Family, education and military career

Born in Zagreb in Croatia on 20 October 1770, Janko Drašković was the son of Count Ivan VIII Drašković and Eleonora Felicita Malatinski. Janko's early education consisted of tutoring at the family's estates at Brezovica and Rečica in Croatia, and at Csíkszereda in Transylvania (now Miercurea Ciuc, Romania). He moved to the Habsburg capital Vienna to study law and philosophy before enlisting in the military in 1787 as a Fahnenträger ('Ensign') following his father's footsteps. Drašković joined the 37th Hungarian Infantry Regiment. He served at Nagyvárad in Hungary (now Oradea, Romania), and in the Habsburg Kingdom of Galicia, and fought at the 1789 Siege of Belgrade. In late 1792, he was discharged on medical grounds with the rank of Oberleutnant ('Senior Lieutenant'). He rejoined the military, fighting in anti-Napoleonic volunteer units in 1802, 1805 (in the Dalmatian theatre of the War of the Third Coalition), and 1809–1811, ultimately becoming a Colonel and thus matching his father's rank.^[3]

Drašković married twice, and his two wives belonged to the Croatian nobility. First, in 1794, he married Cecilija Pogledić who died childless in 1808. His second wife Franjica Kulmer gave birth to their only son Josip who died in his youth, leaving no issue.^[14][15][16] By the time of his second marriage, he had sold his Transylvanian estates and Brezovica, and settled in Rečica.^[17]

Political career until 1830

Diet of Hungary of 1830

Drašković became involved in politics in 1792, as a member of the Sabor for the first time.^[18] Shortly after entering the Sabor, Drašković was elected as the Croatian delegate to the House of Magnates—the upper house of the Diet of Hungary—in Pozsony (Bratislava, Slovakia). Drašković, and the two Croatian delegates to the Lower House of the Hungarian Diet, Herman Bužan and Antun Kukuljević Sakcinski, were tasked with representing Croatia's views on several issues, especially with emphasizing the temporary nature of the 1790 decision on the Lieutenancy Council, and advocating the union of the Habsburg realm of Dalmatia, the Croatian Military Frontier and the Free City of Rijeka with Croatia. The delegates were also instucted to resist any attempt to replace Latin with Hungarian as official language.^[12]

While supporting political reforms and economic modernisation,^[3] Drašković advocated a gradual approach like Count István Széchenyi, the leader of the moderate faction of the Hungarian national movement, regarding the political evolution in the United Kingdom as an example.^[19] He wanted to strengthen the Croatian economy through the development of the Port of Rijeka and educational reforms. With the educational reforms, he also wanted to resist Magyarisation, demanded by the Hungarian nobility.^[17] When the Hungarian Diet was reconvened in 1825, in addition to his seat in the Croatian Sabor, Drašković was again elected as a delegate to the Hungarian Diet.^[18] In 1827, the Hungarian Diet decided to introduce the Hungarian language as a mandatory part of the school curriculum in Croatia starting in 1833. In response, the Croatian delegates spoke of the decision as a Hungarian attack against Croatian rights, and the first step of the introduction of Hungarian as the official language in Croatia.^[12]

In response to the policies aimed at centralisation of the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen and Magyarisation of Croatia, the Croatian national movement emerged among nobility and the more wealthy bourgeoisie in the first half of the 19th century. The conflict was presented by the proponents of the Croatian national movement as the struggle to preserve limited political rights—largely municipal rights—against Austrian and especially Hungarian efforts to curb or abolish them and gave rise to the concept of the Croatian state right. The Croatian state right was the legal foundation for the claim that the Croats as a political nation were the bearers of sovereignty in the former territory of the medieval Croatian kingdom, which was now governed by Habsburg monarchs as the kingdoms of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia.^[20] Unification of the three kingdoms (and subsequently further territories) into the Triune Kingdom, affirmation of the Croatian state right and increased power of the Croatian Sabor became staples of the national movement.^[21]

Dissertation

Drašković's portrait by Vlaho Bukovac

In response to the efforts aimed at Magyarisation, a group of young authors known as the Idejna grupa iz Kapucinske ulice (Kapucinska Street Conceptual Group) gained prominence after they were introduced to Drašković through a mutual acquaintance, Ljudevit Vukotinović. Drašković became a patron of the group, which became the core of the Illyrian movement—primarily the Croatian national revival movement.^[22] The group was led by Ljudevit Gaj^[23] and included Josip Kušević, Pavao Štoos, and Ivan Derkos. In 1832, following his contact with the group, Drašković anonymously published his Dissertation.^{[lower-alpha 2]} It was the first political, cultural and economic programme of the Croatian national revival.^[17] Although it was published anonymously, authorship of the Dissertation was immediately apparent to Drašković's contemporaries.^[25]

Dissertation, which was printed in Karlovac by Joan Nepomuk Prettner,^[26] was written in the Shtokavian dialect—the most-widely used dialect that was promoted by Gaj—^[23] as an instruction to future Croatian delegates to the Hungarian Diet.^[18] It examined then-current problems of Croatian lands and provided instructions prepared by Croatian Sabor for its delegation to the 1832 Hungarian Diet—Bužan, Kukuljević Sakcinski, and Drašković. Its instructions were to defend municipal rights of Croatia; the temporary nature of the decision to cede authority to the Hungarian Diet until Croatia has sufficient territory to become self-reliant; and to protect the official status of Latin. The delegates were also directed to petition the king, if they were unsuccessful in the parliament, to grant Croatia the same autonomy as enjoyed by Transylvania.^[12] In Dissertation, Drašković stated the first ideas about the standardisation of the Croatian language.^[27] He called for a restoration of the authority of the Ban of Croatia, the establishment of an independent government without breaking of constitutional bonds with Hungary, use of the national language as the official language in the lands which would—apart from the Triune Kingdom of Croatia—encompass the demilitarised Military Frontier and later Bosnia and the Slovene Lands bordering Croatia, proposing the territory be called the "Great Illyria" or "Illyric Kingdom". Drašković assumed the imperial authorities in Vienna would support the plan^[17] because Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, had established the Kingdom of Illyria in parts of the Slovene Lands, Istria and Croatia after the French had left the Illyrian Provinces.^{[27][lower-alpha 3]}

The Sabor accepted Drašković's ideas but they were not universally popular among Croats, and were criticised as feudal and Austro-Slavism incapable of achieving trialism in the monarchy.^[17] Croatian nobility and clergy supported the national movement as a means to frustrate Hungarian plans to abolish feudal institutions and grant Protestantism in Croatia status equal to that of Roman Catholicism. The court in Vienna supported Drašković, with some reservations, and refused royal assent to two laws establishing Hungarian as the official language in Croatia the Hungarian Diet passed in the 1830s.^[23]

Final years

Plaque marking Drašković's tomb at the Mirogoj Cemetery

Drašković devoted his final years to strengthening Croatian national awareness through institutions and by helping Gaj on several occasions. Drašković arranged for Gaj to meet Francis II in 1833, launch his newspaper Novine Horvatske in 1835, and introduced him to politicians at the 1836 diet in Pozsony, where Gaj could promote his ideas. Ferdinand I of Austria recognised Drašković's efforts; he awarded Drašković the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary in 1836.^[29] In 1835 and 1836, Drašković published several poems in Danica ilirska. Like other poetry of the Croatian national revival, they glorify homeland, freedom, and wine while condemning traitors.^[17] In 1838, Drašković published Ein Wort an Illyriens hochherzige Töchter, a manifesto aimed at curbing the spread of Germanisation among women of Croatian nobility and attracting them to the Illyrian movement.^[30] In the same year, three Illyrian reading rooms (Ilirska čitaonica) were founded – largely due to Drašković's efforts – in Varaždin, Karlovac, and Zagreb. The Illyrian reading room in Zagreb helped speed up cultural and overall development. In 1841, the first political parties in Croatia were established, including the Illyrian Party (later renamed People's Party (Narodna stranka)) which based its programme on the Dissertation. Drašković led the People's Party until 1848^[17] and chaired the sitting of the Sabor, which appointed Josip Jelačić Ban of Croatia.^[24]

In 1842, Matica ilirska (later renamed Matica hrvatska), which was tasked with development of Croatian language, was established as a special branch of the Illyrian reading rooms.^[31] In his speech at the founding of Matica ilirska, Drašković stated its main purpose was the spreading of science and literacy in the national language, providing youth opportunities for education. He said this mostly meant the publication of good books at affordable prices. Drašković added Matica ilirska should translate useful books published abroad and publish such books. He added the objective should be the improvement of trade and agriculture to ensure appropriate food supply and income for the nation.^[32] Drašković served as the first president of Matica hrvatska until 1851.^[17] In 1853, Drašković was appointed as an imperial and royal advisor. Drašković died in Bad Radkersburg on 14 January 1856, while he was travelling to Bad Gleichenberg.^[30] Since 1893, his remains are buried at the Illyrian Arcade, which is part of Zagreb's Mirogoj Cemetery.^[19]