Milan Stojadinović, the Croat Question and the International Position of Yugoslavia, 1935-1939

Abstract

This paper analysis the policy of Milan Stojadinović, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1935–1939) towards the Croat question, i.e. the passive resistance with which the Croat Peasant Party led by Vlatko Maček opposed the Belgrade government, struggling for an autonomous status of Croatia. Based on the private papers of Stojadinović and Prince Regent, Paul Karadjordjević, the reports of the well-informed and shrewd British Minister in Belgrade, Ronald Hugh Campbell, as well as the rich literature on the Serbo-Croat relations in the Kingdom, this article attempts to examine Stojadinović’s approach to the Croat problem. It is argued here that Stojadinović’s treatment of the Croat question was closely related to his foreign policy, especially towards Italy and Germany.