Croatian politician (1871?1928)
Stjepan Radi?
(11 June 1871 – 8 August 1928) was a
Croat
politician and founder of the
Croatian People's Peasant Party
(HPSS), active in
Austria-Hungary
and the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
.
He is credited with galvanizing Croatian peasantry into a viable political force. Throughout his entire career, Radi? was opposed to the union and later
Serb
hegemony
in Yugoslavia and became an important political figure in that country. He was shot in parliament by the Serbian
People's Radical Party
politician
Puni?a Ra?i?
. Radi? died several weeks later from a serious stomach wound at the age of 57.
[2]
This assassination further alienated the Croats and the Serbs and initiated the breakdown of the
parliamentary system
, culminating in the
6 January Dictatorship
of 1929.
[3]
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life
[
edit
]
Stjepan Radi? was born in Desno Trebarjevo,
Martinska Ves
near
Sisak
in the
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
within
Austria-Hungary
as the ninth of eleven children.
After being expelled from his gymnasium in Zagreb, he finished at the
Higher Real Gymnasium
in
Karlovac
. In 1888, Radi? travelled to đakovo where he met with bishop
Josip Juraj Strossmayer
to request help for a trip to the
Russian Empire
.
[5]
Strossmayer recommended Radi? to Metropolitan Mihailo of
Belgrade
who referred him to a Russian teacher in
Kiev
. Radi? travelled to Kiev and was allowed to stay at the city's
Monastery of the Caves
where he remained for six weeks before returning to Croatia.
[5]
In September 1891, he enrolled in law at the
University of Zagreb
.
[6]
He was selected as a representative of the student body at the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Sisak in 1893. After criticizing the
Ban of Croatia
Karoly Khuen-Hedervary
during the ceremony and referring to him as a "
Magyar
hussar
", Radi? was sentenced to four months in prison which he served in
Petrinja
.
[6]
He was among a group of students who set fire to the Hungarian tricolour on 16 October 1895, during the
visit of Emperor Franz Joseph to Zagreb
. For this, Radi? received a prison sentence and was expelled from the University of Zagreb, as well as barred from all universities in the Monarchy.
[7]
After spending some time in Russia and, later, Prague, Radi? continued his studies at the
Ecole libre des sciences politiques
in Paris, where he graduated in 1899.
[8]
Lead up to the first Yugoslavia
[
edit
]
After World War I he had opposed the merging of Croatia with the Kingdom of
Serbia
without guarantees of Croatian
autonomy
.
[9]
Radi? was selected as a member of the
National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
. On 24 November 1918 he famously urged delegates attending a session that would decide the country's political future not to "rush like
geese
into
fog
".
[11]
He was the lone member of the National Council's central committee to vote against sending a delegation to
Belgrade
to negotiate with the
Kingdom of Serbia
.
[12]
On 26 November, he was removed from the central committee.
[12]
After the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
was established, two representatives of Radi?'s party (by then named the Croatian Common-people Peasant Party) were appointed to the
Provisional Representation
which served as a parliament until elections for the Constituent could be held. Radi? refused participation which he saw as legitimizing the unification.
Arrest
[
edit
]
On 8 March 1919, the central committee passed a resolution penned by Radi? that declared "
Croatian citizens do not recognize the so called
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
under the
Karađorđevi?
dynasty because this kingdom was proclaimed other than by the Croatian
Sabor
and without any mandate of the Croatian People.
" The full statement was included in a Memorandum which was translated into French and sent abroad to be addressed to the
Paris Peace Conference
.
[14]
This act provoked a decision by the government to arrest Radi? along with several other party members.
He was to be held some 11 months until February 1920,
just before the first parliamentary elections of the Kingdom of SHS to a Constitutional Assembly which were held on 28 November when he was amnestied.
[17]
The result of the November election was 230,590 votes, which equaled to 50 seats in the parliament out of 419.
[18]
On 8 December, before the first sitting of parliament, Radi? held a massive
rally
in front of 100,000 people in
Zagreb
.
[19]
Stjepan Radi? and the CCPP held a meeting in which a motion was put forward and voted on that the party will not be part of parliamentary discussions before matters are first resolved with Serbia on the matters of governance, the most sticking issues being the minorisation of the Croatian people and the overt powers of the King with the central government in
Belgrade
.
[
citation needed
]
The party was subsequently renamed to the Croatian Republican Peasant Party, highlighting the party's official stance.
[17]
In December,
ban of Croatia
Matko Laginja
was dismissed by the cabinet of
Milenko Radomar Vesni?
for allowing the rally to take place.
[20]
The new Constitution
[
edit
]
On 12 December 1920, the Parliament of SHS had their first sitting, without the representatives of CPP (50 representatives) and the Croatian Party of Rights (2 representatives). A total of 342 representatives presented their credentials out of a total of 419.
On 28 June 1921, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was made law after a vote of 223 representatives out of the present 285, the total number representatives in the parliament being 419;
[22]
35 voted against and 161 abstained or had walked out.
[23]
The constitution was commonly known as the Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day) Constitution after the anniversary of the Serbian
Battle of Kosovo
, also the anniversary of the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
in 1914.
[24]
In the next parliamentary elections, which were held in March 1923, the stance of Stjepan Radi? and the CPP against the central government managed to turn into extra votes. The results of the election were, 70 seats or 473.733 votes,
[25]
[26]
which represented the majority of the Croatian vote in Northern and Southern parts of Croatia, as well as the Croatian votes in Bosnia, as well as Herzegovina.
[
citation needed
]
Second imprisonment
[
edit
]
Radi? still held on to the idea of an
independent
Croatia, and kept the party out of parliament in protest. This in effect afforded Serbian prime minister
Nikola Pa?i?
the opportunity to consolidate power and strengthen his Serb-dominated government. Radi? embarked on an unsanctioned overseas trip in 1923 in which he visited England, France,
Austria
, and the
Soviet Union
. On 1 July 1924, he proclaimed that his party would join the
Krestintern
as long as it was without Yugoslav representation and the
Communist International
denounced Yugoslav Unitarianism.
[27]
The party congress approved his party's ascension into the Krestintern on August 24 and thereafter, the centralists and monarchists accused him of communism and anti-state activities.
[27]
On 23 December, the central government declared that the political party CRPP was in contravention of the Internal security law of 1921 in the infamous
Obznana
declaration,
[27]
and this was confirmed by King Alexander on 1 January 1924.
Stjepan Radi? was arrested on 5 January, along with several prominent members of his party.
After the parliamentary elections in February 1925, the CRPP even with its whole executive team behind bars, and with only Stjepan Radi? at its helm, CRPP managed to win 67 parliamentary seats with a total of 532,872 votes.
[27]
[29]
Even though the vote count was higher than at the previous election, the
gerrymandering
by the central government ensured that CRPP received fewer parliamentary seats. In order to increase his negotiating power the CRPP entered into a
coalition
with the
Independent Democratic party
(Samostalna demokratska stranka),
Slovenian People's Party
(Slovenska ljudska stranka) and the
Yugoslav Muslim Organization
(Jugoslavenska muslimanska organizacija).
Return to Parliament
[
edit
]
Immediately after the
parliamentary elections
in March 1925, the CRPP changed the party name to
Croatian Peasant Party
(Hrvatska selja?ka stranka).
[30]
With the backing of the coalition partners, the CPP made an agreement with the major conservative Serbian party - the
People's Radical Party
(Narodna radikalna stranka), in which a power-sharing arrangement was struck, as well as a deal to release the CPP executive from jail. The CPP recognized the central government and the rule of the monarch, as well as the Vidovdan constitution in front of the full parliament on 27 March 1925.
[30]
Stjepan Radi? was made the
Minister for Education
,
[30]
whereas other CPP party members obtained ministerial posts:
Pavle Radi?
,
Nikola Niki?
,
Benjamin ?uperina
, and
Ivan Kraja?
. This powersharing arrangement was cut short after the passing away of the president of the Peoples Radical Party,
Nikola Pa?i?
, on 10 December 1926.
Radi? soon resigned his ministerial post in 1926 and returned to the opposition, and in 1927 entered into a coalition with
Svetozar Pribi?evi?
, president of the
Independent Democratic Party
, a leading party of the Serbs in Croatia.
[31]
The Peasant-Democrat coalition had a real chance to end the Radicals' long-time stranglehold control of the Parliament. Previously they had long been opponents, but the Democrats became disillusioned with the Belgrade
bureaucracy
and restored good relations with the Peasant Party with which they were allies in the time of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
. With this arrangement, Stjepan Radi? managed to obtain a parliamentary majority in 1928. However, he was not able to form a government. The Peasant-Democrat coalition was opposed by some of the
Croatian
elite
, like
Ivo Andri?
, who even regarded the followers of the CPP as "
...fools following a blind dog...
" (the blind dog being Stjepan Radi?). As he reached his mid to late 50s, Radi? was nearly blind.
[32]
Attempted Assassination in Parliament
[
edit
]
Death threats
and threats of violent beatings were made against Stjepan Radi? in parliament, without any intervention by the president of the Assembly (
Parliamentary speaker
). On the morning of 20 June 1928, Radi? was warned of the danger of an assassination attempt against him and was begged to stay away from the Assembly for that day. He replied that he was like a soldier in war, in the trenches and as such it was his duty to go but he nevertheless promised not to utter a single word.
[33]
In the
Assembly
,
Puni?a Ra?i?
, a member of
People's Radical Party
from
Montenegro
, got up and made a provocative speech which produced a stormy reaction from the opposition but Radi? himself stayed completely silent. Finally,
Ivan Pernar
shouted in response, "
thou plundered
beys
" (referring to accusations of corruption related to him). In an earlier speech Radi? accused Ra?i? of stealing from civilian population and later refused to apologize when Ra?i? asked him to.
[34]
Puni?a Ra?i? made his way to the speaker podium facing the Croats. He put his hand in his pocket, where he held the pistol, and faced the president Ninko Peri? and told him: "I ask of you, Mr. president, to sanction Pernar. If you fail to stop me, I shall punish him myself!" After that threat shouting started in the room. But Ra?i? continued his threats: "Whoever tries to stand between me and Pernar will be killed!" At that moment Puni?a Ra?i? took out his
Luger pistol
. Minister
Vuji?i?
, sitting at the bench behind Ra?i?, grabbed his hand in order to stop him. At the same time, minister Kujund?i? came to his aid, but Ra?i?, however, being very strong, broke himself free. At exactly 11:25 AM shots were fired - Pernar was hit 1 cm above the heart.
[35]
When he collapsed, Ra?i? took aim at Stjepan Radi?.
đuro Basari?ek
noticed this and leaped to help him. Ra?i?, however, turned his way and shot him, bullet entering his loins and exiting around his
scapula
. Basari?ek fainted immediately. Ivan Granđa ran in front of Stjepan Radi? and Ra?i? shot him in the arm. As soon as he was down, Ra?i? aimed at Stjepan Radi?, and shot him in the chest. At that point Pavle Radi? jumped towards Ra?i?, who didn't get confused, but remarked: "Ha! I've been looking for you!" and shot him 1 cm below the heart. It was believed Ra?i? would shoot
Svetozar Pribi?evi?
, sitting next to Stjepan Radi?, next, but Ra?i? instead left the room through the ministers' chambers. The whole assassination was over in less than a minute.
[35]
It was one of the first assassinations in a government building in history. Radi? was left for dead and indeed had such a serious
stomach
wound (he was also a
diabetic
) that he died several weeks later at the age of 57. His funeral was officiated by archbishop
Antun Bauer
of Zagreb. There was a massive turnout for his burial, and his death was seen as causing a permanent rift in Croat?Serb relations in the old Yugoslavia.
[36]
Puni?a Ra?i? was convicted of the murders and sentenced to 60 years in prison, which was immediately reduced to 20 years. Ra?i? spent most of his sentence under house arrest in a comfortable villa, where he was attended by three servants and was free to enter and leave at will. The leniency of his sentence likely came as a result of his connection with the Chetniks. He was released from house arrest on 27 March 1941. Ra?i? was shot by the
Yugoslav Partisans
on 16 October 1944 during the
liberation of Belgrade
from the
Axis powers
.
Following the political crisis triggered by the shooting, in January 1929, King
Aleksandar Karađorđevi?
abolished the constitution, dissolved the parliament, banned all ethnic, regional and religious political parties, and declared a
royal dictatorship
.
[3]
Radi? is buried in the
Mirogoj
cemetery in Zagreb.
[38]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Radi?'s violent death turned him into a martyr and an icon of political struggle for the peasantry and the working class, as well as an icon of Croatian patriots. The iconography of Stjepan Radi? was later used not only by his successor
Vladko Ma?ek
, but also by other political options in Croatia: right wing or left wing.
The
Usta?e
used the death of Stjepan Radi? as proof of Serbian hegemony, and as an excuse for their treatment of Serbs.
[
citation needed
]
However, a number of leading CPP figures who became political opponents of the Ustashe were imprisoned or killed by the regime. The
Partisans
on the other hand used this as a recruiting point with CPP members who were disillusioned with the
Independent State of Croatia
, and latter had one brigade named after Antun and Stjepan Radi? in 1943.
The image of Stjepan Radi? was used extensively during the
Croatian Spring
movement in the early 1970s. There are many folk groups, clubs, primary and secondary schools which bear the name of Stjepan Radi?. Many Croatian cities have streets and squares in his name. In 2008, a total of 265 streets in Croatia were named after him, making Radi? the third most common person eponym of streets in the country.
[39]
Statues of Stjepan Radi? are also common. His portrait was depicted on the
obverse
of the Croatian 200
kuna
banknote, issued in 1993 and 2002.
[40]
Since 1995 the Republic of Croatia has awarded the
Order of Stjepan Radi?
. In 2015 the Croatian Parliament declared 20 June to be the Memorial Day for Stjepan Radi? and the June Victims.
In 1997, a poll in Croatian weekly
Nacional
named Stjepan Radi? as the most admired Croatian historic personality.
Anti-clericalism
[
edit
]
Stjepan Radi? was a Roman Catholic, but at the same time extremely
anti-clerical
. In a 1924 rally in
Kra?i?
, birthplace of the late Cardinal
Aloysius Stepinac
, he stated: "Priests or bishops are teachers of the faith and as such we are listening to them in church, and even outside the church. But when they mistake religion with politics, with such gentile politics of revenge, blood, arrogance and gluttony, they are not teachers, but destroyers of faith and church. (...) When our bishops write a political letter, and when they want to be political leaders to the Croatian people, then it is my and our duty to decipher it and if necessary, condemn it." In an interview for Nova revija in 1926 he stated that "clericalism means abuse of the most sacred feelings of religion in order to destroy the family, to demolish people in order to gain political power."
[41]
He would often repeat the slogan: Believe in God, but not in the priest. He supported the establishment of the Indigenous Croatian Catholic Church, and its separation from the Vatican. The
secularist
association "Voice of Reason - The Movement for a Secular Croatia" uses his portrait as its logo.
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- ^
Nova revija, no. 1, p. 67-68
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