Vesna Đikanović

Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije, Beograd

vesnad286@gmail.com

„Where is the money?“ On an attempt to establish economic co-operation between the United States of America and the Kingdom of SCS

Abstract: This paper examines the founding and operation of the First American-Yugoslav Export-Import Association in Chicago. As a private initiative of individuals from the Kingdom of Serbia and Yugoslav immigrants in the United States, the Association was founded with the aim of establishing economic ties between the Serbian and then the Yugoslav state and the USA. The subject of analysis is the emergence of new tendencies in the perception of economic development, the significance and scope of personal initiative, economic pragmatism and ideological content that accompanied the emergence of the Association, challenges in its operation, and the position of the Serbian/ Yugoslav state in the process of formation and operation of this joint stock company. The research is based on archival material stored in the Archives of Yugoslavia and the State Archives of Serbia, periodicals and monographs.

Keywords: First American-Yugoslav Export-Import Corporation, Jovan Milošević, immigrants, Mine Venčac, United States of America, Kingdom of Serbia, Yugoslav state

Summary: The First American-Yugoslav Export-Import Association was founded in Chicago in 1918 at the initiative of Jovan Milošević, a Serbian merchant, owner of the Venčac mine and head of the Chicago-based Royal Serbian Trade Agency. The business venture, which included individuals from the Kingdom of Serbia and the Yugoslav immigrant community, aimed to promote economic cooperation between the Serbian and Yugoslav state and the United States. The ambitious venture soon ran into a series of difficulties that threatened the position of small shareholders, but also the survival of the Association itself. Because of a series of errors in handling the company’s capital, as well as embezzlement by the Association’s leadership, not only were primary business plans not realized, but the company found itself in serious financial trouble. The Yugoslav gov ernment was dragged into the affair due to the fact that Milošević was the head of a state agency. Also, propaganda efforts by the Association’s leadership and the ill-contrived statements of Yugoslav officials created a belief among the immigrant community that this undertaking was backed by the Serbian or Yugoslav state. Questions of debt repayment and assigning responsibility to the first head of the association, Jovan Milošević, and subsequent problematization of the actual responsibility of the Yugoslav state became central in attempts to settle the monetary claims of the interested parties. The settlement was reached by representatives of the Association from the United States taking over the Venčac mine near Aranđelovac. However, because of continuous property disputes, this problem was settled only in 1958. The Yugoslav state denied having any obligations to investors, but its reputation in the immigrant community was damaged. On the other hand, despite the failure of the planned business venture, this event drew Yugoslav immigrants, even if unwillingly, into the legal and business framework of the Yugoslav state.