The former biggest holiday of the SFR Yugoslavia, Republic Day, which largely remained a fond memory for generations who celebrated it — recalling days off, oath ceremonies, blue caps and red scarves — is today the subject of debate about the significance of this date for Serbia.
For some, 29 November is the day the most prosperous state that ever existed in this region was formed; others see it as a victory of totalitarianism and authoritarianism.
This date actually marked the Second Session of AVNOJ in the town of Jajce in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1943, when, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, the decision was made to form a state with a federal structure, Yugoslavia, as well as the constituent assembly two years later, when it was given the name the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia (FNRJ).
At the famous AVNOJ session 74 years ago, 142 delegates were present, and the session was presided over by the pre-war president of the parliament of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Dr. Ivan Ribar. AVNOJ was proclaimed the highest legislative and executive body, and the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia (NKOJ) was formed, functioning as a kind of government. All decisions and obligations of the previous government were annulled, and it was exiled from the country along with Peter II Karađorđević.
Until 1997, this date commemorated the Second Session of AVNOJ. At that time, to avoid celebrating a holiday of a “non-existent state,” a decision was made that 29 November would mark the formation of Yugoslavia as a republic, i.e., the formal fall of the monarchy.
Yugoslavia was conceived as a state union of equal peoples and nationalities, based on democratic principles. Marshal was proclaimed to be the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Supreme Commander of the People’s Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, based on a proposal from the Slovenian delegation.
Tito was and remains the greatest symbol of Yugoslavia. On this day, songs of praise were sung to him, cultural centers were filled with performances, and first-graders became Pioneers. The last generation of Pioneers was born in 1982. For many, however, the first association with this holiday is waking up early and going to the pig slaughter. Due to the general euphoria that accompanied this day, it was celebrated even by those who were not great admirers of Tito and socialism.
Although it outlived the state whose founding it marked, the holiday was abolished in 2002, when the Chamber of Citizens of the Federal Assembly of the FRY declared 27 April — the date of the adoption of the 1992 constitution — as Statehood Day.
Today, that date is 15 February, the day when the First Serbian Uprising was raised in Orašac in 1804, and when the first Constitution — the Sretenje Constitution — was adopted in Kragujevac in 1835.
Before its abolition in Serbia in 2002, the holiday had not existed for more than a decade in some former Yugoslav republics. Those states, like others that later seceded, designated as their “own days” the dates when they gained independence. Croatia and Slovenia were the first to secede, and many historians believe that Croatia benefited the most from the AVNOJ decisions.
Historian Čedomir Antić believes that the significance of 29 November is purely historical and therefore Serbs have no reason to celebrate it. “During the former SFRY, Serbia had the largest number of regime opponents. However, that resistance broke in the 1990s, and Serbs proved to be its greatest defenders,” Antić told Danas.
He also notes that it is wrong to compare it with Republic Day in France, as Slobodan Milošević did. “In ’98 and ’99 he said that the French still celebrate the establishment of the First Republic, even though it has changed since. However, this is not comparable, because the values on which the First French Republic was formed exist today, in many modern states, while the values of 29 November no longer exist.”
Many Still Call Despot Stefan Boulevard “29 November”
The memory of the 29 November holiday was carried by one of Belgrade’s major streets, which in 2004 was renamed Despot Stefan Boulevard. Nevertheless, even today many Belgraders still use its old name in everyday speech.
MORE TOPICS:
RESIGNATION OF ŽELJKO OBRADOVIĆ REJECTED: Partizan’s Executive Board made a unanimous decision!
Source: Danas Foto: Printscreen YouTube