[Sherman Logan]

My understanding is that the Croats and Slovenes were reasonably content under the Dual Monarchy, with Croatia being an autonomous region under Hungary.

Interesting to hear from you. For some unknown (to me) reason, most freepers with an interest in this area are very pro-Serbian and pro-Milosevich.

I’ve always thought the history of Croatia really interesting, especially the Croatian Military Frontier.

[Verginius Rufus]

I think the picture was mixed--some discontent with Austria-Hungary (especially in the areas under Hungarian rule), but maybe not shared by everyone. The emigrants from Austria-Hungary who went to Australia and New Zealand were eager to fight in WWI against Austria-Hungary, but the authorities in those countries viewed them with suspicion, even those who had become naturalized citizens, and many were put in concentration camps in the war (like the Japanese in the US in WWII).

Croatia was divided--Dalmatia belonged to the Austrian half but much of inland Croatia was part of the Hungarian half of the empire. The Military Frontier had only recently been added to "civil" Croatia (1881 or something like that).

Modern ideas of national identity seem to have spread to that area only in the 19th century. Before that most people probably thought of their identity in religious terms (Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish) rather than ethnic terms. Later, both the Serbs and the Croats tried to claim that the Bosnian Muslims belonged to their group.

Among immigrants to the US (who mostly came before 1921), a lot of them still answered "Austria" for the census question for place of birth rather than Yugoslavia even after Yugoslavia had come into existence.