Nikola Pašić: Difference between revisions

Nikola P. Pašić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола П. Пашић, at the time also spelled Pashitch or Pachitch), (December 18, 1845, Zaječar, Serbia - December 10, 1926, Belgrade, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, today Serbia) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat, the most important Serbian political figure for almost 40 years, leader of the Serbian People's Radical Party who, among other posts, was twice a mayor of Belgrade (1890-91 and 1897) several times prime minister of Serbia (1891-92, 1904-05, 1906-08, 1909-11, 1912-18) and prime minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (future Yugoslavia, 1918, 1921-24, 1924-26). He was an important politician in the Balkans, who, together with his counterparts like Eleftherios Venizelos in Greece or Ionel Brătianu in Romania, managed to strengthen their small, still emerging national states against strong foreign influences, most notably those of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Russia.

Just like almost any other important Balkan figure, his ethnicity is disputed. Nikola Pašić was born in the town of Zaječar in eastern Serbia, in a family of the ethnic Cincar emigrants from Bulgaria. Later, his mother re-married to a Serbian baker who adopted him and gave him his future surname, Pašić. As his parents emigrated from Bulgaria, still under direct rule of the Ottoman Empire to already autonomous Serbia, Bulgarian sources claim his nationality is Bulgarian. However, his side of the family remaining in Bulgaria will prove to be a lifesaving in the future events.

He was a student of the Zaječar Gymnasium, but as the Gymnasium was moved for political reasons through several other cities, he also studied in Negotin and Kragujevac. In 1866 he became a student of the Belgrade's Technical Faculty and in 1868, as an outstanding student, he's granted the state scholarship and sent to the Polytechnical School in Zürich, Switzerland for further specialization. Even though he graduated as an engineer, except for a year long pratice on the construction of the Vienna-Budapest railroad, he never worked in his own branch.

A colony of Serbian students lived in Switzerland where they became acquainted with the ideas of Socialism. They will become core of the future Socialist and later Radical movement in Serbia, most notably Svetozar Marković, a father of the Socialist ideas in Serbia. Pašić befriended with Marković, but also with Pera Todorović, Pera Velimirović, Lazar Paču, Jovan Žujović, Mita Rakić and others, some which will form the core of the future Radical Party.

After returning to Serbia, Pašić distanced himself from Svetozar Marković, though they never argued, and went to Bosnia and Hercegovina to support the anti-Ottoman uprising of Nevesinjska puška. The Socialist founded the Samouprava (Cyrillic: самоуправа; homerule) which will later become the official bulletin of the Radical Party. After Marković died in 1875, Pašić became the leader of the movement and already in 1878 was elected a deputy in the National Assembly of Serbia, even before the party was formed. In 1880 he made an unprecedented move in the Serbian political life: he formed an opposition deputies club in the assembly. Finally, a party program was completed in January 1881 and the Radical Party, the first sistematically organized Serbian party, was officially established as a political party with Pašić unanimously elected its first president.

The party and Pašić became increasingly popular and on the next elections held in September 1883 out of the 113 places in the assembly, the Radicals won 61 (54%) while the Progressive Party, a personal favorite of king Milan Obrenović IV got 34 (30%). Despite that, pro-Austrian king Milan, who already disliked pro-Russian Pašić and the Radical party, nominated old non-partisan hardliner Nikola Hristić to form a government. By one decree Hristić opened the assembly and then he read another one, closing it.

Already heated atmosphere was further enhanced by the decision to take away guns from the population as the regular army instead of the people's one was to be established. As a result, clashes began in eastern Serbia, in the valley of the Timok. King Milan accused the Radicals immediately and sent army which crushed the rebellion in blood. As a result, Pašić was senteced to death in absentia as he managed to go to Bulgaria before he was arrested. But 21 other people were sentenced to death and shot and another 734 were imprisoned. For the remaining 6 years, Nikola Pašić lived with his relatives in Bulgaria, supported by the Bulgarian government. This was used as a pretext (actually, one of them) for king Milan to attack Bulgaria and cause Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885 which he lost. After the defeat, he granted an amnesty for those sentenced for Timok rebellion, but not for Pašić, who remained in Bulgarian exile until 1889 when king Milan abdicated. Day after the abdication, the Radicals formed their first government headed by Sava Grujić and four days later, the new government pardoned Pašić.

On October 13, 1889 Nikola Pašić was elected president of the National Assembly, a duty he would perform (de jure though, not de facto) until January 9, 1892. He was also elected mayor of Belgrade January 11, 1890 - January 26, 1891. His presiding over the assembly saw the largest number of laws being voted in the history of Serbian parliamentarism, while as the mayor of Belgrade he was responsible for cobbling the muddy city streets. He was later elected two times more president of the National Assembly June 13, 1893 - April 1895 (though from September 1893 only in name, his deputy Dimitrije Katić acted for him) and July 12, 1897 - June 29, 1898 and once more mayor of Belgrade January 22, 1897 - November 25, 1897.

After wisely not accepting to head the government immediately after his return from exile, Nikola Pašić became prime minister for the first time on February 23, 1891. However, ex-king Milan returned to Serbia in May 1890 and again began campaigning against Pašić and the Radicals. On June 16, 1892, Kosta Protić, one of three regents during the minority of Alexander Obrenović V, died. Under the constitution, the National Assembly was to elect a new regent, but as the assembly was on a several months vacation, Pašić had to call for an emergency session. Jovan Ristić, the most powerful regent, fearing Pašić might be elected co-regent and thus undermine his position, refused to allow the extra session, and Pašić resigned as prime minister on August 22, 1892. During his tenure, he was also foreign minister from April 2, 1892 and acting finance minister from November 3, 1891.

After king Alexander declared himself of age before time and dismissed the regency, he offered a moderate Radical Lazar Dokić to form a government. Though he managed to get approval from some members of the Radical party to participate in the government, Pašić refused. In order to put him out of the political scene in Serbia, Alexander sent Pašić as his extraordinary envoy to Sankt Peterburg, Russia, 1893-1894. In 1896 king managed to force Nikola Pašić to back off from pushing the constitutional reforms. However, as since 1897 both kings, Milan and Alexander, ruled almost jointly, as both disliked Pašić, they got him arrested already in 1898 and sentenced him for 9 months because Samouprava published his statement in which he said that in the past he was against king Milan. Pašić claimed that is not what he said, but it was too late.

Former fireman, Đura Knežević, who was sentenced to death, tried to assassinate ex-king Milan in June 1899 (Serbian: Ивандањски атентат). The same evening, Milan declared that Radical Party tried to kill him and all heads of the the Radical Party were arrested, including Pašić who just came out of the prison from his previous sentence. Milan's anti-radical attitude was to such an extent that even his major ally, Austria-Hungary, admitted that the Radical Party was not involved even though Milan insisted that at least Nikola Pašić and Kosta Taušanović should be sentenced to death. Austria-Hungary feared that killing pro-Russian Pašić would force Russia to intervene and disregard internal Austrian-Russian accord from 1897 that Serbia should be left in status-quo so a special envoy was sent from Vienna to ex-king Milan to tell him that Austria will boycott the Obrenović dynasty if Pašić is executed. Major Serbian historian, Slobodan Jovanović later claimed that the entire assassination was staged so that Milan could get rid of the Radical Party.

Not knowing that interference of the foreign powers already saved his life, Pašić in prison admitted that Radical Party was disloyal to the dynasty, which probably saved many people from prison. As the deal was reached with the interior minister Đorđe Genčić, government officially left its own role out of the statement, so it looked like Pašić behaved cowardly and succumbed to the pressure which was a cause for the future problems in the Radical Party as the younger members considered him a coward and split from the party creating there own. As part of the deal, Pašić was sentenced to 5 years but released immediately.

For the rest of king Alexander's rule, Nikola Pašić retired from the politics. Even though disliked by the king, he was called often by the young monarch for consultations but he would just usually annoy him cause Pašić was always coming to see the king, but saying that he's out of politics, that he don't know this or that and refused to return to the policial life.

Nikola Pašić was not among the conspirators who plotted to assassinate the king Alexander. Assassination took place on June 11, 1903, and both king and queen Draga Mašin were killed, so as the current prime minister Dimitrije Cincar-Marković and defence minister Milovan Pavlović. The Radical party didn't form the first government after this coup d'était, but already on October 4, 1903, after the elections, the Radicals came to the power and with short breaks they will stay there for the next 15 years. Wisely, Pašić didn't lead all the Radical cabinets, letting other members of his party (or sometimes outside of it) to be prime ministers. In the beginning, the Radicals opposed the appointment of new king, Peter I Karađorđević, calling his appointment ilegal. But Pašić later changed his mind seeing how people willingly accepted the new monarch as well as king Peter I, educated in Western Europe, was a democratic, mild ruler, unlike the last two despotic and erratic Obrenović souvereigns. As it will be shown in the next two decades, major clash between the king and the prime minister will be Pašić's refusal to raise to royal appanage.

Nikola Pašić became foreign minister on February 8, 1904 in Sava Grujić's cabinet and headed a government under his own presidency December 10, 1904 - May 28, 1905, continuing as foreign minister as well. In the next 10 years under the leadership of Pašić and the Radical Party (especially Lazar Paču, finance minister) Serbia grew into such a prosperous state that many historians call this period the modern golden age of Serbia. Country evolved into a real European democracy and with financial and economic growth, the political influence also grew with caused constant problems with Serbia's largest neighbor, Austria-Hungary, which even developed plans to turn Serbia into one of its provinces (already in 1879 German chancellor Otto von Bismarck said that Serbia is the stumbling-block in Austria's development).

As Austro-Hungarian latent provocations of Serbia concerning Serbs living in Bosnia and Hercegovina, officially still part of the Ottoman Empire but occupied by Austria-Hugary since 1878 and causing problems to Serbian export which mainly went through Austria (as Serbia is landlocked) didn't bring results, Austria-Hungary began open customs war in 1906. Pašić formed another cabinet April 30, 1906 - July 20, 1908. Pressured by the Austrian government which asked from Serbia to buy everything from Austrian companies, from salt to cannons, he replied to Austrian government that he personally would do that, but that assembly is against it and in democratic countries that's what counts. Austria closed the borders which did cause severe blow to Serbian economy initially, but later it will bounce back even more developed than it was, thanks to the Pašić swift change towards the Western European countries. He forced conspirators of the 1903 coup into retirement which was a condition for reestablishing diplomatic connections with the United Kingdom, he bought cannons from France, etc. In the midst of the customs war, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1908 which caused mass protests in Serbia and political instability, but Pašić managed to calm the situation down. In this period, Pašić's major ally, Imperial Russia, was not much of a help being defeated by Japan in Russo-Japanese War and under series of revolutions.

Pašić formed two more cabinets (October 24, 1909 - July 4, 1911 and from September 12, 1912). He was one of the major players in the forming of the Balkan League which later resulted in the First Balkan War (1912-13) and the Second Balkan War (1913) which almost doubled the size of Serbia with the territories of Old Serbia (Kosovo, Metohija, Vardar Macedonia) retaked from the Ottomans after five centuries.

He clashed with some military structures about the handling of the newly acquired territores. Pašić believed the area should be included into the Serbian political and administrative system through the democratic elections, while the army sought to keep the areas under the military occupation. After one year of tensions Pašić dismissed the military admiistrator of Old Serbia and scheduled new elections for 1914 but the outbreak of World War I prevented it.

After the Assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 when members of the Serbian revolutionary organization Young Bosnia assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir-apparent Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austrian government immediately accused Serbian government of being behind the assassination. The general consensus today is that government did not organize it, but the oppinions on how much Pašić knew about it is still a controversial issue and it appears that every historian has its own opinion on the subject: Pašić knew nothing (Ćorović); Pašić knew something is about to happen and told Russia Austria would attack Serbia before the assassination (Dragnić); Pašić knew but as the assassins were connected to the powerful members of the Serbian intelligence was afraid to do anything about it personally so he warned Vienna (Balfour).

Austria presented him the July Ultimatum, written together with the envoys of the German ambassadors in such a vein that no country could accept it. After extensive consultations in country itself and formidable pressure from outside to accept it, Pašić told the Austrian ambassador Giesl (who already packed his bags) that Serbia accepts all the ultimatum demands except that Austrian police can independently travel throughout Serbia and conduct its own investigation. Using the assassination and Serbian refusal as a pretext, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914 which was a beginning of the World War I.

Serbian defeat was considered to be imminent compared to the strength of the Austria-Hungary. Howvever, after a series of battles 1914-1915 (Battle of Cer, Battle of Kolubara), loss and recapture of Belgrade, Serbian counter-offensive with occupation of some Austrian territories (in Syrmia and eastern Bosnia), Austrian army backed off.

On July 5, 1914 things changed as old king Peter I relinquished his duties to the heir apparent Alexander, making him his regent. Unlike Peter, Alexander was not a democratic spirit rather a dictatorial one and personally disliked Pašić and all his talks about democracy. Oppen strife began very soon, when Serbia was proposed the London Pact by which it was suppose to expand to the most of the ethnic Serbian territories to the west, including a section of the Adriatic coast and some ethnic Albanian territories in northern Albania. In return, Serbia was suppose to relinquish part of Vardar Macedonia, which was ethnically Bulgarian, to Bulgaria so that the latter would enter the War on the Entente side. Both Pašić and regent Alexander were against this as they considered it to be the betrayal of the Croatians, Slovenians and Serbian sacrifices in the Balkan Wars, as negotiations for the future South Slav state already began. However, Pašić and king Peter were not personally much for the Yugoslav idea unlike regent who pushed the issue for creating as larger state as possible. Serbia refused the pact and was attacked by Austria-Hungary, Germany and Bulgaria. Government and army retreated to the south in the direction of Greece, but was cut off by Bulgarian forces and had to go through Albania and to the Greek island of Corfu where Corfu Declaration was signed in 1917 preparing the ground for the future South Slave state of Yugoslavia.

Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was officially proclaimed on December 1, 1918 and being prime minister of Serbia at that time, Pašić was generally considered de facto prime minister of the new South Slav state too. The political agreement was reached that Pašić will continue as the prime minister when the first government of the new state was to be formed, but as a result of his longtime dislike of Pašić, regent Alexander nominated Stojan Protić to form the government so Pašić stepped down on December 20, 1918.

Despite being removed from the government, as the most experienced of all politicians, Nikola Pašić was the main negotiator for the new state on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. In effort to secure maximalist agenda of the regent he didn't push much question of the Czech Corridor, Timişoara and Szeged, managed to secure borders with Albania and Bulgaria, but failed to annex Fiume (became independent state) and most of Carinthia (remained part of Austria).

Elections held on November 28, 1920 showed that the Radical Party was the second strongest in the country, having just one seat less than the Yugoslav Democratic Party (91 to 92, respectively, out of 419 seats). But Pašić managed to form a coalition and became prime minister again on January 1, 1921

As soon as talks about the constitution of the new state began, two diametrically opposite sides, Serbian and Croatian, were establish. Both Pašić and regent Alexander wanted unitary state but from different reasons. Pašić considered that Serbs could be outvoted in such state and that unconsolidated and heterogeneous entity will fall apart if it would be a federal one, while regent simply didn't like to share power with others which showed 8 years later when he conducted coup d'état. Stjepan Radić, leading Croatian politician who didn't hide his agenda that joint Serbian-Croatian state is just a temporary solution on a way for Croatian full independence, asked for a federal republic. As Pašić had majority in the assembly, new constitution was proclaimed on Vidovdan (St.Vitus day), June 28, 1921 organizing Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as parliamentary albeit highly unitary monarchy, abolishing even the remaining shreds of autonomy which had Slovenia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Hercegovina and Vojvodina (provincial governments, etc).

Pašić remained prime minister until April 8, 1926, with a short break 27 July, 1924 - November 6, 1924 when the government was headed by Ljuba Davidović. After relinquishing temporarily the post to his party colleague Nikola Uzunović, now a king, Alexander refused to reappoint Pašić using as a pretext scandals of Pašić's son Rade. Day after this, on December 10, 1926, Nikola Pašić suffered a heart attack and died in Belgrade. He was buried on Belgrade's New Cemetery.

Pašić was widely criticized by the Communists as he prevented them from participating in the political life after the 1920 elections and the series of terrorist attacks by the Communists on government officials, and banned the Communist party officially proclaiming it a criminal organization on August 21, 1921. After 1945 he was condemned by the new Communist authorities and was labeled a leader of the great Serbian hegemony, while his accomplishments in building modern Serbia were completely pushed aside.

The same rhetoric is still used by the Croatian critics. Pašić is heavily attacked because of the unitary composition of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and his opinion that Serbs, being the majority in the state, should always have the leading role (except for Slovenian Anton Korošec 1928-29, all prime ministers 1918-41 were Serbs). Croatian Communist theoretician Otokar Keršovani coined a phrase about Pašić: His name will remain in history more because it is connected to historical events, rather than the historical events are connected to his name, which was widely used and cited during the Communist regime after 1945.

He was also criticized from Serbian side. His former party colleague Pera Todorović wrote that Pašić was clumsy and indecisive. Historian Vladimir Ćorović openly wrote that Pašić had not a shred of courage, while Swiss doctor and Serbian benefactor Archibald Reiss criticized his weakness towards his scheming son Rade.

Nikola Pašić married Đurđina Duković, daughter of a wealthy Serbian grains trader from Trieste, Italy. They were married in the Russian church in Florence to avoid the gathering of the numerous Serbian colony in Trieste and had three children: son Radomir-Rade and daughters Dara and Pava.

Rade, a playboy and participant in many corruption affairs, was a constant embarrassment for Pašić. He had two sons, Vladislav, an architect (died in 1980 in Geneva, Switzerland) and Nikola II, an Oxford law graduate (born in 1918) who resides in Toronto, Canada where he has founded a Serbian National Academy.

Often accused for marrying into money, when he died, Archibald Reiss wrote: Look, son of the plain and poor peasants left one of the largest wealth in the country...you will say that his wife brought him nice dowry. But what is that dowry compared to what he has left when he died? A crumb and nothing more.

Known for his sense of humor, Pašić is a subject of the hundreds of anecdotes. Though many of them appear to be constructed and untrue, some are attached to him even though it is known someone else told them (like Ilija Garašanin's remark on Eugene Gladstone), after revision of his historical role in the late 1980s, they became widely published. Due to his accent, stutter and specific and frequent use of saying ovaj, they don't translate well into English:

• One day, son of Jaša Prodanović came to Pašić to ask him to find him some job.
• - Well...what's your name?
• - I am Bora Prodanović.
• - Aha...well, you are Jaša's boy, right?
• - Yes I am.
• - And you are not the one who got killed?
• - I haven't been killed not once.
• - Aha...yes, you are still young...

• During the Balkan War while he was in Skoplje, Pašić dressed a uniform. He saw minister Velizar Janković.
• - Well...is that you Velizar?
• - Yes, it's me.
• - Well...yes, right...see, I dressed a uniform so can't recognize you!

• Few days after the death of Radical party senior member Stanko Petrović, Pašić talked to Petrović's son:
• - Well...late Stanko died, right?
• - Yes, sir.
• - Well...may God mercy on his soul...you know...he was recently here in Belgrade but he didn't tell me anything about it!

He was nicknamed Baja (as in Baya).

One of the central squares in Belgrade is named after him, Square of Nikola Pašić (Serbian: Трг Николе Пашића). During Communist regime, the square was named after Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The 4,2 meters tall bronze statue of Pašić is erected on the square, overlooking the building of the assembly.

He said once: Serbs are a small nation, but bigger one between Constantinople and Vienna we don't have.

• Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija, Third edition (1985); Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2
• Aleks Dragnić: Razvoj parlamentarizma u Srbiji u XIX veku (1989); Dečije novine; ISBN 86-367-0316-6
• Vasa Kazimirović: Nikola Pašić i njegovo doba 1945-1926, Vol.I & II (1990); Nova Evropa; ISBN 86-
• Đorđe Đ. Stanković: Nikola Pašić i Hrvati (1995); BIGZ; ISBN 86-13-00828-3
• Miloš Trifunović: Istorija Radikalne stranke; arranged by Radoš Ljušić (1997)
• Latinka Perović: Nikola Pašić u narodnoj skupštini (1997);
• Đorđe Radenković: Pašić i Jugoslavija (1999); Službeni list SRJ; ISBN 86-355-0428-3
• Milovan Vitezović: Nikola Pašić u anegdotama (2002); Službeni list SRJ; ISBN 86-7549-271-5
• Miodrag Dimitrijević: Nikola Pašić u hodu istorije (2005);
• Živorad Lazić: Pašić i četiri kralja (2005);
• Vladimir Ćorović: Ilustrovana istorija Srba, Vol. VI (2006); Politika NM & Narodna Knjiga; ISBN 86-331-2525-0 (NK)

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