Croatian Popular Party (, ) was a minor political party that acted as a political branch of the Croatian Catholic Movement and it existed between 1919 and 1929 in the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 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" () has been its colloq ...

. Until

Stjepan Radić Stjepan Radić (11 June 1871 – 8 August 1928) was a Croat politician and the co-founder of the Croatian People's Peasant Party (HPSS), active in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He is credited with galvanizin ...

's assassination in National Assembly in Belgrade in 1928, the Croatian Catholic Movement was pro-Yugoslav, and after the assassination pro-Croatian within Yugoslavia. However, after the failure of the Yugoslav government to implement the concordate with the Holy See, the Croatian Catholic Movement became strictly pro-Croatian. The HPS was established by the main organ of the Croatian Catholic Movement, the Croatian Catholic Seniorate (HKS). The HPS was active in all parts of Yugoslavia where Croatian Catholics were present, excluding

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

, where a political party with an identical programme, the

Bunjevac-Šokac Party Bunjevac-Šokac Party () was a political party of Croats in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, part of province of Bačka (today Serbia). The party was founded on September 15, 1920, in order to continue the organized political activity ...

(BŠS) was active. The programme of the HPS was based on

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

principles. For this reason, its political opponents, including the

Croatian Republican Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarian political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The Brothers Radić believed that the realization of Croatian sta ...

(HRSS), viewed it as clericalist, though the party saw itself as

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

. At the

1920 elections Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * ''19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * ''Dician ...

for the Constitutional Assembly, the party achieved relative success, winning 46,599 votes and nine seats. Together with the Slovene People's Party (SLS) and the BŠS, the HPS formed the Yugoslav bloc in the Constitutional Assembly. The mandate of the Constitutional Assembly ended with the enactment of the new constitution on 21 June 1921, however, by the decree of

Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I Karađorđević (, ; – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier ( / ), was King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 16 August 1921 to 3 October 1929 and King of Yugoslavia from 3 October 1929 until his assassinati ...

, it was transformed to a legislative parliament. The ruling coalition of

Nikola Pašić Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat. During his political career, which spanned almost five decades, he served five times as prime minis ...

, made of the

Radicals Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

(NRS) and the Democrats, was in crisis. Pašić gave a resignation of the coalition government and on 16 December 1921 formed a new government made entirely of the Radicals. The King dismissed the National Assembly and announced the elections for 13 March 1923. The parties of the Yugoslav bloc, awaiting the new election, issued a joint declaration on 22 December 1922, attacking the Croatian bloc led by the HRSS of

and his "tactic of parliamentary abstinence" considering it to be counter-productive. The HPS decided to enter the election campaign under the slogan "Parliamentary struggle", contrasting the HRSS and insisting to continue the political struggle within the National Assembly. The main goal was to win the Croatian votes and reduce Radić's success among the Croatian voters. The HPS was open to and supported the joint Croatian election list, viewing that in cooperation with other Croatian political parties, they can enact an electoral law that would suit the Croatian voters. However, they claimed that after the election, each party can act independently. In the terms of the parliamentary activity, the HPS viewed that it should be part of the Yugoslav bloc, and only from there to form wider political coalitions. On 3 January 1923, the main Croatian political parties, the HRSS, the HPS and the HZ, agreed to compete jointly in the election. The elections for the HPS ended in catastrophe, with the HPS winning only 18,402 votes and no seats. The HRSS won 473,733 votes and 70 seats.

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Further reading