Labour Statues and Memorials in Croatia

Tombstone dedicated to a worker killed in the general strike of 1905

At the cemetery of St. Anne in Osijek, located in the Slavonia region, stands a tombstone dedicated to 16-year-old Srećko Kulundžić, the first victim of the labor movement in Croatia. Kulundžić, a worker at a match factory, died in May 1905 during a street clash between workers and the gendarmerie in Osijek. He was shot by a policeman who was ultimately not held accountable for his actions.

The street clashes in the spring of 1905 were the culmination of a general strike that had erupted in Osijek. This was the first general strike in Croatian history, initiated by workers at the Povischil & Kaiser furniture factory. The strikers demanded a 10% wage increase and the introduction of a ten-hour workday. After the factory owners rejected their requests, the workers went on strike on April 19, 1905. The celebration of Labor Day on May 1 was intended to highlight the workers' pressing issues, and soon after, men and women from other local factories joined strikers in solidarity.

To suppress the workers’ demonstrations, authorities deployed a military battalion to the streets of Osijek on May 9, aiming to restrict the movement of the procession through the city. Approximately 3,000 people participated in the workers' march at that time, while Osijek's population was around 25,000. Leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia also arrived in the city, hoping to mediate negotiations between the workers and their employers. However, clashes continued the next day, resulting in Kulundžić being shot dead. The strike was called off shortly afterward.

The events in Osijek were reported by the newspaper Hrvatska zastava (eng. Croatian Flag), which was edited by Croatian emigrants in Chicago. The paper informed readers about the recent strike that had “flared up” in Osijek and the “workers’ battalions” “cruising the streets.” It described that the general strike had broken out “with the elemental force of a sudden and unexpected volcanic eruption,” spreading rapidly throughout the city. Undoubtedly siding with the workers, the newspaper stated: “Their cry for justice and happiness is answered by saber and bayonet.”

In the aftermath, about forty people were arrested, while several managed to escape the city after the strike ended. Fifteen individuals, including two women, were arrested for rebellion and uprising. Croatian newspapers commented that the “seed of socialism” had been planted among the inhabitants of Osijek about fifteen years prior, leading to continuous tensions between workers and employers and a series of strikes, both minor and major. The press blamed foreign workers, newcomers from Hungary and Germany, for these tensions. Concurrently, in mid-May 1905, Osijek police began arresting and deporting suspicious foreign workers. Although the 1905 strike did not meet the workers’ demands, the labor movement in Croatia continued to grow. By World War I, a series of strikes had broken out, unions were legalized in 1907, and the Social Democrats became a significant political force in the country.

In 1906, a year after Kulundžić's death, the Social Democrats erected a tombstone for him in Osijek as one of the first victims of class struggle in Croatia. The monument bears the following inscription: "The Osijek Social Democratic Workers erected this memorial stone as a sign of gratitude to their unforgettable comrade, who fell victim to a bullet during the general strike on May 10, 1905. Glory to him!"

Contributed by Luka Pejić (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek)