The Socialist Party of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Socijalistička partija Jugoslavije, Социјалистичка партија Југославије) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

. The party was founded on 18 December 1921 with

Živko Topalović Živko Topalović (21 March 1886 in Užice – 11 February 1972 in Vienna) was a Yugoslav socialist politician. Topalović became a leading figure in the Socialist Party of Yugoslavia, founded in 1921.Banac, Ivo. The National Question in Yugos ...

as the secretary and Vilim Bukšeg as the president of the party.

Foundation

The party emerged from a process of unification of three groups: the centrumaši (the 'centrists'),

Vitomir Korać Vitomir Korać (14 April 1877 – 8 September 1941) was a politician born in Šid. In 1896, Korać became a member of the main committee of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia. He advocated cooperation of the social democrats wit ...

's right-wing

social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

and the

Yugoslav Social-Democratic Party Yugoslav Social-Democratic Party ( sl, Jugoslovanska socialdemokratska stranka, hr, Jugoslavenska socijaldemokratska stranka) or JSDS was a socialist political party in Slovenia and Istria during the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of ...

from

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The centrists was a group that emerged from the nascent Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The centrists had proposed that the Communist Party should tone down its revolutionary line, seek cooperation with the government and distance itself from the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

, in order to save the party from the harsh repression inflicted upon it. After having made these proposals public in a 'Manifesto of the Opposition' (issued in November 1920, signed by 115 persons), they were all promptly expelled from the Communist Party. Initially the centrists tried to stay clear from both the social democrats and the communists, and in March 1921 they formed the Socialist Workers Party of Yugoslavia. But this endeavour soon proved fruitless, and the centrists found themselves obliged to merge with Korać's Social Democratic Party of Yugoslavia, formed in April 1920. However, some centrists would remain opposed to this merger.

Further development

As of the late 1920s, the party claimed a membership of around 4,000, out of whom 300 were women. The youth organization of the party had around 1,500 members. The party got around 25,000 votes in the 1927 municipal election, and won around 100 seats in local councils around the country. In the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

the same year one candidate of the party, Jossif Petejan, was elected. Labour and Socialist International.
Kongress-Protokolle der Sozialistischen Arbeiter-Internationale - B. 3.1 Brüssel 1928
'. Glashütten im Taunus: D. Auvermann, 1974. pp. IV. 79-81 During

Milan Stojadinović Milan Stojadinović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Стојадиновић; 4 August 1888 – 26 October 1961) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and economist who served as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia from 1935 to 1939. He also served as Fore ...

's reign, the party opposed the introduction of a fascist-style form of government, modelled after

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Topalović became a close associate with the Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović. Topalović became the president of the Ba Congress assembled by Mihailović.

International affiliation

The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1929, and again between 1934 and 1940.

Press

The main organ of the party was the weekly newspaper ''Radničke Novine'', published from Belgrade. Other weekly newspapers of the paper were ''Delavec'' ( Ljubjana), ''Delavska Politika'' ( Maribor) and ''Radničke Novine'' (

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

). The party also published the

German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

biweekly ''Volksstimme'' from Maribor. Labour and Socialist International. ''The Socialist Press - The press of the parties affiliated to the Labour and Socialist International''. Series 3 - No. 4. Zurich, April 1933. p. 78

References

Sources