Abstract: As a publicist, literary critic, and politician, Jakov Jaša Prodanović (1867–1948) was one of the most prominent supporters of the ideas of republicanism and social justice in the Kingdom of Serbia and in the Yugoslav monarchy of the Karađorđević dynasty. In 1917, due to the so-called Salonika Trial, he stopped supporting the monarchy, opting for the republican form of government in the future Yugoslav state. The analysis of his views on the convening, membership, and role of the Constituent Assembly in 1920 is of great importance for understanding the circumstances in which the first Yugoslav parliament took place, bearing in mind Jaša Prodanović’s rich political experience acquired in the Kingdom of Serbia. The paper is based on documents from the Archives of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, contemporary periodicals, and relevant historiography.

Keywords: Jaša Prodanović, Yugoslav monarchy, Constitutional Assembly, Convent, parliamentarism, Constitution

Summary

Jaša Prodanović was one of the most prominent supporters of the ideas of republicanism and social justice in the Kingdom of Serbia (and afterwards in the Yugoslav monarchy). During the first two years of the Great War, he followed the government’s political course, just like the other members of the Independent Radical Party. Nevertheless, due to the so-called Salonika Trial in1917 and the execution of the officers who were members of the Black Hand organization, Jaša Prodanović condemned the political leadership of Nikola Pašić, ceasing to support the monarchy. After the end of the war, he founded the Republican Party along with Ljuba Stojanović, and started to promote republican ideas. He relied on his rich political experience, both in the Kingdom of Serbia, and in the new Yugoslav state. His political activism was evidenced by numerous remarks, criticisms and observations during the elections and then the organization of the Yugoslav Constituent Assembly in 1920. He supported the full sovereignty of the Assembly in the process of drafting the new constitution and its right to make decisions concerning not only the organization of government, but also its form.