»Oportunisti« i »bezglavi fanatičari« - sindikalni sukobi u Hrvatskoj između dvaju svjetskih ratova
The “opportunists” and “stubborn fanatics” - trade union clashes in Croatia between the two world wars

Author(s): Ana Rajković Pejić
Subject(s): Economic history, Social history, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), History of Communism
Published by: Durieux
Keywords: the General Workers’ Union; the United Federation of Workers’ Unions of Yugoslavia; the Independent Trade Unions; the Central Workers’ Trade Union Council of Yugoslavia; social democrats; communists;
Summary/Abstract: After the First World War, the trade union movement gained increasing popularity in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, as well as across Europe. This was a consequence of the success of the October Revolution, which was taken as a sign by a portion of the labour movement that the time had come for workers’ states to be established all around Europe. This idea resonated in the newly established Kingdom, resulting in numerous strikes that were organized simultaneously with the renewal of the trade union and political wing of the labour movement. However, disputes originating from the second half of the 19th century culminated in this period, thus creating two trade union wings - the social democratic wing and the communist wing. In the territory belonging to the Kingdom, therefore in Croatia as well, most struggles for dominance in the labour movement were waged between the communist– oriented Independent Trade Unions and the Social democratic United Federation of Workers’ Unions of Yugoslavia which was eventually penetrated by communists, who managed to secure dominance within it immediately after it had been banned in 1940. The aim of this paper is to, relying on the archive materials and secondary literature, to analyse trade union disputes, placing an emphasis on their differences in the attitude towards the very role of trade unions and strike as the basic method of workers’ fight for their rights. The analysis is placed within the framework of dichotomy between the policy of irreconcilable class struggle and class cooperation. The paper also provides an analysis of the social and economic position of the working class and the attempts to create a unique front.

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