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| Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Војводина (Serbo-Croatian) Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina (Serbo-Croatian) Vajdaság Szocialista Autonóm Tartomány (Hungarian) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autonomous province ofSerbia inYugoslavia | |||||||||||||
| 1945–1990 | |||||||||||||
 Vojvodina (dark red) inSerbia (red), withinYugoslavia | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Novi Sad | ||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• 1991 | 21,506 km2 (8,304 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
• 1991 | 1,952,533 | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • Type | Unitarycommunist state | ||||||||||||
| Leader of the LCV | |||||||||||||
• 1945–1946 | Jovan Veselinov[1] (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1989–1990 | Nedeljko Šipovac [sr][2] (last) | ||||||||||||
| Head of state | |||||||||||||
• 1945–1947 | Jovan Veselinov[a] | ||||||||||||
• 1988–1990 | Jugoslav Kostić [sr][b] | ||||||||||||
| Legislature | National Assembly | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||||||
• Provincial status | 1 September 1945 | ||||||||||||
• Autonomous Provincial status | 1968 | ||||||||||||
• Constitutional reform expanding autonomy | 1974 | ||||||||||||
• Constitutional reform reducing autonomy | 28 September 1990 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
TheSocialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina[c] was one of the twoautonomous provinces of theSocialist Republic of Serbia withinYugoslavia (the other beingKosovo), between 1945 and 1990. The province is the direct predecessor to the modern-day SerbianAutonomous Province of Vojvodina.
The province was formally created in 1945 in the aftermath of theWorld War II in Yugoslavia, as theAutonomous Province of Vojvodina.[d] In 1968, it was granted a higher level of political autonomy, and the adjectiveSocialist was added to its official name. In 1990, after the constitutional reform influenced by what is known as theanti-bureaucratic revolution, its autonomy was reduced to the pre-1968 level, and the termSocialist was dropped from its name. It was encompassing regions ofSrem,Banat andBačka, with capital inNovi Sad.[3]
Throughout its existenceSerbs in Vojvodina constituted the largest ethnic group in the province with a parallel strong affirmation of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural elements central to the province's identity. AlongsideSerbian standard of then officialSerbo-Croatian, socialist Vojvodina officially used other languages includingHungarian,Pannonian Rusyn,Slovak andRomanian. After the opposition failed to secure any seats in the1945 elections (followed by the formal introduction of aone-party system), the province was ruled by theLeague of Communists of Vojvodina, part of both theSerbian and widerYugoslav ruling party.
During theSecond World War in Yugoslavia (1941–1945), theterritory was occupied by theAxis powers. In the autumn of 1944,Yugoslav partisans and theRed Army expelled Axis troops from most parts the region which was then placed under military administration. At that time, the political status of the territory was not yet determined. The projected borders of future Vojvodina included the regions ofBanat,Bačka,Baranja and most of the region ofSyrmia, includingZemun. Thede jure temporary border between Vojvodina andCroatia in Syrmia wasVukovar-Vinkovci-Županja line.De facto, western parts of Syrmia remained under Axis military control until April 1945. From 17 October 1944 to 27 January 1945, most of the region (Banat, Bačka, Baranja) was under direct military administration, and by the spring of 1945, provisional regional administration was created.[4]
TheAutonomous Province of Vojvodina[d] was formed in 1945, as an autonomous province within thePeople's Republic of Serbia, a federal unit of theFederal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.[5]
The process was initiated on 30–31 July 1945, when the provisional provincial assembly of Vojvodina decided that the province should join Serbia. This decision was confirmed in the thirdAVNOJ assembly on 10 August 1945, and the law that regulated the autonomous status of Vojvodina within Serbia was adopted on 1 September 1945. The final borders of Vojvodina withCroatia andCentral Serbia were defined in 1945: Baranja and western Syrmia were assigned to Croatia,[6] while small parts of Banat and Syrmia nearBelgrade were assigned to Central Serbia. A small part of northernMačva nearSremska Mitrovica was assigned to Vojvodina. The capital city of the province wasNovi Sad, which was also the capital of the formerDanube Banovina province that existed beforeWorld War II.
The position of Vojvodina within Serbia was defined by the Constitution of Yugoslavia (1946) and the Constitution of Serbia (1947). The first Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina was adopted in 1948, and the second in 1953. After the constitutional reform in 1963, the third statute was adopted, in the same year.
Until 1968, Vojvodina enjoyed a limited level of autonomy within Serbia. After the constitutional reform that was enacted in 1968, the province was granted a higher level of autonomy and its name changed to theSocialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.[c] Under the Constitutional Law of 21 February 1969, it achieved legislative autonomy, and in the same time, four minority languages were also recognized (besidesSerbo-Croatian) as official languages (Article 67) in the province (Magyar,Slovak,Romanian,Pannonian Rusyn).[7]
Under the1974 Yugoslav Constitution, the province gained higher level of autonomy, that defined Vojvodina (still remaining within Serbia) as one of the subjects of the Yugoslav federation, and also gave it voting rights equivalent to Serbia itself on the country's collective presidency. The Constitution of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina,[e] that was adopted in 1974, became the highest legal act of the province, replacing the previous Constitutional Law of 1969.[8]
After the constitutional reform in Yugoslavia (1988), the process of democratization was initiated. In 1989, amendments to the Constitution of Serbia were adopted, limiting the autonomy of Vojvodina. Under the rule of the Serbian presidentSlobodan Milošević, the new Constitution of Serbia was adopted on 28 September 1990, omitting the adjectiveSocialist from the official names and further reducing the rights of autonomous provinces. After this, the Vojvodina was no longer a subject of the Yugoslav federation, but again only the autonomous province of Serbia, with limited level of autonomy. The name of the province was also reverted to theAutonomous Province of Vojvodina.[9]
During the entire period from 1945 to 1990, the only authorized political party in the province was theLeague of Communists of Vojvodina, which was part of theLeague of Communists of Serbia and part of theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia.
Institutions of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina included:
Presidents of the Presidency of Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina:
| Ethnicity | Number | % |
| Serbs | 841,246 | 50.6 |
| Hungarians | 428,932 | 25.8 |
| Croats | 134,232 | 8.1 |
| Slovaks | 72,032 | 4.3 |
| Romanians | 59,263 | 3.6 |
| Germans | 31,821 | 1.9 |
| Montenegrins | 30,589 | 1.9 |
| Rusyns andUkrainians | 22,083 | 1.3 |
| Macedonians | 9,090 | 0.5 |
| Romani | 7,585 | 0.4 |
| Slovenes | 7,223 | 0.4 |
| Russians | 5,148 | 0.3 |
| Czechs | 3,976 | 0.3 |
| Bulgarians | 3,501 | 0.2 |
| Yugoslavs | 1,050 | 0.1 |
| Others | 5,441 | 0.3 |
| Ethnicity | Number | % |
| Serbs | 865,538 | 50.9 |
| Hungarians | 435,179 | 25.6 |
| Croats | 127,027 | 7.5 |
| Slovaks | 71,153 | 4.2 |
| Romanians | 57,218 | 3.4 |
| Montenegrins | 30,516 | 1.8 |
| Rusyns | 23,038 | 1.4 |
| Macedonians | 11,622 | 0.7 |
| Others | 78,254 | 4.6 |
| Ethnicity | Number | % |
| Serbs | 1,017,713 | 54.9 |
| Hungarians | 442,560 | 23.9 |
| Croats | 145,341 | 7.8 |
| Slovaks | 73,830 | 4 |
| Romanians | 57,259 | 3.1 |
| Montenegrins | 34,782 | 1.9 |
| Rusyns | 23,038 | 1.4 |
| Macedonians | 11,622 | 0.7 |
| Others | 83,480 | 4.4 |
According to the 1981 census, the population of the province included:
Media related toSAP Vojvodina at Wikimedia Commons
