Banovci (, , ), also known as Šidski Banovci, is a village located in the Vukovar-Syrmia County of Croatia, near the Serbian border. The village had a population of 256 as of the 2021 census.

Originally settled in the 1730s as the new village of Vinkovački Banovci, it is today part of the Nijemci Municipality. The village of Banovci has undergone several name changes over the past, reflecting the shifting political landscapes of the region. Historically referred to as "Small Switzerland," Banovci has a rich cultural and historical legacy, influenced by its Danube Swabians Protestant settlers. Today, the village is primarily inhabited by a Serb community and is known for the local Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Venerable Mother Parascheva, and its local football club, NK Borac, established in 1940.

The village is connected with the rest of the country by the D46 state road connecting it with the town of Vinkovci and continuing into Serbia as the State Road 120 to the nearest town of Šid and by the Zagreb–Belgrade railway and the Šidski Banovci railway station.

Name

The village of Banovci has undergone several name alterations over the years. Prior to 1900, it was known as "Novi Banovci" (New Banovci), and from 1910 to 1991, it was called "Šidski Banovci".https://web.dzs.hr/hrv/pxweb2003/Dialog/Footnote.asp?File=Tabela4_16.px&path=../Database/Naselja%20i%20stanovnistvo%20Republike%20Hrvatske/4%20Stanovnistvo%20naselja/&ti=Vukovarsko-srijemska+%9Eupanija+-+broj+stanovnika+po+naseljima+&lang=10&ansi=1 In 1991, at the early stages of the Croatian War of Independence, the first word was formally removed from the name, but due to village's association with the self-proclaimed SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, the old name continued to be officially used in administration until 1998, marking the end of the UNTAES transitional administration over the region. Many local residents still use the old name to this day.

A notable error occurred in the National Law on 1997 Croatian local elections when the name "Šidski Banovci" was mistakenly retained instead of using "Banovci". The term "Šidski" is a possessive adjective derived from the nearby town of Šid, situated 12 kilometers away in neighboring Serbia.

Adjacent to Banovci is another village with a similar name, known as Vinkovački Banovci by the town of Vinkovci. Interestingly, the Croatian Railways, the national railway company, still refers to the local railway station as "Šidski Banovci railway station." This old name was also used in a 2005 investigative report by The New York Times. Furthermore, the 2017 Report on County Roads, published by Vukovar-Syrmia County in March 2018, still included the previous name "Šidski Banovci" on the map and in the textual analysis.

The name of the village, whether referred to in Croatian or Serbian, is plural in form.

History Habsburg Monarchy The present-day village of Banovci was established in the 1730s under the name "New Banovci," situated adjacent to the older village known as modern-day Vinkovački Banovci, which was already mentioned in historical records as far back as the 15th century. In 1473, the village was referred to as "Zavrakinci," and it was located on a small uplift of the Vukovar Plateau just northwest of the current village, where local vineyards are found up until today. The initial influx of Serb settlers to Banovci occurred during the reign of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor in what is known as the Great Migrations of the Serbs. These settlers originated from what is now known as Montenegro and the region around Peć in Kosovo.

The year 1745 saw the establishment of the Slavonian Military Frontier in the region, marking an important historical development in the area's governance and defense in the Habsburg monarchy.

Austria-Hungary

In 1859, the first Danube Swabians settled in Banovci. These Protestant German settlers sought the assistance of the local Serbian Orthodox priest named Uroš during their initial years in the new region. Priest Uroš believed that the arrival of the German settlers could help bring about reforms, particularly in agricultural practices. However, due to predetermined areas for German Catholic colonists in the northern part of the historical region of Syrmia, and the difficulty of settlement in most of the Slavonian Military Frontier, the German Protestants had to establish themselves in the bordering region between these two jurisdictions, with Banovci being one of the few places where this was possible.

At the time of the German settlers' arrival, the local Serbian population exercised its local autonomy through the election of a mayor who held the honorary title of the village prince. Nevertheless, the true spiritual and secular power was in the hands of the Orthodox priest. An interesting incident occurred when the first German colonist family, the Grumbachs, offered sausages made from a German recipe to their neighbors. The local young men, impressed by the quality of the sausages, started coming to the Grumbachs''' household, demanding to be given the sausages. However, this led to some disruptive behavior. Upon learning of the situation, the German colonists sought the assistance of priest Uroš, who confronted the young men and prohibited them from repeating such actions. As compensation, he asked each of the young men to provide one pig to the Grumbachs' household.

As the Evangelical Reformed Church in Šidski Banovci was not built at the time, the German Protestant settlers approached priest Uroš with a request to hold a Christmas liturgy for them under the Eastern Orthodox liturgical rite. However, he declined the request, citing its contradiction with Orthodox canonical rules. Instead, he suggested that they organize their own Christmas celebration at the Church of the Holy Venerable Mother Parascheva in the village, which he attended, though he did not lead the prayer.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia During the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Banovci were included in the administrative region of Šid Srez. Initially, they were part of the Syrmia County before Yugoslavia was officially established and up to 1922. Subsequently, they became part of the Syrmia Oblast from 1922 to 1929. Afterward, during the years 1929 to 1939, they were incorporated into the Danube Banovina. Finally, from 1939 to 1941, Banovci fell under the jurisdiction of the Banovina of Croatia.

World War II

During World War II in Yugoslavia, Banovci became a settlement for survivors of the Ivanci massacre. On 15 June 1943, the German Volke Group in the Independent State of Croatia reported a decline in morale due to the activities of the Yugoslav Partisans. As a result, Friedrich Hoffman assumed leadership of their local group in Šidski Banovci, taking over from Karl Lahm. In July 1943, Nazi forces destroyed agricultural machinery, including threshers, across several villages, including Banovci.

Banovci itself became a significant center for the Yugoslav Partisans in Syrmia, focusing primarily on sabotaging Nazi and quisling transportation along the Zagreb–Belgrade railway. Notably, on 8 October 1943, the Sabotage Group of the Second Syrmia NOP detachment mined the Zagreb–Belgrade railway, resulting in the destruction of a locomotive and six freight wagons. In retaliation, the Ustasha police hanged 20 hostages from Šid the following day as an act of revenge for the sabotage. Subsequent sabotage of the railway occurred on 19 October 1943, when a locomotive and four wagons of a German express train were destroyed. A third successful sabotage took place on 2 December 1943, targeting a German military freight train carrying war material, which was mined and destroyed along with the locomotive and eight wagons.

Slobodan Bajić Paja, who became a People's Hero of Yugoslavia for his bravery and heroism during the war, hailed from Šidski Banovci.

Post-War establishment of the border between Yugoslav Republics of Serbia and Croatia

Some minor border demarcation issues between the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, a part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, and Socialist Republic of Croatia (both part of the FPR Yugoslavia) were left unresolved by the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia by the 24 February 1945 and the end of the war. In order to settle the matter, in June 1945 the federal authorities set up a five-member commission presided over by Milovan Đilas.

District of Šid was identified as one of the points of territorial dispute. Commission concluded that District of Šid, including the village of Banovci at the time, shall become a part of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Commission's demarcation was nevertheless subsequently altered changed in several instances including in the case of District of Šid where villages Tovarnik, Ilača and Banovci were ultimately transferred to the Socialist Republic of Croatia. Both Ilača and Tovarnik were larger, ethnically Croat villages, while Banovci as a smaller Serb village which until recently had German majority was transferred to Croatia in order to ensure territorial contiguity.

Yugoslav Communist authorities claimed that local self-determination referendums took place on which population decided to become join Croatian federal unit. In 2015 article in right wing conservative Nova srpska politička misao quarterly magazine, Igor Marković claimed that there is no any evidence that any such local referendum ever took place in Banovci and other villages and argued that based on that Serbia shall request return of those settlements or on reciprocal right of self-determination for Serb settlements in Eastern Slavonia. Territory of the District of Šid was changed a couple of times in the mid 1940s including changes within the Province of Vojvodina with most of them having minimal daily consequences during the existence of Yugoslav state.

Socialist Republic of Croatia

Croatian War of Independence and United Nations Mission On 7 January 1991 Serb National Council of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia was established in Banovci subsequently leading to the establishment of the self-proclaimed SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia in the same year. During the War Banovci were part of the self-proclaimed entity. Between 1995 and 1998 Banovci were part of the temporary United Nations governed protectorate aimed at its peaceful reintegration under the rule of the Republic of Croatia. Within the unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina Banovci was a de facto part of parallel Mirkovci Municipality which was established on the part of pre-War Yugoslav Vinkovci Municipality under the rebel control.

Post-1998 History