Serbs of Croatia

The Serbs of Croatia or Croatian Serbs, are a recognized ethnic minority in Croatia. According to data from the 2021 census, the population of ethnic Serbs in Croatia is 123,892, constituting 3.2% of the total population.

In some regions of modern-day Croatia, such as southern Dalmatia, ethnic Serbs have been present from the Early Middle Ages. Serbs from modern-day Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina started migrating to Croatia during the Habsburg monarchy's long series of wars against the Ottoman Empire. Several migration waves of Serbs occurred after 1538, when Habsburg Monarchy granted them the right to settle on the territory of the Military Frontier, populating the Dalmatian Hinterland, Lika, Kordun, Banija, and Slavonia. In exchange for land and exemption from taxation, they had to conduct military service and participate in the protection of the border. Following the 1848 revolution and the abolition of the Military Frontier in the 1870s-1880s, rising Croatian national sentiment and the growth of Yugoslav-oriented ideas among some Serb intellectuals led to increasing political tension, culminating in the formation of the Serb Independent Party and growing rivalry with Croatian nationalist movements.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Croat-Serb Coalition, led by the Croat Frano Supilo and the 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) and the subsequent interwar period, Serbs initially enjoyed significant political influence; however, growing Croatian demands for autonomy, culminating in the 1939 Cvetković–Maček Agreement that created the Banovina of Croatia, deepened ethnic tensions and radicalized parts of the Serb community. During World War II, Serbs were targeted for extermination as part of genocide by the Ustaše regime in the Nazi German puppet state of Independent State of Croatia. After World War II, Serbs initially held prominent positions in the communist leadership and the new socialist republic; however, from the late 1960s onward, the Croatian Spring and rising Croatian nationalism, followed by Tito’s crackdown and subsequent decentralization of Yugoslavia, gradually fueled mutual grievances that intensified in the late 1980s.

Following Croatia’s proclamation of independence and the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbs rebelled against the Croatian government, establishing the Republic of Serbian Krajina on portions of Croatian territory, which triggered the Croatian War of Independence. The Republic of Serbian Krajina collapsed after the Croatian Army’s Operation Storm in 1995, leading to the reintegration of the territory into Croatia and the flight of around 200,000 Serbs. In the post-war period, Serbs were exposed to discriminatory measures and rhetoric, including barriers to employment, property rights, and use of the minority languages. Denial of the genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia has also been a prominent issue at times.