Liberalism in Serbia

Introduction

The timeline

From Liberals to Nationalists

• 1848: Beginning of differentiating of political currents, liberals noticeable next to the conservatives
• 1858: Liberals organized themselves though not yet as political party in the modern sense
• 1881: The group established the Society for the promotion of Serbian Literature NGO
• 1883: The organization is formed into a political party: Liberal Party
• 1904: A left-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Liberal Democratic Party returning to original liberal ideas, the remainder continues as the National Party straying far away from liberalism
• 1905: The ⇒ Liberal Democratic Party reunited the National Party into the People's Party of the liberal center
• 1919: The party merged with the Independent Radical Party and the Serbian Progressive Party into the ⇒ Yugoslav Democratic Party

  Progressive Party

• 1842: The Constitution-defenders are organized, first forefathers of the progressives
• 1868: The Young Conservatives are organized, although not yet as a political party
• 1881: The Serbian Progressive Party is founded with many strong liberal ideas
• 1896: The party dissolved
• 1906: The party is reestablished, fully reformed
• 1914: The conservative faction seceded as the Serbian Conservative Party
• 1919: The party merged with the People's Party and the Independent Radical Party into the ⇒ Yugoslav Democratic Party
• 1920: The party is reestablished by the remainder that didn't join into the Democrats
• 1925: The party ceased to exist

  Radical Party

• 1903: Liberal wing secedes from the People's Radical Party and forms the Independent Radical Party
• 1919: The Independent Radical Party merges with the Serbian Progressive Party and the People's Party, along with many other political forces from former Austria-Hungary into the pan-Yugoslav State Party of Serbian, Croatian and Slovene Democrats''

  From Democrats to Liberals

• 1919: A group of hard-core republicans secedes
• 1920: The republican dissidents form the Republican Democratic Party
• 1921: Republican Party is renamed as Yugoslavian Republican Party
• 1921: The party is formally named as the Yugoslav democratic Party gaining a statute
• 1924: A faction formed the ⇒ Independent Democratic Party
• 1929: monarchic dictatorship is established and parties are banned
• 1935: preserving structure, the Democrats return into politics with the reintroduction of multi-parliamentarism
• 1945: Parties are again banned, JDS goes into pacifist resistance to Communism
• 1948: JDS is destroyed by Communists, but "Our Word" emigrant newspaper is organized maintaining Democrats' ideology
• 1963: emigrants reform the party as the Democratic Alternative emigrant movement abroad
• 1968: student liberal demonstrations in Belgrade, opposition to Communist dictatorship formed => Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, considered predecessor of the modern Democratic Party
• 1982: Democratic Alternative ceases to exist
• 1989: Reestablishment of the party declared
• 1990: The party is reorganized as a political party, but just in Serbia
• 1990: "Our Word" stops editing
• 1991: A nationalist group seceded as the Serbian Liberal Party
• 1992: Right wing seceded as the Democratic Party of Serbia
• 1996: A faction seceded as the Democratic Center
• 2001: The party changed its ideology to social democracy
• 2004: The ⇒ Democratic Centre returned into the Democratic Party
• 2005: A faction seceded as the ⇒ Liberal Democratic Party
• 2007: ⇒ Civic Alliance of Serbia merged into the Liberal Democratic Party

  From Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia to Reformist Party

• 1989: The pan-Yugoslav Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia is founded
• 1991: The party is renamed in Serbia into the Reformist Party
• 1992: The party merged with the Republican Club into the Civic Alliance of Serbia

  Civic Alliance of Serbia

• 1992: The ⇒ Reformist Party merged with the Republican Club to form the Civic Alliance of Serbia
• 1996: A left wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Social Democratic Union
• 2007: The party merged into the ⇒ Liberal Democratic Party

  Liberal leaders

• Čedomilj Mijatović
• Milan Piroćanac
• Milutin Garašanin
• Stojan Novaković
• Ljubomir Davidović
• Milan Grol