Milan Stojadinović

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Milan Stojadinović (Милан Стојадиновић) (July 23, 1888 – October 26, 1961) was a Yugoslav political figure.

Stojadinović was born in Čačak in central Serbia, and went to school in Užice and Kragujevac. In 1910 he graduated from the law school of the University of Belgrade, and gained a Ph.D. in 1911. He subsequently spent three years of post-graduate studies in Germany, Britain and France before he returned to Serbia in 1914 to work at the Ministry of Finance.

He would rise to the position of Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1922–1924, 1924–1926, 1934–1935. As a member of the People's Radical Party, he was also elected to the Parliament in 1923, 1925, 1927.

"During the signing of the Golden Book on the Grave of the French Unknown Soldier. Left of Stojadinović is the Yugoslav Ambassador to France Dr B. Puric and to his right is the Military Attaché General George Glisic."

In 1935 he founded a new party, Serbian Radical Party, which with some other parties formed coalition Jugoslovenska radikalna zajednica (Yugoslav Radical Community, JRZ) and won the elections. On June 24, 1935, he was elected Prime minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Stojadinović recognized the military threats from Fascist Germany, Italy and surrounding countries as imminent. He viewed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's future only as sustainable if a neutral status akin to that of Switzerland could be established. His foreign policies pushed consistently towards this goal. Examples are the non-aggression treaty with Italy and Yugoslavia's extension of its treaty of friendship with France. Also, the attempted Concordat with the Vatican, which however caused severe protests from the Serb Orthodox Church in 1937, and was thus never ratified.

In late 1938 he was re-elected, albeit with a smaller margin than expected, providing Prince Pavle of Yugoslavia, the Prince Regent, with a welcomed pretext upon which to replace Stojadinović on February 5, 1939, with Dragiša Cvetković.

The real reason for the Prince Regent persecuting Stojadinović was in fact his steadfast refusal to condone the Prince Regent 's various attempts to annex the throne from his nephew, His Majesty King Peter II, in whose stead he was in fact acting because the young King was still underage until 1941.

Following his replacement the Prince Regent went further by detaining Stojadinović without proper cause until he had managed, with the help of his strong personal ties to His Majesty King George VI, to enlist the support of the United Kingdom to have Stojadinović sent into exile to British controlled Mauritius, where he was kept during World War II. His Majesty King George VI had been the Prince Regent's best man in 1923).

In 1946 Stojadinović went to Rio de Janeiro, and then to Buenos Aires, where he was reunited with his family.

Stojadinović spent the rest of his life as presidential advisor on economic and financial affairs to governments in Argentina and founded the financial newspaper El Economista. In 1963, two years after his death, "El Economista" published a commemorative edition entitled "NI RAT NI PAKT - JUGOSLAVIJA IZMEDJU DVA RATA", Milan Stojandinović's extensive Memoirs written in his native tongue. Today a rare source of historically accurate accounts of political events during Yugoslavia's pre-WWII era. Most historical literature as well as general reference sources, including entries in international Encyclopedia, had and still have but little alternative than to rely on 'official' state-sources. Almost 50 years of communist censorship significantly distorted all historical facts pre-WWII and led to the virtual elimination of any authentic historical accounts of that particular era.