Yugoslav Committee

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Yugoslav Committee (Jugoslavenski odbor) was a political interest group formed by South Slavs from Austria-Hungary during World War I aimed at joining the existing south Slavic nations in an independent state.

Founding members included:

Frano Supilo
Ante Trumbić
Ivan Meštrović
Hinko Hinković
Franko Potočnjak
Nikola Stojanović
Dušan Vasiljević

Most members were from Croatia, while the last two were from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their initial gathering happened in 1914 while the committee was officially formed on April 30, 1915 in London.

The committee signed the Corfu Declaration with the Kingdom of Serbia in 1917. Frano Supilo left the Yugoslav Committee in 1916 because he felt that the Serbian government's motives were not honest. He died the following year.

In 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed and the Committee's task was accomplished.

Ante Trumbić openly regretted the end of Austria-Hungary before he died in 1938, saying how the new government made concessions to Italy and stopped all of the reforms that he had planned for Croatia. Ivan Meštrović refused to participate in state politics and committed himself to his art. He permanently left the county in 1942. Meštrović's son Mate later became one of the most important figures in the movement for Croatian independence.