Prime Minister of Yugoslavia

Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
Formation	1 December 1918
First holder	Nikola Pašić
Final holder	Ante Marković
Abolished	14 July 1992
Succession	Stjepan Mesić Milan Panić Jure Pelivan Nikola Kljusev Lojze Peterle

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.

History

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Standard of the Prime Minister (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created by the unification of the Kingdom of Serbia (the Kingdom of Montenegro had united with Serbia five days previously, while the regions of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Vardar Macedonia were parts of Serbia prior to the unification) and the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (itself formed from territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire) on 1 December 1918.

Until 6 January 1929, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was a parliamentary monarchy. On that day, King Alexander I abolished the Vidovdan Constitution (adopted in 1921), prorogued the National Assembly and introduced a personal dictatorship (so-called 6 January Dictatorship). He renamed the country Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929, and continued to rule as a de facto absolute monarch until his assassination on 9 October 1934, during a state visit to France. After his assassination, parliamentary monarchy was put back in place.

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was defeated and occupied after the German invasion on 17 April 1941. The monarchy was formally abolished on 29 November 1945.

In 1945 there were ten living former prime ministers. Out of these, Nikola Uzunović, Dušan Simović, Miloš Trifunović and Ivan Šubašić lived in the Democratic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia while Petar Živković, Bogoljub Jevtić, Milan Stojadinović, Dragiša Cvetković, Slobodan Jovanović and Božidar Purić remained in exile.

SFR Yugoslavia

Standard of the Prime Minister (Federal Yugoslavia)

After the German invasion and fragmentation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Partisan resistance in occupied Yugoslavia formed a deliberative council, the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) in 1942. On 29 November 1943 the AVNOJ proclaimed the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, and appointed the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia (NKOJ), led by Prime Minister Josip Broz Tito, as its government. Josip Broz Tito was quickly recognized by the Allies at the Tehran Conference, and the royalist government-in-exile in London was pressured into agreeing on a merge with the NKOJ. In order to facilitate this, Ivan Šubašić was appointed by the King to head the London government.

For a period, Yugoslavia had two recognized prime ministers and governments (which both agreed to formally merge as soon as possible): Josip Broz Tito leading the NKOJ in occupied Yugoslavia, and Ivan Šubašić leading the King's government-in-exile in London. With the Tito-Šubašić Agreement in 1944, the two prime ministers agreed that the new joint government would be led by Tito. After the liberation of Yugoslavia's capital Belgrade in October 1944, the joint government was officially formed on 2 November 1944, with Josip Broz Tito as the Prime Minister.

After the war, elections were held ending in an overwhelming victory for Tito's People's Front. The new parliament deposed King Peter II on 29 November 1945, and declared a Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (in 1963, the state was renamed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The government was first headed by a Prime Minister up to 14 January 1953, when major decentralization reforms reorganized the government into the Federal Executive Council chaired by a President. Josip Broz Tito held the post from 1944 to 1963.

Five out of nine heads of government of Yugoslavia in this period were of Croatian ethnicity. Three were from Croatia itself (Josip Broz Tito, Mika Špiljak, and Milka Planinc), while two were Bosnian Croats (Branko Mikulić and Ante Marković). Ante Marković however, though a Croat from Bosnia and Herzegovina by birth, was a politician of Croatia like Špiljak and Planinc, serving (at different times) as both prime minister and president of the presidency of that federal unit.

List

  Yugoslav National Party   People's Radical Party   Yugoslav Radical Union   Croatian Peasant Party   Democratic Party   Slovene People's Party   League of Communists of Yugoslavia   Socialist Party of Serbia   Union of Reform Forces   Non-party

No.	Head of Government		Lifespan	Ethnicity	Term of office		Party	Note
In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
N/A		Nikola Pašić (acting)	1845–1926	Serb	1 December 1918	22 December 1918	People's Radical Party	Acting prime minister, as the last prime minister of Serbia.
1		Stojan Protić	1857–1923	Serb	22 December 1918	16 August 1919	People's Radical Party	First Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (that will be renamed "Kingdom of Yugoslavia").
2		Ljubomir Davidović	1863–1940	Serb	16 August 1919	19 February 1920	Democratic Party
3		Stojan Protić	1857–1923	Serb	19 February 1920	16 May 1920	People's Radical Party
4		Milenko Vesnić	1863–1921	Serb	16 May 1920	1 January 1921	People's Radical Party
5		Nikola Pašić	1845–1926	Serb	1 January 1921	28 July 1924	People's Radical Party	Second term. Vidovdan Constitution adopted on June 28, 1921.
6		Ljubomir Davidović	1863–1940	Serb	28 July 1924	6 November 1924	Democratic Party	Second term
7		Nikola Pašić	1845–1926	Serb	6 November 1924	8 April 1926	People's Radical Party	Third term
8		Nikola Uzunović	1873–1954	Serb	8 April 1926	17 April 1927	People's Radical Party
9		Velimir Vukićević	1871–1930	Serb	17 April 1927	28 July 1928	People's Radical Party	Resigned after the assassination attempt on opposition leader Stjepan Radić in the National Assembly.
10		Anton Korošec	1872–1940	Slovene	28 July 1928	7 January 1929	Slovene People's Party	Appointed after the assassination attempt on Stjepan Radić, until the 6 January Dictatorship.
11		Petar Živković	1879–1947	Serb	7 January 1929	4 April 1932	Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy	Prime Minister of the first authoritarian government appointed by King Alexander I during the 6 January Dictatorship. Sentenced to death in absentia in 1946.
12		Vojislav Marinković	1876–1935	Serb	4 April 1932	3 July 1932	Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy	Previously a (founding) member of the Democratic Party.
13		Milan Srškić	1880–1937	Serb	3 July 1932	27 January 1934	Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy
14		Nikola Uzunović	1873–1954	Serb	27 January 1934	22 December 1934	Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy (renamed)	The Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy party was renamed into the Yugoslav National Party.
							Yugoslav National Party (renamed)
15		Bogoljub Jevtić	1886–1960	Serb	22 December 1934	24 June 1935	Yugoslav National Party (until 1935)
							Yugoslav Radical Union (from 1935)
16		Milan Stojadinović	1886–1961	Serb	24 June 1935	5 February 1939	Yugoslav Radical Union
17		Dragiša Cvetković	1893–1969	Serb	5 February 1939	27 March 1941		Sentenced in absentia in 1945.[1]
18		Dušan Simović	1882–1962	Serb	27 March 1941	12 January 1942	None	Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army. Took power by military coup d'état. Following the German invasion, he led the government into exile in London.
19		Slobodan Jovanović	1869–1958	Serb	12 January 1942	26 June 1943	None	Headed government-in-exile. Found guilty of treason in absentia in 1946.
20		Miloš Trifunović	1871–1957	Serb	26 June 1943	10 August 1943	People's Radical Party	Headed government-in-exile.
21		Božidar Purić	1891–1977	Serb	10 August 1943	8 July 1944	None	Headed government-in-exile. Held post simultaneously with Josip Broz Tito. Alternate recognized government (the NKOJ) in existence in occupied Yugoslavia after November 29, 1943. Sentenced in absentia in 1946
22		Ivan Šubašić	1892–1955	Croat	8 July 1944	2 November 1944	Croatian Peasant Party	Headed government-in-exile. Held post simultaneously with Josip Broz Tito. Merged into coalition government on November 2, 1944, Josip Broz Tito presiding.[2][3]
In the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
23 (1)		Josip Broz Tito	1892–1980	Croat	2 November 1944	29 June 1963	Communist Party of Yugoslavia (renamed in 1952)	Held post simultaneously (as head of the NKOJ) first with Božidar Purić, then Ivan Šubašić. Headed joint coalition government.
							League of Communists of Yugoslavia (renamed in 1952)
24 (2)		Petar Stambolić	1912–2007	Serb	29 June 1963	16 May 1967	League of Communists of Yugoslavia
25 (3)		Mika Špiljak	1916–2007	Croat	16 May 1967	18 May 1969	League of Communists of Yugoslavia
26 (4)		Mitja Ribičič	1919–2013	Slovene	18 May 1969	30 July 1971	League of Communists of Yugoslavia
27 (5)		Džemal Bijedić	1917–1977	Bosniak	30 July 1971	18 January 1977	League of Communists of Yugoslavia	Died in office.
28 (6)		Veselin Đuranović (two terms)	1925–1997	Montenegrin	18 January 1977	16 May 1982	League of Communists of Yugoslavia
29 (7)		Milka Planinc	1924–2010	Croat	16 May 1982	15 May 1986	League of Communists of Yugoslavia
30 (8)		Branko Mikulić	1928–1995	Croat	15 May 1986	16 March 1989	League of Communists of Yugoslavia	Resigned on 30 December 1988, amid widespread protests.
31 (9)		Ante Marković	1924–2011	Croat	16 March 1989	20 December 1991	League of Communists of Yugoslavia (until January 1990)	Last prime minister of Yugoslavia. The pan-Yugoslav League of Communists of Yugoslavia was dissolved in January 1990, Marković formed his own party, the Union of Reform Forces.
							Union of Reform Forces (from January 1990)
N/A		Aleksandar Mitrović (acting)	1933–2012	Serb	20 December 1991	14 July 1992	Socialist Party of Serbia	Acting prime minister, installed by Serbia and Montenegro.

See also

• List of heads of state of Yugoslavia
• Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
• Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Prime Minister of Croatia
• Prime Minister of Serbia and Montenegro
• Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
• Prime Minister of Montenegro
• Prime Minister of Serbia
• Prime Minister of Slovenia

References

1. Rehabilitovan Dragiša Cvetković
2. Lampe, John R.; Yugoslavia as history: twice there was a country; Cambridge University Press, 2000 ISBN 0-521-77401-2
3. Ramet, Sabrina P.; The three Yugoslavias: state-building and legitimation, 1918-2005; Indiana University Press, 2006 ISBN 0-253-34656-8