860h.00/9–745: Telegram
The Chargé in Yugoslavia (Shantz) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 8—3:45 p.m.]
448. Glas44 today reports speech of Milovan Djilas to plenary session of anti-Fascist youth executive committee concerning elections and monarchy, excerpts from which follow:
“As far as the elections are concerned, it must be clear to all of us that our enemies—both domestic and the foreign reaction which is helping them—wish to bring into question the fate of our entire struggle at these elections. In other words, is that struggle to end in our final victory or full defeat? In other words, they regard these elections as a question which will decide the destiny of our present democratic federative Yugoslavia. I must say immediately that we, the leaders of the national liberation struggle, do not regard this question in this manner. We do not regard these elections a question of to be or not to be.”
[Page 1255]“We consider, Comrades, that the question of victory of the peoples of Yugoslavia in their basic demands, the question of National Government, the question of making possible conditions for democratic progress, was really settled in our armed struggle and that these elections by the peoples of Yugoslavia should only crown our work and endow the results of our struggle with legality and constitutionally.”
“Likewise, Comrades, the reaction wishes to conduct these elections—particularly in regions inhabited by Serbs—on the basis of the question ‘either Tito or the King’ Of course, we cannot even consider the line ‘either Tito or the King’ for the simple reason that we consider that the question of monarchy or republic has already been settled by our struggle.”
“What is the purpose, then of the elections, Comrades? Their purpose is to enable us to continue along the line of the national liberation struggle.”
- Organ of the National Front.↩