Today, when we talk about Austria-Hungary,or before, Habsburg Empire, we Croats actually feel nostalgia(not real because there are almoust no live people that felt the country as their own).
Croatia ,then called Croatia-Slavonia.
, was an autonomous part of the Hungarian Kingdon, the eastern part of Austria-Hungary.
Economical and cultural life was booming.
The Serbs of Croatia, then 25%, were loyal to the Ban of Croatia,and to Habsburg Empire.
The problem with Serbs in Bosnia was not that they were opressed, it was that they were happy.
The Kingdom of Serbia did not like that idea,not for a long run.
They trained teririst and separatist groups of Bosnian Serbs, mostly from rural areas of Bosnia.
The breaking point was the assasianation of archduke in Sarajevo,as most of you know.
The arcduke Ferdinand was sympathetic to Slavic peoples,and wanted more political power to them.
If the assasination failed, there maybe would not be an invasion of Serbia from Austria-Hungary.
But let me first tell you something.
Yes, Serbian historians will tell you that Croats and Slovenes were eager to kill enemies of THEIR KING.
In my Slavonian home town, there is an old Catholic semetary, that says:
Died in Romanian Battlefield 1917., FOR OUR CROATIAN KING,AND OUR CROATIAN HOMELAND.
This is 1917.!!!
But, it is little known, that even Serbs of Croatia,especialy northern Dalmatia and central region , were loyal soldiers, and good fighters.
To be honest, in Vojvodina, which was more Serb,and more pro-Serbia, not so much.
But i am confident that Habsburg Lands could survive the 20th century,and that this multi-ethnic mix of Slavic,Germanic, Hungarian and Jewish culture, would create a modern nation, and keep centra Europe from the horrors of WWI,WW2.
But the big problem is also, BIG BROTHER, Germany, which is risinbg,and the old powers, France and Britain, they do not like it, not one bit...
There is also Russia, old, despotic country, that has happy and educated Slavs near their borders.