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Slobodan Bjelica, PhD
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad
Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia

 

DISPUTES OVER THE AUTONOMY OF VOJVODINA FROM THE CREATION TO THE BREAKUP OF YUGOSLAVIA

Vol. XXXVIII, 1/2020, pp. 147–162
https://doi.org/10.29362/ist20veka.2020.1.bje.147-162

 

ABSTRACT/RESUME:

The idea of an autonomous region of Vojvodina had its origins in Serbian political thought and the new political, demographic and cultural circumstances and opportunities which emerged in the early 20th century. In a self-proclaimed effort to break with the complex problems of the past and take into account the particularities of local history, ethnic structure, and cultural distinctiveness, the communist authorities of Yugoslavia awarded territorial autonomy to Vojvodina in the aftermath of World War II. In socialist Yugoslavia in the 1960s there were constitutional reforms whose goal was to establish new relations between the republics and the federal state and, in particular, between the autonomous provinces and the Republic of Serbia. Just as the reforms of the federal Constitution took place as a sign of conflict between two concepts, so the future standing of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina provoked expert polemics between the prominent Serbian and Vojvodina officials. The reasons for this were dual: the state of the economy of Vojvodina and its position in the ensuing revision of the federal Constitution. After years of the constitutional reform process, which led to federal, republic, and provincial constitutions in 1974, the Yugoslav communist leadership declared a transition to a new phase of the construction of socialism. However, vagueness or incorrect interpretations of some constitutional provisions caused problems in the political system, primarily within the Republic of Serbia. Frequent disagreements with provincial leaderships prompted the republican leadership to raise the question of Serbia’s constitutional status. A top-secret document, the so-called “Blue Book”, analyzed the constitutional and legal position of the republic and its provinces, with a negative statement. The “Blue Book” was met with a negative reaction in the provinces, and after President Tito’s intervention, the republic authorities suffered a defeat. But after Tito’s death and the massive Albanian demonstrations in Kosovo in 1981, the Serbian leadership reopened the issue of Kosovo’s and Vojvodina’s position in Serbia. The Vojvodina communists opposed the intentions of the Serbian authorities, and the dispute ended in 1988, when the so-called anti-bureaucratic revolution came to pass.

 

KEYWORDS: Autonomy, Serbia, Vojvodina, Yugoslavia

 

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