Democratic Party of Yugoslavia

a bourgeois party that existed from May 1919 to April 1941.

The program of the Democratic Party (October 1921) included demands for a centralized state system, parliamentary monarchy, and the defense of bourgeois-democratic freedoms. From 1919 to 1928 the party, led by L. Davidovic, was part of the government several times; in 1919-20 and 1924, Davidović headed the Yugoslav government. In 1924 the Independent Democratic Party, headed by S. Pribičević, split from the Democratic Party as a result of disagreements over the Croatian nationalist movement and other questions. After the military monarchist coup of 1929, the Democratic Party was basically in opposition to the regime.

In the mid-1930’s, the Democratic Party joined the Serbian Peasant and Radical parties to form the United Opposition, which advocated the restoration of bourgeois-democratic freedoms and the resolution of the Croatian question on the basis of an agreement with the so-called Peasant-Democratic Coalition (formed in 1927 by the Croat Peasant Party and the Independent Democratic Party). In late 1937 and early 1938, a left wing of the Democratic Party was formed under I. Ribar (in the summer of 1940 the left democrats formed an independent party), calling for cooperation with the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and the formation of the National Front. The Democratic Party supported the coup d’etat of Mar. 27, 1941, which was directed against the policies of the government of D. Cvetković and V. Maček, which had signed a protocol making Yugoslavia party to the Berlin Pact of 1940. The Democratic Party then joined the government of General D. Simović, which was formed after the coup. After the occupation of Yugoslavia by fascist troops (April 1941), the Democratic Party ceased to exist. Several members of the Democratic Party’s left wing joined the Popular Liberation Front, headed by the CPY.