Agram Trial
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The Agram Trial or Zagreb Trial (known as the "High treason trial" in Serbo-Croatian, ''veleizdajnički proces'') was the trial of 53
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Balkans and Pannonian Basin who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Ser ...
in
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, who were accused of conspiracy to overthrow the state and place Croatia-Slavonia under Serbian rule. The Austro-Hungarian government had discredited the
Croat-Serb Coalition The Croat-Serb Coalition ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hrvatsko-srpska koalicija, separator=/, Хрватско-српска коалиција) was a major political alliance in Austria-Hungary during the early 20th century that governed the Croatian lands, th ...
and created an internal discussion accusing Serbs of massive conspiracy. The
Pure Party of Rights The Party of Rights () was a Croatian nationalist political party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and later in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in 1861 by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik, two influential nationalist po ...
, led by
Josip Frank Josip Frank (; 16 April 1844 – 17 December 1911) was a Croatian lawyer and politician, a noted representative of the Party of Rights in the Croatian Parliament, and a vocal advocate of Croatian national independence in Austria-Hungary. Early ...
, participated in attacks on the accused Serbs (most supporters of the
Serb Independent Party Serb Independent Party ( sr-Latn, Srpska samostalna stranka, SSS, ), also known as Serb Autonomous Party or simply Serb Autonomists, was an ethnic Serb political party in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was e ...
) and also the Croat-Serb Coalition, with government directives. Arrests were made during the
Bosnian crisis The Bosnian Crisis, also known as the Annexation Crisis (, ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Aneksiona kriza, Анексиона криза) or the First Balkan Crisis, erupted on 5 October 1908 when Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzeg ...
, made to justify the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some of the accused were held under bad circumstances(a number died before trial), until the trial began in March 1909. The trial caused sensation across Europe, and was viewed as a blatant attempt to crush Slavic majority politics in Croatia-Slavonia. After many years of the Croatian Serbs and Croatian Croats splitting the Slavic vote in the Croatian Diet elections the Fiume "Croat-Serb Coalition" agreement of 1905 resulted in a landslide victory for the Slavs in the next Croatia election. This was catastrophic for the Austro-Hungarians ruling minority who were faced with handing control of the country, for the first time, to the Slavs. The accusations of sedition against the newly elected members of the Croatian government arrived just in time to put most of the Slavic members of parliament in prison (where they remained for over 2 years without trial) and return control back to the Austro-Hungarians who held nearly a third of the seats in the Diet ex-officio(they held none by election) and hence became the government. Austrian ambassador in Belgrade János Forgách forged documents against the accused Slavs with the help of two Slavic traitors; Djeodje Nastić and Valerian Sergijan Vasić. 31 Slavs were convicted and given 184 years in October 1909. The corruption of the process was revealed in the Friedjung Trial 1909/10 and the arrest of Vasić in 1911 in possession of at least one of the original "door-sized" forgeries. The obvious bias and unreliable evidence led to the defendants' release in 1910 even before completion of their appeal process. The cloud of international suspicion against Serbia at being the puppet masters and instigators of the defendant's alleged sedition provided convenient cover to allow Austro-Hungary to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1909 against the terms of the Berlin Treaty of 1878, without the Serbs being able to muster sufficient international sympathy for the southern Slavic cries for independence to prevent the annexation.


The accused Serbs

*
Svetozar Pribićević Svetozar Pribićević ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Прибићевић}, ; 26 October 1875 – 15 September 1936) was a Croatian Serb politician in Austria-Hungary and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He was one of the main proponents of Yugoslavi ...
*
Adam Pribićević Adam Pribićević ( sr-Cyrl, Адам Прибићевић; Kostajnica, 7 February 1957) was a Croatian Serb publisher, writer, and politician. Biography Pribićević was born in Kostajnica, to a well-known family of Serbs of Croatia. After g ...
* Valerijan Pribićević *
Lazar Bačić Lazar Bačić ( sr-cyr, Лазар Бачић; January 1865 – 12 May 1941) was a Croatian Serb merchant and philanthropist. Ustashas used his property and industrial facilities to open the Ciglana part of the Jasenovac concentration camp. He w ...
* Stevan Kalember * Rade Malobabić * Dr.
Srđan Budisavljević Srđan Budisavljević (8 December 1883 – 20 February 1968) was a politician and lawyer born in Požega. Budisavljević studied law in Zagreb and Berlin before being elected to the Sabor of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia in 1908 as a represen ...
- Elected member of Serb-Croat Coalition * Joco Oreščanin * Sima A. Živković * Pero Bekić


See also

* Friedjung Trial,
Heinrich Friedjung Heinrich Friedjung (18 January 1851 – 14 July 1920) was an Austrian historian and journalist. Life Friedjung was born in Roschtin, Austrian Empire (today Roštín, Czech Republic). The son of a Jewish family grew up in Vienna, and studied his ...
accused Croatian leader
Frano Supilo Frano Supilo (30 November 1870 – 25 September 1917) was a Croatian politician and journalist. He opposed the Austro-Hungarian domination of Europe prior to World War I. He participated in the debates leading to the formation of Yugoslavia as ...
of working with Serbia


References


Sources

* * * * {{Authority control 1909 in Austria-Hungary 1909 in Croatia Treason trials Political scandals 1909 in politics History of the Serbs of Croatia Persecution of Serbs Austria-Hungary–Serbia relations Yugoslavism Serbian Austro-Hungarians 1900s in Zagreb Rebels from Austria-Hungary Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia