The Progressive Youth () was a political organisation predominantly active in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, a realm of Austria-Hungary in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The group, consisting of Zagreb University students initially led by Stjepan Radić, emerged in relation to consequences of a protest against Magyarisation policies of the government held during the 1895 visit by Emperor Franz Joseph to Zagreb. The protesters were briefly imprisoned and expelled from the Zagreb University. Most of them continued their education in Prague. Initially led by Radić, the Progressive Youth announced its advocation of unity of Croats and Serbs on the basis of Yugoslavist ideas in their journal. The Prague-based students kept contact with like-minded colleagues in Zagreb.

The Progressive Youth contributed to a realignment of political parties in Croatia-Slavonia at the beginning of the 20th century. This was achieved by supporting the unification of the opposition Party of Rights and the into the Croatian Party of Rights. After a brief period, the Progressive Youth joined the Croatian Party of Rights. The Progressive Youth figures launched a campaign of public assemblies in protest against Magyarisation in what became known as the . While the campaign struggled to attract support from other Croatian opposition groups, the Serb Independent Party gave the progressives its support. By 1904, Ivan Lorković and other prominent former members of the Progressive Youth had formed the Croatian Progressive Party.

The Croatian Progressive Party supported the 1903 initiative proposed by Dalmatian Party of Rights leaders. The policy proposed supporting Hungarian opposition in its demands for a revision of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 favouring greater Hungarian autonomy from the central government while obtaining support for the unification of the Austro-Hungarian realms of Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia. The Croatian Progressive Party supported the initiative and successfully lobbied the Croatian Party of Rights and the Serb Independent Party for endorsement of the New Course Policy because it saw the initiative as an opportunity for greater Croat–Serb cooperation. On the basis of this support, the Croat-Serb Coalition was formed in 1905, and following the 1906 Croatian parliamentary election, the coalition became the most powerful political grouping in Croatia-Slavonia until the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918. The coalition adopted the Yugoslavist ideas put forward by the Progressive Youth, such as the concept of national oneness of the Croats and the Serbs.

Background Austria–Hungary Kingdoms and countries of Austria–Hungary:Cisleithania (Empire of Austria): 1. Bohemia, 2. Bukovina, 3. Carinthia, 4. Carniola, 5. Dalmatia, 6. Galicia, 7. Küstenland, 8. Lower Austria, 9. Moravia, 10. Salzburg, 11. Silesia, 12. Styria, 13. Tyrol, 14. Upper Austria, 15. Vorarlberg; Transleithania (Kingdom of Hungary): 16. Hungary proper 17. Croatia-Slavonia; Austro-Hungarian condominium: 18. Bosnia and Herzegovina

In the late 19th century, the politics of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, a realm of Austria-Hungary at the time, were dominated by the outcomes of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868. The former divided the lands inhabited by significant Croat populations between Austrian- and Hungarian-ruled halves of the empire. Dalmatia and Istria were ruled by Vienna, while Croatia-Slavonia was a part of the Arch-Kingdom of Hungary. The Croatian–Hungarian Settlement upheld but also curbed Croatian political autonomy, restricting it to internal affairs. In Hungary, regardless of the guarantees regarding Croatian autonomy, the Settlement was viewed as a step towards full integration of Croatia into the Hungarian state, and the Hungarian government's policies threatened the Croatian autonomy. As this position became better known, the Croats increasingly opposed the Settlement. The unicameral Sabor was authorised to legislate the matters within the scope of Croatia's autonomy. The Sabor was elected, but the electoral laws limited suffrage by means of property qualification to about 2% of the population. The Ban of Croatia was appointed by the Emperor in consultation with the Prime Minister of Hungary as the head of the executive. The appointment guaranteed Hungarian control over Croatia's autonomous affairs.

Following the motivated by gradual infringement against Croatia's autonomy, the Hungarian government imposed martial law in Croatia-Slavonia and shortly afterwards appointed Károly Khuen-Héderváry the Ban of Croatia. Khuen-Héderváry's rule was marked by Magyarisation of Croatia in breach of the proclaimed guarantees offered by the Settlement. Khuen-Héderváry ruled with the support of the Sabor majority, largely consisting of the representatives of the People's Party. The parliamentary majority was assured by gerrymandering and suffrage granted to just 2% of the total population – the wealthiest taxpayers and civil servants. Disciplinary measures were introduced to penalise civil servants who voted against the government, and political suitability was a requirement for appointment of civil servants and public notaries. The supporters were provided with government subsidies for their businesses and promised favours of the Hungarian government. Khuen-Héderváry also had the support of Croatian Serbs who formed the Serbian Club within the People's Party. He sought to use the Serbs to redirect hatred of the Croatian population from the regime to Serbs through political favouritism, including enactment of legislation to legalise use of the Serbian language and the Cyrillic alphabet in Croatia-Slavonia and partially repealing the law secularising education in relation to schools operated by the Patriarchate of Karlovci. In turn, the Serbs became prominent exponents of Khuen-Héderváry's rule. He exploited political issues related to the Croatian Serbs with the aim of sowing divisions in order to facilitate his rule. As a result of the Ban's policies, divisions between Croats and Serbs deepened.

The main Croatian parliamentary opposition consisted of the Party of Rights and the , the latter being formed by dissidents splitting from the People's Party in 1880. The Party of Rights found most of its support among the younger urban intelligentsia, while the Independent People's Party base of support was among the middle-aged urban intelligentsia and the Catholic Church. Both parties suffered from poor organisation and being led by part-time politicians. Even though the two opposition parties concluded an electoral alliance, they were divided over the possibility of political cooperation with the Croatian Serbs (and the Slovenes as fellow South Slavs living in Austria-Hungary). Both parties were met with mistrust from Croatian Serbs, in a large part due to their advocation of the Croatian state right and the conflicting views about the fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina following the 1878 Austro-Hungarian occupation. There were concurrent conflicting territorial claims against all of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbs hoped Bosnia and Herzegovina would be attached to the Principality of Serbia following the Herzegovina uprising, and the Croats expected Austria-Hungary to give the territory to Croatia following the 1878 occupation. In the case of the Party of Rights, a particular problem for cooperation with the Serbs was that the party's founder, Ante Starčević, claimed that the Serbs are not a distinct nation but Orthodox Croats. Cooperation between the Croatian Serb politicians and the Independent People's Party was difficult to achieve due to the former's suspicions towards the role of the Catholic priests in the party.

Emergence

A wide-ranging youth movement started to take shape in Croatia-Slavonia in 1895. Its two components were the Croatian modernists and the Progressive Youth in the fields of art and politics, respectively. The political movement emerged in relation to a protest by Zagreb University students on the occasion of a visit by Emperor Franz Joseph to Zagreb. During the visit, three protests took place. On the first day of the Imperial visit, a group including Ivo Frank, a son of a prominent member of the Party of Rights, Josip Frank, created a disturbance at the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, calling for removal of a Serbian tricolour flown at the church building. Then, Ivo's brother Vladimir joined a group unsuccessfully attempting to remove a Hungarian flag placed on a triumphal arch erected for the Imperial visit near the Main Railway Station. In response, a few ethnic Hungarians assaulted the Frank brothers to avenge the attack against the Hungarian flag. On the final day of the Emperor's visit, a group of 70 to 80 students, led by Vladimir Vidrić, marched from the university to the Ban Jelačić Square and burnt a Hungarian tricolour. The flag burning protest, devised by Stjepan Radić, who had already been expelled from the Zagreb University for political activities, was explained by the students as directed against violations of the Settlement.

Fifty-three people were arrested and brought to a trial for participation in the flag burning on charges of disruption of public order. Following a five-day trial, all the defendants except four were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two to six months. At the same time, the university expelled them. Croatian members of the Imperial Council elected in Dalmatia and Istria—Juraj Biankini, Matko Laginja, and Vjekoslav Spinčić—issued a declaration of support for the students and a call for donations to allow the expelled students to pursue their studies abroad. In response, a committee to assist the expelled students was established and chaired by , one of the Independent People's Party's founders and leaders. Substantial funds were collected. Radić persuaded a part of the group to move to Prague with him and study there, and a student-assistance committee was chaired by Prague city council member and mayor . In late 1895, six students belonging to the group were enrolled, with an additional twelve the next year and another 22 by 1898. The group became commonly referred to as the Progressive Youth () before their return to Croatia-Slavonia.

Student movement

In Prague, the Progressive Youth became influenced by the ideas of Tomáš Masaryk, especially the concept of realistic "small deeds" in work with the lower social classes and the concept of self-determination. Under these influences, they developed the concept of the national oneness () of the Croats and Serbs that would be central to unitarist Yugoslavism and support the creation of a single independent state in the territory inhabited by the Croats and Serbs. The students based in Prague, inspired and led by Radić, started publication of () journal to promote its political views in January–July 1897. The journal's editorial board and major contributors consisted of , Radić, Živko Bertić, Milan Heimerl, Svetimir Korporić, , and . In the first issue, Radić published an article explaining the group's positions—advocating unity of Croats and Serbs on the basis of Yugoslavism. According to historian Nikola Tomašegović, the start of the publication of Hrvatska misao represents the establishment of the Progressive Youth. The Prague-based group later also published the Novo doba () and Glas () journals. The final issue of the Glas was published in Vienna in 1900.