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Basic attention in the Article is paid to the
Croatian-Hungarian Compromise 1868 and the laws enacted in the Croatian Sabor
(Diet) 1868-1871. Analyzed are the main political and legal issues and significance of the Compromise as a key determinant of the position of Croatia in respect to Hungary as well as the meaning of the Compromise in a process of rationalization of Croatian autonomous institutions of
power.
The Author particularly stressed the role of the formal and factual means of control of
the Croatian autonomy from the Budapest center, especially the mechanisms of sanction and
presanctification of the King. However, the Author also stressed that the Compromise created stable and rather rational framework of the Croatian autonomy that became basis for
building-up modern and rational institutions through autonomous
legislation. The analysis of the respective autonomous laws shows that the process of systematic modernization - that reached culmination in the reform period 1873-1880 - had its beginnings in the period of authoritarian power of Hungarophilic banus Levin Rauch 1868-1871.
However, due to delimitation that came from the interests of the Budapest center and from the authoritarian power of banus
Rauch, the process of the modernization in the period 1868-1871 was limited
and represented the sort of the enforced modernization which could not reach certain
limits. Legislative activity in a legal-political field was oriented towards necessary
change of outdated institution of power. The most important was the establishment of
the Croatian Home Government, enactment of Electoral Law, Law on Sabor as well
as moderate changes of the county system. In the field of civil rights the only change
was Law on Equality of Jews (validated 1873) while in 1870 the Home Government
withdrew the laws on press, following the pressure from the Central Government of
Budapest.
Key words:
Austro-Hungary, Croatian-Hungarian Compromise, organization of
power.
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