The New Territories of Serbia after the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913: The Establishment of the First Local Authorities

Abstract

In the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, the Kingdom of Serbia wrested Old Serbia and Macedonia from Ottoman rule. The process of instituting the constitutional order and local government institutions in the liberated and annexed areas was phased: (1) the building of provisional administration on the instructions of government inspectors and the head of the Military Police Department; (2) implementation of the Decree on the Organisation of the Liberated Areas of 14 December 1912; and (3) implementation of the Decree on the Organisation of the Liberated Areas of 21 August 1913. Finally, under a special royal decree issued in 1913, implementation began of some sections of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbia. In late December 1913, the interior minister, Stojan M. Protić, submitted the bill on the Annexation of Old Serbia to the Kingdom of Serbia and its Administration to the Assembly along with the opinion of the State Council. The bill had, however, not been put to the vote by the time the First World War broke out, and the issue lost priority to the new wartime situation until the end of the war.