Editing Yugoslav Committee (section)

==Corfu Declaration==
{{main|Corfu Declaration}}
[[File:Krfska.jpg|thumb|alt=See caption|Participants of the June–July 1917 talks that resulted in the adoption of the [[Corfu Declaration]]]]

The Serbian position was weakened following the loss of Russian support after the [[February Revolution]] and [[President of the United States]] [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s refusal to honour secret agreements that had promised territorial rewards.{{sfn|Boban|2019|p=36}}{{sfn|Banac|1984|p=123}} At the same time, the Entente Powers were still looking for ways to achieve a [[separate peace]] with Austria-Hungary and isolate the German Empire in the war.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2003a|p=33}} South Slavic deputies on the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Council in Vienna presented the [[May Declaration]], proposing the introduction of trialism in Austria-Hungary, allowing the South Slavs to unite in a single polity within the monarchy.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|p=40}} France and the UK appeared to support the efforts of new Austro-Hungarian emperor [[Charles I of Austria|Charles]] to restructure the empire and seek peace.{{sfn|Boban|2019|p=36}} This presented a problem for the Serbian government, which was exiled on the Greek island of [[Corfu]] since their military defeat, and increased the risk of a trialist solution for the Habsburg South Slavs if the separate peace treaty materialised, preventing the fulfilment of expansionist Serbian war objectives.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2003a|p=33}}

Pašić felt he had to come to an agreement with the Yugoslav Committee to strengthen the Serbian position with the Entente Powers while countering Italian interests in the Balkans. Trumbić and Pašić met on Corfu.{{sfn|Banac|1984|pp=123–124}} At the conference, the Yugoslav Committee was represented by Trumbić, Hinković, Vošnjak, Vasiljević, Trinajstić, and Potočnjak. Trumbić received no information on the conference agenda, so the committee members were unprepared and had to individually negotiate with Pašić. Trumbić prioritised assurances Croatia would not be left within Austria-Hungary and that Italy would not occupy Dalmatia. He also opposed complete centralisation of the proposed union state.{{sfn|Banac|2019|pp=37–39}} The meeting resulted in the [[Corfu Declaration]], a manifesto in which the disparate groups declared a common objective; the unification of South Slavs in a constitutional, democratic, and parliamentary monarchy that would be headed by the Serbian ruling [[Karađorđević dynasty]]. Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Committee's preferred name for the unified country, was rejected and the bulk of the constitutional matters were left to be decided later because Trumbić felt some agreement was necessary to curb threats of Italian expansion.{{sfn|Banac|1984|pp=123–124}}