On the initiative of Croatian ban Károly Khuen-Héderváry, in mid-October 1895 Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph visited Zagreb, at the time the capital of the Kingdom of CroatiaâÂÂSlavonia, in order to attend the opening of the Croatian National Theatre. A group of Croatian students used the visit to protest the rule of the Hungarian Khuen-Héderváry as Croatian ban. They were led by Stjepan RadiÃÂ, who would later form the influential Croatian People's Peasant Party.
The emperor arrived in Zagreb by train on October 14, 1895. Upon his arrival a group of students chanted "Slava JelaÃÂiÃÂu" ("Glory to JelaÃÂiÃÂ"), in reference to the former Croatian ban Josip JelaÃÂiÃÂ who had risen up against the Hungarians in the Revolutions of 1848. That day the emperor attended the unveiling ceremonial completion of the Croatian National Theatre. Music by Ivan Zajc was subsequently performed inside the theatre.
The following day, the emperor attended an honorary dance at the Kolo building. On this day a group of students led by Stjepan RadiÃÂ, then a 24-year-old student of the Faculty of Law, planned a burning of the Hungarian tricolour.
On October 16, the final day of the imperial visit, the students marched to Ban JelaÃÂiàSquare where they chanted "à ½ivio hrvatski kralj Franjo Josip I" ("Long live Croatian king Franz Joseph I"), "Slava JelaÃÂiÃÂu" and "Abzug Magjari" ("Away with Hungarians"). They doused the Hungarian tricolour in brandy and set it on fire. They then marched towards the University of Zagreb. The city police soon informed ban Khuen-Héderváry of the act, and he ordered that the students be arrested. By the end of the following day, 24 were arrested, Radiàamong them.
The students were subsequently charged for the incident. Stjepan Radiàwas sentenced to six months in jail, Gjuro Balaà ¡ko to five, and Milan Dorwald, Osman Hadà ¾iÃÂ, Vladimir VidriÃÂ, Josip à  ikutriÃÂ, Vladimir Frank and Ivo Frank to four months, while others (including Milan Heimerl, à ½ivko BertiÃÂ, and Gjuro ÃÂervar) were mostly sentenced to two months. The students were all barred from the University of Zagreb while Stjepan Radiàwas barred from all universities in the empire. This led him to continue his studies abroad in Paris. The other students went to the Charles University in Prague and the University of Vienna.
These students would form the basis of the Croatian Moderna and the Progressive Youth, a cultural and a political movement respectively, active at the turn of the century, characterized by anti-traditionalism, cosmopolitanism, and focus on artistic freedom. In 1897, the Prague group of students began publishing , while in 1898 the Vienna students began publishing Mladost.
The flag burning also resulted in a schism within the Party of Rights. Its leader Fran FolnegoviÃÂ distanced himself from the incident, and the dissenters, headed by Ante StarÃÂeviÃÂ and Josip Frank, formed a splinter party, Croatian Pure Party of Rights.