Eugen Kvaternik (31 October 1825 – 11 October 1871) was a Croatian nationalist politician and one of the founders of the Party of Rights, alongside Ante Starčević. Kvaternik was the leader of the 1871 Rakovica Revolt which was an attempt to create an independent Croatian state, at the time when it was part of Austria-Hungary. In order to get foreign support for his cause Kvaternik visited the Russian Empire, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia. He was also well known for anti-Austro-Hungarian speeches that he made as member of the Croatian Parliament.
Early life
Kvaternik was born in Zagreb. He was educated in Senj and in Pest. After the abolition of feudalism in 1848 by ban Josip Jelačić, greater freedom from the Austrian Empire was granted. This encouraged proponents of Croatian independence such as Kvaternik. In 1857, the Austrian authorities forbade him to work as a lawyer, leaving him unemployed.
Political and revolutionary activity
In 1858 Kvaternik decided to leave for the Russian Empire, seeking an ally against the Austrian state. He was aware that Russia was aggrieved because Austria had not joined the Crimea War. While in Russia, Kvaternik gained its citizenship, but soon realized that he would get no military help. In spring 1859 he left for Torino. With help from Niccolò Tommaseo he met with various Italian statesmen and politicians. One of them was Italian prime minister Camillo Benso di Cavour and minister of justice Urbano Rattazzi. Kvaternik succeeded to arrange a meeting with them more easily because the Kingdom of Sardinia was just about to ally with Napoleon III of France to attack Austria.
The Croatian Grenzers saved the Austrian Empire many times. Kvaternik promised that he would get loyalty of the Grenzers to help Cavour in his war against Austria. Kvaternik knew that the Grenzers were unhappy with the Austrian payments to them after the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. He issued an announcement in Croatian to the Grenzers not to help Austria in their war against the Italians. Kvaternik's announcement had a strong impact as the Grenzers were suffering from low morale while fighting in the Battle of Solferino. Austrians rushed to sign a peace with the French.
Nevertheless, Kvaternik believed that the Grenzers would play a significant role in the liberation of Croatia. He continued negotiations with the Italian and Hungarian emigration and offered the Croatian crown to the Prince Napoléon Joseph Charles, the Emperor's cousin and son-in-law of Italian King Victor Emmanuel II. After Napoléon refused the crown, he offered it to a Polish noble Władysław Czartoryski, who was a fellow Catholic Slav. Kvaternik and his Italian and Hungarian allies made a plan to destroy Austria by instigating simultaneous revolts in both the Croatian Military Frontier and in Venice, while Giuseppe Garibaldi would land his troops in the northern Dalmatia. After that they counted on Hungarian and Romanian help with support of the Sardinian Kingdom and France. They also knew that Russia and Prussian Kingdom wouldn't offer any help to Austria. However, in 1865 the plan was withdrawn as Napoleon of France stopped giving any help and thus forced Italy into inaction.
In March 1860, Kvaternik claimed to Napoléon that Croatia could provide some 250,000 soldiers, explaining that Croats were able to do so when they fought the Hungarians in the 1848 Revolution. A month later, he stated to the Sardinian ambassador (Costantino Nigra) that Croats still hoped for revolution and could raise some 400,000 men and liberate Venice. Kvaternik was, however, more active during his stay in Italy between 1863 and 1865. As a member of the Croatian Sabor since 1861, Kvaternik become popular among those who disliked Austria, and at the same time he was still in contact with the Grenzers.
In March 1864, he made a revolutionary plan, anticipating the creation of the Croatian people's government and also started to publish a revolutionary newspaper in Geneva. In April 1864 he claimed to the Sardinian foreign ministry that Slavonia could provide some 300,000 men. The next month he claimed he could transfer the Granzers into "free Italy" in order to help the revolt.