Juraj Krnjevic
Encyclopedia
Juraj Krnjević was a Croatia
n politician
who was among the leaders of the Croatian Peasant Party
(HSS). He was the party's General Secretary since 1928 and President since 1964. He also served as the Minister of social affairs of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between 1925 and 1927.
, then part of Austro-Hungarian Empire). Mate Krnjević and Ana (née Marčinić) had two sons, Juraj and the five years younger Cvjetko. After primary schooling in Ivanić, both brothers went to the classical gymnasium
in Zagreb. Juraj went on to study law, and Cvjetko, medicine.
In a country with an overwhelmingly peasant population – freed from serfdom only after 1845–only a tiny fraction, mainly of town-dwellers, had the right of vote. This was the context in which Stjepan Radić
, towards the end of the century, created the agrarian movement for education and electoral emancipation of the peasants, as well as real autonomy for Croatia.
The Croatian situation in the dual monarchy made Juraj especially interested in constitutional law. This took him to Vienna, where, to his amazement, he found that the professor of constitutional law, knowing no Hungarian, was quite ignorant of the Hungarian version of the 1867 Compromise. Juraj therefore spent some months in Budapest, long enough to learn the language and find that, indeed, the Hungarian texts differed significantly – and to the Hungarians’ advantage.
By the end of the World War I
, Croatia’s situation changed radically. It was free of Austria and Hungary; but, against Radić’s vehement opposition, a National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
, made up of local politicians from the defunct Empire, agreed to union with the Kingdom of Serbia
in a new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia
).
He was elected to parliament first in 1920 (its youngest member), and again in 1923, 1925 and 1927; but, as the new (1921) Constitution took no account of Croatian objections, Radić and his party refused to cooperate with successive governments. After much political turbulence, Radić and other HSS leaders (including Krnjević) were jailed in 1925. Seeing no alternative, in a more conciliatory spirit, Radić agreed to accept the status quo, dropped his republican stance, and joined the government. Krnjević now re-entered parliament, becoming minister of social affairs (1925–1927).
The strife between Croats and Serbs, however, soon resumed. It culminated in the shooting of Radić and several colleagues by a Serbian deputy, in parliament, in 1928. After Radić’s death, King Alexander dismissed the parliament, banned the HSS and instituted a personal dictatorship, the January 6th Dictatorship
. By this time, the HSS was highly popular in Croatia – and even in other regions, where the peasant population was attracted by its democratic program, promoting a better life for all peasants. Indeed, throughout the interwar period, albeit outlawed, and in spite of ruthless and brutal police action against its supporters, the HSS carried a large majority of Croatian votes at every election. By contrast, ultranationalists led by Ante Pavelić
, who rejected any compromise with Belgrade and favoured violent action, never won more than a tiny percentage of the votes.
After Radić’s death, political activity being effectively suppressed within Yugoslavia, the party leadership decided that Krnjević and August Košutić (HSS vice-president) should leave the country to press the case for democracy and a federal system in Yugoslavia, with substantial autonomy for Croatia, Košutić in Rome and Vienna, Krnjević in Geneva, at the seat of the League of Nations
; while the new president of HSS, Vladko Maček
, would remain at home.
in Paris – especially when Léon Blum
was in power - than at the Foreign Office in London, which had close ties with Belgrade: Winston Churchill
was more receptive, but had little influence.
In spite of their unwillingness to apply pressure on the Belgrade government, Krnjević strongly favoured the Western democracies, as opposed to the fascist regimes of Italy and Germany. He fought against the competing propaganda of ultranationalist Croats (later Ustashi), who had their principal base in Italy. Their leader, Ante Pavelić, tried to convince Benito Mussolini
that he could establish Italian hegemony in the Balkans by sending troops to ‘liberate’ Croatia, ahead of any German moves in that direction. Throughout his exile, Krnjević kept in touch with Maček (in Zagreb), regularly sending him reports on the political situation and the attitude of the Western powers towards Yugoslavia’s internal problems.
Longer travels in 1935 and 1938 took Krnjević to Canada and the USA, where many Croatian emigrants were strong supporters of the HSS. But in Yugoslavia, where Prince Paul
ruled as Regent after the assassination of King Alexander in Marseille (1934), the political situation remained essentially unchanged. Though officially banned, the HSS, under the leadership of Maček, was supported by the overwhelming majority of Croats, and even by many Serbs opposed to the authoritarian regime of Milan Stojadinović
. Only the prospect of impending war in Europe led the Prince Regent to seek a solution to the glaring divisions that made his country so vulnerable to external pressure. He appointed Dragiša Cvetković
as head of a new government, willing to negotiate with the Croats. The resulting agreement with Dr. Maček (Sporazum), in August 1939, created a new Croatian Banovina, with a substantial degree of autonomy within Yugoslavia.
As secretary-general of the HSS – now in control of the Croatian Banovina – Krnjević was much involved in both party and public affairs. Like the party president, Maček, he believed that the new Banovina provided a reasonable framework for Croatian aspirations to greater autonomy. They hoped that Yugoslavia would escape the horrors of war, but were both convinced that, in the long run, Britain would win. Albeit still generally popular, HSS was under increasing attack – from both right- and let-wing extremists – because of its commitment to a federalist solution for Yugoslavia (Bionich 2005).
As things turned out, the Banovina lasted only 20 months, On March 27, an army – led coup in Belgrade drove out Cvetković and the Regent Prince Paul, installing General Dušan Simović
as head of the government and Alexander’s son, just short of the age of majority, as the new king, Peter II. Ostensibly against cooperation with Germany, the putsch was largely motivated by strong Serbian resentment against the Croatian Banovina, which was seen as unduly favouring Croats and undermining Serbian predominance in Yugoslavia.
and met little resistance. Vladko Maček, refusing to leave his people, asked Krnjević to replace him as vice-premier in the Yugoslav government - now about to flee the country. Together with some other Croat ministers and Ivan Šubašić
(the Ban
, or head of the new Banovina) Krnjević drove to Pale, near Sarajevo, where they joined the rest of the government. After a further drive to Nikšić (Montenegro), all flew out to Greece. After a few days in Athens, they traveled to Egypt and then to Jerusalem, where the government was reconvened on May 4 by King Peter II
. To ensure the support of its Croatian members, one of the first acts of the government was to reaffirm its acceptance of the 1939 Sporazum and the Croatian Banovina. The Palestinian interlude lasted only three weeks. The senior members of government flew from Egypt to England, by a roundabout route via equatorial Africa, arriving in London at the end of June (1941).
Though initially acclaimed in London as war heroes, the prestige of the Yugoslav government fell rapidly as increasingly serious dissensions came to the fore. Consisting mainly of heads of all the principal Yugoslav parties, who objected to being led by a general, the government could not last. Strong anti-Simović feeling and plotting resulted in his early downfall (January 1942) and replacement by Slobodan Jovanović
, a respected Serbian intellectual, not tied to any of the major parties - after the March 27 Coup, he had been a member of an ephemeral Regency Council.
Ultimately more serious was the growing estrangement between the Croats (led by Krnjević) and most of the Serbian majority. This came to a head by the summer of 1943. Krnjević was in a very difficult position. Citing Ustashi-led pogroms against Serbs in Pavelić’s “Independent” Croatia
(but ignoring equally brutal killings of Croats and Bosnian Moslems by Chetniks
), ultranationalist Serbian ministers increasingly attacked all Croats, and especially Krnjević. Support for the Chetniks was reinforced and formalized by the appointment of their leader, General Draža Mihailović
, as War Minister (in absentia). As the outlook for the allies started to improve, the émigré governments in London were urged to proclaim their intention to (re) establish democratic systems in their respective countries. Convinced that the Serb majority in the Yugoslav government had no real intention of implementing genuine democracy – or of restoring the Croatian Banovina - in post-war Yugoslavia, Krnjević, in spite of great pressure from the Foreign Office, refused to be co-signer of Jovanović’s declaration of ‘War Aims’.
The crisis led to the resignation of Jovanović on June 24, 1943. It was only temporarily resolved when Miloš Trifunović
, a leader of the Serbian People's Radical Party
, became prime-minister. Ill feelings between the Croats and Serbs in London were exacerbated by reports of mass killings in Yugoslavia. Other major problems further undermined Trifunović’s position. One was the shift of British military and logistic help from Mihailović – staunchly supported by the Serbian majority in the government - to Tito
’s partisans
. Of a different nature was King Peter’s determination to marry the Greek Princess Alexandra: this was firmly opposed by the same Serbian ministers (and also Mihailović), who considered a royal wedding highly inappropriate during wartime.
So the King dismissed Trifunović after only 45 days in office, on August 10, 1943. The royal wedding was of little concern for the Croats, who were probably relieved no longer to be the major target of Serbian discontent. Krnjević made it clear to the King that, in this respect, he should act as he wished. The immediate constitutional crisis was solved by the formation of a government composed of senior civil servants (led by Božidar Purić) who did not object to the King’s wedding.
How to deal with the increasing dominance of the Partisans in Yugoslavia was beyond the competence of the Purić government, lacking any political legitimacy. By early 1944, increasingly aware of the communist nature and aims of the Partisan movement, but unwilling (or unable, owing to lack of US support) to preempt a communist takeover by landing troops in Yugoslavia, the British pushed for an agreement between King Peter and the Partisans, that might preserve the Monarchy in post-war Yugoslavia. To lead the negotiations, on June 1, 1944 the King appointed Ivan Šubašić as prime-minister. As Head of the new Croatian Banovina, Šubašić – also member of the HSS – had in fact been the King’s representative before the war.
Negotiations with Tito on the island of Vis resulted in the Tito-Šubašić Agreement
(14 June), which essentially conceded all the main demands of the Partisans: they would have predominance in the joint government (and in ruling the country), and the King could not return to Yugoslavia before a referendum decided the future of the monarchy. Most of the members of the original émigré government (including Krnjević) urged the King not to accept this proposal. By this time, however, whatever influence they might have had on the course of events was of little consequence. Their situation was no better than that of the other émigré governments from Eastern Europe. Albeit very reluctantly, the King, bowing to intense pressure from Churchill and the Foreign office, signed what proved to be his own demise.
Krnjević’s situation was not unlike that in prewar Geneva. There was little he could do directly in Yugoslavia. But there were many Croatian emigrants in North and South America, as well as some in Western Europe - including increasing numbers of Croats working in Germany (‘Gastarbeiter’) – who had been, or were, HSS supporters or potential recruits. He devoted the rest of his life to meeting and organizing émigré HSS groups, especially in Canada and the US, during regular travels to North America. He also wrote frequently for emigrant
newspapers, especially for ‘Hrvatski Glas’, edited and published by HSS supporters in Canada.
After Vladko Maček’s death in 1964, he became the president of HSS in exile. Both in speeches and articles, he never wavered from his conviction that the never-ending confrontations with Belgrade could be resolved only by negotiations between a free Croatia and a free Serbia.
Krnjević died in London
.
Only two years after his death, the collapse of the Communist regime would led to the first free multi-party elections in Croatia’s checkered history, involving a re-established Croatian Peasant Party.
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who was among the leaders of the Croatian Peasant Party
Croatian Peasant Party
The Croatian Peasant Party is a center and socially conservative political party in Croatia.-Austria-Hungary:The Croatian People's Peasant Party was formed on December 22, 1904 by Antun Radić along with his brother Stjepan Radić. The party contested elections for the first time in the Kingdom of...
(HSS). He was the party's General Secretary since 1928 and President since 1964. He also served as the Minister of social affairs of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between 1925 and 1927.
Early life
Krnjević was born in Ivanić-Grad (CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, then part of Austro-Hungarian Empire). Mate Krnjević and Ana (née Marčinić) had two sons, Juraj and the five years younger Cvjetko. After primary schooling in Ivanić, both brothers went to the classical gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Zagreb. Juraj went on to study law, and Cvjetko, medicine.
In a country with an overwhelmingly peasant population – freed from serfdom only after 1845–only a tiny fraction, mainly of town-dwellers, had the right of vote. This was the context in which Stjepan Radić
Stjepan Radic
Stjepan Radić was a Croatian politician and the founder of the Croatian Peasant Party in 1905. Radić is credited with galvanizing the peasantry of Croatia into a viable political force...
, towards the end of the century, created the agrarian movement for education and electoral emancipation of the peasants, as well as real autonomy for Croatia.
The Croatian situation in the dual monarchy made Juraj especially interested in constitutional law. This took him to Vienna, where, to his amazement, he found that the professor of constitutional law, knowing no Hungarian, was quite ignorant of the Hungarian version of the 1867 Compromise. Juraj therefore spent some months in Budapest, long enough to learn the language and find that, indeed, the Hungarian texts differed significantly – and to the Hungarians’ advantage.
By the end of the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Croatia’s situation changed radically. It was free of Austria and Hungary; but, against Radić’s vehement opposition, a National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...
, made up of local politicians from the defunct Empire, agreed to union with the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
in a new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
).
Political career in Yugoslavia
Shortly after he became doctor in law (1919), Krnjević as head of a group of people interested in ongoing political events, invited Stjepan Radić to speak in Ivanić at the time of the agricultural fair – when Radić could be sure of a good audience. The speech went off so well that Krnjević, hugely impressed, immediately decided to accompany Radić on his further tour of Croatia. Thus began an intimate collaboration, formalized when Krnjević became secretary (1922), and then in 1928, general-secretary of the HSS.He was elected to parliament first in 1920 (its youngest member), and again in 1923, 1925 and 1927; but, as the new (1921) Constitution took no account of Croatian objections, Radić and his party refused to cooperate with successive governments. After much political turbulence, Radić and other HSS leaders (including Krnjević) were jailed in 1925. Seeing no alternative, in a more conciliatory spirit, Radić agreed to accept the status quo, dropped his republican stance, and joined the government. Krnjević now re-entered parliament, becoming minister of social affairs (1925–1927).
The strife between Croats and Serbs, however, soon resumed. It culminated in the shooting of Radić and several colleagues by a Serbian deputy, in parliament, in 1928. After Radić’s death, King Alexander dismissed the parliament, banned the HSS and instituted a personal dictatorship, the January 6th Dictatorship
January 6th Dictatorship
The January 6th Dictatorship was a royal dictatorship established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by King Alexander...
. By this time, the HSS was highly popular in Croatia – and even in other regions, where the peasant population was attracted by its democratic program, promoting a better life for all peasants. Indeed, throughout the interwar period, albeit outlawed, and in spite of ruthless and brutal police action against its supporters, the HSS carried a large majority of Croatian votes at every election. By contrast, ultranationalists led by Ante Pavelić
Ante Pavelic
Ante Pavelić was a Croatian fascist leader, revolutionary, and politician. He ruled as Poglavnik or head, of the Independent State of Croatia , a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia...
, who rejected any compromise with Belgrade and favoured violent action, never won more than a tiny percentage of the votes.
After Radić’s death, political activity being effectively suppressed within Yugoslavia, the party leadership decided that Krnjević and August Košutić (HSS vice-president) should leave the country to press the case for democracy and a federal system in Yugoslavia, with substantial autonomy for Croatia, Košutić in Rome and Vienna, Krnjević in Geneva, at the seat of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
; while the new president of HSS, Vladko Maček
Vladko Macek
Vladko Maček was a Croatian politician active within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the first half of the 20th century. He led the Croatian Peasant Party following the assassination of Stjepan Radić, and all through World War II.- Early life :Maček was born to a Slovene-Czech family in the village...
, would remain at home.
Exile
In Geneva, Krnjević edited and printed ‘Croatia’, a multi-lingual newsletter reporting on Yugoslavia’s brutal police regime. Both in Geneva and during several journeys to Paris and London, he tried to change the attitude of the Western powers, generally supportive of the centralist state, viewed as a bulwark against both German and Russian expansionism in the Balkans. Attempts to establish more direct contacts with governments were more successful at the Quai d'OrsayQuai d'Orsay
The Quai d'Orsay is a quai in the VIIe arrondissement of Paris, part of the left bank of the Seine, and the name of the street along it. The Quai becomes the Quai Anatole France east of the Palais Bourbon, and the Quai de Branly west of the Pont de l'Alma.The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is...
in Paris – especially when Léon Blum
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
was in power - than at the Foreign Office in London, which had close ties with Belgrade: Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
was more receptive, but had little influence.
In spite of their unwillingness to apply pressure on the Belgrade government, Krnjević strongly favoured the Western democracies, as opposed to the fascist regimes of Italy and Germany. He fought against the competing propaganda of ultranationalist Croats (later Ustashi), who had their principal base in Italy. Their leader, Ante Pavelić, tried to convince Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
that he could establish Italian hegemony in the Balkans by sending troops to ‘liberate’ Croatia, ahead of any German moves in that direction. Throughout his exile, Krnjević kept in touch with Maček (in Zagreb), regularly sending him reports on the political situation and the attitude of the Western powers towards Yugoslavia’s internal problems.
Longer travels in 1935 and 1938 took Krnjević to Canada and the USA, where many Croatian emigrants were strong supporters of the HSS. But in Yugoslavia, where Prince Paul
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, also known as Paul Karađorđević , was Regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the minority of King Peter II. Peter was the eldest son of his first cousin Alexander I...
ruled as Regent after the assassination of King Alexander in Marseille (1934), the political situation remained essentially unchanged. Though officially banned, the HSS, under the leadership of Maček, was supported by the overwhelming majority of Croats, and even by many Serbs opposed to the authoritarian regime of Milan Stojadinović
Milan Stojadinovic
Milan Stojadinović was a Yugoslav political figure and a noted economist.Stojadinović was born in Čačak in central Serbia, and went to school in Užice and Kragujevac. In 1910 he graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law School, and gained a Ph.D. in economics in 1911...
. Only the prospect of impending war in Europe led the Prince Regent to seek a solution to the glaring divisions that made his country so vulnerable to external pressure. He appointed Dragiša Cvetković
Dragiša Cvetkovic
Dragiša Cvetković was a Yugoslav politician.He served as the prime minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1939 to 1941. He developed the federalization of Yugoslavia through the creation of the Banovina of Croatia by an agreement with Croatian leader Vladko Maček...
as head of a new government, willing to negotiate with the Croats. The resulting agreement with Dr. Maček (Sporazum), in August 1939, created a new Croatian Banovina, with a substantial degree of autonomy within Yugoslavia.
Return to Yugoslavia
Having been nominated to the Senate, Krnjević was now able to return from Geneva, just as war broke out in Poland at the beginning of September 1939.As secretary-general of the HSS – now in control of the Croatian Banovina – Krnjević was much involved in both party and public affairs. Like the party president, Maček, he believed that the new Banovina provided a reasonable framework for Croatian aspirations to greater autonomy. They hoped that Yugoslavia would escape the horrors of war, but were both convinced that, in the long run, Britain would win. Albeit still generally popular, HSS was under increasing attack – from both right- and let-wing extremists – because of its commitment to a federalist solution for Yugoslavia (Bionich 2005).
As things turned out, the Banovina lasted only 20 months, On March 27, an army – led coup in Belgrade drove out Cvetković and the Regent Prince Paul, installing General Dušan Simović
Dušan Simovic
Dušan T. Simović was a Yugoslav general who served as chief of the air force and commander-in-chief of the Royal Yugoslav Army and as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.-Life and career:...
as head of the government and Alexander’s son, just short of the age of majority, as the new king, Peter II. Ostensibly against cooperation with Germany, the putsch was largely motivated by strong Serbian resentment against the Croatian Banovina, which was seen as unduly favouring Croats and undermining Serbian predominance in Yugoslavia.
World War II
Only ten days later on April 6, 1941, the German army invaded YugoslaviaInvasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
and met little resistance. Vladko Maček, refusing to leave his people, asked Krnjević to replace him as vice-premier in the Yugoslav government - now about to flee the country. Together with some other Croat ministers and Ivan Šubašić
Ivan Šubašic
Ivan Šubašić was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician, best known as the last Ban of Banovina of Croatia.He was born in Vukova Gorica, then in Austria-Hungary. He finished grammar and high school in Zagreb, and enrolled onto the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zagreb...
(the Ban
Ban (title)
Ban was a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language probably as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler". The Slavic word is probably borrowed from...
, or head of the new Banovina) Krnjević drove to Pale, near Sarajevo, where they joined the rest of the government. After a further drive to Nikšić (Montenegro), all flew out to Greece. After a few days in Athens, they traveled to Egypt and then to Jerusalem, where the government was reconvened on May 4 by King Peter II
Peter II of Yugoslavia
Peter II, also known as Peter II Karađorđević , was the third and last King of Yugoslavia...
. To ensure the support of its Croatian members, one of the first acts of the government was to reaffirm its acceptance of the 1939 Sporazum and the Croatian Banovina. The Palestinian interlude lasted only three weeks. The senior members of government flew from Egypt to England, by a roundabout route via equatorial Africa, arriving in London at the end of June (1941).
Though initially acclaimed in London as war heroes, the prestige of the Yugoslav government fell rapidly as increasingly serious dissensions came to the fore. Consisting mainly of heads of all the principal Yugoslav parties, who objected to being led by a general, the government could not last. Strong anti-Simović feeling and plotting resulted in his early downfall (January 1942) and replacement by Slobodan Jovanović
Slobodan Jovanovic
Slobodan Jovanović was one of Serbia's most prolific jurists, historians, sociologists, journalists and literary critics. He distinguished himself with a characteristically clear and sharp writing style later called the "Belgrade style"...
, a respected Serbian intellectual, not tied to any of the major parties - after the March 27 Coup, he had been a member of an ephemeral Regency Council.
Ultimately more serious was the growing estrangement between the Croats (led by Krnjević) and most of the Serbian majority. This came to a head by the summer of 1943. Krnjević was in a very difficult position. Citing Ustashi-led pogroms against Serbs in Pavelić’s “Independent” Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
(but ignoring equally brutal killings of Croats and Bosnian Moslems by Chetniks
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
), ultranationalist Serbian ministers increasingly attacked all Croats, and especially Krnjević. Support for the Chetniks was reinforced and formalized by the appointment of their leader, General Draža Mihailović
Draža Mihailovic
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serbian general during World War II...
, as War Minister (in absentia). As the outlook for the allies started to improve, the émigré governments in London were urged to proclaim their intention to (re) establish democratic systems in their respective countries. Convinced that the Serb majority in the Yugoslav government had no real intention of implementing genuine democracy – or of restoring the Croatian Banovina - in post-war Yugoslavia, Krnjević, in spite of great pressure from the Foreign Office, refused to be co-signer of Jovanović’s declaration of ‘War Aims’.
The crisis led to the resignation of Jovanović on June 24, 1943. It was only temporarily resolved when Miloš Trifunović
Miloš Trifunović
Miloš Trifunović is a Serbian footballer currently playing in FC Bunyodkor from Tashkent, on loan from Red Star Belgrade.-Career:...
, a leader of the Serbian People's Radical Party
People's Radical Party
The People's Radical Party of Serbia was a political party formed on January 8, 1881, which was active in the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes...
, became prime-minister. Ill feelings between the Croats and Serbs in London were exacerbated by reports of mass killings in Yugoslavia. Other major problems further undermined Trifunović’s position. One was the shift of British military and logistic help from Mihailović – staunchly supported by the Serbian majority in the government - to Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
’s partisans
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
. Of a different nature was King Peter’s determination to marry the Greek Princess Alexandra: this was firmly opposed by the same Serbian ministers (and also Mihailović), who considered a royal wedding highly inappropriate during wartime.
So the King dismissed Trifunović after only 45 days in office, on August 10, 1943. The royal wedding was of little concern for the Croats, who were probably relieved no longer to be the major target of Serbian discontent. Krnjević made it clear to the King that, in this respect, he should act as he wished. The immediate constitutional crisis was solved by the formation of a government composed of senior civil servants (led by Božidar Purić) who did not object to the King’s wedding.
How to deal with the increasing dominance of the Partisans in Yugoslavia was beyond the competence of the Purić government, lacking any political legitimacy. By early 1944, increasingly aware of the communist nature and aims of the Partisan movement, but unwilling (or unable, owing to lack of US support) to preempt a communist takeover by landing troops in Yugoslavia, the British pushed for an agreement between King Peter and the Partisans, that might preserve the Monarchy in post-war Yugoslavia. To lead the negotiations, on June 1, 1944 the King appointed Ivan Šubašić as prime-minister. As Head of the new Croatian Banovina, Šubašić – also member of the HSS – had in fact been the King’s representative before the war.
Negotiations with Tito on the island of Vis resulted in the Tito-Šubašić Agreement
Tito-Šubašic Agreement
The Treaty of Vis , also known as the Tito-Šubašić Agreement, was an attempt by the Western Powers to merge the royal Yugoslav government in exile with the Communist-led Partisans who were fighting the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia in the Second World War and were de facto rulers on the liberated...
(14 June), which essentially conceded all the main demands of the Partisans: they would have predominance in the joint government (and in ruling the country), and the King could not return to Yugoslavia before a referendum decided the future of the monarchy. Most of the members of the original émigré government (including Krnjević) urged the King not to accept this proposal. By this time, however, whatever influence they might have had on the course of events was of little consequence. Their situation was no better than that of the other émigré governments from Eastern Europe. Albeit very reluctantly, the King, bowing to intense pressure from Churchill and the Foreign office, signed what proved to be his own demise.
Post-war exile
When the war ended, knowing full well that he would be unable to function politically in the one-party state, Krnjević refused to return to Yugoslavia with Šubašić. As early as in 1943, he had strongly urged the HSS in Croatia to prepare for a takeover of power, as soon as permitted by the military situation - even sending detailed instructions how to proceed (Jelić-Butić, 1983). But in Croatia, the HSS was in great disarray: Maček was under house arrest; and many of its members had gone over to Tito or to Pavelić. Facing little organized resistance as the Germans retreated, the Partisans were soon in full control of the country.Krnjević’s situation was not unlike that in prewar Geneva. There was little he could do directly in Yugoslavia. But there were many Croatian emigrants in North and South America, as well as some in Western Europe - including increasing numbers of Croats working in Germany (‘Gastarbeiter’) – who had been, or were, HSS supporters or potential recruits. He devoted the rest of his life to meeting and organizing émigré HSS groups, especially in Canada and the US, during regular travels to North America. He also wrote frequently for emigrant
newspapers, especially for ‘Hrvatski Glas’, edited and published by HSS supporters in Canada.
After Vladko Maček’s death in 1964, he became the president of HSS in exile. Both in speeches and articles, he never wavered from his conviction that the never-ending confrontations with Belgrade could be resolved only by negotiations between a free Croatia and a free Serbia.
Krnjević died in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Only two years after his death, the collapse of the Communist regime would led to the first free multi-party elections in Croatia’s checkered history, involving a re-established Croatian Peasant Party.