Stjepan Radic
Encyclopedia
Stjepan Radić was a Croatian
politician and the founder of the Croatian Peasant Party
(CPP, Hrvatska Seljačka Stranka) in 1905. Radić is credited with galvanizing the peasantry of Croatia
into a viable political force. Throughout his entire career, he was opposed to the union and, later, Serb hegemony
in the first Yugoslavia and became an important political figure in that country. He was shot at in the parliament by a Serbian politician Puniša Račić
. Radić died several weeks later from a serious stomach wound at the age of 57. This act further alienated the Croats and the Serbs.
in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
within Austria-Hungary
. After being expelled from his gymnasium in Zagreb, he finished at the Higher Real Gymnasium
in Karlovac
. In 1888 Radić travelled to Đakovo where he met with bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer
to request help for a trip to the Russian Empire
. Strossmayer recommended Radić to Metropolitan Mihailo of Belgrade
who referred him to a Russian teacher in Kiev
. Radić travelled to Kiev and was allowed to stay at the city's Monastery of the Caves
where he remained for six weeks before returning to Croatia.
In September 1891 he enrolled in law at the University of Zagreb
. He was selected as a representative of the student body at the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Sisak in 1893. After criticizing the ban of Croatia
Károly Khuen-Héderváry
during the ceremony and referring to him as a "Magyar hussar", Radić was sentenced to four months in prison which he served in Petrinja
. He was among a group of students who set fire to the Hungarian tricolour on October 16, 1895 during the visit of Emperor Franz Joseph to Zagreb
.
without guarantees for Croatian autonomy. Radić was selected as a member of the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On the November 24, 1918 he famously urged delegates attending a session that would decide the country's political future not to "rush like drunken geese into fog
". He was the lone member of the National Council's central committee to vote against sending a delegation to Belgrade
to negotiate with the Kingdom of Serbia
. On November 26, he was removed from the central committee.
Under the pressure from the Great powers (British Empire
, France, United States), as well as honouring the secret deals that were struck between the Entente
and the Kingdom of Serbia
, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was established and two representatives of Radić's party (by then named the Croatian Common-people Peasant Party) were appointed to the Provisional Representation which served as a parliament until elections for the Constituent could be held. The party's representatives, however, decided not to take their seats.
. This act provoked a decision by the government to arrest Radić along with several other party members.
He was to be held some 11 months until February 1920, just before the first parliamentary elections of the Kingdom of SHS, which were held in November. The result of the November was 230,590 votes, which equaled to 50 seats in the parliament out of 419. On November 8, before the first sitting of parliament, Radić held a massive rally
in front of 100,000 people in Zagreb
. Stjepan Radić and the CCPP held an extraordinary meeting, in which a motion was put forward and voted on that the party will not be part of parliamentary discussions before matters are first resolved with Serbia on the matters of governance, the most sticking issues being the minorisation of the Croatian people and the overt powers of the King with the central government in Belgrade
. The party was subsequently renamed to the Croatian Republican Peasant Party, highlighting the party's official stance. On November 11, ban of Croatia
Matko Laginja
was dismissed by the cabinet of Milenko Radomar Vesnić for allowing the rally to take place.
Constitution)was made law after a vote of 223 representatives out of the present 285, the total number representatives in the parliament being 419, which is only 53.2% of the possible votes, or if looked at the number of present representatives it is a more impressive 78.24%. The representatives turnout and subsequent vote is quite poor considering that it was a constitutive parliament, which was supposed to have created the new constitution.
In the next parliamentary elections, which were held in March 1923, the stance of Stjepan Radić and the CPP against the central government managed to turn into extra votes. The results of the election were, 70 seats or 473.733 votes, which represented the majority of the Croatian vote in Northern and Southern parts of Croatia, as well as the Croatian votes in Bosnia, as well as Herzegovina.
the opportunity to consolidate power and strengthen his Serb-dominated government. Returning from an unsanctioned overseas trip in 1923 in which Stjepan Radić visited England (for 5 months), Austria
(5 months) and the Soviet Union
(2 months). upon his return in 1924, Radić was arrested in Zagreb and sentenced for associating with Soviet Communists and imprisoned. The trip was used for the purpose of internationalising the plight of Croatians in the Kingdom of SHS.
After his release, Stjepan Radić soon reentered politics, but this was not without problems. On 23 December, the Serb dominated central government declared that the political party CRPP was in contravention of the Internal security law of 1921 in the infamous Obznana declaration, and this was confirmed by King Alexander on 1 January 1924, thus arresting the CRPP executive on 2 January 1925, and finally arresting Stjepan Radić on 5 January.
After the parliamentary elections in February 1925, the CRPP even with its whole executive team behind bars, and with only Stjepan Radić at its helm, CRPP managed to win 67 parliamentary with at total of 532,872 votes. Even though the vote count was higher than the previous election, the gerrymandering
by the central government ensured that CRPP received less parliamentary seats. In order to increase his negotiating power the CRPP entered into a coalition
with the Independent Democratic party
(Samostalna Demokratska Stranka), Slovenian People's Party
(Slovenska Ljudska Stranka) and the Yugoslav Muslim Organization
(Jugoslavenska Muslimanska Organizacija).
(Hrvatska seljačka stranka). With the backing of the coalition partners, the CPP made an agreement with the major conservative Serbian party - the People's Radical Party
(Narodna radikalna stranka), in which a powersharing arrangement was struck, as well as a deal to release the CPP executive from jail. The CPP had to make certain concessions like recognising the central government and the rule of the monarch, as well as the Vidovdan constitution in front of the full parliament on 27 March 1925. Stjepan Radić was made the Minister for Education, whereas other CPP party members obtained ministerial posts: Pavle Radić, dr. Nikola Nikić, dr. Benjamin Šuperina and dr. Ivan Krajač. This powersharing arrangement was cut short after the passing away of the president of the Peoples Radical Party, Nikola Pašić
, on 10 December 1925.
Radić soon resigned his ministerial post in 1926 and returned to the opposition, and in 1927 entered into a coalition with Svetozar Pribićević
, president of the Independent Democratic Party
, a leading party of the Serbs in Croatia. The Peasant-Democrat coalition had a real chance to end the Radicals' long-time stranglehold control of the Parliament. Previously they had long been opponents, but the Democrats became disillusioned with the Belgrade bureaucracy
and restored good relations with the Peasant Party with which they were allies in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With this arrangement, Stjepan Radić managed to obtain a parliamentary majority in 1928. However, he was not able to form a government. The Peasant-Democrat coalition was opposed by some of the Croatia
n elite
, like Ivo Andrić
, who even regarded the followers of the CPP as "...fools following a blind dog..." (the blind dog being Stjepan Radić).
In his elder days, Radić was nearly blind.
"Our Serbian friends are always reminding us of the price they paid in the war. I would like to invite them to tabulate the costs, so we may square accounts and be on our way.". Death threat
s and threats of violent beatings were made against Stjepan Radić in parliament, without any intervention by the president of the Assembly (Parliamentary speaker). On the morning of 20 June 1928, Radić was warned of the danger of an assassination attempt against him and was begged to stay away from the Assembly for that day. He replied that he was like a soldier in war, in the trenches and as such it was his duty to go but he nevertheless promised not to utter a single word.
In the Assembly
, Puniša Račić
, a member of People's Radical Party
from Montenegro
, got up and made a provocative speech which produced a stormy reaction from the opposition but Radić himself stayed completely silent. Finally, Ivan Pernar
shouted, "thou plundered bey
s" (referring to accusations of corruption related to him). At this, Puniša Račić drew out a revolver
, shot Pernar and went on to shoot Radić and several other CPP delegates. Radić was left for dead and indeed had such a serious stomach
wound that he died several weeks later at the age of 57. His funeral was officiated by archbishop Antun Bauer of Zagreb. His burial was massively attended and his death was seen as causing a permanent rift in Croat-Serb relations in the old Yugoslavia.
What exactly happened to Puniša Račić is still contested. One version (conservative) states that he was sentenced to 20 years of house arrest and later pardoned by the Serb authorities while another (communist) contends that he was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour and freed by the invading Nazis in WWII. He led a usual life during the Nazi occupation of Serbia and was captured and killed by Communist partisans in 1945 or 1946.
Following the political crisis triggered by the shooting, in January 1929, King Aleksandar Karađorđević
abolished the constitution, dissolved parliament, and declared a royal dictatorship
, changing the country into the first Yugoslavia and oppressing national sentiments.
Radić is buried in the Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb.
, but also by other political options in Croatia: right wing or left wing.
The Ustaše
used the death of Stjepan Radić as proof of Serbian hegemony, and as an excuse for their treatment of Serbs, however many leading CPP figures were imprisoned or killed by the Ustashe to whome they were political opponents. The Partisans
on the other hand, used this as a recruiting point with CPP members who were disillusioned with the Independent State of Croatia
, and latter had one brigade named after Antun and Stjepan Radić in 1943.
The image of Stjepan Radić was used extensively during the Croatian Spring
movement in the early 1970s. There are many folk groups, clubs, primary and secondary schools which bear the name of Stjepan Radić. Many Croatian cities have streets, squares in his name and statues of Stjepan Radić are common. His portrait is depicted on the obverse
of the Croatian 200 kuna
banknote, issued in 1993 and 2002.
In 1997, a poll in Croatian weekly Nacional
named Stjepan Radić as the most admired Croatian historic personality.
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
politician and the founder 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...
(CPP, Hrvatska Seljačka Stranka) in 1905. Radić is credited with galvanizing the peasantry of Croatia
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 ...
into a viable political force. Throughout his entire career, he was opposed to the union and, later, Serb hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
in the first Yugoslavia and became an important political figure in that country. He was shot at in the parliament by a Serbian politician Puniša Račić
Puniša Racic
Puniša Račić was a Montenegrin Serb politician, a member of the Yugoslav Parliament from the People's Radical Party, who assassinated Pavle Radić and Đuro Basariček, Croatian Peasant Party representatives, mortally wounded Stjepan Radić, leader of Croatian Peasant Party at the time and wounded...
. Radić died several weeks later from a serious stomach wound at the age of 57. This act further alienated the Croats and the Serbs.
Early life
Stjepan Radić was born in Desno Trebarjevo, Martinska Ves near SisakSisak
Sisak is a city in central Croatia. The city's population in 2011 was 33,049, with a total of 49,699 in the administrative region and it is also the administrative centre of the Sisak-Moslavina county...
in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia or Croatia Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was part of the Hungarian Kingdom within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen or Transleithania...
within 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...
. After being expelled from his gymnasium in Zagreb, he finished at the Higher Real Gymnasium
Gymnasium Karlovac
Gymnasium Karlovac , sometimes historically referred to as Higher Real Gymnasium, is a gymnasium in the city of Karlovac in Croatia. Housed in a dedicated building constructed in 1863, the school considers itself to have been founded as early as 1766. At that time, Karlovac was part of the Croatian...
in Karlovac
Karlovac
Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...
. In 1888 Radić travelled to Đakovo where he met with bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer
Josip Juraj Strossmayer
Josip Juraj Strossmayer was a Croatian politician, Roman Catholic bishop and benefactor.-Early life and rise as a cleric:...
to request help for a trip to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Strossmayer recommended Radić to Metropolitan Mihailo of Belgrade
Metropolitanate of Belgrade
The Metropolitanate of Belgrade was a metropolitanate of the Orthodox Church that existed between 1766 and 1920. It was formed in 1766, when Patriarchate of Peć was abolished by the Ottoman Empire. The Metropolitanate of Belgrade existed until 1920, when it was merged with Patriarchate of Karlovci...
who referred him to a Russian teacher in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. Radić travelled to Kiev and was allowed to stay at the city's Monastery of the Caves
Kiev Pechersk Lavra
Kiev Pechersk Lavra or Kyiv Pechersk Lavra , also known as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery which gave its name to one of the city districts where it is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine....
where he remained for six weeks before returning to Croatia.
In September 1891 he enrolled in law at the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...
. He was selected as a representative of the student body at the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Sisak in 1893. After criticizing the ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers and after 1102 viceroys of Croatia. From earliest periods of Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Bans as a rulers representative and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually become chief government officials in...
Károly Khuen-Héderváry
Károly Khuen-Héderváry
Dragutin Károly Khuen-Héderváry, also known as Károly Count Khuen-Héderváry de Hédervár , was a Hungarian politician, the ban of Croatia in the late nineteenth century. He succeeded the temporary reign of Ban Hermann Ramberg in 1883. Khuen's reign was marked by a strong magyarization...
during the ceremony and referring to him as a "Magyar hussar", Radić was sentenced to four months in prison which he served in Petrinja
Petrinja
Petrinja is a city in central Croatia near Sisak in the historic region of Banovina. The city belongs to Sisak-Moslavina County .- History :The name of Petrinja has its roots in Latin petrus, meaning "stone"...
. He was among a group of students who set fire to the Hungarian tricolour on October 16, 1895 during the visit of Emperor Franz Joseph to Zagreb
1895 visit of Emperor Franz Joseph to Zagreb
The 1895 visit of Emperor Franz Joseph to Zagreb was the Austro-Hungarian leader's visit to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia's capital in mid-October, 1895 to attend the opening of the Croatian National Theatre...
.
Lead up to the first Yugoslavia
After World War I he had opposed merging Croatia with the Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
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...
without guarantees for Croatian autonomy. Radić was selected as a member of the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. On the November 24, 1918 he famously urged delegates attending a session that would decide the country's political future not to "rush like drunken geese into fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
". He was the lone member of the National Council's central committee to vote against sending a delegation to Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
to negotiate 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...
. On November 26, he was removed from the central committee.
Under the pressure from the Great powers (British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, France, United States), as well as honouring the secret deals that were struck between 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....
and 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...
, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was established and two representatives of Radić's party (by then named the Croatian Common-people Peasant Party) were appointed to the Provisional Representation which served as a parliament until elections for the Constituent could be held. The party's representatives, however, decided not to take their seats.
Arrest
On 8 March 1919 the central committee passed a resolution penned by Radić that declared "Croatian citizens do not recognize the so called Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes under the Karađorđević dynasty because this kingdom was proclaimed other than by the Croatian Sabor and without any mandate of the Croatian People." The full statement was included in a Memorandum which was translated into French and sent abroad to be addressed to the Paris Peace ConferenceParis Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
. This act provoked a decision by the government to arrest Radić along with several other party members.
He was to be held some 11 months until February 1920, just before the first parliamentary elections of the Kingdom of SHS, which were held in November. The result of the November was 230,590 votes, which equaled to 50 seats in the parliament out of 419. On November 8, before the first sitting of parliament, Radić held a massive rally
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
in front of 100,000 people in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. Stjepan Radić and the CCPP held an extraordinary meeting, in which a motion was put forward and voted on that the party will not be part of parliamentary discussions before matters are first resolved with Serbia on the matters of governance, the most sticking issues being the minorisation of the Croatian people and the overt powers of the King with the central government in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. The party was subsequently renamed to the Croatian Republican Peasant Party, highlighting the party's official stance. On November 11, ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia
Ban of Croatia was the title of local rulers and after 1102 viceroys of Croatia. From earliest periods of Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Bans as a rulers representative and supreme military commander. In the 18th century, Croatian bans eventually become chief government officials in...
Matko Laginja
Matko Laginja
Matko Laginja , was a Croatian lawyer and politician.He earned a doctorate in law in Graz...
was dismissed by the cabinet of Milenko Radomar Vesnić for allowing the rally to take place.
The new Constitution
On 12 December 1920, the Parliament of SHS had their first sitting, without the representatives of CPP (50 representatives) and the Croatian Party of Rights (2 representatives). On the 28th of June 1921, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Vidovdanski ustav, or VidovdanVidovdan
-See also:*Divinity*Daeva*Deva *Vidovdan...
Constitution)was made law after a vote of 223 representatives out of the present 285, the total number representatives in the parliament being 419, which is only 53.2% of the possible votes, or if looked at the number of present representatives it is a more impressive 78.24%. The representatives turnout and subsequent vote is quite poor considering that it was a constitutive parliament, which was supposed to have created the new constitution.
In the next parliamentary elections, which were held in March 1923, the stance of Stjepan Radić and the CPP against the central government managed to turn into extra votes. The results of the election were, 70 seats or 473.733 votes, which represented the majority of the Croatian vote in Northern and Southern parts of Croatia, as well as the Croatian votes in Bosnia, as well as Herzegovina.
Again imprisoned
Radić still held on to the idea of an independent Croatia, and kept the party out of parliament in protest. This in effect afforded Serbian prime minister Nikola PašićNikola Pašic
Nikola P. Pašić was a Serbian 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...
the opportunity to consolidate power and strengthen his Serb-dominated government. Returning from an unsanctioned overseas trip in 1923 in which Stjepan Radić visited England (for 5 months), Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
(5 months) and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
(2 months). upon his return in 1924, Radić was arrested in Zagreb and sentenced for associating with Soviet Communists and imprisoned. The trip was used for the purpose of internationalising the plight of Croatians in the Kingdom of SHS.
After his release, Stjepan Radić soon reentered politics, but this was not without problems. On 23 December, the Serb dominated central government declared that the political party CRPP was in contravention of the Internal security law of 1921 in the infamous Obznana declaration, and this was confirmed by King Alexander on 1 January 1924, thus arresting the CRPP executive on 2 January 1925, and finally arresting Stjepan Radić on 5 January.
After the parliamentary elections in February 1925, the CRPP even with its whole executive team behind bars, and with only Stjepan Radić at its helm, CRPP managed to win 67 parliamentary with at total of 532,872 votes. Even though the vote count was higher than the previous election, the gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
by the central government ensured that CRPP received less parliamentary seats. In order to increase his negotiating power the CRPP entered into a coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
with the Independent Democratic party
Independent Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)
The Independent Democratic Party was a social liberal political party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was established by Svetozar Pribićević as a breakaway faction of the Democratic Party in 1924...
(Samostalna Demokratska Stranka), Slovenian People's Party
Slovenian People's Party
The Slovenian People's Party is a rural-based conservative political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first non-Communist political organization in Yugoslavia, it merged with the Slovene Christian Democrats to form the present-day party in 2000...
(Slovenska Ljudska Stranka) and the Yugoslav Muslim Organization
Yugoslav Muslim Organization
Yugoslav Muslim Organization was a Bosnian Muslim political party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in Sarajevo on February 16, 1919 and was led by Mehmed Spaho. In election campaigns the JMO did mobilize on religious slogans rather than Bosnian nationality, calling...
(Jugoslavenska Muslimanska Organizacija).
Return to the parliament
Immediately after the parliamentary elections in March 1925, the CRPP changed the party name to Croatian Peasant PartyCroatian 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...
(Hrvatska seljačka stranka). With the backing of the coalition partners, the CPP made an agreement with the major conservative Serbian party - 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...
(Narodna radikalna stranka), in which a powersharing arrangement was struck, as well as a deal to release the CPP executive from jail. The CPP had to make certain concessions like recognising the central government and the rule of the monarch, as well as the Vidovdan constitution in front of the full parliament on 27 March 1925. Stjepan Radić was made the Minister for Education, whereas other CPP party members obtained ministerial posts: Pavle Radić, dr. Nikola Nikić, dr. Benjamin Šuperina and dr. Ivan Krajač. This powersharing arrangement was cut short after the passing away of the president of the Peoples Radical Party, Nikola Pašić
Nikola Pašic
Nikola P. Pašić was a Serbian 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...
, on 10 December 1925.
Radić soon resigned his ministerial post in 1926 and returned to the opposition, and in 1927 entered into a coalition with Svetozar Pribićević
Svetozar Pribicevic
Svetozar Pribićević was an ethnic Serb politician from Croatia who worked hard for creation of unitaristic Yugoslavia. However, he later became a bitter opponent of the same policy and of the dictatorship of king Aleksandar Karađorđević...
, president of the Independent Democratic Party
Independent Democratic Party
Independent Democratic Party may refer to:*Democratic Party *Independent Democratic Party of Russia*Independent Democratic Party...
, a leading party of the Serbs in Croatia. The Peasant-Democrat coalition had a real chance to end the Radicals' long-time stranglehold control of the Parliament. Previously they had long been opponents, but the Democrats became disillusioned with the Belgrade bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
and restored good relations with the Peasant Party with which they were allies in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With this arrangement, Stjepan Radić managed to obtain a parliamentary majority in 1928. However, he was not able to form a government. The Peasant-Democrat coalition was opposed by some of the Croatia
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 elite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
, like Ivo Andrić
Ivo Andric
Ivan "Ivo" Andrić was a Yugoslav novelist, short story writer, and the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under the Ottoman Empire...
, who even regarded the followers of the CPP as "...fools following a blind dog..." (the blind dog being Stjepan Radić).
In his elder days, Radić was nearly blind.
Assassination in the parliament
With the power of the Radical Party now weakened, and the Peasant-Democratic coalition not being able to form a government, the environment in the parliament had become increasingly unstable, contentious and provocational on ethnic lines. Provocations and accusations flew on both sides, in one such session Radić answered one of the provocations with the following:"Our Serbian friends are always reminding us of the price they paid in the war. I would like to invite them to tabulate the costs, so we may square accounts and be on our way.". Death threat
Death threat
A death threat is a threat of death, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion...
s and threats of violent beatings were made against Stjepan Radić in parliament, without any intervention by the president of the Assembly (Parliamentary speaker). On the morning of 20 June 1928, Radić was warned of the danger of an assassination attempt against him and was begged to stay away from the Assembly for that day. He replied that he was like a soldier in war, in the trenches and as such it was his duty to go but he nevertheless promised not to utter a single word.
In the Assembly
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....
, Puniša Račić
Puniša Racic
Puniša Račić was a Montenegrin Serb politician, a member of the Yugoslav Parliament from the People's Radical Party, who assassinated Pavle Radić and Đuro Basariček, Croatian Peasant Party representatives, mortally wounded Stjepan Radić, leader of Croatian Peasant Party at the time and wounded...
, a member of 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...
from Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, got up and made a provocative speech which produced a stormy reaction from the opposition but Radić himself stayed completely silent. Finally, Ivan Pernar
Ivan Pernar
Ivan Pernar was a Croatian politician of the Croatian Peasant Party . He was a member of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes....
shouted, "thou plundered bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
s" (referring to accusations of corruption related to him). At this, Puniša Račić drew out a revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
, shot Pernar and went on to shoot Radić and several other CPP delegates. Radić was left for dead and indeed had such a serious stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
wound that he died several weeks later at the age of 57. His funeral was officiated by archbishop Antun Bauer of Zagreb. His burial was massively attended and his death was seen as causing a permanent rift in Croat-Serb relations in the old Yugoslavia.
What exactly happened to Puniša Račić is still contested. One version (conservative) states that he was sentenced to 20 years of house arrest and later pardoned by the Serb authorities while another (communist) contends that he was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour and freed by the invading Nazis in WWII. He led a usual life during the Nazi occupation of Serbia and was captured and killed by Communist partisans in 1945 or 1946.
Following the political crisis triggered by the shooting, in January 1929, King Aleksandar Karađorđević
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...
abolished the constitution, dissolved parliament, and declared a royal dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
, changing the country into the first Yugoslavia and oppressing national sentiments.
Radić is buried in the Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb.
Legacy
Radić's violent death turned him into a martyr and he was turned into an icon of political struggle for the peasantry and the working class, as well as an icon of Croatian patriots. The iconography of Stjepan Radić was later used not only by his successor Vladko MačekVladko 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...
, but also by other political options in Croatia: right wing or left wing.
The Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
used the death of Stjepan Radić as proof of Serbian hegemony, and as an excuse for their treatment of Serbs, however many leading CPP figures were imprisoned or killed by the Ustashe to whome they were political opponents. The Partisans
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
on the other hand, used this as a recruiting point with CPP members who were disillusioned with the Independent State of 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...
, and latter had one brigade named after Antun and Stjepan Radić in 1943.
The image of Stjepan Radić was used extensively during the Croatian Spring
Croatian Spring
The Croatian Spring was a political movement from the early 1970s that called for greater rights for Croatia which was then part of Yugoslavia as well as democratic and economic reforms.-History:...
movement in the early 1970s. There are many folk groups, clubs, primary and secondary schools which bear the name of Stjepan Radić. Many Croatian cities have streets, squares in his name and statues of Stjepan Radić are common. His portrait is depicted on the obverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
of the Croatian 200 kuna
Croatian kuna
The kuna is the currency of Croatia since 1994 . It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Monetary Institute....
banknote, issued in 1993 and 2002.
In 1997, a poll in Croatian weekly Nacional
Nacional (weekly)
Nacional is a Croatian weekly newsmagazine published in Zagreb.-History:Nacional was started in 1995 by Denis Kuljiš, Ivo Pukanić and other journalists dissatisfied with the editorial policies of Croatian weekly newspaper Globus. Both publications were hostile to the ruling HDZ government...
named Stjepan Radić as the most admired Croatian historic personality.
