founded six trade unions organised along the lines of particular trades. All these organisations and their Rules had to be approved by the central Ministry of Finance in Vienna and the provincial government, which would take about a year. A more lenient attitude of the Austro-Hungarian government toward workers' demands and organisations resulted partly from their fear that something similar to the Russian revolution of 1905 might happen in their empire. They saw that further repressive measures against organised workers might lead to a serious social and political unrest, but they sought to make the worker's organisations apolitical and to place them under their control. Eight strikes were recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1905, and collective agreements appeared for the first time there. The labour movement of the province began connecting with that of other parts of Austria-Hungary, specifically Croatia and Slavonia. Sokolović and Martin Zrelec (a textile worker from Banja Luka, originally from Croatia) participated at the third congress of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia, held on 24–26 December 1905 in Zagreb. Sokolović delivered a speech, concluding it with the message: Death and legacy Sokolović was suffering from tuberculosis and his constant activities further impaired his health. Shortly after he returned from Zagreb, he had to retire to his sickbed. He died on 27 April 1906 in a hospital in Sarajevo, and his funeral was attended by a crowd of 3,000 workers. Three days after his funeral, on 2 May, began the first of a series of strikes that occurred throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina during May 1906. One of the strikers' demands was that the General Workers' Union be urgently approved. The Ministry of Finance in Vienna approved the organisation and its Rules, with some modifications, on 10 July 1906, and the provincial government gave its consent on 21 September. The constituent assembly of the General Workers' Union was held on 14 October, followed by the constituent assemblies of the six subordinate trade unions during the same month. In 1913, seventeen organisations were under the leadership of the general union, with nearly 6,000 active members. The Rules, composed by Sokolović, remained unchanged throughout its existence. Austro-Hungarian authorities abolished all trade unions in Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 1913. Notes References Serbian socialists Bosnia and Herzegovina socialists Trade unionists Trade unions in Bosnia and Herzegovina People from Sokolac Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Socialism in the