following letters and signs, which recur frequently:—c = ts; č = ch (hard); ć = ch (soft); j = y, or j in German; š = sh; ž = zh, or j in French.
