Misplaced Pages

#739260

83-745: Formed during World War II in Yugoslavia on territories controlled by the Yugoslav Partisans , at different times it was named Partisan Guard , Peasant Guard , People's Defence etc. In 1944 it was named People's Militia , and in 1966 Militia . The duties of the Militia included protecting the life and personal liberty of citizens, public and private property, maintaining public order and peace, public safety, preventing violations of public order, investigating criminal cases and neutralizing criminals, as well as other duties provided by Yugoslav laws. The Militia

166-648: A CRB diversionary group (known as the Bugojno group ) penetrated the Yugoslav territory. In this regard, in 1972, 1977 and 1979 laws were passed on the formation of militarized police task forces and the first special forces of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs. In this regard, the former rank insignia corresponding to the functions and responsibilities were replaced with a new police rank system. Differences in funding and decentralization led to large differences in

249-720: A Communist propaganda network in Sisak and nearby villages. At the same time, the CPY's Provincial Committee for Serbia made its decision to launch an armed uprising in Serbia and put together its Supreme Staff of the National Liberation Partisan Units of Yugoslavia to be chaired by Josip Broz Tito . On 4 July, a formal order to begin the uprising was issued. On 7 July, the Bela Crkva incident happened, which would later be considered

332-679: A bounty of 100,000 Reichsmarks offered by Germans for their heads. While "officially" remaining mortal enemies of the Germans and the Ustaše, the Chetniks were known for making clandestine deals with the Italians. The Second Enemy Offensive was a coordinated Axis attack conducted in January 1942 against Partisan forces in eastern Bosnia. The Partisan troops once again avoided encirclement and were forced to retreat over

415-1217: A cavalry regiment in Zagreb and an independent cavalry battalion at Sarajevo . Two independent motorized infantry battalions were based at Zagreb and Sarajevo respectively. Several regiments of Ustaše militia were also formed at this time, which operated under a separate command structure to, and independently from, the Croatian Home Guard, until late 1944. The Home Guard crushed the Serb revolt in Eastern Herzegovina in June 1941, and in July they fought in Eastern and Western Bosnia. They fought in Eastern Herzegovina again, when Croatian-Dalmatian and Slavonian battalions reinforced local units. The Italian High Command assigned 24 divisions and three coastal brigades to occupation duties in Yugoslavia from 1941. These units were located from Slovenia, Croatia and Dalmatia through to Montenegro and Kosovo. From 1931 to 1939,

498-733: A few days after the founding of the NDH. The force was formed with the authorisation of German authorities. The task of the new Croatian armed forces was to defend the new state against both foreign and domestic enemies. The Croatian Home Guard was originally limited to 16 infantry battalions and 2 cavalry squadrons – 16,000 men in total. The original 16 battalions were soon enlarged to 15 infantry regiments of two battalions each between May and June 1941, organised into five divisional commands, some 55,000 enlisted men. Support units included 35 light tanks supplied by Italy, 10 artillery battalions (equipped with captured Royal Yugoslav Army weapons of Czech origin),

581-662: A modern war fought in circumstances quite similar to those found in World War II Yugoslavia. In Slovenia, the Partisans likewise drew on the experienced TIGR members to train troops. Their other major advantage, which became more apparent in the later stages of the War, was in the Partisans being founded on a communist ideology rather than ethnicity . Therefore, they won support that crossed national lines, meaning they could expect at least some levels of support in almost any corner of

664-739: A multi-side civil war was waged between the Yugoslav communist Partisans, the Serbian royalist Chetniks , the Axis-allied Croatian Ustaše and Home Guard , Serbian Volunteer Corps and State Guard , Slovene Home Guard , as well as Nazi-allied Russian Protective Corps troops. Both the Yugoslav Partisans and the Chetnik movement initially resisted the Axis invasion. However, after 1941, Chetniks extensively and systematically collaborated with

747-608: A new Basic Law on Internal Affairs was adopted. This led to the breaking of the entire unified system of state security of SFR Yugoslavia. From then on, the Public Security Service and the State Security Service were engaged in internal affairs. The first group consisted of the People's Militia, in charge of fight against crime, traffic security and the protection of borders. The People's Militia began to be called simply

830-509: A nickel-plated badge. Equipment and weapons were diverse: the officers used both captured and lend-leased equipment. In 1956, the first Law on the Organs of Internal Affairs was adopted in the framework of decentralization. A significant part of internal affairs was placed at the disposal of autonomous republics and administrative-territorial units. The 1963 Yugoslav Constitution and the Basic Law on

913-740: A treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia (prior to 22 June 1941 , Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia adhered to the non-aggression pact the parties had signed in August 1939 and in the autumn 1940, Germany and the Soviet Union had been in talks on the USSR's potential accession to the Tripartite Pact ). Having steadily fallen within the orbit of the Axis during 1940 after events such as the Second Vienna Award , Yugoslavia followed Bulgaria and formally joined

SECTION 10

#1733086023740

996-411: The 1974 Yugoslav Constitution and new laws the process of decentralization of the Militia stopped. The republican and provincial secretariats were engaged in equipment and armament. The bodies of SAP Vojvodina and SAP Kosovo worked on the basis of provincial laws, although both regions were part of SR Serbia . Unlike other security services, whose responsibility included only republics and provinces,

1079-570: The 1st Proletarian Assault Brigade ( 1. Proleterska Udarna Brigada ) – the first regular Partisan military unit capable of operating outside its local area. 22 December became the "Day of the Yugoslav People's Army ". On 15 January 1942, the Bulgarian 1st Army , with three infantry divisions, transferred to south-eastern Serbia. Headquartered at Niš , it replaced German divisions needed in Croatia and

1162-671: The Croatian Littoral and large chunks of the coastal Dalmatia region (along with nearly all of the Adriatic islands and the Bay of Kotor ). It also gained control over the Italian governorate of Montenegro , and was granted the kingship in the Independent State of Croatia, though wielding little real power within it; although it did (alongside Germany) maintain a de facto zone of influence within

1245-477: The Igman mountain near Sarajevo. The Third Enemy Offensive , an offensive against Partisan forces in eastern Bosnia, Montenegro , Sandžak and Herzegovina which took place in the spring of 1942, was known as Operation TRIO by the Germans, and again ended with a timely Partisan escape. Over the course of the summer, they conducted the so-called Partisan Long March westwards through Bosnia and Herzegovina, while at

1328-519: The Independent State of Croatia (NDH) proclaimed on 10 April, which extended over much of today's Croatia and contained all of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina , despite the fact that the Treaties of Rome concluded between the NDH and Italy on 18 May envisioned the NDH becoming an effective protectorate of Italy. Mussolini's Italy gained the remainder of Slovenia, Kosovo , coastal and inland areas of

1411-470: The Italian occupation forces until the Italian capitulation , and thereon also with German and Ustaše forces. The Axis mounted a series of offensives intended to destroy the Partisans, coming close to doing so in the Battles of Neretva and Sutjeska in the spring and summer of 1943. Despite the setbacks, the Partisans remained a credible fighting force, with their organisation gaining recognition from

1494-577: The Serbian parliament . The Yugoslav Federal Constitution of 1974 confirmed and strengthened the principles of the Yugoslav Federal Constitution Amendments of 1971, which introduced a concept that sovereign rights were exercised by the federal units, and that the federation had only the authority specifically transferred to it by the constitution. The constitution also proclaimed Josip Broz Tito president for life . Adoption of

1577-771: The Western Allies at the Tehran Conference and laying the foundations for the post-war Yugoslav socialist state. With support in logistics and air power from the Western Allies, and Soviet ground troops in the Belgrade offensive , the Partisans eventually gained control of the entire country and of the border regions of Trieste and Carinthia . The victorious Partisans established the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . The conflict in Yugoslavia had one of

1660-577: The Yugoslav Assembly the power to determine alterations in the state's boundaries. It was not clearly defined whether unilateral secession was possible or whether this could only be done if the federal government and all of the republics and provinces agreed to it. Out of all constituencies, the SR Serbia had the most comments on the state organization under the 1974 Constitution, which was natural given its territorial structure. Initially, it requested

1743-566: The breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, 13 May was commemorated as the Security Day. The training of first members of the Militia began immediately after the liberation of Belgrade : initially, the officers of the Militia patrolled the streets, served as guards and guides, and they were assigned goals and objectives by members of the KNOJ and the commanders of the Yugoslav Army. The officers of

SECTION 20

#1733086023740

1826-452: The president of the League of Communists . The 1974 Constitution also expanded protection of individual rights and court procedures, with the all-purpose caveat that no citizen could use those freedoms to disrupt the prescribed social system. Finally, Kosovo and Vojvodina , the two constituent provinces of Serbia , received substantially increased autonomy, including de facto veto power in

1909-501: The unity promoted by the South Slavic state , two different concepts of anti-Axis resistance emerged: the royalist Chetniks , and the communist -led Partisans . Two of the principal constituent national groups, Slovenes and Croats, were not prepared to fight in defense of a Yugoslav state with a continued Serb monarchy . The only effective opposition to the invasion was from units wholly from Serbia itself. The Serbian General Staff

1992-600: The Axis on cooperation with as few concessions as possible, while attempting secret negotiations with the Allies and the Soviet Union, but these moves failed to keep the country out of the war. A secret mission to the U.S., led by the influential Serbian-Jewish Captain David Albala , with the purpose of obtaining funding to buy arms for the expected invasion went nowhere, while the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin expelled Yugoslav ambassador Milan Gavrilović just one month after agreeing

2075-633: The Axis; Serbian public and military circles preferred alliance with the Western European empires, while the then-banned Communist Party of Yugoslavia saw the Soviet Union as a natural ally. Following the fall of France in May 1940, Yugoslavia's Regent Prince Paul and his government saw no way of saving the Kingdom of Yugoslavia except through accommodation with the Axis powers. Although Germany's Adolf Hitler

2158-614: The Battle of Neretva and the Battle of Sutjeska after the rivers in the areas they were fought, or the Fourth and Fifth Enemy Offensive, respectively, according to former Yugoslav historiography. On 7 January 1943, the Bulgarian 1st Army also occupied south-west Serbia. Savage pacification measures reduced Partisan activity appreciably. Bulgarian infantry divisions in the Fifth anti-Partisan Offensive blocked

2241-670: The Chetnik army and stated that the National Liberation Movement was an independent movement, with no aid from the Soviet Union or the UK. Somewhat later, Đilas and Velebit were brought to Zagreb to continue the negotiations. In the Fourth Enemy Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Neretva or Fall Weiss (Case White), Axis forces pushed Partisan troops to retreat from western Bosnia to northern Herzegovina, culminating in

2324-469: The Chetniks, a conservative royalist and nationalist force, enjoying support almost exclusively from the Serbian population in occupied Yugoslavia, on the other hand. From the start and until 1943, the Chetniks, who fought in the name of the London-based King Peter II 's Yugoslav government-in-exile, enjoyed recognition and support from the Western Allies, while the Partisans were supported by

2407-532: The Constitution was preceded by significant political events that occurred several years earlier, and that marked the beginning of the federalization of the country. First, in the summer of 1966, Anti-federalization leader Aleksandar Ranković , one of the closest associates of Josip Broz Tito, was removed from all functions. The federalization ideas of Edvard Kardelj won, and thus began a gradual federalization of Yugoslavia. In 1968 and 1971 amendments were adopted to

2490-530: The Constitution, Professor of the Belgrade Law School , Mihailo Đurić was sentenced to prison after the publication of the speech in which he opposed the implementation of the planned constitutional changes. Pointing out that Yugoslavia was becoming just a geographical term, on whose soil under the disguise of consistent development of equality between nations, several independent, even conflicting national states were being established, prof. Đurić warned that

2573-676: The Constitution, no longer only correct interpretation. In early 1987, thanks to the efforts of the Serbian leadership, the Presidency of Yugoslavia initiated the adoption of more than 130 amendments. However, some time later, there was a conflict within the Serbian leadership. At the eighth session of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia in September 1987, the ideas of Slobodan Milošević won, who energetically and strongly demanded

Militia (Yugoslavia) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-469: The Federal Constitution, through which Yugoslav Presidency as a collective leadership body was introduced (1971). Later that year, the republican leadership of SR Croatia was completely dismissed, which propagated their nationalistic politics. And in the autumn of next year (1972), a purge was carried out in the leadership of the SR Serbia . After all that, everything was ready for the adoption of

2739-582: The Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Directorate for State Security (UDBA) was formed. The military structure, uniform form and military ranks were approved. The constitutional reforms of 1953 meant the formal renaming of ministries to the secretariats, and so the Federal Secretariat of the Internal Affairs and the republic-level secretariats of the internal affairs appeared. In the course of

2822-482: The German Wehrmacht and SS , Italy , Chetniks, the Independent State of Croatia, the Serbian collaborationist government, Bulgaria, and Hungary . The First Anti-Partisan Offensive was the attack conducted by the Axis in autumn of 1941 against the " Republic of Užice ", a liberated territory the Partisans established in western Serbia. In November 1941, German troops attacked and reoccupied this territory, with

2905-700: The Joint Secretariat of Internal Affairs, the Inter-municipal Secretariat of Internal Affairs, the Center of Public Security and the Center of Security. At the municipal level, depending on the size of the municipality, there were the Department of Internal Affairs, the station of Militia, the branch of Militia, etc. As a result of the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991–92 and the start of the Yugoslav Wars ,

2988-541: The Militia did not have their own form, the only sign of difference was a stripe in the form of the flag of Yugoslavia with the words "NM" on the red star . According to the 1946 Yugoslav Constitution , the Federal Ministry of the Interior was composed of the People's Militia Directorate, the People's Militia Command, the Public Security Directorate and the State Security Service. After the transfer of OZNA to

3071-402: The Militia, and after a series of changes in personnel and organization, the Militia became part of the Public Security Service. Stripped of its military status, European-styled police ranks were later adopted for the republican force. The first version of the ranks were corresponding to the functions and responsibilities of rank holders. After the 1971 amendments to the Constitution, adoption of

3154-563: The Partisan escape-route from Montenegro into Serbia and also participated in the Sixth anti-Partisan Offensive in Eastern Bosnia. Negotiations between Germans and Partisans started on 11 March 1943 in Gornji Vakuf , Bosnia. Tito's key officers Vladimir Velebit , Koča Popović and Milovan Đilas brought three proposals, first about an exchange of prisoners, second about the implementation of international law on treatment of prisoners and third about political questions. The delegation expressed concerns about Italian involvement in supplying

3237-436: The Partisan retreat over the Neretva river. This took place from January to April, 1943. The Fifth Enemy Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Sutjeska or Fall Schwarz (Case Black), immediately followed the Fourth Offensive and included a complete encirclement of Partisan forces in southeastern Bosnia and northern Montenegro in May and June 1943. In that August of my arrival [1943] there were over 30 enemy divisions on

3320-401: The Service for Internal Affairs of 1964 continued the process of decentralization, forming the basic organs of internal affairs at the municipal level. After the Brijuni plenum of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in 1966, at which Aleksandar Ranković ( Vice President of Yugoslavia and former Federal Minister of the Interior ) was dismissed from his posts,

3403-431: The Soviet Union had prepared communists for a guerrilla war in Yugoslavia. On the eve of the war, hundreds of future prominent Yugoslav communist leaders completed special "partisan courses" organised by the Soviet military intelligence in the Soviet Union and Spain. On the day Germany attacked the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) received orders from Moscow-based Comintern to come to

Militia (Yugoslavia) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-492: The Soviet Union's aid. On the same day, Croatian communists set up the 1st Sisak Partisan Detachment , the first armed anti-fascist resistance unit formed by a resistance movement in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The detachment began resistance activities the day after its creation; launching sabotage and diversionary attacks on nearby railway lines, destroying telegraph poles, attacking municipal buildings in surrounding villages, seizing arms and ammunition and creating

3569-403: The Soviet Union. The Chetniks initially enjoyed the support of the Western Allies (up to the Tehran Conference in December 1943). In 1942, Time Magazine featured an article which praised the "success" of Mihailović's Chetniks and heralded him as the sole defender of freedom in Nazi-occupied Europe. Tito's Partisans fought the Germans more actively during this time. Tito and Mihailović had

3652-438: The Soviet Union. At the very beginning, the Partisan forces were relatively small, poorly armed, and without any infrastructure. But they had two major advantages over other military and paramilitary formations in former Yugoslavia: the first and most immediate advantage was a small but valuable cadre of Spanish Civil War veterans . Unlike some of the other military and paramilitary formations, these veterans had experience with

3735-447: The Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941. Senior Serbian air force officers opposed to the move staged a coup d'état and took over in the following days. On 6 April 1941 the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded from all sides – by Germany, Italy, and their ally Hungary . Belgrade was bombed by the German air force ( Luftwaffe ). The war, known in the post-Yugoslavia states as the April War , lasted little more than ten days, ending with

3818-513: The USSR on 22 June 1941, the communist -led republican Yugoslav Partisans , on orders from Moscow , launched a guerrilla liberation war fighting against the Axis forces and their locally established puppet regimes , including the Axis-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and the Government of National Salvation in the German-occupied territory of Serbia . This was dubbed the National Liberation War and Socialist Revolution in post-war Yugoslav communist historiography. Simultaneously,

3901-422: The Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland, JVUO) was organised following the surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army by some of the remaining Yugoslav soldiers. This force was organised in the Ravna Gora district of western Serbia under Colonel Draža Mihailović in mid-May 1941. However, unlike the Partisans, Mihailović's forces were almost entirely ethnic Serbs. The Partisans and Chetniks attempted to cooperate early during

3984-560: The Yugoslav Army", then "Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland". ^ Casualties in the Balkan area, including Greece, from April 1941 to January 1945 Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Uprisings 1942 1943 1944 1945 World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned among Germany , Italy , Hungary , Bulgaria and their client regimes . Shortly after Germany attacked

4067-412: The activities of the Partisan resistance, and Chetnik units attacked the Partisans in November 1941, while increasingly receiving supplies and cooperating with the Germans and Italians in this. The British liaison to Mihailović advised London to stop supplying the Chetniks after the Užice attack (see First Anti-Partisan Offensive ), but Britain continued to do so. On 22 December 1941 the Partisans formed

4150-408: The beginning of the uprising in Serbia. On 10 August 1941 in Stanulović, a mountain village, the Partisans formed the Kopaonik Partisan Detachment Headquarters. Their liberated area, consisting of nearby villages and called the "Miners Republic", was the first in Yugoslavia, and lasted 42 days. The resistance fighters formally joined the ranks of the Partisans later on. The Chetnik movement (officially

4233-479: The borders of the NDH. Hungary dispatched the Hungarian Third Army to occupy Vojvodina in northern Serbia, and later forcibly annexed sections of Baranja, Bačka, Međimurje, and Prekmurje . The Bulgarian army moved in on 19 April 1941, occupying nearly all of modern-day North Macedonia and some districts of eastern Serbia which, with Greek western Thrace and eastern Macedonia (the Aegean Province), were annexed by Bulgaria on 14 May. The government in exile

SECTION 50

#1733086023740

4316-476: The conflict and Chetniks were active in the uprising in Serbia, but this fell apart thereafter. In September 1941, Partisans organised sabotage at the General Post Office in Zagreb . As the levels of resistance to its occupation grew, the Axis Powers responded with numerous minor offensives. There were also seven major Axis operations specifically aimed at eliminating all or most Yugoslav Partisan resistance. These major offensives were typically combined efforts by

4399-438: The country liberated by the Partisans. In places, even limited arms industries were set up. To gather intelligence , agents of the Western Allies were infiltrated into both the Partisans and the Chetniks. The intelligence gathered by liaisons to the resistance groups was crucial to the success of supply missions and was the primary influence on Allied strategy in the Yugoslavia . The search for intelligence ultimately resulted in

4482-418: The country, unlike other paramilitary formations limited to territories with Croat or Serb majority. This allowed their units to be more mobile and fill their ranks with a larger pool of potential recruits. While the activity of the Macedonian and Slovene Partisans was part of the Yugoslav People's Liberation War, the specific conditions in Macedonia and Slovenia, due to the strong autonomist tendencies of

4565-490: The decline of the Chetniks and their eclipse by Tito's Partisans. In 1942, though supplies were limited, token support was sent equally to each. In November 1942, Partisan detachments were officially merged into the People's Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia ( NOV i POJ ). In the first half of 1943 two Axis offensives came close to defeating the Partisans. They are known by their German code names Fall Weiss (Case White) and Fall Schwarz (Case Black) , as

4648-402: The demilitarization of the Federal Secretariat, UDBA ceased to be a militarized unit, the operational units of the KNOJ were disbanded, and their tasks fell on the border guard units the Yugoslav People's Army and the People's Militia. In the People's Militia, the system of insignia changed, the officers were allowed to wear civilian clothes outside the service, and service numbers were depicted on

4731-421: The federal government to convince the province to properly interpret the Constitution, according to which Serbia was still a sovereign republic with an appropriate degree of autonomy for its provinces. However, after Kardelj's (1979) and Tito's death (1980) it was more and more difficult to arbitrate in disputes between the republics and provinces. In the mid-1980s, the Serbian leadership was requesting amendments to

4814-416: The highest death tolls by population in the war, and is usually estimated at around one million, about half of whom were civilians. Genocide and ethnic cleansing was carried out by the Axis forces (particularly the Wehrmacht ) and their collaborators (particularly the Ustaše and Chetniks), and reprisal actions from the Partisans became more frequent towards the end of the war, and continued after it. Prior to

4897-401: The latter groups would elect the members of the two equal components of the Federal Assembly, the Federal Chamber and the Chamber of Republics and Provinces. Although the new constitution dealt with the codification of the socio-economic system towards the achievements of the theory of self-management socialism to a greater extent, the most controversial and historical consequences arose from

4980-422: The local communists, led to the creation of separate sub-armies called the People's Liberation Army of Macedonia , and the Slovene Partisans led by the Liberation Front of the Slovene People , respectively. The most numerous local force, apart from the four second-line German Wehrmacht infantry divisions assigned to occupation duties, was the Croatian Home Guard ( Hrvatsko domobranstvo ) founded in April 1941,

5063-458: The majority of Partisan forces escaping towards Bosnia . It was during this offensive that tenuous collaboration between the Partisans and the royalist Chetnik movement broke down and turned into open hostility. After fruitless negotiations, the Chetnik leader, General Mihailović, turned against the Partisans as his main enemy. According to him, the reason was humanitarian: the prevention of German reprisals against Serbs. This however, did not stop

SECTION 60

#1733086023740

5146-420: The meantime, the other Yugoslav republics had started removing the 1974 constitution. Slovenia first removed the prefix "socialist" from the name of the republic in March 1990, and at the same time adopted a series of amendments that removed the socialist arrangement. In Croatia , after the victory of the HDZ ( Franjo Tuđman ), adopted amendments in 1990 which also removed the prefix "socialist" and changed

5229-453: The new Federal Constitution. By the words of the Constitution, all power belongs to the "working class and working people". In terms of governmental structure, the provinces within Yugoslavia ( SAP Vojvodina and SAP Kosovo ) have received even greater rights than they had before. Provinces had their state and party Presidencies. Their territory could not be altered without the decision of the Provincial Assembly, provincial governments even got

5312-433: The organization of the Militia and the organs of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the federal level there was the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the republican and provincial levels there were, respectively, republican and provincial secretariats of internal affairs. At the regional level (depending on whether it was a republic or a province) there were different bodies: the Secretariat of Internal Affairs,

5395-405: The outbreak of war, the government of Milan Stojadinović (1935–1939) tried to navigate between the Axis powers and the imperial powers by seeking neutral status, signing a non-aggression treaty with Italy and extending its treaty of friendship with France . At the same time, the country was destabilized by internal tensions, as Croatian leaders demanded a greater level of autonomy. Stojadinović

5478-422: The people of the country. Partisan numbers were liable to increase rapidly. 1974 Yugoslav Constitution The 1974 Yugoslav Constitution was the fourth and final constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . It came into effect on 21 February 1974. With 406 original articles, the 1974 constitution was one of the longest constitutions in the world. It added elaborate language protecting

5561-443: The proposed constitutional changes not only fundamentally change the character of the former state union of the Yugoslav nations, but rejects the very idea of such a state community. Stressing that if something would be left from the state, it is only because in the next phase of changes we had something to bring to an end. The introductory part of the 1974 Constitution presents 10 basic principles: Previous constitutions had granted

5644-465: The public security services acted in the concept of public self-defense and a fragmented security system. In essence, relations between the federal, republican and provincial departments of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs were based on the principles of agreements, assistance and cooperation in work, and not on hierarchical principles with subordination. Such a decentralized system with non-professional elements in 1972 showed all its weakness, when

5727-445: The regulations of the Constitution about the state organization of Yugoslavia, which were later used as the legal basis for the breakup of Yugoslavia and differently interpreted by the warring parties during the armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia. The new Constitution also reduced the Federal Presidency from twenty-three to nine members, with equal representation for each republic and province and an ex-officio position for

5810-413: The repeal of the Constitution of 1974. At the end of 1988 there was a shift of complete leadership in both provinces, and in the spring of 1989 amendments to the Constitution of Serbia were adopted, which significantly narrowed the powers and rights of the provinces. The final repeal of the constitutional provisions of 1974 in Serbia took place in September 1990, when it adopted a brand new constitution. In

5893-404: The republics the constitutional right to self-determination, including a right to secede. In the 1974 Constitution, these rights belonged to the "nations of Yugoslavia." At the same time, the constitution included a number of provisions that could deny the right to secede. Article 5 required the consent of all republics and provinces before the borders of Yugoslavia could be altered. Article 283 gave

5976-562: The right to veto decisions of the authorities in Serbia. Josip Broz Tito , president of Yugoslavia, was named President for Life of Yugoslavia in the Constitution. He was also the President of the Republic and President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia. After his death, all his functions would be transferred to the Presidency of Yugoslavia . During the public discussion on the proposed changes to

6059-568: The same time the Axis conducted the Kozara Offensive in northwestern Bosnia. The Partisans fought an increasingly successful guerrilla campaign against the Axis occupiers and their local collaborators , including the Chetniks (which they also considered collaborators). They enjoyed gradually increased levels of success and support of the general populace, and succeeded in controlling large chunks of Yugoslav territory. People's committees were organised to act as civilian governments in areas of

6142-516: The self-management system from state interference and expanding representation of republics and provinces in all electoral and policy forums. The Constitution called the restructured Federal Assembly the highest expression of the self-management system. Accordingly, it prescribed a complex electoral procedure for that body, beginning with the local labor and political organizations. Those bodies were to elect commune-level assemblies, which then would elect assemblies at province and republic level; finally,

6225-422: The territory of Jugoslavia, as well as a large number of satellite and police formations of Ustashe and Domobrani (military formations of the puppet Croat State), German Sicherheitsdienst, chetniks, Neditch militia, Ljotitch militia, and others. The partisan movement may have counted up to 150,000 fighting men and women (perhaps five per cent women) in close and inextricable co-operation with several million peasants,

6308-564: The unconditional surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army on 17 April. Not only hopelessly ill-equipped compared to the German Army ( Heer ), the Yugoslav army attempted to defend all of its borders, thinly spreading its scarce resources. Additionally, much of the population refused to fight, instead welcoming the Germans as liberators from government oppression. As this meant that each individual ethnic group would turn to movements opposed to

6391-571: The unified Militia of SFR Yugoslavia ceased to exist and separate police forces were established in each of the former Yugoslav republics. World War II in Yugoslavia Yugoslav Partisan – Allied victory ^ Axis puppet regime established on occupied Yugoslav territory ^ Initially a resistance movement. Engaged in collaboration with Axis forces from mid-1942 onward, lost official Allied support in 1943. Full names: initially "Chetnik Detachments of

6474-417: Was armed with high-quality small arms and equipped with the latest technical equipment and uniforms. The organization of the Militia and the activities of its employees complied with the principles of workers' self-management . Unlike the Yugoslavia's military , the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), the Militia was organized in a decentralized way, on a territorial basis. The structure of the Militia formations

6557-613: Was as follows: branch – sector – platoon – company – battalion – detachment – brigade. The Militia carried out cooperation with the JNA and its military police ; in the event of war, the Militia was part of the Territorial Defense . On 13 May 1944 the Department for Protection of the People ( OZNA ) was established, and on 15 August 1944, the People's Defence Corps of Yugoslavia (KNOJ) was formed, which represented operational units of OZNA. Until

6640-564: Was not particularly interested in creating another front in the Balkans , and Yugoslavia itself remained at peace during the first year of the war, Benito Mussolini 's Italy had invaded Albania in April 1939 and launched the rather unsuccessful Italo-Greek War in October 1940. These events resulted in Yugoslavia's geographical isolation from potential Allied support. The government tried to negotiate with

6723-453: Was now only recognized by the Allied powers. The Axis had recognized the territorial acquisitions of their allied states. From the start, the Yugoslav resistance forces consisted of two factions: the Partisans, a communist-led movement propagating pan-Yugoslav tolerance (" brotherhood and unity ") and incorporating republican, left-wing and liberal elements of Yugoslav politics, on one hand, and

6806-512: Was sacked by the regent Prince Paul in 1939 and replaced by Dragiša Cvetković , who negotiated a compromise with Croatian leader Vladko Maček in 1939, resulting in the formation of the Banovina of Croatia . However, rather than reducing tensions, the agreement only reinforced the crisis in the country's governance. Groups from both sides of the political spectrum were not satisfied: the pro-fascist Ustaše sought an independent Croatia allied with

6889-472: Was united on the question of Yugoslavia as a "Greater Serbia" ruled, in one way or another, by Serbia. On the eve of the invasion, there were 165 generals on the Yugoslav active list. Of these, all but four were Serbs. The terms of the surrender were extremely severe, as the Axis proceeded to dismember Yugoslavia. Germany annexed northern Slovenia , while retaining direct occupation over a rump Serbian state . Germany also exercised considerable influence over

#739260