----- Original Message ----- From: <JimTedrick@aol.com> To: <CROATIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 7:01 AM Subject: Re: [CROATIA-L] Austrian draft pre-WW1 > My gr. grandfather Gajo Kukic (44) came from Goricka through Trieste in > February 1913 to Ellis and his son Stojsa 15 and a half (16 on the manifest) > through Bremen in November 1913. I have read that even though war had not > formally started that there were hostlities in the part of the wourld where > they came from. I wonder if they were avoiding military service in any way? Of the 5,000,000 people who left the Austro-Hungarian Empire far more left due to economic and cultural discrimination than because of the draft. As far as hostilities, the Hungarians practised Magyarization of Croatia as well as the Slovak region. Croatians viewed this with alarm as The Kingdom of Croatia had since 1100 had a degree of autonomy within first Hungary and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Croatian-Serbs and Croatian-Croats did not have any real issues prior to the founding of SHS (Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) in 1918. An account of that Magyarization problem http://www.bartleby.com/65/cr/Croatia.html > They left their wife/mother behind and as far as I know never made it back. This was not uncomon, many men immigrated here and died here leaving families behind. Some of whose children eventually immigrated. But according to Dr. George Prpic (retired Prof. John Carroll Univ., Cleveland, Ohio) stated that most Croatians did not intend to stay but to earn money, return home and buy land. In re to economic problems in Croatia and perhaps in the rest of the A-H Empire, the industrial revolution was behind the US and western Europe, farms were small and families large. The eldest male would inherit the farm leaving nothing for younger males. In fact many Croatians formed zadrugas, something like a co-op, which sometimes inc relatives. In these they shared work and earnings and life in general. When they came to the US many lived in homes with extended families. I have heard these refered to as zadrugas. My GM worked in one in Onalinda, PA. Of course only a percentage returned, of those who returned many became respected in their selo (village), some returned to America as they became accustomed to life and politics in the US and some simply ran out of money. Robert Jerin Croatian Heritage Museum Cleveland, Ohio