Svetozar Pribićević ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Прибићевић}, ; 26 October 1875 – 15 September 1936) was a
Croatian Serb politician in
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
and later the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, 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" () h ...
. He was one of the main proponents of
Yugoslavism
Yugoslavism, Yugoslavdom, or Yugoslav nationalism is an ideology supporting the notion that the South Slavs, namely the Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes belong to a single ...
and a federalized
South Slavic state which would later turn out to be Yugoslavia. However, he later became a bitter opponent of the same policy that was promoted by
King Alexander I.
Early life
Pribićević was born into an
ethnic Serb family in
Kostajnica () in 1875, in the final years of the
Croatian Military Frontier
The Croatian Military Frontier ( or ') was a district of the Military Frontier, a territory in the Habsburg monarchy, first during the period of the Austrian Empire and then during Austria-Hungary.
History
Founded in the late 16th century out of ...
, a military-administered territory of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
on the border with
Ottoman Bosnia with a sizeable ethnic Serb population which was integrated into the Austro-Hungarian
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...
in 1881.
In his youth he studied mathematics and physics at the
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...
.
In Zagreb he joined other young politically active groups of Croats and Serbs and produced the periodical ''Narodna misao'' ("National thought") in 1897 which argued that ethnic Croats and Serbs were one people, and that they should work together in Croatian politics.
He took over leadership of the
Serb People's Independent Party (''Srpska narodna samostalna stranka'') in 1903. In 1905, he and his party sponsored the Zadar Resolution, by which the Independents proposed to work with willing Croatian political parties (and signatories of the Rijeka Resolution) for a new, more assertive Croatian policy ''vis-à-vis'' the Hungarian and Austrian governments.
Between 1906 and 1918, he led the
Croat-Serb Coalition, which was the political child of the two earlier resolutions. The Coalition dominated Croatian politics during that period.
The power of the Coalition, and its Yugoslav state creation incentive, made it the target of attempts by Austrian and Hungarian authorities to destroy it. The treason trial of 1909 (in which a court in Zagreb tried 53 Serbs, including his brothers Valerijan and
Adam
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam).
According to Christianity, Adam ...
, for treason) and the Friedjung trial (in which Pribićević and other members of the Coalition sued the Austrian historian
Heinrich Friedjung for libel on the basis of several articles he wrote in the ''Reichspost'') of the same year were the most obvious evidence of these campaigns.
Until 1910, Pribićević shared leadership of the Coalition with
Frano Supilo
Frano Supilo (30 November 1870 – 25 September 1917) was a Croatian politician and journalist. He opposed the Austro-Hungarian domination of Europe prior to World War I. He participated in the debates leading to the formation of Yugoslavia as ...
. Supilo left the Coalition that year, and Pribićević led it alone from that point.
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes
In 1918, he was leader of the Croato-Serbian Coalition which was then the dominant party in the Croatian
Sabor
The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected ...
.
When the Croatian Sabor voted to join the
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( / ; ) was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani (Serbs), Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of th ...
, the state formed by the South Slav regions of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
when that state collapsed as a result of its defeat in the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Pribićević became one of the vice presidents of the new states ruling body, the
National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. As Italy overran parts of the new state's territory in
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...
and along the coast of
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
he urged the council to seek unification with
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
without delay. In this he received especially strong support from
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
n delegates and on the morning of the November 27 a delegation from the National Council set off for
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
which was to formally create a new state, 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 ...
, a few days later.
Svetozar Pribićević then became the Minister of Internal Affairs. In this role, he implemented authoritarian policies, believing that a strict centralized system was necessary in order to preserve the union.
Pribićević's Croat-Serb coalition dissolved. Its members quickly fused with political groupings from other parts of the former Austria-Hungary. This began negotiations with the
Pašić's radicals, but the negotiations quickly fell through. Instead, they joined with the Serbian opposition (including the party of
Ljubomir Davidović
Ljubomir Davidović (24 December 1863 – 19 February 1940) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who served as prime minister (1919–1920 and 1924) of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia).
Biography
Davido ...
) to form a bloc that was to dominate the
Provisional Representation, which served as a Parliament until the election of the Constituent Assembly. This bloc itself formed into a party which in 1920 adopted the name the
Democratic Party. Even though Ljubomir Davidović was the leader, Pribićević had as much, if not more, influence on the policy of the party. In the elections for the Constituent Assembly, the Democratic Party did significantly worse in the former Austria-Hungarian regions which weakened Pribićević's influence in the Party. However, in alliance with the Radicals, the Democratic party managed to ensure that the new constitution would have the centralized form that, at the time, Pribićević supported.
In January 1920, Pribićević had a secret meeting with
Đuro Basariček of the
Croatian Republican Peasant Party. Basariček told Pribićević that should there be held elections for the provisional representation not only would the Peasant Party participate in the elections but they would also join in the preparations for the Constituent Assembly. However,
King Alexander refused to sign the decree. Though Pribićević remained on good terms with Alexander, it was at this point he lost his faith in Alexander's judgment.
In December 1921, the Radicals provoked a government crisis, demanding the portfolio of Minister of Internal Affairs. The Democratic Party refused this, but at a meeting of their deputies club they voted, by secret ballot, that Pribićević should step down as Minister of Internal Affairs. Pribićević became, instead, the Minister of Education.
The elections in this period were marred by police harassment of voters and confiscation of pamphlets and this kind of election rigging also impacted the Democratic Party's success. In addition, some opposition leaders such as
Stjepan Radić were imprisoned on charges of treason, but this in turn had mobilized their own electoral base.
Independent Democrats, prison, and exile
In 1924, Pribićević's faction made their break with the Democratic Party final by founding a new party, the
Independent Democratic Party.
When Nikola Pašić and Stjepan Radić came to an agreement in 1925 which would temporarily pacify the Croatian Peasant Party, Pribićević switched to the opposition, and started thinking that his prior support for the Radicals had only helped fortify the Serbian domination. After the election of 1927, the Independent Democrats and Croatian Peasant Party both became the opposition, and then decided to form the Peasant-Democrat coalition ().
In the coalition with Radić, Pribićević converted from an advocate of centralism to its adversary, and in the spring of 1928, Pribićević and Radić waged a bitter parliamentary battle against the ratification of the
Treaty of Nettuno with Italy, having actually secured a majority in the parliament, but not being able to lead the government. This in turn mobilized nationalist opposition in Serbia but provoked a violent reaction from the governing majority including death threats. In the summer of 1928,
Radić was assassinated in Parliament, and the opposition started a boycott of the parliament, insisting on new elections.
In 1929, the
January 6th Dictatorship
The 6 January Dictatorship ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Шестојануарска диктатура, Šestojanuarska diktatura; ; ) was a royal dictatorship established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia after 1929) by K ...
was instituted by the King and Pribićević was interned by the authorities in
Brus, Serbia for a period of two years, when finally in 1931, his health problems allowed him to be released and emigrate.
While in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, in 1933 he published the "King Alexander's Dictatorship" (), a book in which he criticized Alexander and blamed him for Yugoslavia's political turmoil since 1918.
He advocated for a federal and republican structure for Yugoslavia.
He also wrote a "Letter to the Serbs" the same year, in which he advocated an understanding between the Serbs and the Croats based on equality of the two nations, stating that "any other way and solution would mean eternal friction, mutual conflicts and wars, which would eventually end disastrously for both" (''svaki drugi put i rješenje značilo bi vječite trzavice, međusobne sukobe i ratove, koji bi se na kraju katastrofalno završili za oboje''). In May 1933, Pribićević held talks with
Branimir Jelić
Branimir "Branko" Jelić (28 February 1905 in Omiš, Donji Dolac, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary – 31 May 1972 in West Berlin) was an exiled Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist and doctor of medicine. He was a member of the fascist ...
and
Stjepan Radić's eldest son Vlatko.
[Branimir Jelić: Političke uspomene i rad dra Branimira Jelića. Ed. by Jere Jareb. Cleveland, Oh. 1982, p. 83.]
He died in
exile
Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
in 1936.
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pribicevic, Svetozar
1875 births
1936 deaths
People from Hrvatska Kostajnica
People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
Serbs of Croatia
Democratic Party (Yugoslavia) politicians
Independent Democratic Party (Yugoslavia) politicians
Representatives in the Yugoslav National Assembly (1921–1941)
Croatian politicians
Serbian politicians