Serbian Banovina

Map showing the proposed Banovina of Serbia

The Serbian Banovina (Serbo-Croatian: Srpska banovina/Српска бановина), or Banovina of Serbia (Banovina Srbija/Бановина Србија), officially known as "the Serbian Lands" (Srpske zemlje/Српске земље), was a proposed administrative unit of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It's creation was proposed after the establishment of the Banovina of Croatia in 1939. However, due to the Axis occupation and partition of Yugoslavia in 1941 (see World War II in Yugoslavia), the proposal was never implemented.

The proposal

The creation of the Banovina of Croatia in 1939–40 had been negotiated between Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković and Croatian leader Vladko Maček (of the HSS) in March–August 1939, and settled through an agreement on 26 August.^[1] Croatia now became the only banovina constituted on the principle of nationality, named after the majority people (with only a minority left outside it), and thus was close to a nation-state.^[2] The agreement had little support from Serbian political parties, and the Serbian Orthodox Church and Yugoslav Army opposed it.^[3] Relations between Croatian and Serbian politicians (and Croats and Serbs) strained.^[3] It's creation opened the question of the political status of the Serb people ("the Serbian question")^[4] in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, with some Serb intellectuals (notably the members of the Serbian Cultural Club) and politicians (including some members of the Yugoslav government, such as Dragiša Cvetković) proposed and planned the creation of the Serbian Banovina, which would include the territory of the existing banovinas of Vrbas, Drina, Danube, Morava, Zeta and Vardar.^[5] The Banovina of Croatia included a notable Serb population, while the Serbian Banovina would similarly include a notable non-Slavic population.^[6] The plans were affirmed in the February 1940 number of Glas.^[6] It was stated that apart from the Banovina of Croatia, only the Serbian Banovina and Banovina of Slovenia had the right to exist.^[6] The organization of the proposed banovina was supposed to be similar to that of Croatia.^[5]

Demographics

According to 1931 Yugoslav census, the existing banovinas that, according to the proposal, would be included into the Banovina of Serbia had the following population:

• Vrbas Banovina: 1,037,382, of which 600,529 (58%) Orthodox Christians
• Drina Banovina: 1,534,739, of which 992,924 (65%) Orthodox Christians
• Danube Banovina: 2,387,295, of which 1,393,269 (58%) Orthodox Christians
• Morava Banovina: 1,435,584, of which 1,364,490 (95%) Orthodox Christians
• Zeta Banovina: 925,516, of which 516,490 (56%) Orthodox Christians
• Vardar Banovina: 1,574,243, of which 1,046,039 (66%) Orthodox Christians

See also

• Ethnic groups in Yugoslavia
• History of modern Serbia

References

Sources

• Bazić, Jovan (2003). Srpsko pitanje: političke koncepcije rešavanja srpskog nacionalnog pitanja. Službeni list Srbije i Crne Gore. 
• Djilas, Aleksa (1991). The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953. Harvard University Press. pp. 130–132, 144, 149, 217. ISBN 978-0-674-16698-1. 
• Djokić, Dejan; Ker-Lindsay, James (2010). New Perspectives on Yugoslavia: Key Issues and Controversies. Routledge. pp. 67–77. ISBN 978-1-136-93132-1. 
• Matica srpska (1999). Proceedings in history. Novi Sad: Matica srpska. 
• Vucinich, Wayne S.; Tomasevich, Jozo (1969). Contemporary Yugoslavia: Twenty Years of Socialist Experiment. University of California Press. pp. 31–. GGKEY:5JR74ERLNET. 

Banovinas of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1929–1941	Danube Drava Drina Morava Vardar Vrbas Zeta 1929–1939 Littoral Sava 1939–1941 Croatia District Belgrade City Administration