The Croatian state right (Croatian: Hrvatsko državno pravo) is a legal concept in Croatian law that represents the entirety of Croatia's rules on the establishment and functioning of public authorities. It is also used to argue for Croatia's sovereignty, referring to the legal status of Croatia as an independent polity within the framework of various states throughout its history. Its application is pointed out as evidence of Croatia's continuous statehood since the medieval Kingdom of Croatia. The Croatian state right is listed in the preamble of the modern Constitution of Croatia as a source of the country's sovereignty.
The concept was first introduced in 1830 by Josip Kušević in the context of Croatian national revival. Kušević based the idea on development of town privileges, seeing it as a means of defense against magyarisation. The term was popularised by Janko Drašković in his 1832 Dissertation, and later developed by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik. Starčević and Kvaternik argued that all people living in Croatia are Croats and that other nations can only exist by nation-building in their own states. Implications of this definition resulted in conflict between Croatian and Serbian nationalism.
Modern definition
As a legal concept, Croatian state right refers to the body of written and customary rules on the establishment and functioning of public authorities in Croatia. It also refers to the legal status of Croatia as a polity within the Kingdom of Hungary after the Pacta conventa, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary. Application of the Croatian state right is considered evidence of unbroken statehood of Croatia since the medieval Kingdom of Croatia.[1]
Origin of the term
The Croatian state right was proposed and promoted in the 19th century during the Croatian national revival as a means of resistance against magyarisation (assimilation to the Kingdom of Hungary). The term was first applied by Josip Kušević in 1830 as a reference to town privileges. He argued that the regulations constituting the town privileges represented a feudal legal constitution.[1] In 1790, the Sabor (Croatia's parliament) decided that a joint government with the Kingdom of Hungary would better protect Croatia from the threat of Germanisation and from the return of absolutist monarchs like the recently deceased Joseph II.[2] Following that decision, a power struggle developed between the Hungarian and Croatian elites, groups which generally encompassed nobility and more affluent bourgeoisie. Hungarian elites promoted competing claims for a more centralised Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen encompassing Hungary and Croatia. Meanwhile, Croatian elites argued against centralisation, viewing it as a threat to town privileges and municipal rights; they considered the these rights evidence of Croatia's political autonomy, making them critical for the existence of Croatia as a polity.[3]
In the 19th century, Croatian nationalism defined Croatia as a political nation which could be joined by anyone, not relying on ethnicity. Alongside self-determination, the Croatian state right was key to the formation of the Croatian nation.[3] The Croatian state right was referenced by Janko Drašković in the 1832 Dissertation, a manifesto of the Illyrian movement.[1] The concept was elaborated by Ante Starčević, the founder of the Party of Rights. Starčević argued that states should form "citizens' states" in which all citizens are equal and the definition of a nation does not include ethnic or religious criteria.[4] Starčević's ideas regarding the Croatian state right and implications on definition of the nation were further developed by Eugen Kvaternik. Starčević and Kvaternik described the state right as belonging to the Croat "political people", defined as medieval nobility and contemporary general public. Building on Starčević's idea that the state can create the nation, the two claimed that there is no other people in Croatia other than Croats because existence of other nations can only come about through their right to another, separate political territory.[5] This definition of the Croatian state right created a conflict between Croatian nationalism and Serbian nationalism, as the latter advocated popular sovereignty which would erase borders of previously existing polities with the aim of uniting all Serbs in a single state, including the Serbs of Croatia.[6]
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Croatian_state_right, and is written by contributors.
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