Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between the Yugoslav state and the Serbian Orthodox Church during the first years following the Second World War, as observed through the process of resolving issues related to the property of the Visoki Dečani Monastery. The objectives of the agrarian reform and the main trends in the activities of the Yugoslav agrarian authorities in the confiscation of the monastery’s landholdings are highlighted, covering the period from the spring of 1945 until the summer of 1946, when this process was largely completed. The paper is based on an analysis of unpublished archival sources preserved in the Archive of the Visoki Dečani Monastery, the State Archives of Serbia, and the Archives of Yugoslavia, as well as on relevant literature and newspapers.

Keywords: Serbian Orthodox Church, Raška–Prizren Diocese, Visoki Dečani Monastery, landholdings, agrarian reform and colonization

Summary: The agrarian reform implemented in Yugoslavia immediately after the Second World War aimed to fundamentally transform existing property and legal relations by confiscating landholdings from large estate owners and redistributing land to the lower and middle strata of the peasantry. This process also entailed the confiscation of property belonging to religious institutions throughout the country. For the Yugoslav leadership, the fragmentation of ecclesiastical landholdings represented not only a contribution to resolving the agrarian question, but also a necessary precondition for curbing the power of the Church within the broader socio-political restructuring of Yugoslav society. Furthermore, in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija – an area that largely coincided with the jurisdiction of the Raška–Prizren Diocese – the redistribution of land among agrarian beneficiaries, including the confiscation of church estates and the revision of the interwar agrarian reform, was an important component of the Yugoslav authorities’ national policy toward the Albanian population. According to data from the Yugoslav agrarian authorities, slightly less than 800 ha of land were confiscated from the Visoki Dečani Monastery, the majority of which consisted of forested land. As the monastery was designated an institution of exceptional historical significance, it was permitted, following the agrarian reform, to retain the legally prescribed maximum: 30 ha of forest, 30 ha of agricultural land, and the area occupied by buildings. The monastery administration submitted several appeals to the competent authorities, emphasizing that the remaining land was insufficient to ensure the monastery’s subsistence. In addition, dissatisfaction was expressed regarding the quality of the retained land, as half of the remaining agricultural holdings consisted of infertile and unusable plots. Although the legislation stipulated that land previously owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church was to be allocated to members of the Orthodox faith, the expropriated ecclesiastical property of the Visoki Dečani Monastery was distributed predominantly among Albanian agrarian beneficiaries.