The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" was its colloquial name due to its origins. The official name of the state was changed to "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" by King Alexander I on 3 October 1929.
The Croatian Parliament or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal and equal suffrage by secret ballot. Seats are allocated according to the Croatian Parliament electoral districts: 140 members of the parliament are elected in multi-seat constituencies. An additional three seats are reserved for the diaspora and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while national minorities have eight places reserved in parliament. The Sabor is presided over by a Speaker, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker.
The Treaty of Rapallo was an agreement between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the aftermath of the First World War. It was intended to settle the Adriatic question, which referred to Italian claims over territories promised to the country in return for its entry into the war against Austria-Hungary, claims that were made on the basis of the 1915 Treaty of London. The wartime pact promised Italy large areas of the eastern Adriatic. The treaty, signed on 12 November 1920 in Rapallo, Italy, generally redeemed the promises of territorial gains in the former Austrian Littoral by awarding Italy territories generally corresponding to the peninsula of Istria and the former Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, with the addition of the Snežnik Plateau, in addition to what was promised by the London treaty. The articles regarding Dalmatia were largely ignored. Instead, in Dalmatia, Italy received the city of Zadar and several islands. Other provisions of the treaty contained safeguards for the rights of Italian nationals remaining in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and provisions for commissions to demarcate the new border, and facilitate economic and educational cooperation. The treaty also established the Free State of Fiume, the city-state consisting of the former Austro-Hungarian Corpus separatum that consisted of Rijeka and a strip of coast giving the new state a land border with Italy at Istria.
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although internationally unrecognised, this was the first incarnation of a Yugoslav state founded on the Pan-Slavic ideology. Thirty-three days after it was proclaimed, the state joined the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
The Yugoslav Committee was a World War I-era, unelected, ad-hoc committee that largely consisting of émigré Croat, Slovene, and Bosnian Serb politicians and political activists, whose aim was the detachment of Austro-Hungarian lands inhabited by South Slavs and unification of those lands with the Kingdom of Serbia. The group was formally established in 1915 and it last met in 1919, shortly after the breakup of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was later renamed Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav Committee was led by it president the Croat lawyer Ante Trumbić and, until 1916, by Croat politician Frano Supilo as its vice president.
The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia was an administrative subdivision (banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a merger of Sava and Littoral banovinas into a single autonomous entity, with small parts of the Drina, Zeta, Vrbas and Danube banovinas also included. Its capital was Zagreb and it included most of present-day Croatia along with portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Its sole Ban during this period was Ivan Šubašić.
Banat, Bačka and Baranya was a province of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between November 1918 and 1922. It included the geographical regions of Banat, Bačka, and Baranya and its administrative center was Novi Sad. They were later separated from the country to become SAP Vojvodina in 1945 with the creation of Federal Yugoslavia; smaller parts of Baranya were incorporated into Croatia or ceded to Kingdom of Hungary, while a portion of Banat was ceded to Kingdom of Romania.
The prime minister of Yugoslavia was the head of government of the Yugoslav state, from the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 until the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992.
The Republic of German-Austria and German-Austria was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with plans for eventual unification with Germany. The territories covered an area of 118,311 km2 (45,680 sq mi), with 10.4 million inhabitants.
Yugoslavia was a state concept among the South Slavic intelligentsia and later popular masses from the 19th to early 20th centuries that culminated in its realization after the 1918 collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I and the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. However, the kingdom was better known colloquially as Yugoslavia ; in 1929 it was formally renamed the "Kingdom of Yugoslavia".
Constitutional Assembly elections were held in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 28 November 1920. The Democratic Party emerged as the largest faction, winning 92 of the 419 seats. Deputies are elected by secret ballot, in a direct manner, by the electoral quotient system. The 1920 elections were the first democratic elections in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Shortly after the election, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia was banned by the authorities.
Yugoslavism, Yugoslavdom, or Yugoslav nationalism is an ideology supporting the notion that the South Slavs, namely the Bosniaks, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes, but also Bulgarians, belong to a single Yugoslav nation separated by diverging historical circumstances, forms of speech, and religious divides. During the interwar period, Yugoslavism became predominant in, and then the official ideology of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. There were two major forms of Yugoslavism in the period: the regime favoured integral Yugoslavism promoting unitarism, centralisation, and unification of the country's ethnic groups into a single Yugoslav nation, by coercion if necessary. The approach was also applied to languages spoken in the Kingdom. The main alternative was federalist Yugoslavism which advocated the autonomy of the historical lands in the form of a federation and gradual unification without outside pressure. Both agreed on the concept of National Oneness developed as an expression of the strategic alliance of South Slavs in Austria-Hungary in the early 20th century. The concept was meant as a notion that the South Slavs belong to a single "race", were of "one blood", and had shared language. It was considered neutral regarding the choice of centralism or federalism.
The National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a group of political representatives of South Slavs living in Austria-Hungary and subsequently in the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs formed in the wake of dissolution of Austria-Hungary. It was established in Zagreb on 8 October 1918, largely composed of members of various representative bodies operating in Habsburg crown lands inhabited by South Slavs. Founding of the National Council was fulfilment of the Zagreb Resolution on concentration of South Slavic political forces adopted earlier that year on the initiative of the Yugoslav Club. The council elected its central committee and the presidency led by Anton Korošec as the president and by Svetozar Pribičević and Ante Pavelić as vice-presidents.
Filip Filipović was a Serbian mathematician, one of the founders of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and its first secretary. He spent most of his last ten years in the Soviet Union, where he was executed during the Great Purge.
The Geneva Declaration, Geneva Agreement, or Geneva Pact was a statement of political agreement on the provisional political system in the future union of the South Slavs living in the territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and Kingdom of Serbia. It was agreed by Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić on behalf of Serbia, representatives of Serbian parliamentary opposition, representatives of the National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which recently seceded from Austria-Hungary, and representatives of the Yugoslav Committee. The talks held in Geneva, Switzerland on 6–9 November 1918 built upon and were intended to supersede the 1917 Corfu Declaration agreed by Pašić and Yugoslav Committee president Ante Trumbić. The basis for the talks was provided by the Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos on behalf of the Supreme War Council of the Triple Entente. The talks were necessary in the process of creation of Yugoslavia as a means to demonstrate to the Entente powers that various governments and interests groups could cooperate on the project to establish a viable state.
The Zagreb Resolution was a political declaration on the need for political unification of the Croats, the Slovenes and the Serbs living in Austria-Hungary. It was adopted by representatives of opposition political parties in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia presided by Ante Pavelić in a meeting held in Zagreb on 2–3 March 1918. The declaration relied on the right of self-determination and called for establishment of an independent democratic state respecting rights of individuals and historically established polities joining the political union. It also called for ensuring cultural and religious equality in such a union. The Zagreb Resolution established a preparatory committee tasked with establishment of the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs intended to implement the resolution. The National Council was established on 5 October in proceedings described by Pavelić as a continuation of the Zagreb conference that March.
Budislav Grga Angjelinović was a politician and lawyer born in Sućuraj on the island of Hvar. He studied law at the Zagreb University, the Charles University in Prague, and at the University of Lviv. In the pre-World War I period, Angjelinović promoted positions held by the Party of Rights in the Mlada Hrvatska journal he launched, and the Hrvatska kruna and the Hrvatska država he edited. He was among the organisers and members of the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs – a body composed of political representatives of the South Slavs living in Austria-Hungary tasked with achieving independence of South Slavic lands from the empire. Angjelinović was appointed the National Council's commissioner for public security in Zagreb in October 1918. In this role, he was tasked with suppressing the 1918 protest in Zagreb led by soldiers of the 25th Royal Croatian Home Guard and the 53rd (former) Common Army regiments. In 1919, he became a member of the newly established Democratic Party and shortly afterwards a member of the Organization of Yugoslav Nationalists. He was appointed a minister in the Government of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes led by Anton Korošec in 1928–1929. Angjelinović was among the founders of the Yugoslav National Party in 1929 and appointed ambassador of Yugoslavia to Czechoslovakia and Austria during the 6 January Dictatorship. He held several Yugoslav government ministerial positions in 1932–1934 before becoming a senator. Angjelinović left the country in 1941 and returned only after the end of the World War II. He died in Split in 1946.
Karla Kovačević, also Dragutin Kovačević and Karlo Kovačević was a Croatian and Yugoslavian politician and a leading member of the Croatian People's Peasant Party (HSS) from 1905 until 1920s. He was elected a member of the Croatian Sabor in the 1910 Croatian parliamentary election in the constituency of Novska. In 1918, Kovačević was appointed a member of the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs—a body working towards political unification of the South Slavs in the processes of dissolution of Austria-Hungary and establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Together with party leader Stjepan Radić, he was appointed a member of the Temporary National Representation, the provisional legislative body of the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Kovačević was elected to the Constitutional Assembly in the 1920 election, as well as in 1923 and 1925 elections in Požega County and in 1927 election in Virovitica County. Following the introduction of the 6 January Dictatorship in Yugoslavia, Kovačević supported the dictatorship of king Alexander. In turn, Kovačević was promoted by the dictatorial regime as the leader of the peasantry in the country in the 1930s. In that period, Kovačević publicly criticised the HSS as well as Croatian emigre fascist and ultranationalist organisation Ustaše. Kovačević joined the Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy and became its vice-president in 1933. As a JNS candidate, Kovačević was elected in the 1931 Yugoslavian parliamentary election and the deputy president of the Assembly of Yugoslavia. Following an electoral defeat in the 1935 election, he left politics. After the World War II Axis powers Invasion of Yugoslavia and establishment of the Axis puppet state of Independent State of Croatia in 1941, Kovačević was imprisoned—initially in Novska and Zagreb. He was then moved to the Jasenovac concentration camp and finally to the Stara Gradiška concentration camp where he was killed.
Fran Barac was a Croatian and Yugoslavian politician, a theologian and a priest. He graduated theology from the Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb and was ordained in 1895. Barac taught religion at the Požega Gymnasium in two periods between 1895 and 1909, completing post-graduate study and obtaining a doctoral degree at the University of Leuven in the meantime. He became a professor at the Zagreb University in 1911, the dean of the Faculty of Theology in 1913–1914 and 1922–1923, and the rector of the Zagreb University in 1915–1916.
