PRILOZI CONTRIBUTIONS - Institut za istoriju Sarajevo

Željko Karaula, Hrvatska (Republikanska) seljačka stranka (HRSS) Stjepana Radića
i crnogorski federalisti (1923. - 1929.)
Prilozi, 36, Sarajevo, 2007, str. 69-96.
CROATIAN (REPUBLICAN) PEASANT PARTY (HRSS) OF STJEPAN
RADIĆ AND MONTENEGRIN FEDERALISTS (1923-1929)
96
Željko Karaula
Summary
The political scene in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians was, from the
very beginning, burdened with the issue of the structure of their state, with two camps
that were immediately formed: one that advocated the centralist structure of the state
and Yugoslav integralism, and, another, that insisted that a more just solution would
be the federal structure of the state. However, unable to achieve any compromise,
the Serb ruling elite imposed the so-called St. Vitus Day (Vidovdanski) Constitution in
1921 in the parliament that proclaimed the centralist set-up of the country. From that
moment onwards, there were confrontations between these two political camps, one
that wanted to change the system; and another, that did everything in its power to maintain
the system that suited their interests so well. The delegates of HRSS, the strongest
Croatian political party, announced that they would not recognise the octroyed Constitution,
and that its delegates refuse to sit in that Parliament. In their struggle to force the
Serb ruling elite to revise the St. Vitus Day Constitution, Stjepan Radić began turning
to all the internal allies (as well as international factors), who stood on similar platform,
and who could be of help to him. Among them was the Montenegrin Federalist Party,
in particular one of its leaders, Sekula Drljević, who also advocated federal restructuring
of the country, where Montenegro, as a historic unit, would have a proper place.
Upon their initial display of political sympathies, this collaboration intensified after
1925, when HSS recognised the St. Vitus Day Constitution and the structure of the state,
while, at the same time, thanks to its political evolution, it tried to act in a broader
“Yugoslav framework” and in the regions beyond the “across-the-border lands”, with
the aim of transforming the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians into a democratic
state in which both Serb and Croatian peasants could find their common interest.
However, their policy of renaming the HSS Party into NSS outside of Croatia and the
pre-election ran campaign in Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, which was particularly
advocated and worked on by one of the Montenegrin leaders, Sekula Drljević failed
and ended up with the drop of those who voted for HSS - even in Croatia. The assassination
of Croat delegates in the Belgrade Parliament was strongly condemned by
the leadership of Montenegrin federalists who joined the Peasant-Democratic coalition
and followed its policy until the 6 th January dictatorship imposed by King Alexander,
when all political activities, those of political parties included, were prohibited.