Socialist Republic of Serbia

Socialist Republic of Serbia
Социјалистичка Република Србија
Socijalistička Republika Srbija
Constituent republic of Yugoslavia
↓ 1943–1992 →
Flag Emblem
Serbia within Yugoslavia
Capital Belgrade
Government Socialist republic
Legislature National Assembly
Historical era Cold War, World War 2
 • Second Session of the AVNOJ
29 November 1943
 • End of World War II 8 May 1945
 • Federal Republic of Yugoslavia established 28 April 1992
Area
 • 1991 88,361 km2 (34,116 sq mi)
Population
 • 1991 9,506,174 
Density 107.6 /km2  (278.6 /sq mi)
Preceded by 		Succeeded by
Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia
Hungary
NDH
Albanian Kingdom
Montenegro
Bulgaria
 Republic of Serbia (1992–2006)

The Socialist Republic of Serbia (Serbo-Croatian: Социјалистичка Република Србија / Socijalistička Republika Srbija) was one of the six constitutional republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was the largest republic in terms of population and territory. Its capital, Belgrade, was also the federal capital of Yugoslavia.

History

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From 1945 to 1963, the republic was officially known as People's Republic of Serbia (Narodna Republika Srbija), and from 1963 to 1990 as Socialist Republic of Serbia (Socijalistička Republika Srbija). The republic was controversially divided internally in 1974 to include two autonomous provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo which had the same rights and privileges as constituent republics of Yugoslavia.

For most of its existence in the SFRY, Serbia was loyal and generally subordinate to the federal government. This changed after the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980, when there was a rise in Albanian as well as Serbian nationalism in Kosovo. The League of Communists was split on how to respond. A successful round of coups in the Communist party leadership of Serbia as well as Montenegro occurred from 1988 to 1989, led by Slobodan Milošević; he supported Serbian nationalists in Kosovo to end the state's autonomy.

In 1989, Milošević was elected as President of the republic. He demanded that the federal Yugoslav government act for the interests of Serbia in Kosovo by sending in the Yugoslav People's Army to take control of the province. Serbia opposed such action and demanded a "one-member, one-vote" system in the Yugoslav League of Communists, which would have given a majority of votes to Serbs. Ethnic tensions increased and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia collapsed, followed by the fall of the government of Yugoslavia by 1991.

After 1990, the state was known simply as Republic of Serbia (Republika Srbija). In 1992, when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, Serbia became one of its two constituent republics. In 2003 this state union was re-formed into Serbia and Montenegro, and in 2006 Serbia became an independent state.

Administrative divisions

Administrative divisions of SR Serbia 1974-1990

Within Socialist Republic of Serbia two autonomous provinces existed: Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo. The central part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia located outside of the two autonomous provinces was generally known as "Serbia proper" ("Uža Srbija").

Demographics

Main article: Danube Swabians

Part of the post-World War II displacement of populations across Europe included the expulsion of ethnic Germans from Serbia and other republics of Yugoslavia, who were known as Danube Swabians. After having lived for centuries in Serbia, they were forced to the West; some settled in Germany; others emigrated to the United States. They were descended from farmers recruited from Bavaria and other southern principalities by the Hungarian Empire in the 18th century, when they were invited to immigrate and settle areas along the Danube River. These areas had formerly been depopulated by plague and the Ottoman invasion. The Germans were allowed to keep their Roman Catholic religion and language in their towns. The language developed in isolation and became known as Danube Swabian.

It was part of a wave of ethnic cleansing following the war.

1971 census

In 1971, total population of the Socialist Republic of Serbia numbered 8,446,591 people, including:

1981 census

In 1981, total population of the Socialist Republic of Serbia numbered 9,313,677 people, including:

Politics

In the Socialist Republic, the only legal political party was the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS), which was part of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). The party remained relatively stable and loyal to the federal party until the late 1980s, when the party became split over what action to take in Kosovo when protests and fights broke out between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

The more traditional Communists supported President Ivan Stambolic, who advocated continued neutrality as a means to solve the dispute; while more radical and nationalist-leaning members supported Slobodan Milosevic, who advocated the protection of Kosovo's Serbs, who had claimed that their population was being pressured to leave Kosovo by Albanian separatists. Milosevic utilized public sentiment and opposition to Kosovo separatism to rally large numbers of supporters to help him overthrow the Communist leadership in Vojvodina, Kosovo and the Socialist Republic of Montenegro in what was known as the anti-bureaucratic revolution. Afterwards, the Serbian League of Communists selected Milosevic as its leader. Milosevic took a hard stand on Albanian nationalism in Kosovo and pressured the Yugoslav government to give him emergency powers to deal with Kosovo separatists. Furthermore he reduced the autonomy of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina and installed politicians loyal to him to serve as their representatives.

In the congress of the Yugoslav League of Communists in 1990, Milosevic and his subordinate representatives for Vojvodina, Kosovo and the Socialist Republic of Montenegro attempted to silence opposition from the Socialist Republic of Slovenia who opposed the actions taken against Kosovo, by blocking all reforms proposed by the Slovene representatives. The tactic failed and Slovenia, along with its ally Croatia, abdicated from the Yugoslav Communist Party. This caused the Yugoslav Communist party to fall apart, and then the state of Yugoslavia itself one year later.

Heads of institutions

Chairman of ASNOS (1944 - 1945)

Presidents

Prime Ministers

See also

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