Podržavljenje Tvornice žigica “Drava” u Osijeku 1945
The etatization of the Osijek match factory “Drava” in 1945

Summary/Abstract: The author analyzes the process of “etatization” (appropriation by the state) of the Osijek Factory of safety matches “Drava” after the Second World War, explaining primarily the legal procedures by means of which the ownership passed over from individuals to the state. In the economic life after the war this was certainly one of crucial problems, which was closely linked to the possibility of a further unhindered development of the new political system. With regard to the ownership structure, the new authorities had to take control, at any price and without much delay, of all the small and large industries, putting them under their own management in order to be able to realize the plans which they had prepared earlier. Within the scope of this problem, special place belongs to the etatization of the property which was in foreign possession. The example analyzed here reflects almost paradigmatically those first months after the war when the authorities worked hastily on establishing a totally new economic infrastructure, conceived to serve the formation of a new social order and new social values. On their way towards realization of these ideas, new authorities could not but get rid of all previous subjects of ownership, domestic or foreign. However, as it is also visible to some extent from the example described here, they dealt more cautiously with the foreign owners, due to the foreign policy concerns to which the Yugoslav communist government was remarkabaly sensible. It must also be stressed that the case analyzed here reveals the fates of people found on leading positions and the ways they were treated during judicial procedures. This can be best detected from the court verdicts and minutes about the confiscation of complete movable and immovable property, in this case the Verdict and the Sentence of the People’s District Court in Osijek, published here in the Appendices of the article.

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