Count Josip Jelačić von Bužim (16 October 180120 May 1859; also spelled Jellachich, Jellačić or Jellasics; ; ) was a Croatian lieutenant field marshal in the Imperial Austrian Army and politician. He was the Ban of Croatia between 23 March 1848 and 19 April 1859. He was a member of the House of Jelačić and a noted army general, remembered for his military campaigns during the Revolutions of 1848 and for his abolition of serfdom in Croatia.
Early life and military The son of Croatian Baron Franjo Jelačić Bužimski (or in other documents, ) (1746–1810), a Feldmarschall-Leutnant (Lieutenant Field Marshal), and his wife, Baroness Anna Portner von Höflein, the honorific Bužimski refers to Bužim, a location in the Cazin region, that was used by the Jelačić family.
Jelačić was born in the town of Petrovaradin which was a part of the Slavonian Military Frontier of the Habsburg monarchy and today it is part of Vojvodina, Serbia. Josip Jelačić was educated in Vienna at the Theresian Military Academy, where he received a versatile education, showing particular interest in history and foreign languages. He was fluent in all South-Slavic languages, as well as German, Italian, French, and Hungarian. On the 11th of March 1819 Jelačić joined the Austrian army with the rank of lieutenant in the Vinko Freiherr von Knežević Regiment, named for his uncle.
In 1819, he served as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment in Galicia. In 1822, he fell ill and stayed in his parents' house in Zagreb. In 1825 he returned to his regiment in Vienna, where he was appointed first lieutenant and aide to the brigade commander. In 1830, he became a lieutenant captain in the Ogulin regiment.
On 17 October 1835, he led a military campaign against Bosnian Ottoman troops in Velika Kladuša for which he received a medal. He was promoted to major on 20 February 1837 in the Freiherr von Gollner regiment. In May 1841 he received the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 1st Croatian Frontier Guard Regiment in Glina, Croatia. On October 18, he was promoted to colonel.
On 22 March 1848, Jelačić was promoted to major-general, and simultaneously the Sabor (the National Assembly of Croatia) elected him as Ban of Croatia. The Sabor also declared that the first elections or representatives to the assembly would be held in May 1848. Shortly after, he was promoted to lieutenant field-marshal, becoming the commander of all Habsburg troops in Croatia.
During this time, Jelačić was a proponent of the Illyrian movement.
Hungarian Revolution of 1848
Jelačić supported independence for Croatia from the Austrian throne. However, in pursuit of this goal Jelačić sought to support this goal by ingratiating himself with the Austrian throne by supporting Austrian interests in putting down revolutionary movements in northern Italy in 1848 and in opposing the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849. Consequently, Jelačić's reputation differs in Austria where he was looked upon as a rebel seeking to break up the Austrian Empire, while in Croatia he is deemed a national hero.
He travelled to Vienna to take oaths to become counsel of Austrian Emperor, Ferdinand I, but refused to take the oath as Ban of Croatia, because it was a Hungarian dependent territory. The relations between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Austrian government deteriorated after the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution on 15 March 1848. But Jelačić later took the oath as Ban of Croatia on 5 June 1848. Because of the absence of Juraj Haulik, the Catholic Archbishop of Zagreb, he took the oath before the Josif Rajačić, the Orthodox Archbishop of Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch.
Jelačić, now Ban, supported the Croatian aim to maintain autonomy from the Kingdom of Hungary. Jelačić proceeded to sever all official ties of Croatia from Hungary. The Austrian Imperial Court initially opposed this act as one of disobedience and separatism, declaring him to be a rebel and the Sabor to be illegitimate. But the court soon realized Jelačić and his Croatian army were an ally against the newly formed Batthyány Government. Travelling back to Zagreb in April, Jelačić refused to cede to this new government, refused any cooperation, and called for elections to the Sabor on 25 March 1848.
Croatian Parliament, the Sabor
The Sabor – now acting as the National Assembly – declared the following demands to the Habsburg emperor:
The union of all Croatian provinces (Croatian-Slavonian Kingdom, Istria and Dalmatia). Separation from the Kingdom of Hungary. Abolition of serfdom. Full civil rights. Affirmation of the equality of nations.
Many of his points about civil rights were part of the Hungarian twelve points, and were already enacted by the Batthyány Government.
The Sabor strongly opposed the "massive nationalist Magyarization politics of the Kingdom of Hungary from the Carpathians to Adria, which the newly formed government represents, especially Lajos Kossuth."
On 8 April Jelačić took his oath as ban and was appointed a field-marshal-lieutenant and made commander of the Military Frontier.Tanner, Marcus (2001). Croatia : a nation forged in war (2nd ed.). New Haven; London: Yale University Press, p. 86 On 19 April 1848 Jelačić proclaimed the union of Croatian provinces, and the separation from the Kingdom of Hungary. At the same time, he proclaimed unconditional loyalty to the Habsburg monarchy. The Croatian Constitution of 24 April 1848 declared "languages of all ethnicities should be inviolable".
On serfdom, it was apparent that changing the status of the Croatian peasantry would have to wait until the end of the revolution. Jelačić kept up the institution of the Military Frontier so he could draft more soldiers. The people in the region protested to this, but Ban Jelačić quashed the dissent by summary courts martial and by executing many dissenters.
In May, Jelačić established the Bansko Vijeće ("Ban Council"). Its scope of authority covered ministerial tasks including Internal Affairs, Justice, Schools and Education, Religion, Finance, and Defense, so this council was acting as a governing body in Croatia. The new Sabor was summoned on 5 June.
Intermediary discussions The Austrian emperor called Jelačić to Innsbruck, to which the Imperial Court had fled, and the Emperor there told him that the Croatian and Slavonian troops in the Italian provinces wanted to join forces with those in Croatia, but that this would weaken the forces in Italy. So Jelačić called on all troops stationed in the Italian provinces to remain calm and to stay put.
The Austrian court did not grant the separation of Croatia from Hungary. During his travels back to Zagreb, Jelačić read in the Lienz railway station that on 10 June the Emperor had relieved him of all his positions. But Jelačić was still loyal to the Emperor, and kept relations with the Imperial Court, especially with Archduchess Sophia, the mother of Franz Joseph I of Austria.
Immediately after arriving at Zagreb, Jelačić got the order to join the discussions with the Hungarian government in Vienna. During these, Jelačić stated that his position was derived from the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, while Lajos Batthyány called him "a separatist" seeking to break away from the Habsburg Monarchy. Jelačić called this a "rebellion". Batthyány warned Jelačić that this could mean war. Jelačić stopped the discussions, saying that "civil war is the worst that could happen" – but that he "would not be intimidated by this, however shocking it might be to hear". Negotiations were closed with Batthyány saying "see you (on the river) Drava" and with Jelačić responding "say rather on the Danube."
Jelačić returned to Croatia. Hungarian troops had gathered on the border and hostile proclamations were made against him.
War against the Kingdom of Hungary In August, Jelačić proclaimed a decree for the Croatians, where he denied accusations of separating Croatia in the name of Panslavism. In the decree he said
His closing words were:
Jelačić felt disorder growing in the Austrian Empire, and decided on immediate action. On 11 September at Varaždin he crossed the River Drava. His fighting force was limited, due to many of his soldiers fighting in Northern Italy.
Jelačić occupied Međimurje (), which was mostly Croatian. The two forces were poorly armed because of the rapid engagement. Materiel was not well organised, so the advance into Hungarian territory was difficult. Supplies were taken from the local population.
The enthusiasm of the Croatian troops grew when at Siófok the Ban received a letter from Ferdinand I cancelling the decree removing him from all positions, also promoting him to be general commander of all troops in Hungary.
During his march toward Pest and Buda (now conjoined as the towns of Budapest), Jelačić got a message from Archduke Stephen, situated in Veszprém, to inform him of the decision of the Emperor that Lajos Batthyány was approved to set up a new government, and calling him to stop the troops, and to discuss further actions at his office. Jelačić replied he could not stop his army then, but was prepared for discussions with the archduke at the port of Balatonszemes. The meeting did not take place. According to Austrian sources, advisors to Jelačić persuaded him not to attend, because of a threat of assassination by agents of the Hungarian Government. After this fiasco, Palatine Stephen resigned and left Hungary, under the Emperor's orders.
Battle of Pákozd
Jelačić's army occupied Székesfehérvár on 26 September 1848. The same day the Emperor appointed lieutenant-general Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg as general commanding all troops in Hungary, but this was annulled by the Hungarian Parliament. Lajos Kossuth called the Hungarians for resistance, and the Országos Honvédelmi Bizottmány (National Homeguarding Committee) was given the power of execution. Lamberg, trying to take over the command of the Imperial Hungarian troops was identified and killed.
Jelačić advanced onward, reached Lake Velence on 29 September, where he met Hungarian troops. After the first strikes, lieutenant-general János Móga withdrew to north to Sukoró. Jelačić demanded Móga stand against the rebels, and "get back to the road of honour and duty", but Móga refused, and his army attacked Jelačić between his position and Pákozd.Pákozd-Sukoró Battle 1848 Exhibition,
After the Battle of Pákozd, on 30 September Jelačić asked for a three-day ceasefire; he wanted to use these days to wait for Roth's army. He assessed the greater numbers of the Hungarian troops and the poor armaments and tiredness of his own troops. On 1 October the supply routes to Croatia were cut by rebels, so he advanced toward Vienna. On 3 October Móga was pursuing after Jelačić, but did not want to make an attack.
On 4 October, Ferdinand I of Austria reappointed Jelačić as the general commander of all troops in Hungary, and dissolved the Hungarian Diet.
Vienna Revolt
Austrian Minister of War Theodor Baillet von Latour called the guards in Vienna to join the troops of Jelačić, but this caused an uprising in Vienna on 6 October in which Latour was killed.
On 7 October Hungarian General Mór Perczel defeated the armies of General Roth and Josip Filipović, and took them prisoner. The Hungarian Parliament annulled the Emperor's decree of October 4.
Jelačić moved onward to Vienna to join the troops around the city. Under Lieutenant-General Kuzman Todorović, he organised a body of 14,000 soldiers to move south to Styria to protect Croatia.