Nikola Pašic
Encyclopedia
Nikola P. Pašić was a Serbia
n and Yugoslav
politician and diplomat, the most important Serbian political figure for almost 40 years, leader of the People's Radical Party
who, among other posts, was twice a mayor of Belgrade (1890–91 and 1897) several times prime minister of Kingdom of Serbia
(1891–92, 1904–05, 1906–08, 1909–11, 1912–18) and prime minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (future Yugoslavia
, 1918, 1921–24, 1924–26).
He was an important politician in the Balkans
, who, together with his counterparts like Eleftherios Venizelos
in Greece
, managed to strengthen their small, still emerging national states against strong foreign influences, most notably those of Austria-Hungary
, Ottoman Empire
and Russia
.
, near Zaječar
, in the Principality of Serbia at the time. As his parents had come from Ottoman Bulgaria, sources claim Pašić's ethnicity is Bulgarian
, and his parents were from Golyam Izvor Teteven area
. Later, his mother re-married to a Serbian baker who adopted him and gave him his surname, Pašić. In this relation he was called by his political opponents Bugarash
. Indeed, Pašić having relatives in Bulgaria prove indispensable during his 6 years exile from Serbia, when he lived with relatives in Bulgaria, supported by the Bulgarian government. Another version is he was born to the family from Tetovo
, Ottoman Macedonia, though of Vlah antecedents. Pašić studied at the Zaječar gymnasium
, but as the gymnasium was returned to Negotin
(where it was first founded) for political reasons, he also studied in Negotin and Kragujevac
. In 1866 he enrolled in the Belgrade Higher School, where he excelled in his studies and in 1868 received a state scholarship to study at the Polytechnical School in Zürich
, for further specialization. Pašić graduated as an engineer but, apart from his brief participation in the construction of the Vienna
-Budapest
railroad, he never worked in this field.
. They would later become the core of the Socialist and Radical movement in Serbia. One of them was Svetozar Marković
, who would become the first major socialist ideologue in Serbia. During his studies in Zürich, Pašić befriended Marković, as well as Pera Todorović, Pera Velimirović, Lazar Paču, Jovan Žujović
, Mita Rakić and others.
After returning to Serbia, Pašić distanced himself from Svetozar Marković, though they never argued, and went to Bosnia and Herzegovina
to support the anti-Ottoman
uprising of Nevesinjska puška
. The Socialists started publishing Samouprava (Cyrillic: самоуправа; home rule) which later became the official bulletin of the Radical Party. After Marković's death in 1875, Pašić became the leader of the movement and in 1878 was elected to the National Assembly of Serbia
, even before the party was formed. In 1880 he made an unprecedented move in the Serbian political life by forming an opposition deputies' club in the assembly. Finally, a party program was completed in January 1881 and the Radical Party, the first systematically organized Serbian party, was officially established, with Pašić unanimously elected its first president.
only got 30 percent. Despite the Radicals' clear victory, the pro-Austrian king, who disliked the pro-Russian Pašić and the Radical party, nominated old non-partisan hardliner Nikola Hristić
to form a government. By one decree Hristić opened the assembly and then he read a second one, dismissing it.
This already heated atmosphere was made worse by the decision to take away guns from the population, as a regular army was to be established. As a result, clashes began in eastern Serbia, in the Timok
valley. King Milan blamed the unrest on the Radicals and sent troops to crush the rebellion. Pašić was sentenced to death in absentia; he had narrowly avoided arrest by fleeing to Bulgaria. Twenty-one others were sentenced to death and executed, and 734 more were imprisoned.
in 1885. After suffering a decisive defeat, Milan granted an amnesty for those sentenced for Timok rebellion, but not for Pašić, who remained in Bulgarian exile until Milan's abdication in 1889. A few days later the newly formed Radical cabinet of Sava Grujić
pardoned Pašić.
the muddy city streets. He was reelected twice as president of the National Assembly June 13, 1893 - April 1895 (though from September 1893 only in name; his deputy Dimitrije Katić acted for him) and July 12, 1897 - June 29, 1898 and once more mayor of Belgrade January 22, 1897 - November 25, 1897.
, died. Under the constitution, the National Assembly was to elect a new regent, but as the assembly was on a several months vacation, Pašić had to call for an emergency session. Jovan Ristić
, the most powerful regent, fearing Pašić might be elected co-regent and thus undermine his position, refused to allow the extra session, and Pašić resigned as prime minister on August 22, 1892. During his tenure, he was also foreign minister from April 2, 1892 and acting finance minister from November 3, 1891.
, Russia
, 1893-1894. In 1896 the king managed to force Nikola Pašić to back off from pushing for constitutional reforms. However, since 1897 both kings, Milan and Alexander, ruled almost jointly; as both disliked Pašić, in 1898 they had him imprisoned for 9 months because Samouprava published a statement about his previous opposition to king Milan. Pašić claimed he was misquoted, with no effect.
, his major ally, admitted that the Radical Party was not involved, despite Milan's insistence that at least Nikola Pašić and Kosta Taušanović
be sentenced to death. Austria-Hungary feared that the execution of the pro-Russian Pašić would force Russia to intervene, abandoning a 1897 agreement to leave Serbia in status-quo. A special envoy was sent from Vienna to Milan to warn him that Austria would boycott the Obrenović dynasty if Pašić was executed. Noted Serbian historian Slobodan Jovanović
later claimed that the entire assassination was staged so that Milan could get rid of the Radical Party.
Imprisoned and unaware of Austria-Hungary's interference, Pašić confessed that the Radical Party had been disloyal to the dynasty, which probably saved many people from prison. As part of the deal reached with the interior minister Đorđe Genčić, government officially left its own role out of the statement, so it looked like Pašić behaved cowardly and succumbed to the pressure. Pašić was sentenced to 5 years but released immediately. This caused future conflict within the Radical Party as younger members considered Pašić a coward and traitor, and split from the party.
For the rest of king Alexander's rule, Pašić retired from politics. Although the young monarch disliked Pašić, he was often summoned for consultations but would refrain from giving advice and insist that he is no longer involved with politics.
took place on June 11, 1903, and both the king and Queen Draga Mašin were killed, as well as Prime Minister Dimitrije Cincar-Marković and Defence Minister Milovan Pavlović. The Radical party did not form the first cabinet after the coup d'état, but after winning the elections on October 4, 1903, they remained in almost uninterrupted power for the next 15 years. Wisely, Pašić didn't lead all the Radical cabinets, letting other members of his party (or sometimes outside of it) be prime ministers. In the beginning, the Radicals opposed the appointment of a new king, Peter I Karađorđević, calling his appointment illegal. But Pašić later changed his mind after seeing how people willingly accepted the new monarch as well as king Peter I, educated in Western Europe
, was a democratic, mild ruler, unlike the last two despotic and erratic Obrenović sovereigns. As it will be shown in the next two decades, the major clash between the king and the prime minister will be Pašić's refusal to raise to royal appanage
.
Nikola Pašić became foreign minister on February 8, 1904 in Sava Grujić's cabinet and headed a government under his own presidency December 10, 1904 - May 28, 1905, continuing as foreign minister as well. In the next 10 years under the leadership of Pašić and the Radical Party (especially Lazar Paču, finance minister) Serbia grew into such a prosperous state that many historians call this period the modern golden age of Serbia. The country evolved into a European democracy and with financial and economic growth, political influence also grew which caused constant problems with Serbia's largest neighbor, Austria-Hungary, which even developed plans to turn Serbia into one of its provinces (already in 1879 German
chancellor
Otto von Bismarck
said that Serbia is the stumbling-block in Austria's development).
, officially still part of the Ottoman Empire but occupied by Austria-Hungary since 1878 and causing problems to Serbian export which mainly went through Austria (as Serbia is landlocked) didn't bring results, Austria-Hungary began open customs war
in 1906. Pašić formed another cabinet April 30, 1906 - July 20, 1908. Pressured by the Austrian government which asked from Serbia to buy everything from Austrian companies, from salt to cannons, he replied to Austrian government that he personally would do that, but that the assembly is against it and in democratic countries that's what counts. Austria closed the borders which did cause severe blow to Serbian economy initially, but later it will bounce back even more developed than it was, thanks to the Pašić swift change towards the Western European countries. He forced conspirators of the 1903 coup into retirement which was a condition for reestablishing diplomatic connections with the United Kingdom
, he bought cannons from France, etc. In the midst of the customs war, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 which caused mass protests in Serbia and political instability, but Pašić managed to calm the situation down. In this period, Pašić's major ally, Imperial Russia, was not much of a help being defeated by Japan in Russo-Japanese War
and under series of revolutions.
which later resulted in the First Balkan War
(1912–13) and the Second Balkan War
(1913) which almost doubled the size of Serbia with the territories of what was at the time considered Old Serbia (Kosovo
, Metohija
and Vardar Macedonia
), retaken from the Ottomans after five centuries.
He clashed with some military structures about the handling of the newly acquired territories. Pašić believed the area should be included into the Serbian political and administrative system through the democratic elections, while the army sought to keep the areas under the military occupation. After one year of tensions Pašić dismissed the military administrator of Old Serbia and scheduled new elections for 1914 but the outbreak of World War I
prevented it.
assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir-apparent Archduke Franz Ferdinand
, Austrian government immediately accused Serbian government of being behind the assassination. The general consensus today is that government did not organize it, but the opinions on how much Pašić knew about it is still a controversial issue and it appears that every historian has its own opinion on the subject: Pašić knew nothing (Ćorović); Pašić knew something is about to happen and told Russia Austria would attack Serbia before the assassination (Dragnić); Pašić knew but as the assassins were connected to the powerful members of the Serbian intelligence was afraid to do anything about it personally so he warned Vienna (Balfour).
Austria presented him the July Ultimatum
, written together with the envoys of the German ambassadors in such a vein which pro-Serbians claim that no country could accept it. After extensive consultations in country itself and formidable pressure from outside to accept it, Pašić told the Austrian ambassador Giesl (who already packed his bags) that Serbia accepts all the ultimatum demands except that Austrian police can independently travel throughout Serbia and conduct its own investigation. Using the assassination and Serbian refusal as a pretext, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914 which was a beginning of World War I.
, Battle of Kolubara
), the loss and recapture of Belgrade, and a Serbian counter-offensive with occupation of some Austrian territories (in Syrmia
and eastern Bosnia), the Austrian army backed off. On July 5, 1914 things changed as old king Peter I relinquished his duties to the heir apparent Alexander, making him his regent.
On September 17, 1914, Pašić and Albanian
leader Essad Pasha Toptani signed in Niš
the secret Treaty of Serbian-Albanian Alliance
. The treaty had 15 points which focused on setting up joint Serbian-Albanian political and military institutions and military alliance of Albania
and Kingdom of Serbia
. Also treaty envisaged building of the rail-road to Durres
, a financial and military support of Kingdom of Serbia to Essad Pasha's position of Albanian ruler and drawing of the demarcation by special Serbo-Albanian commission. In October 1914 Essad Pasha returned to Albania. With Italian
and Serbian
financial backing he established armed forces in Dibër
and captured interior of Albania and Dures. Pašić ordered that his followers be aided with money
and arms.
Unlike Peter, Alexander was not a democratic spirit, rather a dictatorial one and personally disliked Pašić and all his talks about democracy. Open strife began very soon, when Serbia was proposed the London Pact
by which it was supposed to expand into most of the ethnic Serbian territories to the west, including a section of the Adriatic coast and some ethnic Albanian territories in northern Albania. In return, Serbia was supposed to relinquish part of Vardar Macedonia to Bulgaria so that the latter would enter the war on the Entente
side. Both Pašić and regent Alexander were against this as they considered it to be the betrayal of the Croatians, Slovenians and Serbian sacrifices in the Balkan Wars, as negotiations for the future South Slav state already began. However, Pašić and king Peter were not personally much for the Yugoslav idea unlike the regent who pushed the issue for creating as large a state as possible. Serbia refused the pact and was attacked by Austria-Hungary, Germany and Bulgaria. Government and army retreated to the south in the direction of Greece, but was cut off by Bulgarian forces and had to go through Albania and to the Greek island of Corfu
where the Corfu Declaration
was signed in 1917 preparing the ground for the future South Slav state of Yugoslavia
.
Despite being removed from the government, as the most experienced of politicians, Nikola Pašić was the main negotiator for the new state at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. In an effort to secure the maximalist agenda of the regent he did not push on the question of the Czech Corridor
, Timişoara
and Szeged
, managed to secure borders with Albania
and Bulgaria, but failed to annex Fiume (which became an independent state) and most of Carinthia
(which remained part of Austria).
Elections held on November 28, 1920 showed that the Radical Party was the second strongest in the country, having just one seat less than the Yugoslav Democratic Party (91 to 92, respectively, out of 419 seats). But Pašić managed to form a coalition and became prime minister again on January 1, 1921.
As soon as talks about the constitution of the new state began, two diametrically opposite sides, Serbian and Croatian, were established. Both Pašić and regent Alexander wanted a unitary state but for different reasons. Pašić considered that the Serbs could be outvoted in such a state and that an unconsolidated and heterogeneous entity would fall apart if it was a federal one, while the regent simply didn't like to share power with others, which was shown 8 years later when he conducted a coup d'état
. Stjepan Radić
, a leading Croatian politician who didn't hide his agenda that a joint Serbian-Croatian state is just a temporary solution on the way for Croatian full independence, asked for a federal republic. As Pašić had majority in the assembly, a new constitution was proclaimed on Vidovdan
(St. Vitus day), June 28, 1921 organizing the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as a parliamentary (albeit highly unitary) monarchy, abolishing even the remaining shreds of autonomy which had Slovenia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vojvodina (provincial governments).
In the early 1920s the Yugoslav government of prime minister Nikola Pašić used police pressure over voters and ethnic minorities, confiscation of opposition pamphlets and other measures of election rigging to keep the opposition, mainly the autonomy-minded Croats, in minority in the Yugoslav parliament.
Pašić remained prime minister until April 8, 1926, with a short break 27 July 1924 - November 6, 1924 when the government was headed by Ljuba Davidović. After relinquishing temporarily the post to his party colleague Nikola Uzunović
, now a king, Alexander refused to reappoint Pašić using as a pretext scandals of Pašić's son Rade. The following day, on December 10, 1926, Nikola Pašić suffered a heart attack and died in Belgrade. He was buried on Belgrade's New Cemetery.
In the early 1920s he was accused of using police pressure over voters and ethnic minorities, confiscation of opposition pamphlets and other measures of election rigging to keep the opposition, mainly the separatist Stjepan Radić, in minority in Yugoslav parliament.
After 1945 he was condemned by the new Communist authorities and was labeled a leader of the great Serbian hegemony, while his accomplishments in building modern Serbia were completely pushed aside. The same rhetoric is still used by the Croatian critics. Pašić is heavily attacked because of the unitary composition of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and his opinion that Serbs, being the majority in the state, should always have the leading role (except for Slovenian Anton Korošec
1928-29, all prime ministers 1918-41 were Serbs). Being against the joint South Slave state from the beginning, he was accused of pushing the Greater Serbia
n agenda, national concept of concentrated power in the hands of Belgrade. Croatian Communist theoretician Otokar Keršovani
coined a phrase about Pašić: His name will remain in history more because it is connected to historical events, rather than the historical events being connected to his name, which was widely used and cited during the Communist regime from 1945 to 1991.
He was also criticized from the Serbian side. His former party colleague Pera Todorović wrote that Pašić was clumsy and indecisive. Historian Vladimir Ćorović openly wrote that Pašić had not a shred of courage, while Swiss doctor and Serbian benefactor Archibald Reiss
criticized his weakness towards his scheming son Rade.
, Italy. They were married in the Russian church in Florence
to avoid the gathering of the numerous Serbian colony in Trieste and had three children: son Radomir-Rade and daughters Dara and Pava.
Rade, a playboy and participant in many corruption affairs, was a constant embarrassment for Pašić. He had two sons, Vladislav, an architect (died in 1980 in Geneva
, Switzerland
) and Nikola II, an Oxford
law graduate (born in 1918) who resides in Toronto
, Canada
where he has founded a Serbian National Academy.
Often accused for marrying into money, when he died, Archibald Reiss
wrote: Look, son of the plain and poor peasants left one of the largest wealth in the country...you will say that his wife brought him nice dowry
. But what is that dowry compared to what he has left when he died? A crumb and nothing more.
's remark on William Ewart Gladstone
), after revision of his historical role in the late 1980s, they became widely published. Due to his accent, stutter and specific and frequent use of saying ovaj, they don't translate well into English
:
One of the central squares in Belgrade is named after him, Square of Nikola Pašić (Serbian: Трг Николе Пашића / Trg Nikole Pašića). During Communist regime, the square was named after Karl Marx
and Friedrich Engels
. The 4.2 meter tall bronze statue of Pašić is erected on the square, overlooking the building of the assembly.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n and Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
politician and diplomat, the most important Serbian political figure for almost 40 years, leader of the 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...
who, among other posts, was twice a mayor of Belgrade (1890–91 and 1897) several times prime minister of 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...
(1891–92, 1904–05, 1906–08, 1909–11, 1912–18) and prime minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (future Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, 1918, 1921–24, 1924–26).
He was an important politician in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, who, together with his counterparts like Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, managed to strengthen their small, still emerging national states against strong foreign influences, most notably those of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Early life
Pašić was born in the eastern Serbian village Veliki IzvorVeliki Izvor
Veliki Izvor is a village in the municipality of Zaječar, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 2684 people.-References:...
, near Zaječar
Zajecar
Zaječar is a city and municipality in the eastern part of Serbia. According to the 2011 census the town has a population of 36,830, and its coordinates are 43.91° North, 22.30° East...
, in the Principality of Serbia at the time. As his parents had come from Ottoman Bulgaria, sources claim Pašić's ethnicity is Bulgarian
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
, and his parents were from Golyam Izvor Teteven area
Teteven Municipality
Teteven Municipality is a municipality in Lovech Province, Central-North Bulgaria, located from the northern slopes of the central Stara planina mountain to the area of the Fore-Balkan...
. Later, his mother re-married to a Serbian baker who adopted him and gave him his surname, Pašić. In this relation he was called by his political opponents Bugarash
Bulgarophiles
Bulgarophiles - , ; ; ; is a term used for people from region of Macedonia and region of Pomoravlje who regard themselves as Bulgarians. It is most often used pejoratively, as the term implies that these people are not really Bulgarian....
. Indeed, Pašić having relatives in Bulgaria prove indispensable during his 6 years exile from Serbia, when he lived with relatives in Bulgaria, supported by the Bulgarian government. Another version is he was born to the family from Tetovo
Tetovo
Tetovo is a city in the northwestern part of Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River.The city covers an area of at above sea level, with a population of 86,580 citizens in the municipality. Tetovo is home to the State University of Tetovo and South East...
, Ottoman Macedonia, though of Vlah antecedents. Pašić studied at the Zaječar 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...
, but as the gymnasium was returned to Negotin
Negotin
Negotin is a town and municipality in the Bor District of north-eastern Central Serbia. It is situated near the borders between Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. It is the judicial center of the Bor District. The population of the town is 16,716 while municipality has 36,879.-Name:The etymology of the...
(where it was first founded) for political reasons, he also studied in Negotin and Kragujevac
Kragujevac
Kragujevac is the fourth largest city in Serbia, the main city of the Šumadija region and the administrative centre of Šumadija District. It is situated on the banks of the Lepenica River...
. In 1866 he enrolled in the Belgrade Higher School, where he excelled in his studies and in 1868 received a state scholarship to study at the Polytechnical School in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, for further specialization. Pašić graduated as an engineer but, apart from his brief participation in the construction of the Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
-Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
railroad, he never worked in this field.
Origins
A colony of Serbian students lived in Switzerland where they became acquainted with the ideas of SocialismSocialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. They would later become the core of the Socialist and Radical movement in Serbia. One of them was Svetozar Marković
Svetozar Markovic
Svetozar Marković was an influential Serbian political activist and literary critic. He developed an activistic anthropological philosophy with a definite program of social change.-Early life:...
, who would become the first major socialist ideologue in Serbia. During his studies in Zürich, Pašić befriended Marković, as well as Pera Todorović, Pera Velimirović, Lazar Paču, Jovan Žujović
Jovan Žujovic
Jovan Žujović was an anthropologist, known as a founder of geology in Serbia....
, Mita Rakić and others.
After returning to Serbia, Pašić distanced himself from Svetozar Marković, though they never argued, and went to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
to support the anti-Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
uprising of Nevesinjska puška
Nevesinjska puška
Nevesinjska puška is a Yugoslavian film. It was released in 1963....
. The Socialists started publishing Samouprava (Cyrillic: самоуправа; home rule) which later became the official bulletin of the Radical Party. After Marković's death in 1875, Pašić became the leader of the movement and in 1878 was elected to the National Assembly of Serbia
National Assembly of Serbia
The National Assembly of Serbia is the unicameral parliament of Serbia. It is composed of 250 proportionally elected deputies elected in general elections by secret ballot, on 4 years term. The National Assembly elects the President of the National Assembly who presides over the sessions...
, even before the party was formed. In 1880 he made an unprecedented move in the Serbian political life by forming an opposition deputies' club in the assembly. Finally, a party program was completed in January 1881 and the Radical Party, the first systematically organized Serbian party, was officially established, with Pašić unanimously elected its first president.
Timok rebellion
The party and Pašić quickly gained popularity; the Radicals received 54 percent of the vote in the September 1883 elections, while the Progressive Party, favored by King Milan Obrenović IVMilan Obrenovic IV
Milan Obrenović was a Serbian monarch reigning as Prince Milan IV of Serbia from 1868 to 1882 and King Milan I of Serbia from 1882 to 1889.-Early years:...
only got 30 percent. Despite the Radicals' clear victory, the pro-Austrian king, who disliked the pro-Russian Pašić and the Radical party, nominated old non-partisan hardliner Nikola Hristić
Nikola Hristić
Nikola Hristić , was a Serbian politician, minister and prime minister.-Biography:...
to form a government. By one decree Hristić opened the assembly and then he read a second one, dismissing it.
This already heated atmosphere was made worse by the decision to take away guns from the population, as a regular army was to be established. As a result, clashes began in eastern Serbia, in the Timok
Timok River
The Timok is a river in eastern Serbia and for the last 15 km of its run a border between eastern Serbia and western Bulgaria.It derives the names in all these from the name it had in antiquity, Latin: Timacus....
valley. King Milan blamed the unrest on the Radicals and sent troops to crush the rebellion. Pašić was sentenced to death in absentia; he had narrowly avoided arrest by fleeing to Bulgaria. Twenty-one others were sentenced to death and executed, and 734 more were imprisoned.
Emigration in Bulgaria
For the next 6 years, Nikola Pašić lived with relatives in Bulgaria, supported by the Bulgarian government. He lived in Sofia, where Pašić worked as building contractor and for a short time in the Ministry of Interior. He also made attempt to participate in Bulgarian policy. The official Bulgarian support became one of several reasons for Milan's decision to start the Serbo-Bulgarian WarSerbo-Bulgarian War
The Serbo-Bulgarian War was a war between Serbia and Bulgaria that erupted on 14 November 1885 and lasted until 28 November the same year. Final peace was signed on 19 February 1886 in Bucharest...
in 1885. After suffering a decisive defeat, Milan granted an amnesty for those sentenced for Timok rebellion, but not for Pašić, who remained in Bulgarian exile until Milan's abdication in 1889. A few days later the newly formed Radical cabinet of Sava Grujić
Sava Grujić
General Sava Grujić was a Serbian military, diplomat and a Radical Party politician....
pardoned Pašić.
President of assembly and mayor
On October 13, 1889 Nikola Pašić was elected president of the National Assembly, a duty he would perform (de jure though, not de facto) until January 9, 1892. He was also elected mayor of Belgrade January 11, 1890 - January 26, 1891. His presiding over the assembly saw the largest number of laws being voted in the history of Serbian parliamentarism, while as the mayor of Belgrade he was responsible for cobblingCobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
the muddy city streets. He was reelected twice as president of the National Assembly June 13, 1893 - April 1895 (though from September 1893 only in name; his deputy Dimitrije Katić acted for him) and July 12, 1897 - June 29, 1898 and once more mayor of Belgrade January 22, 1897 - November 25, 1897.
First government
After wisely not accepting to head the government immediately after his return from exile, Nikola Pašić became prime minister for the first time on February 23, 1891. However, ex-king Milan returned to Serbia in May 1890 and again began campaigning against Pašić and the Radicals. On June 16, 1892, Kosta Protić, one of three regents during the minority of Alexander Obrenović VAleksandar Obrenovic
Not to be confused with Alexander I of Yugoslavia.Alexander I or Aleksandar Obrenović was king of Serbia from 1889 to 1903 when he and his wife, Queen Draga, were assassinated by a group of Army officers, led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević-Accession:In 1889 Alexander's father, King Milan,...
, died. Under the constitution, the National Assembly was to elect a new regent, but as the assembly was on a several months vacation, Pašić had to call for an emergency session. Jovan Ristić
Jovan Ristic
Jovan Ristić, or Ristitch was a Serbian statesman and diplomat....
, the most powerful regent, fearing Pašić might be elected co-regent and thus undermine his position, refused to allow the extra session, and Pašić resigned as prime minister on August 22, 1892. During his tenure, he was also foreign minister from April 2, 1892 and acting finance minister from November 3, 1891.
Alexander's coup d'état
After king Alexander declared himself of age ahead of time and dismissed the regency, he offered a moderate Radical Lazar Dokić to form a government. Though he received approval from some members of the Radical party to participate in the government, Pašić refused. In order to exclude him from the political scene in Serbia, Alexander sent Pašić as his extraordinary envoy to Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, 1893-1894. In 1896 the king managed to force Nikola Pašić to back off from pushing for constitutional reforms. However, since 1897 both kings, Milan and Alexander, ruled almost jointly; as both disliked Pašić, in 1898 they had him imprisoned for 9 months because Samouprava published a statement about his previous opposition to king Milan. Pašić claimed he was misquoted, with no effect.
Ivandan's assassination
Former fireman, Đura Knežević, who was sentenced to death, tried to assassinate ex-king Milan in June 1899 (Serbian: Ивандањски атентат). The same evening, Milan declared that the Radical Party tried to kill him and all heads of the Radical Party were arrested, including Pašić who just came out of the prison from his previous sentence. Milan's anti-Radical accusations were groundless and even Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, his major ally, admitted that the Radical Party was not involved, despite Milan's insistence that at least Nikola Pašić and Kosta Taušanović
Kosta Taušanovic
Kosta Taušanović was a Serbian politician, minister and banker. He studied agriculture in Tábor and commerce in Hohenheim...
be sentenced to death. Austria-Hungary feared that the execution of the pro-Russian Pašić would force Russia to intervene, abandoning a 1897 agreement to leave Serbia in status-quo. A special envoy was sent from Vienna to Milan to warn him that Austria would boycott the Obrenović dynasty if Pašić was executed. Noted Serbian historian 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"...
later claimed that the entire assassination was staged so that Milan could get rid of the Radical Party.
Imprisoned and unaware of Austria-Hungary's interference, Pašić confessed that the Radical Party had been disloyal to the dynasty, which probably saved many people from prison. As part of the deal reached with the interior minister Đorđe Genčić, government officially left its own role out of the statement, so it looked like Pašić behaved cowardly and succumbed to the pressure. Pašić was sentenced to 5 years but released immediately. This caused future conflict within the Radical Party as younger members considered Pašić a coward and traitor, and split from the party.
For the rest of king Alexander's rule, Pašić retired from politics. Although the young monarch disliked Pašić, he was often summoned for consultations but would refrain from giving advice and insist that he is no longer involved with politics.
Royal assassination
Nikola Pašić was not among the conspirators who plotted to assassinate king Alexander. The assassinationMay Overthrow
The May Overthrow was a 1903 coup d'état in which the Serbian King Alexander Obrenović and his wife, Queen Draga, were assassinated inside the Royal Palace in Belgrade on the night between 28 and 29 May 1903 by the Julian calendar...
took place on June 11, 1903, and both the king and Queen Draga Mašin were killed, as well as Prime Minister Dimitrije Cincar-Marković and Defence Minister Milovan Pavlović. The Radical party did not form the first cabinet after the coup d'état, but after winning the elections on October 4, 1903, they remained in almost uninterrupted power for the next 15 years. Wisely, Pašić didn't lead all the Radical cabinets, letting other members of his party (or sometimes outside of it) be prime ministers. In the beginning, the Radicals opposed the appointment of a new king, Peter I Karađorđević, calling his appointment illegal. But Pašić later changed his mind after seeing how people willingly accepted the new monarch as well as king Peter I, educated in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, was a democratic, mild ruler, unlike the last two despotic and erratic Obrenović sovereigns. As it will be shown in the next two decades, the major clash between the king and the prime minister will be Pašić's refusal to raise to royal appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
.
Nikola Pašić became foreign minister on February 8, 1904 in Sava Grujić's cabinet and headed a government under his own presidency December 10, 1904 - May 28, 1905, continuing as foreign minister as well. In the next 10 years under the leadership of Pašić and the Radical Party (especially Lazar Paču, finance minister) Serbia grew into such a prosperous state that many historians call this period the modern golden age of Serbia. The country evolved into a European democracy and with financial and economic growth, political influence also grew which caused constant problems with Serbia's largest neighbor, Austria-Hungary, which even developed plans to turn Serbia into one of its provinces (already in 1879 German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
said that Serbia is the stumbling-block in Austria's development).
Austro-Hungarian customs war
As Austro-Hungarian latent provocations of Serbia concerning Serbs living in Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, officially still part of the Ottoman Empire but occupied by Austria-Hungary since 1878 and causing problems to Serbian export which mainly went through Austria (as Serbia is landlocked) didn't bring results, Austria-Hungary began open customs war
Pig War (Serbia)
The term Pig War is used to refer to an economic conflict in which the Habsburg Empire imposed a customs blockade on Serbia. It is known as the Customs War in Serbia.- Background :...
in 1906. Pašić formed another cabinet April 30, 1906 - July 20, 1908. Pressured by the Austrian government which asked from Serbia to buy everything from Austrian companies, from salt to cannons, he replied to Austrian government that he personally would do that, but that the assembly is against it and in democratic countries that's what counts. Austria closed the borders which did cause severe blow to Serbian economy initially, but later it will bounce back even more developed than it was, thanks to the Pašić swift change towards the Western European countries. He forced conspirators of the 1903 coup into retirement which was a condition for reestablishing diplomatic connections with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, he bought cannons from France, etc. In the midst of the customs war, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 which caused mass protests in Serbia and political instability, but Pašić managed to calm the situation down. In this period, Pašić's major ally, Imperial Russia, was not much of a help being defeated by Japan in Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
and under series of revolutions.
Balkan wars
Pašić formed two more cabinets (October 24, 1909 - July 4, 1911 and from September 12, 1912). He was one of the major players in the forming of the Balkan LeagueBalkan League
The Balkan League was an alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Balkan states of Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the time still controlled much of the Balkan peninsula...
which later resulted in the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
(1912–13) and the Second Balkan War
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
(1913) which almost doubled the size of Serbia with the territories of what was at the time considered Old Serbia (Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, Metohija
Metohija
Metohija , is a large basin and the name of the region covering the southwestern part of Kosovo.It encompasses three of the seven districts of Kosovo, namely the historical :* District of Peć * District of Đakovica * District of Prizren...
and Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
), retaken from the Ottomans after five centuries.
He clashed with some military structures about the handling of the newly acquired territories. Pašić believed the area should be included into the Serbian political and administrative system through the democratic elections, while the army sought to keep the areas under the military occupation. After one year of tensions Pašić dismissed the military administrator of Old Serbia and scheduled new elections for 1914 but the outbreak of 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...
prevented it.
Outbreak of the Great War
After the Assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 when members of the Serbian revolutionary organization Young BosniaYoung Bosnia
Young Bosnia was a revolutionary movement active before World War I, the members were predominantly school students who were ethnic Serbs, but included Bosniaks...
assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir-apparent Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia...
, Austrian government immediately accused Serbian government of being behind the assassination. The general consensus today is that government did not organize it, but the opinions on how much Pašić knew about it is still a controversial issue and it appears that every historian has its own opinion on the subject: Pašić knew nothing (Ćorović); Pašić knew something is about to happen and told Russia Austria would attack Serbia before the assassination (Dragnić); Pašić knew but as the assassins were connected to the powerful members of the Serbian intelligence was afraid to do anything about it personally so he warned Vienna (Balfour).
Austria presented him the July Ultimatum
July Ultimatum
The July Crisis was a diplomatic crisis among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914 that led to the First World War...
, written together with the envoys of the German ambassadors in such a vein which pro-Serbians claim that no country could accept it. After extensive consultations in country itself and formidable pressure from outside to accept it, Pašić told the Austrian ambassador Giesl (who already packed his bags) that Serbia accepts all the ultimatum demands except that Austrian police can independently travel throughout Serbia and conduct its own investigation. Using the assassination and Serbian refusal as a pretext, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914 which was a beginning of World War I.
Glory, defeat and the South Slav state
Serbian defeat was considered to be imminent compared to the strength of the Austria-Hungary. However, after a series of battles in 1914-1915 (Battle of CerBattle of Cer
The Battle of Cer also known as Battle of Jadar was one of the first battles of World War I, it also marked the first Allied victory in the war. The battle was fought between the Austro-Hungarian Army and Serbian forces. The results improved Serbian standing in the Alliance...
, Battle of Kolubara
Battle of Kolubara
The Battle of Kolubara was a major victory of Serbia over the invading Austro-Hungarian armies during World War I. The invaders were routed, and driven back across the Serbian border....
), the loss and recapture of Belgrade, and a Serbian counter-offensive with occupation of some Austrian territories (in Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....
and eastern Bosnia), the Austrian army backed off. On July 5, 1914 things changed as old king Peter I relinquished his duties to the heir apparent Alexander, making him his regent.
On September 17, 1914, Pašić and Albanian
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
leader Essad Pasha Toptani signed in Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
the secret Treaty of Serbian-Albanian Alliance
Treaty of Serbian-Albanian Alliance
The Treaty of Serbian-Albanian Alliance, also known as the Treaty of Niš, was a secret treaty signed in Niš between Essad Pasha Toptani and prime minister Nikola Pašić of Kingdom of Serbia on September 17, 1914.- Background :...
. The treaty had 15 points which focused on setting up joint Serbian-Albanian political and military institutions and military alliance of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
and 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...
. Also treaty envisaged building of the rail-road to Durres
Durrës
Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
, a financial and military support of Kingdom of Serbia to Essad Pasha's position of Albanian ruler and drawing of the demarcation by special Serbo-Albanian commission. In October 1914 Essad Pasha returned to Albania. With Italian
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
and Serbian
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...
financial backing he established armed forces in Dibër
Dibër District
The District of Dibër is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Dibër County. It has a population of 62,825, and an area of 1088 km². It is in the north-east of the country, and its capital is Peshkopi....
and captured interior of Albania and Dures. Pašić ordered that his followers be aided with money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
and arms.
Unlike Peter, Alexander was not a democratic spirit, rather a dictatorial one and personally disliked Pašić and all his talks about democracy. Open strife began very soon, when Serbia was proposed the London Pact
London Pact
London Pact , or more correctly, the Treaty of London, 1915, was a secret pact between Italy and Triple Entente, signed in London on 26 April 1915 by the Kingdom of Italy, Great Britain, France and Russia....
by which it was supposed to expand into most of the ethnic Serbian territories to the west, including a section of the Adriatic coast and some ethnic Albanian territories in northern Albania. In return, Serbia was supposed to relinquish part of Vardar Macedonia to Bulgaria so that the latter would enter the war on the Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
side. Both Pašić and regent Alexander were against this as they considered it to be the betrayal of the Croatians, Slovenians and Serbian sacrifices in the Balkan Wars, as negotiations for the future South Slav state already began. However, Pašić and king Peter were not personally much for the Yugoslav idea unlike the regent who pushed the issue for creating as large a state as possible. Serbia refused the pact and was attacked by Austria-Hungary, Germany and Bulgaria. Government and army retreated to the south in the direction of Greece, but was cut off by Bulgarian forces and had to go through Albania and to the Greek island of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
where the Corfu Declaration
Corfu Declaration
The Corfu Declaration is the agreement that made the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia possible. In 1916, the Serbian Parliament in exile decided the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia at a meeting inside the Municipal Theatre of Corfu, Greece...
was signed in 1917 preparing the ground for the future South Slav state of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
.
Creation of new state
Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was officially proclaimed on December 1, 1918 and being prime minister of Serbia at that time, Pašić was generally considered de facto prime minister of the new South Slav state too. The political agreement was reached that Pašić will continue as the prime minister when the first government of the new state was to be formed, but as a result of his longtime dislike of Pašić, regent Alexander nominated Stojan Protić to form the government so Pašić stepped down on December 20, 1918.Despite being removed from the government, as the most experienced of politicians, Nikola Pašić was the main negotiator for the new state at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. In an effort to secure the maximalist agenda of the regent he did not push on the question of the Czech Corridor
Czech Corridor
The Czech Corridor was a failed proposal during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 in the aftermath of World War I. The proposal would have carved out an area of land to connect Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. A different name often given is Czech-Yugoslav Territorial Corridor...
, Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
and Szeged
Szeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
, managed to secure borders with Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
and Bulgaria, but failed to annex Fiume (which became an independent state) and most of Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
(which remained part of Austria).
Elections held on November 28, 1920 showed that the Radical Party was the second strongest in the country, having just one seat less than the Yugoslav Democratic Party (91 to 92, respectively, out of 419 seats). But Pašić managed to form a coalition and became prime minister again on January 1, 1921.
Vidovdan Constitution
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
. 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...
, a leading Croatian politician who didn't hide his agenda that a joint Serbian-Croatian state is just a temporary solution on the way for Croatian full independence, asked for a federal republic. As Pašić had majority in the assembly, a new constitution was proclaimed on Vidovdan
Vidovdan
-See also:*Divinity*Daeva*Deva *Vidovdan...
(St. Vitus day), June 28, 1921 organizing the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as a parliamentary (albeit highly unitary) monarchy, abolishing even the remaining shreds of autonomy which had Slovenia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vojvodina (provincial governments).
In the early 1920s the Yugoslav government of prime minister Nikola Pašić used police pressure over voters and ethnic minorities, confiscation of opposition pamphlets and other measures of election rigging to keep the opposition, mainly the autonomy-minded Croats, in minority in the Yugoslav parliament.
Pašić remained prime minister until April 8, 1926, with a short break 27 July 1924 - November 6, 1924 when the government was headed by Ljuba Davidović. After relinquishing temporarily the post to his party colleague Nikola Uzunović
Nikola Uzunovic
Nikola Uzunović was a Serbian politician. He served as Prime Minister of Yugoslavia from April 8, 1926 until April 17, 1927 and from January 1934 to December 1934....
, now a king, Alexander refused to reappoint Pašić using as a pretext scandals of Pašić's son Rade. The following day, on December 10, 1926, Nikola Pašić suffered a heart attack and died in Belgrade. He was buried on Belgrade's New Cemetery.
Criticism
Pašić was widely criticized by the Communists as he prevented them from participating in the political life after the 1920 elections and the series of terrorist attacks by the Communists on government officials, and banned the Communist party officially proclaiming it a criminal organization on August 21, 1921.In the early 1920s he was accused of using police pressure over voters and ethnic minorities, confiscation of opposition pamphlets and other measures of election rigging to keep the opposition, mainly the separatist Stjepan Radić, in minority in Yugoslav parliament.
After 1945 he was condemned by the new Communist authorities and was labeled a leader of the great Serbian hegemony, while his accomplishments in building modern Serbia were completely pushed aside. The same rhetoric is still used by the Croatian critics. Pašić is heavily attacked because of the unitary composition of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and his opinion that Serbs, being the majority in the state, should always have the leading role (except for Slovenian Anton Korošec
Anton Korošec
Anton Korošec was a Slovenian political leader, a prominent member of the conservative People's Party, a priest and a noted orator....
1928-29, all prime ministers 1918-41 were Serbs). Being against the joint South Slave state from the beginning, he was accused of pushing the Greater Serbia
Greater Serbia
The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia applies to the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology directed towards the creation of a Serbian land which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to the Serbian nation...
n agenda, national concept of concentrated power in the hands of Belgrade. Croatian Communist theoretician Otokar Keršovani
Otokar Keršovani
Otokar Keršovani was a Croatian and Yugoslav journalist and left-wing politician.He was born in Trieste, which was part of Austria-Hungary at a time. The collapse of Habsburg Empire caught him in Istrian town of Pazin, which was soon occupied by Italian forces and its Croatian school closed...
coined a phrase about Pašić: His name will remain in history more because it is connected to historical events, rather than the historical events being connected to his name, which was widely used and cited during the Communist regime from 1945 to 1991.
He was also criticized from the Serbian side. His former party colleague Pera Todorović wrote that Pašić was clumsy and indecisive. Historian Vladimir Ćorović openly wrote that Pašić had not a shred of courage, while Swiss doctor and Serbian benefactor Archibald Reiss
Archibald Reiss
Dr. Archibald Rudolph Reiss was a publicist, a chemist, a professor at the University of Lausanne and a famous forensic scientist....
criticized his weakness towards his scheming son Rade.
Marriage
Nikola Pašić married Đurđina Duković, daughter of a wealthy Serbian grains trader from TriesteTrieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Italy. They were married in the Russian church in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
to avoid the gathering of the numerous Serbian colony in Trieste and had three children: son Radomir-Rade and daughters Dara and Pava.
Rade, a playboy and participant in many corruption affairs, was a constant embarrassment for Pašić. He had two sons, Vladislav, an architect (died in 1980 in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) and Nikola II, an Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
law graduate (born in 1918) who resides in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
where he has founded a Serbian National Academy.
Often accused for marrying into money, when he died, Archibald Reiss
Archibald Reiss
Dr. Archibald Rudolph Reiss was a publicist, a chemist, a professor at the University of Lausanne and a famous forensic scientist....
wrote: Look, son of the plain and poor peasants left one of the largest wealth in the country...you will say that his wife brought him nice dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
. But what is that dowry compared to what he has left when he died? A crumb and nothing more.
Anecdotes
Known for his sense of humor, Pašić is the subject of numerous anecdotes. Many of them appear to be constructed and not fully factual. Some are known to be falsely attributed to him (such as Ilija GarašaninIlija Garašanin
Ilija Garašanin was a Serbian politician and statesman, serving as Interior Minister and Prime Minister ....
's remark on William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
), after revision of his historical role in the late 1980s, they became widely published. Due to his accent, stutter and specific and frequent use of saying ovaj, they don't translate well into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
:
- Asked by a journalists during an exit with the government's meeting "What's new?" He replied, "Well...I do not know. I have not read the newspaper."
- One day, son of Jaša Prodanović came to Pašić to ask him to find him some job.
- - Well...what's your name?
- - I am Bora Prodanović.
- - Aha...well, you are Jaša's boy, right?
- - Yes I am.
- - And you are not the one who got killed?
- - I haven't been killed, not once.
- - Aha...yes, you are still young...
- During the Balkan War while he was in Skopje, Pašić dressed a uniform. He saw minister Velizar Janković.
- - Well...is that you Velizar?
- - Yes, it's me.
- - Well...yes, right...see, I dressed in uniform so I can't recognize you!
- A few days after the death of Radical party senior member Stanko Petrović, Pašić talked to Petrović's son:
- - Well...late Stanko died, right?
- - Yes, sir.
- - Well...may God have mercy on his soul...you know...he was recently here in Belgrade but he didn't tell me anything about it!
Trivia
He was nicknamed Baja (as in Baya).One of the central squares in Belgrade is named after him, Square of Nikola Pašić (Serbian: Трг Николе Пашића / Trg Nikole Pašića). During Communist regime, the square was named after Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
and Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
. The 4.2 meter tall bronze statue of Pašić is erected on the square, overlooking the building of the assembly.
Further reading
- Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija, Third edition (1985); Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2
- Aleks Dragnić: Razvoj parlamentarizma u Srbiji u XIX veku (1989); Dečije novine; ISBN 86-367-0316-6
- Vasa Kazimirović: Nikola Pašić i njegovo doba 1845-1926, Vol. I & II (1990); Nova Evropa; ISBN 86-
- Đorđe Đ. Stanković: Nikola Pašić i Hrvati (1995); BIGZ; ISBN 86-13-00828-3
- Miloš Trifunović: Istorija Radikalne stranke; arranged by Radoš Ljušić (1997)
- Latinka Perović: Nikola Pašić u narodnoj skupštini (1997);
- Đorđe Radenković: Pašić i Jugoslavija (1999); Službeni list SRJ; ISBN 86-355-0428-3
- Milovan VitezovićMilovan VitezovićMilovan Vitezović , is a Serbian writer, professor and screenwriter. He writes songs, novels, essays, reviews, aphorisms, movies and TV scripts...
: Nikola Pašić u anegdotama (2002); Službeni list SRJ; ISBN 86-7549-271-5 - Miodrag Dimitrijević: Nikola Pašić u hodu istorije (2005);
- Živorad Lazić: Pašić i četiri kralja (2005);
- Vladimir Ćorović: Ilustrovana istorija Srba, Vol. VI (2006); Politika NM & Narodna Knjiga; ISBN 86-331-2525-0 (NK)