Serbian Constitutional History (Part II) – Yugoslavia
After the change of dynasties in Serbia in 1903 (see Part I) and the reenaction of the 1888 Constitution, many historians agree that the period 1903-14 was if not, the only period of the Serbian statehood where true democracy was in power. King Petar I by himself limited the powers of the monarch, alowing the Parliament and the government to exercise fully its powers. Economically, Serbia was the most prosperous state in the Balkans, having the highest living standards among the small Balkan states.
1921 – The Vidovdan Constitution: After the act of Unification, the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was facing a high legal heterogeneity as well as different poltical cultures. The new Assembly was formed in order to establish a new legal order, however, the preceptions of several politicians from all around the state were diverse. The political fight ended with the Croat representatives boycoting the Assembly, however Serbs had the necessary majority to adopt the Vidovdan Constitution in 28 June 1921. The Constitution defined the state as a centralized constitutional kingdom with the Karadjordjevic dynasty as the rulers and the division of the state into 33 departements. Internally, the constitution was progressive as it put high emphasis on property rights and equality among its citizens.
1931 – The King Aleksandar Constitution: The political life in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was very turbulent. National questions were always the central issue and it allowed to the Croat leader Stjepan Radic to distinguish himself as the leader of the Croats. In one meeting in the Assembly, Radic provoked the Serbs by saying “Tell me how much blood you shed in the war so we can repay you”. The scandal he provoked by stating this was enormous and resulted with his assasination by the radical Punisa Racic. The country came nearly to a civil war and forced King Aleksandar to impose his personal dictatorship in order to calm things down. He also declared the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. However, the pressure imposed by UK and France forced the king to draw a new constitution which he did in 1931. The constitution abolished national parties and recognized only the Yugoslav nationality. The King had broad powers, most importantly to apoint half of the members in the Senate.
1946 – The Communist Constitution: The Second World War brought the Communists to the power. The ‘46 Constitution named Yugoslavia as the Peoples Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and divided it into six republics and five autonomous regions.
1963 – The Socialist Constitution: It didn’t make any special changes. The most significant was the renaming of the state into the Socialist Federal republic of Yugoslavia, thus braking the tradition with the USSR.
1974 – The ‘74 Constitution: Many believe that this Constitution brought to the events of the ‘90s. The innovation of the Constitution was that it gave provisions on how the republics could separate. It also enabled the autonomous regions of Serbia (Kosovo-Metohija and Vojvodina) to have a say in the politics of Serbia proper. Serbia could no longer make any decisions without the approval of the two provinces. On the federal level, the two provinces received equal representation as any Republic. Just formally they were part of Serbia. Also, Tito was proclaimed as President for life.
1992 – The Zabljak Constitution: With the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the new Assembly under Milosevic brought the ‘92 Constitution which formally at least was concidering Serbia and FR Yugoslavia as democratic states, ironically. It limited the autonomies of Vojvodina and Kosovo-Metohija. Intrerestingly, the significance of this constitution is that by the definition of state territories it aknowledged the independences of the other ex-YU republics and also disregarded any attempt of territorial claims on behalf of the other republics. Legally, this constitution was also a peace treaty with Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina since it binded the JNA to retreat from these two countries and seize any warfare.
2003 – The SCG Constitution: Made by Solana, it abolished FRY and introduced Serbia and Montenegro. This was meant to be a transitory state before being resolved by democratic means. Montenegro received even more rights, thus making it a de-facto independent state. The SCG Constitution seized to be active after the Montenegrin independence.
2006 – The New Serbian Constitution: Time will show.
Tweet
The new Serbian Coat of Arms
Are you sure about five autonomous regions in 1946? If you are, what were they?
You’re right, typing mistake, there were two of them established. I’ll try to correct the mistake as soon as possible. Thanks Estavisti
Very nicely analysed Cvijus. I myself i am not so knowledgable in history , but this analysis has given me a very useful knowledge of the Constitutions Serbia has gone through. Thank you for that.
Just the fact that we changed 8 constitutions in the last 100 years explains enough the “barrel of powder” Balkans are.