1939: Yugoslavia

Recent History.

Like all Balkan countries the kingdom of Yugoslavia went through anxious times during 1939 on account of the international situation. At the same time, the pressure of the international situation brought nearer the solution of the fundamental problem of Yugoslav domestic policy — the settlement between the two closely related principal nationalities inhabiting Yugoslavia, the Serbs and the Croats. Yugoslavia was first conceived as a federated kingdom of the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes. All three are southern Slav peoples speaking almost identical languages, but separated by religion and historical tradition; the Serbs being Greek Orthodox, formerly under Turkish rule; the Croats and Slovenes being Roman Catholics, formerly under Austro-Hungarian rule. The end of the World War brought the union of the three peoples; but the Serbs tried to exercise the preponderant influence, whereas the culturally and socially more progressive Croats demanded their autonomy. The violent struggles between Serbs and Croats led at length to the establishment of the centralized dictatorship under Serb control in 1929. This tendency was also marked in foreign policy by a strong inclination towards the Fascist powers, Italy and Germany.

Governmental Reconstruction.

At the beginning of 1939 the Yugoslav Premier, Milan Stoyadinovitch, continued to follow this pro-Fascist and dictatorial course. In January 1939 the Italian Foreign Minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano, visited Belgrade; and the groundwork was laid for closest political, cultural and financial ties between the two countries. Stoyadinovitch also regarded the Croatian problem as unimportant and hoped to be able to solve it by strong-arm methods. The Croats under Dr. Matchek, the leader of the Croat peasant party, had concluded an agreement with those democratic groups among the Serbs who were opposed to Stoyadinovitch's pro-Fascist régime; and in a manifesto of Aug. 15, 1938, all these parties had demanded the return to a democratic régime. The elections of Dec. 11, 1938, brought, in spite of strong governmental pressure, a large increase in votes for the opposition. Under these circumstances some of the members of the Cabinet demanded the resignation of Stoyadinovitch and the reconstruction of the government in order to achieve a settlement with the Croats. Accordingly, on Feb. 4, 1939, Stoyadinovitch was dismissed and a new Cabinet was formed, under Dragisha Cvetkovitch, to institute legislation for a reconciliation with the Croats. The dismemberment of Czechoslovakia had strengthened the position of the Croats whose leader, Vladimir Matchek, is a convinced democrat leaning in foreign policy toward the western democracies.

The negotiations between the Government and the Croat leader lasted for several months and did not proceed without great difficulties. On April 26, it was reported that a basic agreement had been reached according to which the government of Yugoslavia would be federalized and the different provinces would have large measures of administrative autonomy. At the same time, Yugoslavia followed a temporizing foreign policy, wishing to preserve her neutrality and not to take any irreparable steps. There was no doubt that the population wanted peace, but, at the same time, that its sympathies were all on the side of the western democracies as they had been on the side of Czechoslovakia.

This temper of the population was frequently shown in student demonstrations. The policy of the Government of drawing nearer to the Rome-Berlin axis was in no way supported by the people. The popular mood was expressed even at soccer games in June 1939. At one game against Italy the crowd mobbed the Italian Minister and the visiting players, whereas a game against Czechoslovakia became the occasion for a mass demonstration for a free Czechoslovakia. The official visits of Yugoslavia's regent Prince Paul to Rome and Berlin in the late spring were accompanied by strikes of students in the University of Belgrade for a fraternal accord between the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on the basis of democracy and equality. The newspaper of former Premier Stoyadinovitch was seized on account of its obstruction to the Croat settlement, and a governmental commissioner was appointed to take charge of the paper.

Ultimately, on Aug. 26, an accord between Croats and Serbs was reached which was to lay the foundations for a return to a democratic régime in Yugoslavia and for an internal consolidation of the country. A new Cabinet was formed which retained Dragisha Cvetkovitch as Prime Minister, whereas the Croat leader, Dr. Vladimir Matchek, became Vice-Premier. In the new Cabinet there are five Croat members, and the former Serb opposition party is also represented. Croatia was constituted as an autonomous part; and later in November Bosnia-Herzegovina was constituted as another autonomous province. Thus the decentralization of Yugoslavia was actively started. The Yugoslav Parliament was dissolved, and the new government was empowered to draft a new electoral law and to reestablish all the democratic constitutional liberties which had been suspended for 10 years under the dictatorial régime.

Foreign Relations.

The progressive consolidation of these gains was, however, impeded by the growing international tension and the great European war. Unlike Rumania and Greece, Yugoslavia, in her very exposed position, had not been guaranteed by Great Britain and France. After the outbreak of the war Yugoslavia tried to follow a policy of strict neutrality. Her position was especially delicate because she tried to improve her relations with Hungary and to maintain solidarity with Rumania, which was threatened by the revisionist aspirations of Hungary. At the end of 1939 Yugoslavia seemed to have improved her internal as well as her external position as compared with the end of 1938. See also BALKAN ENTENTE; LITTLE ENTENTE.