to hold an election the Army would have to be demobilised, whereas it had to be kept on a war footing so long as the Adriatic question was acute. For this reason the order for demobilisation was postponed till June 5, 1920, nearly a year and a half after the Armistice; and the General Election did not take place till Nov. 28, the earliest possible date. Thus the consolidation of our internal conditions could only begin at the close of the year 1920, more than two years after the Armistice.

On Dec. 1, 1918, a National Council had met in Zagreb (Agram). This Council was formed from among the most competent representatives of our nation in the countries that hitherto had been part of the AustroHungarian Empire. It decided for the fusion of all those lands with Serbia and Montenegro into one State. The decision was communicated to the Crown Prince Alexander, who accepted it; and on Dec. 24 he issued a proclamation declaring that 'The different parts of our fatherland, till now broken up into many pieces, are by the unanimous decision of the people, united into one Kingdom.' Thereupon there was summoned to Belgrade a provisional National Assembly formed out of the old Skupshtinas (Parliaments) in Belgrade and Cetinje and the Diets at Zagreb, Ljubljana (Laibach), Sarajevo, and Spljet, the numbers of these representatives being in proportion to the former strength of those bodies. A Ministry or Cabinet was also formed from the political groups thus represented according to their respective strengths; while separate local governments were established at Zagreb, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, and Spljet.

This National Assembly, it must at once be observed, was not elected by the people, as is the case, for instance, with the Constituent Assembly. It was composed of members of the pre-war National Parliaments; the Serbian members, for instance, having been elected so far back as 1912, before the Balkan Wars. It is obvious that a body so chosen could not be regarded as truly representing the wishes of a people that had survived seven years of war and three of exile and enemy Occupation. The members representing the lands which had formed part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had also been elected before the Great War. Moreover, they had been elected under a foreign régime and under a

system which, while it could not prevent some true friends of the people from being elected, permitted some hostile elements to intrude. Finally, many of the members had never undergone election at all, but were simply delegated by the National Council of Zagreb to the Belgrade Parliament. In short, the Parliament as a body neither enjoyed the confidence of, nor held any mandate from, the people at large.

When this Parliament met in March 1919, the political elements composing it stood thus. The two strongest parties in Serbia were the Radicals and the Independents; beside them, but far weaker, stood the National and Progressive parties; the Socialists had only one or two members. In Croatia, the strongest party was the Serbo-Croat Coalition; then came the Starčević group which subsequently, along with the other sections, formed the National Club or Croatian Union. In the Slovene lands were two parties-the Clericals and the Liberals. The members from Bosnia were representative of the older or the younger generation of Serbian champions of national rights or the representatives of various creeds The members from Dalmatia and from the Banat and Bačka generally followed the divisions prevalent in Croatia and Serbia. The Montenegrin members were all opposed to the Government of the late King Nicholas and in favour of union with Serbia.

Now all these parties were local and distinct from each other, having sprung up each in its own small province from the political conditions there prevailing; and all had been in existence for thirty or forty years. In the new country, as modified by the war, they had no true raison d'être; and it was obviously necessary either to change everything from the bottom and to form new parties corresponding to the realised needs of the State or, while retaining the old party divisions, to combine them more or less according to similarities of view, 80 that the same parties might spread over the whole country. The first of these alternatives was preferable and might have been expected to take place, but it was the second which actually came about.

In the first place, the Socialist groups all over the country combined to form one organisation; and the Clerical party followed suit. Between February

and

April 1919, the Serbo-Croat Coalition, the Slovenian Liberals, and the younger elements from Bosnia, formed a block to which three earlier Serbian parties adhered, viz. the Independents, the Nationalists, and the Progressists; and thus a new Democratic party was formed. In opposition to this, the Serbian Radicals, who a little earlier had been joined by the Radicals from what had been Southern Hungary, joined hands with the National Club of Croatia and the Slovenian Clericals, thus forming in October 1919 the Parliamentary Union. This union and the Democratic party comprised much the strongest groups in the Assembly, the other sections being comparatively unimportant.

Both the chief groups had considerable popular support behind them. The Agrarian question, which had made its appearance in Bosnia and Croatia immediately after the Armistice, and was settled for the time by a provisional decision, served to inspire new life in these groups. In the agitation which immediately followed their formation, the Democratic party took sides with the peasants, to whom were handed over the landed properties of the Beys and other owners. The Parliamentary Union, with the Radicals at its head, also adopted the cause of the peasants, but with certain reservations in favour of the landowners. The difference

between the two groups was thus not very deep, but was accentuated by the agitation over the elections. Later, both groups agreed to recognise the landowners' rights to indemnities for the loss of their landed properties; and the sum of 300 million dinars, reserved for the liquidation of these indemnities, is now being paid.

The first united government, that of M. Stojan Protić, one of the former chiefs of the Radicals, but now in open rupture with their policy, did not retain power for long; M. Protić resigned on Aug. 1, 1919, on account of differences with the Minister of Home Affairs and because of the intolerable conditions which existed in Parliament.' His place was taken by M. Ljubomir Davidović, the chief of the Independents, which became eventually the Democratic party. His government, however, met with so much opposition that he was forced to resign on Feb. 15, 1920. He wished, before the dissolution of Parliament, to hold fresh elections, but the

Regent Alexander* refused his consent. On Feb. 19, 1920, M. Protić again took office, but two months later once more resigned as he was unable to carry a majority with him. The crisis which followed lasted for a long time; and it was not till after a protocol of understanding or pact was made between the divergent groups, that it became possible for M. Milenko Vesnić (who died in May this year) to form a Coalition Government on May 17. M. Vesnić was a leader of the Radicals, and in temperament was entirely different from M. Protić. He had great difficulties to encounter, but managed, with some small changes, to keep his Government together, and, after carrying through important matters, the chief of which were the Regent's visit to Zagreb and the formation of the Petite Entente, succeeded in passing the law govern ing the elections to the Constituent Assembly. He also held the elections and opened the Assembly. On Dec. 23, 1920, M. Vesnić resigned, as he felt that he had carried out his mission. Some days later, M. Pašić formed a new Coalition ministry, which is still in power.

All these Governments, except that of M. Pašić, we may observe, fell on account of serious disagreement with the National Assembly, which body, in truth, was very unsatisfactory, but yet was a necessary evil. Its career, however, might have been much shorter and far more advantageous to the State, had it, within the first three months of its existence, carried out a general election to the Constituent Assembly and then with drawn. Such self-sacrifice could, however, hardly have been expected; and it held to power, like other assemblies in similar circumstances, for two years.

Under the conditions we have sketched, party diver gencies were wide and bitter. No one party, not even either of the large groups, was possessed of a real working majority. From whatever group the Ministry was drawn, it always met with strong and virulent oppo sition; while, whenever the Opposition came into power, the former group in turn attacked with equal vehemence There was frequent obstruction; and occasionally the Opposition, by withdrawing from the Chamber, made

* On the death of King Peter (since this article was written), the Regent Alexander was proclaimed King.

he necessary quorum impossible. The work of the Assembly in such circumstances could not be anything ut meagre. A few petty laws, the approval of the udgets and two or three treaties, together with some mergency legislation which was only brought before Parliament after it had come into effect, completed the ecord of its work. The only really important measure passed was the law relating to the General Election.

The results of the General Election were a great urprise, and brought to light unexpected strength in several parties. The two great groups, the Radicals and che Democrats, ceased to represent a majority, as they had appeared to do before the election. Together they numbered about 190, which is considerably less than a majority of the whole body of 419. The Clericals and the National Club, the former allies of the Radicals, were badly beaten; the Clericals, instead of winning (as was expected) from 40 to 50 seats, won only 27, while the National Club sank to 11 Members. Various new parties sprang up. One of these was a Peasant party with a wide and very democratic programme and 40 seats to its credit; the second was a Communist party, the outcome of the craze now permeating the world, with not less than 59 Members. A third party, quite different from the rest, is the Croatian Peasant party, which put forward a programme for a separate Croatian Peasant Republic and, under the leadership of M. Radić, gained 49 seats. Finally, the representatives of the Mohammedans numbered 24. These surprising results, which involve an appearance in the Constituent Assembly of new parties unrepresented before, may be attributed rather to the new electoral law, which favours minorities, than to any deeper causes.

Of these new parties, the Peasant party stands absolutely for the unity of the Kingdom and, in principle, is acting with the other parties that desire a complete union on a democratic basis. The Communists form an extremely indigestible element; and all the nonnational elements (Turks, Magyars, Albanians, Germans) have joined the Communist party. This party is evidently on the decline, especially since the Emergency Act of Dec. 27, 1920, by which all Communist associations have been suspended. This Act was issued for the good