League of Communists of Serbia

Not to be confused with Communist Party (Serbia).

The League of Communists of Serbia (Serbian: Савез комуниста Србије, romanized: Savez komunista Srbije, abbr. SKS), known as the Communist Party of Serbia (Serbian: Комунистичка партија Србије, romanized: Komunistička partija Srbije, abbr. KPS) until 1952, was the ruling political party of Serbia from 1945 to 1990. It was the Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.

League of Communists of Serbia Савез комуниста Србије Savez komunista Srbije
Abbreviation	KPS (until 1952) SKS (after 1952)
Secretary/President	See list
Founded	8 May 1945 (1945-05-08)
Dissolved	17 July 1990 (1990-07-17)
Preceded by	Provincial Committee for Serbia
Succeeded by	Socialist Party of Serbia
Headquarters	Ušće Tower, Belgrade
Youth wing	League of Socialist Youth of Serbia
Ideology	Communism Marxism-Leninism Titoism
National affiliation	League of Communists of Yugoslavia[a]
Colours	Red
Party flag
Politics of Serbia Political parties Elections

Under a new constitution ratified in 1974, greater power was devolved to the various republic-level branches. In 1987, the party was taken over by the populist faction led by Slobodan Milošević. Milošević appeased nationalists in Serbia by promising to reduce the level of autonomy within the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. This policy increased ethnic tensions with the other republics and nationalities and led to the Yugoslav Wars. During the early 1990s, the growing ethnic tensions between the republics of Yugoslavia led to the break-up of the federal party.

On 17 July 1990, it merged with several smaller parties to form the Socialist Party of Serbia.^[2]

During its existence the League of Communists of Kosovo and the League of Communists of Vojvodina were associated with it as "integral parts."^[3]

Party leaders

Main article: Secretary of the League of Communists of Serbia

1. Blagoje Nešković (1941 – 1948)
2. Petar Stambolić (1948 – March 1957)
3. Jovan Veselinov (March 1957 – 4 November 1966)
4. Dobrivoje Radosavljević (4 November 1966 – February 1968)
5. Petar Stambolić (February 1968 – November 1968)
6. Marko Nikezić (November 1968 – 26 October 1972)
7. Tihomir Vlaškalić (26 October 1972 – May 1982)
8. Dušan Čkrebić (May 1982 – 17 May 1984)
9. Ivan Stambolić (17 May 1984 – May 1986)
10. Slobodan Milošević (May 1986 – 24 May 1989)
11. Bogdan Trifunović (24 May 1989 – 16 July 1990)

Congresses

Flag of Serbia within Yugoslavia

Ušće Tower, former headquarters of the League of Communists of Serbia in Belgrade

• I. (Founding) Congress – 8–12 May 1945
• II. Congress – 17–21 January 1949
• III. Congress – 26–29 April 1954
• IV. Congress – 4–6 June 1959
• V. Congress – 11–14 May 1965
• VI. Congress – 21–23 November 1968
• VII. Congress – 23–25 April 1974
• VIII. Congress – 29–31 May 1978
• IX. Congress – 1982
• X. Congress – 29–31 May 1986
• XI. Congress – December 1989
• XII. (Extraordinary) Congress – July 1990

See also

• History of Serbia
• League of Communists of Yugoslavia
  • League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • League of Communists of Croatia
  • League of Communists of Macedonia
  • League of Communists of Montenegro
  • League of Communists of Slovenia
  • League of Communists of Vojvodina
  • League of Communists of Kosovo
• List of leaders of communist Yugoslavia
• Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Notes

1. Known as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia until 1952.^[1]

References

1. Biondich, Mark (2011). The Balkans: Revolution, War, and Political Violence Since 1878. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 180. ISBN 9780199299058. OCLC 718575569.
2. Yugoslavia The Old Demons Arise, TIME Magazine, 6 August 1990
3. William B Simons & Stephen Write (Ed.). The Party Statutes of the Communist World. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 1984. p. 489.