Congress of Ba

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The Congress of Ba , euphemically St. Sava Congress , officially Kongres predstavnika ravnogorskog pokreta, političkih stranaka, nacionalnih organizacija i ustanova i javnih radnika (Congress of representatives of the Ravna Gora movement , political parties, national organizations and institutions and public workers ), was from 25. bis 28. January 1944 in the village of Ba (in Ravna Gora in western Serbia held). In response to the AVNOJ resolutions of 1943 , the Congress was supposed to discuss the future structure of Yugoslavia after the Second World War . The relationship between Serbian and non-Serbian delegates (274 Serbs , 2 Croats , 1 Slovenian , 1 Muslim ) was an unmistakable indication of the credibility of the congress for the other peoples of Yugoslavia.

development

In contrast to the AVNOJ resolutions, a wide variety of parties and views met. As a common guideline, it was decided that Yugoslavia should be reorganized as a confederative state and parliamentary monarchy . Congress is seen as a response to the AVNOJ resolutions.

The village of Ba, which was under the control of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland, was chosen as the venue for the congress . The village personally selected Dragoljub Mihailović . The village offered good protection against surprise attacks, the village was also one of the richer and was able to contribute to the livelihood of the MPs. The commander of the first Ravna Gora corps, Zvonimir Vučković , was appointed to organize the upcoming congress . The local elementary school Queen Maria was chosen as the building for the congress . The walls inside the school were torn down to create larger rooms. A public tribune for the MPs was built in the direct vicinity of the school. A unit of around 2,000 soldiers was deployed to protect the MPs who moved outside the village. The local youth group organized a costume festival to provide additional cover for the congress. Competitions were held throughout the congress.

Delegates

On January 25, 1944, the delegates of all Yugoslav parties met in the morning, with the exception of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia , the Democratic Party of Milan Grol and the Croatian Peasant Party . A total of 294 MPs from five parties were represented:

Dragoljub Mihailović came in the afternoon accompanied by Stevan Moljević , Commander of the 2nd Ravna Gora Corps Predrag Raković , Lieutenant Colonel Luka Baletić and Major Baja Matrićević and opened the congress.

1 day

The actual meeting started on January 26th. Stevan Moljević opened the meeting as the representative of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland with a lecture ("On the organization of the Yugoslav state after the war"), followed by a lecture ("On the legal and constitutional order of the Yugoslav state") by Živko Topalović as Representatives of all other parties. Dragoljub Mihailović then urged the MPs to find a joint and constructive solution and ended his speech with the words Long live the Yugoslav, democratic nation! Long live Yugoslavia!

2 day

On January 27, the delegates of the Democratic Party (“On the disadvantages of the resolutions of the AVNOJ Congress”), Mustafa Mulatić as the representative of the Muslims , the Slovene Anton Krejčin from Maribor from the Republican Party and the Croat Vladimir Predavec gave their lectures from Zagreb from the Yugoslav National Party. The MPs then withdrew to deliberate on the final vote.

3rd day

On January 28, there was a vote and the so-called resolution of Ba with a total of 18 points, which represented a completely different line than the AVNOJ resolutions. Among other things, it was decided:

  • That the Congress advocates a nationwide renewal of Yugoslavia
  • Yugoslavia should as a parliamentary monarchy, consisting of three federal countries Serbia , Croatia and Slovenia are organized
  • The congress recognized Peter II as monarch under the constitution and the laws of Yugoslavia
  • The Congress strongly condemned the actions of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, which with the AVNOJ resolutions separated itself from the general national line and created a party army with the aim of seizing power and dictatorship in Yugoslavia
  • Congress expressed all its confidence in the people who, in communion with the united peoples and nations of the Allies , would win the war
  • The joint Yugoslav People's Democratic Community ( Jugoslovenska Demokratska Narodna Zajednica - JUDENAZ ) was founded, with Živko Topalović from the Socialist Party as chairman

With the reading of Ba's resolution, the Congress officially ended.

Delayed resolutions

Assuming that the congress took place at the same time as the conference in Tehran , in which the Allies, under pressure from Moscow , decided to support the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army in Yugoslavia in the future , the decisions of the congress are regarded as the belated decisions. The differentiation of the balance of power in Yugoslavia had already been completed, so that the decisions of the Congress could hardly be implemented. In addition, the different political views remained an unsolved problem, which is why the common line weakened from the beginning and was therefore received critically by the population. Among other things, the lack of a fixed program was criticized, which is why the Allies see the communists with their clear program and stronger goals as the stronger partner and would ultimately give them their support. The congress was condemned by the communists and by Milan Nedić 's puppet government .

See also

AVNOJ resolutions

swell

  • Jozo Tomasevich: The Chetniks: War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945 . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1975, ISBN 0-8047-0857-6 , pp. 399-404 .
  • Lucien Karchmar: Draža Mihailović and the Rise of the Cetnik Movement, 1941–1942 . Garland Publishing Inc., New York / London 1987, ISBN 0-8240-8027-0 , pp. 602-610 .
  • Radovan Kalabić, Ravnogorska Istorija, Beograd, 1992.
  • Zvonimir Vučković, Sećanja iz Rata, Kragujevac, 2001.
  • Branko Petranović, Srbija u Drugom svetskom ratu 1939-1945, Beograd, 1992.
  • Zornik dokumenata NOR-a-Tom XIV / knjiga 3, Beograd, 1980.
  • Miloslav Samardžić, Draža Mihailović i opšta istorija četničkog pokreta-Tom II, Kragujevac, 2005.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Klaus Schmider : Partisan War in Yugoslavia 1941–1944 . ES Mittler & Sohn GmbH, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2002, ISBN 3-8132-0794-3 , p. 353 f .
  2. ↑ KARCHMAR, 1987, p. 602