Willkommen in Jugoslawien Part 1 I BETWEEN 2 WARS I 1929 Part 2 von 3 - YouTube (2)

parliamentary blocs now emerge. On one side is the powerful Radical party and on the other

is the uneasy coalition of the Croat Republican Peasant Party, the Slovenes People's Party,

the Yugoslav Muslim Organization, Serbian agrarians, and a growing number of Democrats,

who all don't really have much in common apart from their hatred of the Radicals.

Radić emerges as a leading figure of opposition and a thorn in the side of the radicals. On

14 July 1923, Bastille Day, he holds a speech comparing the Kingdom to the infamous French

prison. He is met with death threats, flees to Hungary, and then embarks on a European

tour, visiting Vienna, London, and most controversially, Moscow, where he attends the Peasant International

Congress. His continued agitation continues to anger the Radicals even from abroad. His

visit to Moscow is seen as a personal slight by Aleksandar, now King, who is a staunch

anti-communist and victim of a failed communist assassination plot in 1921.

Meanwhile, Yugoslavia is spiraling deeper into crisis. Supported by the King, Pašić

forms a minority government in March 1924. Without support in the parliament it falls

after only a month. In an attempt to bridge the partisan divide, Aleksandar gives the

mandate to govern to the Democrat leader, Davidović. But he isn't even able to form

a government, returning Pašić to power once again in early May. The chaos does not subside

as parliament blocks the government from any meaningful governance and the government refuses

to bow to the reform demands of the federalist opposition. Aleksandar fears that the opposition

might gain the upper hand, so he recesses parliament and refuses to hold elections to

avert constitutional reform forces coming to power. The next two months see Yugoslavia

come extremely close to royal dictatorship.

Finally, in July, he asks Davidović to once again try to form a government. The Democrats

manage to form a coalition which, to the extreme anger of the Radical party, includes Radić's

Croat Republican Peasant Party. Radić returns in August and declares himself ready to participate

in government but still continues to espouse anti-monarchical views in his speeches. Furious,

the King demands the resignation of Davidović. He hands it in, but remains as PM because

no new government is formed. That might not make sense to you, but that is, in fact, how

it worked.

Yugoslavia is now basically without a legislative body and the King and his politicla party

are facing a showdown over who controls the country.

So there it is, in late 1924, after barely six years of existence, the Kingdom of Serbs,

Croats and Slovenes looks like it might not survive. And let us be clear here, there are

a number of forces in Europe that wouldn't mind if it fell apart. The Italians are aggressively

pursuing their Mediterranean interests in Albania. The newly formed USSR might have

abandoned expansionism for now, but are still very much interested in fostering new Socialist

movements in Eastern Europe. The old central powers are pretty much powerless now, but

a collapse of Yugoslavia might shine new hope to regain a foothold to their south, at least

for economic reasons.

When we return in our next episode, we will see how the struggle over Yugoslavia continues

and it becomes a matter of personal life or death as Radić and King Aleksander move closer

and closer

to a showdown.