Nikola Paà ¡ià(, ; 18 December 1845 â 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat. During his political career, which spanned almost five decades, he served five times as prime minister of Serbia and three times as prime minister of Yugoslavia, leading 22 governments in total. He played an instrumental role in the founding of Yugoslavia and is considered one of the most influential figures in Serbian twentieth-century history. With 12 years in office, Paà ¡iàwas the longest-serving prime minister of Serbia.
Born in ZajeÃÂar, in eastern Serbia, Paà ¡iàstudied engineering in Switzerland and embraced radical politics as a student at the Polytechnical School in Zürich. On his return to Serbia, he was elected to the National Assembly in 1878 as a member of the People's Radical Party, which was formally organised three years later. After the failed Timok Rebellion against the government of King Milan I, he was sentenced to death but narrowly avoided capture and execution. He spent the next six years exiled in Bulgaria. Following Milan's abdication in 1889, Paà ¡iàreturned to Serbia and was elected president of the National Assembly. A year later he also became mayor of Belgrade. In 1891, Paà ¡iàbecame prime minister for the first time, but was forced to resign the following year.
Following the May Coup and the murder of King Alexander I, Paà ¡iàemerged as a leading figure in Serbian politics while the Radical Party established its dominance. He served as prime minister from 1904 to 1905, 1906 to 1908, 1909 to 1911 and finally from 1912 to 1918, as Serbia entered a golden age of economic growth and growing influence on the continental stage. He led Serbia to victory in the Balkan Wars against the Ottomans and Bulgaria, almost doubling the size of Serbian territories. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand brought Serbia to war with Austria-Hungary, sparking the First World War in which the country was overrun by the Central Powers. Paà ¡iàled the government in exile in the Greek island of Corfu, where the Corfu Declaration was signed and paved the way for a future state of South Slavs.
In 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was officially proclaimed, and Paà ¡iàwas recognised as the de facto prime minister of the new state. Despite his resignation just a month later, he took part in the Paris Peace Conference as the Serbian representative. He served as prime minister on two more occasions, from 1921 to July 1924 and from November 1924 to 1926. During his final tenure, he oversaw the creation of the kingdom's first constitution. He died of a heart attack in late 1926, at age 80. A proponent of populism, nationalism, and political pragmatism, Paà ¡iàbegan his career as a socialist but became a conservative in the 1910s.
Paà ¡iàwas born in ZajeÃÂar, Principality of Serbia. According to Slovenian ethnologist Niko à ½upaniÃÂ, Paà ¡iÃÂ's ancestors migrated from the Tetovo region in the 16th century and founded the village of Zvezdan near ZajeÃÂar. Paà ¡iàhimself said that his ancestors settled from the area of the Leà ¡ok Monastery in Tetovo. Jovan DuÃÂiàconcluded that Paà ¡iàhailed from Veliki Izvor near ZajeÃÂar, and that Paà ¡iÃÂ's ancestry in Tetovo had been long lost. Bulgarian ethnologist Stilian Chilingirov stated that Paà ¡iÃÂ's roots were from the village of Veliki Izvor, founded during the 18th century by refugees from the Ottoman Bulgarian village of Golyam Izvor in Teteven area in today's Bulgaria. Ljubomir Miletiàalso claimed that Paà ¡iÃÂ's grandfather settled in Veliki Izvor from Teteven area, which was refuted by Serbian authors, claiming his parents were both born in ZajeÃÂar. Carlo Sforza mentioned that Paà ¡ià"was lucky in another respect, he belonged to the Shopi community". There also are claims attributing Aromanian descent to Paà ¡iÃÂ.
Paà ¡iàcompleted elementary school in ZajeÃÂar, and finished his gymnasium work in Negotin and Kragujevac. In the fall of 1865, he enrolled in the Belgrade Higher School and in 1867 received a state scholarship to study railroad engineering at the Polytechnical School in Zürich. Historian Gale Stokes wrote that Paà ¡iàwas a "serious student" who "went beyond the required subjects of his specialization". According to Stokes, Paà ¡iÃÂ's early socialist ideals were shaped by German experiences rather than Marxist or Russian populism, as his studies were focused on German history and contemporary events which were taught by Germanophile professors. He graduated as an engineer but, apart from his brief participation in the construction of the ViennaâÂÂBudapest railroad, he never worked in this field.
While a student in Zürich, Paà ¡iàlived near other Serbian students and became politically involved, initially as an organizer. Some of these students would later become the core of the Socialist and Radical movement in Serbia. One of them was Svetozar MarkoviÃÂ, who would become a major socialist ideologue in Serbia. Along with MarkoviÃÂ, Pera VelimiroviÃÂ, Jovan à ½ujoviÃÂ, and others, Paà ¡iàbecame an early member of the "Radical Party".
After returning to Serbia, Paà ¡iàwent to Bosnia to support the anti-Ottoman uprising of Nevesinjska puà ¡ka. The Socialists started publishing Samouprava which later became the official bulletin of the Radical Party. After MarkoviÃÂ's death in 1875, Paà ¡iàbecame the leader of the movement and in 1878 was elected to the National Assembly of Serbia, even before the party was formed. In 1880, he made an unprecedented move in the Serbian political scene by forming an opposition deputies' club in the assembly. Finally, a party program was completed in January 1881 and the Radical Party, the first systematically organized Serbian party, was officially established, with Paà ¡iàelected its first president.
The party and Paà ¡iàquickly gained popularity; the Radicals received 54 percent of the vote in the September 1883 elections, while the Progressive Party, favored by King Milan ObrenoviàIV only got 30 percent. Despite the Radicals' clear victory, the pro-Austrian king, who disliked the pro-Russian Paà ¡iàand the Radical party, nominated old non-partisan hardliner Nikola Hristiàto form a government. The assembly refused to cooperate and the session was suspended.
The atmosphere was made worse when Hristiàattempted to take away peasants' guns, in order to establish a regular army. As a result, clashes began in eastern Serbia, in the Timok valley. King Milan blamed the unrest on the Radicals and sent troops to crush the rebellion. Paà ¡iàwas sentenced to death in absentia and he narrowly avoided arrest by fleeing to Hungary. Twenty-one others were sentenced to death and executed, and 734 more were imprisoned.
For the next six years, Paà ¡iàlived with relatives in Bulgaria, supported by the Bulgarian government. He lived in Sofia, where he worked as a building contractor, and also worked for a short time in the Ministry of Interior. According to Bulgarian sources, he spoke quite fluent Bulgarian, but mixed it with a large number of Serbian words and phrases, and it is claimed that he asked Petko Karavelov's friends who hailed from Stara Planina about the characteristics of that region in Bulgaria, explaining that his ancestors had migrated from there to Serbia some generations before.
Bulgarian testimonies completely differ in one important respect, whether Paà ¡iàworked actively in politics during his exile in Sofia. The official Bulgarian support became one of several reasons for Milan's decision to start the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885. After suffering a decisive defeat, Milan granted an amnesty for those sentenced for the Timok rebellion, but not for Paà ¡iÃÂ, who remained in Bulgarian exile. In 1889, Milan abdicated in favor of his 12-year-old son Alexander. A few days later the newly formed Radical cabinet of Sava Grujiàpardoned Paà ¡iÃÂ.
On 13 October 1889, Paà ¡iàwas elected president of the National Assembly, a duty he would perform (de jure though, not de facto) until 9 January 1892. He was also elected mayor of Belgrade from 11 January 1890 to 26 January 1891. His presiding over the assembly saw the largest number of laws being voted in the history of Serbian parliamentarism, while as the mayor of Belgrade he was responsible for cobbling the muddy city streets. He was reelected twice as president of the National Assembly from 13 June 1893 to April 1895 (though from September 1893 only in name; his deputy Dimitrije Katiàacted for him) and 12 July 1897 to 29 June 1898 and once more mayor of Belgrade 22 January 1897 to 25 November 1897.
After wisely not accepting to head the government immediately after his return from exile, Nikola Paà ¡iàbecame prime minister for the first time on 23 February 1891. However, ex-king Milan returned to Serbia in May 1890 and again began campaigning against Paà ¡iàand the Radicals. On 16 June 1892, Kosta ProtiÃÂ, one of three regents during the minority of Alexander I, died. Under the constitution, the National Assembly was to elect a new regent, but as the assembly was on several months' vacation, Paà ¡iàhad to call for an emergency session. Jovan RistiÃÂ, the most powerful regent, fearing Paà ¡iàmight be elected co-regent and thus undermine his position, refused to allow the extra session, and Paà ¡iàresigned as prime minister on 22 August 1892. During his tenure, he was also foreign minister from 2 April 1892 and acting finance minister from 3 November 1891.
In 1893, though still only 16 years old, King Alexander declared himself of age and dismissed the regents who had governed since 1889. He named moderate Radical Lazar Dokiàto form a government. Though he received approval from some members of the Radical party to participate in the government, Paà ¡iàrefused. To exclude him from the political scene in Serbia, Alexander sent Paà ¡iàas his extraordinary envoy to Russia in 1893âÂÂ1894. In 1894, Alexander brought his father back to Serbia. In 1896, the king managed to force Paà ¡iàto back off from pushing for constitutional reforms. However, since 1897 both kings, Milan and Alexander, had ruled almost jointly. As both disliked Paà ¡iÃÂ, in 1898 they had him imprisoned for nine months because Samouprava published a statement about his previous opposition to King Milan. Paà ¡iàclaimed he was misquoted, with no effect.
Former fireman, ÃÂura Kneà ¾eviÃÂ, who was sentenced to death, tried to assassinate ex-king Milan in June 1899 (Serbian: ÃÂòðýôðÃÂÃÂúø ðÃÂõýÃÂðÃÂ). The same evening, Milan declared that the Radical Party tried to kill him and all heads of the Radical Party were arrested, including Paà ¡iàwho had just been released from prison from his previous sentence. The accusations that the Radicals or Paà ¡iàwere linked to the assassination attempt were unfounded. Still, Milan insisted that Nikola Paà ¡iàand Kosta Tauà ¡anoviàbe sentenced to death. Austria-Hungary feared that the execution of the pro-Russian Paà ¡iàwould force Russia to intervene, abandoning an 1897 agreement to leave Serbia in status quo. A special envoy was sent from Vienna to Milan to warn him that Austria-Hungary would boycott the Obrenoviàdynasty if Paà ¡iàwas executed. Noted Serbian historian Slobodan Jovanoviàlater claimed that the entire assassination was staged so that Milan could get rid of the Radical Party.
Imprisoned and unaware of Austria-Hungary's interference, Paà ¡iàconfessed that the Radical Party had been disloyal to the dynasty, which probably saved many people from prison. As part of the deal reached with the interior minister ÃÂorÃÂe GenÃÂiÃÂ, the government officially left its own role out of the statement, so that it appeared that Paà ¡iàbehaved cowardly and succumbed to the pressure. Paà ¡iàwas sentenced to five years but released immediately. This caused future conflict within the Radical Party as younger members considered Paà ¡iàa coward and traitor, and split from the party. For the remainder of Alexander's rule, Paà ¡iàretired from politics. Although the young monarch disliked Paà ¡iÃÂ, he was often summoned for consultations but would refrain from giving advice and insist that he was no longer involved with politics.
Nikola Paà ¡iàwas not among the conspirators who plotted to assassinate King Alexander. The assassination occurred on the night of , and both the King and Queen Draga Maà ¡in were killed, as well as Prime Minister Dimitrije Cincar-Markoviàand Defence Minister Milovan S. PavloviÃÂ. The Radical Party did not form the first cabinet after the coup d'état, but after winning the elections on 4 October 1903, they remained in almost uninterrupted power for the next 15 years.
In the beginning, the Radicals opposed the appointment of a new king, Peter I KaraÃÂorÃÂeviÃÂ, calling his appointment illegal. But Paà ¡iàlater changed his mind after seeing how people willingly accepted the new monarch as well as King Peter I, educated in Western Europe, was a democratic, mild ruler, unlike the last two despotic and erratic Obrenoviàsovereigns. In the next two decades, the major clash between the king and the prime minister would be Paà ¡iÃÂ's refusal to raise to royal appanage.
Nikola Paà ¡iàbecame foreign minister on 8 February 1904 in Sava GrujiÃÂ's cabinet and headed a government under his own presidency 10 December 1904 to 28 May 1905, continuing as foreign minister as well. During the following decade, under the leadership of Paà ¡iàand the Radical Party, Serbia grew so prosperous that many historians call this period the modern golden age of Serbia. The country evolved into a European democracy and with financial and economic growth, political influence also grew which caused constant problems with Serbia's largest neighbour, Austria-Hungary, which even developed plans to turn Serbia into one of its provinces (already in 1879 German chancellor Otto von Bismarck said that Serbia was the stumbling-block in Austria's development).
As Austro-Hungarian latent provocations of Serbia concerning Serbs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, officially still part of the Ottoman Empire but occupied by Austria-Hungary since 1878 and causing problems to Serbian exports which mainly went through Austria-Hungary (as Serbia was landlocked) didn't bring results, Austria-Hungary began a customs war in 1906. Paà ¡iàformed another cabinet from 30 April 1906 to 20 July 1908. Pressured by the Austro-Hungarian government which asked from Serbia to buy everything from Austrian companies, from salt to cannons, he replied to Austrian government that he personally would do that, but that the National Assembly was against this.
Austria-Hungary closed the borders which did cause a severe blow to the Serbian economy initially, but later it will bounce back even more developed than it was, thanks to the Paà ¡iàswift change towards the Western European countries. He forced conspirators of the 1903 coup into retirement which was a condition for reestablishing diplomatic connections with the United Kingdom, he bought cannons from France, etc. In the midst of the customs war, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 which caused mass protests in Serbia and political instability, but Paà ¡iàmanaged to calm the situation down. In this period, Paà ¡iÃÂ's major ally, Imperial Russia, was not much of a help, being defeated by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War and facing domestic political instability.
Paà ¡iàformed two more cabinets (24 October 1909 to 4 July 1911 and from 12 September 1912). He was one of the major players in the formation of the Balkan League which later resulted in the First Balkan War (1912âÂÂ13) and the Second Balkan War (1913) which almost doubled the size of Serbia with the territories of what was at the time considered Old Serbia (Kosovo, Metohija and Vardar Macedonia), retaken from the Ottomans after five centuries. He clashed with some military structures about the handling of the newly acquired territories. Paà ¡iàbelieved the area should be included into the Serbian political and administrative system through the democratic elections, while the Royal Serbian Army sought to keep the areas under the military control. After one year of tensions Paà ¡iàdismissed the military administrator of Old Serbia and scheduled new elections for 1914 but the outbreak of World War I prevented it.
After the Assassination in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 when members of the Serbian revolutionary organization Young Bosnia assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir-apparent Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian government immediately accused the Serbian government of being behind the assassination. The general consensus today is that government did not organize it, but how much Paà ¡iàknew about it is still a controversial issue and it appears that every historian has his or her own opinion on the subject: Paà ¡iàknew nothing (ÃÂoroviÃÂ); Paà ¡iàknew something is about to happen and told Russia that Austria would attack Serbia before the assassination (DragniÃÂ); Paà ¡iàknew but as the assassins were connected to the powerful members of the Serbian intelligence, was afraid to do anything about it personally so he warned Vienna (Balfour).
According to Ljubomir JovanoviÃÂ, who was the minister of education at the time, Nikola Paà ¡iàwas at least partially aware of the preparations for the assassination of Austro-Hungarian heir Francis Ferdinand, which were carried out by members of the Young Bosnia. In his essay, a contribution to the memorial book "The Blood of Slavdom" () published on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War in 1924, Jovanoviàstates that "at the end of May or the beginning of June" in 1914 Paà ¡iàtold some members of his government that some people "were preparing to go to Sarajevo and murder Francis Ferdinand, who was to be solemnly received there on St. Vitus's Day."
Austria-Hungary presented him the July Ultimatum, written together with the envoys of the German ambassadors in such a vein that it would be unlikely for the Serbian government to accept. After extensive consultations in the country itself and formidable pressure from outside to accept it, Paà ¡iàtold the Austrian ambassador Wladimir Giesl von Gieslingen (who had already packed his bags) that Serbia accepted all the ultimatum demands except that Austrian police could independently travel throughout Serbia and conduct their own investigation. Austria-Hungary answered by formally declaring war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.
Serbian defeat was considered to be imminent, at least by external onlookers, compared to the strength of Austria-Hungary. Serbia had obviously prepared well, however, and after a series of battles in 1914âÂÂ1915 (Battle of Cer, Battle of Kolubara), the loss and recapture of Belgrade, and a Serbian counter-offensive with occupation of some Austrian territories (in Syrmia and eastern Bosnia), the Austro-Hungarian Army backed off. On 5 July 1914, things changed as old King Peter I relinquished his duties to the heir apparent Alexander, making him his regent.
On 17 September 1914, Paà ¡iàand Albanian leader Essad Pasha Toptani signed in Nià ¡ the secret Treaty of Serbian-Albanian Alliance. The treaty had 15 points which focused on setting up joint Serbian-Albanian political and military institutions, as well as a military alliance between Albania and Serbia. The treaty also envisaged building of the rail-road to Durrës, financial and military support of the Kingdom of Serbia to Essad Pasha's position as Albanian ruler and drawing of the demarcation line by a special Serbo-Albanian commission. In October 1914, Essad Pasha returned to Albania. With Italian and Serbian financial backing, he established armed forces in Dibër and captured the interior of Albania and Durrës. Paà ¡iàordered that his followers be aided with money and arms.
Unlike Peter, Alexander was not a democratic spirit, rather a dictatorial one and personally disliked Paà ¡iàand talk of democracy. Open strife began very soon, when Serbia was proposed the London Pact by which it was supposed to expand into most of the ethnic Serbian territories to the west, including a section of the Adriatic coast and some ethnic Albanian territories in northern Albania. In return, Serbia was supposed to relinquish part of Vardar Macedonia to Bulgaria so that the latter would enter the war on the Entente side. Both Paà ¡iàand Prince-regent Alexander were against this as they considered it to be the betrayal of the Croatians, Slovenians and Serbian sacrifices in the Balkan Wars, as negotiations for the future South Slav state already began. However, Paà ¡iàand King Peter were not personally much for the Yugoslav idea, unlike the regent who pushed the issue for creating as large a state as possible. Serbia refused the pact and was attacked by Austria-Hungary, Germany and Bulgaria. The Government and the army retreated to the south in the direction of Greece, but were cut off by Bulgarian forces and had to go through Albania and to the Greek island of Corfu where the Corfu Declaration was signed in 1917 preparing the ground for the future South Slav state of Yugoslavia.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (SHS) was officially proclaimed on 1 December 1918, and, being the Prime Minister of Serbia at that time, Paà ¡iàwas generally considered the de facto Prime Minister of the new South Slav state, as well. The political agreement was reached that Paà ¡iàwould continue on as Prime Minister when the first government of the new state was to be formed, but as a result of his longtime dislike of Paà ¡iÃÂ, Prince-regent Alexander nominated Stojan Protiàto form the government. Consequently, Paà ¡iàstepped down on 20 December 1918.
Despite being removed from the government, as the most experienced of politicians, Nikola Paà ¡iàwas the main negotiator for the new state at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. In an effort to secure the maximalist agenda of the regent, he did not push on the question of the Czech Corridor, TimiÃÂoara, and Szeged, managed to secure borders with Albania and Bulgaria, but failed to annex Fiume (which became an independent state) and most of Carinthia (which remained part of Austria). At the time when Benito Mussolini was willing to modify the Treaty of Rapallo, which cut off a quarter of Slovene ethnic territory from the remaining three-quarters of Slovenes living in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, in order to annex the Free State of Fiume to Italy, Paà ¡iÃÂ's attempts to correct the borders at Postojna and Idrija were undermined by Prince-regent Alexander preferring "good relations" with Italy.
Elections held on 28 November 1920 showed that the Radical Party was the second strongest in the country, having just one seat less than the Democratic Party (91 to 92, respectively, out of 419 seats). However, Paà ¡iàmanaged to form a coalition and became Prime Minister again on 1 January 1921.
Paà ¡iàbecame a very large landowner in the country due to expropriation of Albanian land in Kosovo and other areas.
As soon as talks about the constitution of the new state began, two diametrically opposite sides, Serbian and Croatian, were established. Both Paà ¡iàand Prince-regent Alexander wanted a unitary state but for different reasons. Paà ¡iàconsidered that the Serbs could be outvoted in such a state and that an unconsolidated and heterogeneous entity would fall apart if it was a federal one, while the prince-regent simply didn't like to share power with others, which was shown 8 years later when he conducted a coup d'état.
Stjepan RadiÃÂ, a leading Croatian politician for a joint Serbian-Croatian state would be a temporary solution on the way to Croatian independence, asked for a federal republic. As Paà ¡iàhad majority in the assembly, a new constitution was proclaimed on Vidovdan (St. Vitus day), 28 June 1921, organizing the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as a parliamentary (albeit highly unitary) monarchy, abolishing even the remaining shreds of autonomy which had Slovenia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vojvodina (provincial governments). In the early 1920s, the Yugoslav government of Prime Minister Paà ¡iàused police pressure over voters and ethnic minorities, confiscation of opposition pamphlets and other measures of election rigging to keep the opposition, mainly the autonomy-minded Croats, in minority in the Yugoslav parliament.
During his career as prime minister in the interwar period, Paà ¡iàcontinued to play the role of an important diplomatic negotiator in bilateral talks with neighboring countries. Among his most important foreign policy successes in this period was the settlement of disputes with Bulgaria. A Balkan correspondent of The Times wrote in 1925 that the crown of Paà ¡iÃÂ's long political career was "the successful promotion of a Serbo-Bulgar understanding". He also stated that Paà ¡iÃÂ' personal characteristics and experience in Bulgaria, where he spent his exile, contributed to that success: "No South Slav is more fitted to accomplish this arduous feat than the old statesman from the Serb marches, who speaks Serb with a Bulgar accent and in his middle age was a political exile in Bulgaria".
Paà ¡iàremained prime minister until 8 April 1926, with a short break 27 July 1924 to 6 November 1924, when the government was headed by Ljuba DavidoviÃÂ. After relinquishing temporarily the post to his party colleague Nikola UzunoviÃÂ, Pasic attempted in 1926 to regain his job. Now a king, Alexander refused to reappoint Paà ¡iàusing as a pretext the scandals of Paà ¡iÃÂ's son Rade. The following day, on 10 December 1926, Nikola Paà ¡iàsuffered a heart attack and died in Belgrade, at age 80. He was interred in Belgrade's New Cemetery. Milenko Vesniàis interred to the right of Paà ¡iÃÂ's grave and Janko Vukotiàis interred to the left of the grave.
Nikola Paà ¡iàmarried ÃÂurÃÂina DukoviÃÂ, daughter of a wealthy Serbian grains trader from Trieste. They were married in the Russian church in Florence to avoid the gathering of the numerous Serbian colony in Trieste and had three children: son Radomir-Rade and daughters Dara and Pava. Radomir-Rade had two sons: Vladislav, an architect (died 1978) and (1918âÂÂ2015), an Oxford University law graduate who resided in Toronto, Canada, where he founded a Serbian National Academy.
A central square in Belgrade is named after him, Square of Nikola Paà ¡ià(Serbian: âÃÂó ÃÂøúþûõ ÃÂðÃÂøÃÂð/Trg Nikole Paà ¡iÃÂa). During the Communist regime, the square was named after Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Theàbronze statue of Paà ¡iàstands in the square, overlooking the building of the assembly. He is included in The 100 most prominent Serbs. Paà ¡iàwas awarded the Russian Order of the White Eagle with brilliants, the Order of Carol I of Romania and Order of KaraÃÂorÃÂe's Star.