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Dimitrije Tucović

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Dimitrije Tucović
Born(1881-05-13)13 May 1881
Gostilje,Serbia
Died20 November 1914(1914-11-20)(aged 33)
Vrače Brdo,Serbia
Resting placeNew Cemetery,Belgrade,Serbia
NationalitySerbian
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade
Occupation(s)Editor, journalist, politician, soldier, theorist
Political partySocial Democratic
MovementSocialism
Military career
Nickname(s)Mita
AllegianceKingdom of Serbia
Service/branchRoyal Serbian Army
Years of service1912–1914
RankCaptain
Battles/wars
MemorialsDimitrije Tucović Square

Dimitrije"Mita"Tucović(Serbian Cyrillic:Димитрије Туцовић,Serbian pronunciation:[dimǐtrijetûːtsoʋitɕ];13 May 1881 – November 1914) was aSerbiantheorist of the socialist movement, politician, writer and publisher. He was founder of theSerbian Social Democratic Party.

Tucović devoted his entire life to fighting for workers' andhuman rights,gender equality,universal suffrage,social justiceandcivil libertiesin theKingdom of Serbia.Some of the ideas that he advocated as a pioneer, today are widely accepted values in contemporaryRepublic of Serbia.[1]

Life

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Tucović was born 13 May 1881 in theGostiljevillage on MountZlatibor,nearČajetina.[2][3]

He was already an adherent to socialist ideas when he came to Belgrade in 1899 to finish high school after previously spending six years in Užice.[4]In 1901, the Belgrade Workers' Society was renewed and Tucović recreated a socialist group ofgymnasiumstudents and became one of the leaders of the Society. He attempted to create modern unions.

In 1902 he organised student demonstrations in the Senate againstNikola Pašić.With Tucović's and colleague Radovan Dragović's help, the "Panel for Movement Leadership" was created again and they made the "Central Committee", with a goal of setting the grounds for creating a party. Tucović led the March demonstrations against KingAleksandar Obrenovićon 5 March 1903.[4]He was forced to emigrate toZemunin the neighbouringAustria-Hungaryand later toVienna.[5]

Radničke novine(Worker's Newspaper) from 1897.

On 2 August 1903, the Social-Democratic Party was formed, with Tucović andDragiša Lapčevićas one of the leaders. The editor of their newspaper, "Worker's Newspaper" was Tucović. During the Second Congress of a workers union SSDP (1904), Tucović gave a lecture on union organisations. In polemics with the left wing of the party, headed by Dragiša Lapčević, Tucović often adopted a centralist and right-opportunist positions.

In 1906, he graduated from theUniversity of Belgrade'sLaw School.[4]After coming back from Berlin, he gave up on his doctorate and started spending his time in socialist and labour movement, as a secretary of the SSDP. The SSDP was modeled uponGerman Social Democracy.[4]

Tucović was the organizer and leader of the first Balkan Socialist Conference, held in Belgrade from 7-9. January 1910, aimed at creating aBalkan federation.[6]

Grouping and mutuality of countries and peoples in the Balkans is the only road that leads to economic, national and political liberation.[7]

In 1910, the party established a theory magazineBorba– Tucović was the editor. He participated at the International Socialist Congress inCopenhagenthe same year and gave an important speech criticizing the position that Austrian social-democrats took on the national issue, especially theAustro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.In a debate withKarl Rennerhe pointed out the colonial-enslaving politics ofAustro-Hungaryand the fact that social-democrats were supporting the government on the issue.

After the outbreak of theBalkan wars1912, he was mobilized in theSerbian armyand participated in theSerbian military campaign in Albania.[6]He sent letters from thefrontaboutwar crimesagainst civil population which were regularly published in the Worker's Newspaper.[8]Writing of themassacres of Albaniansduring the Serbian takeover ofKosovofromTurkey(1912), he stated:

CaptainDimitrije Tucović

We have carried out the attemptedpremeditated murderof an entire nation. We were caught in that criminal act and have been obstructed. Now we have to suffer the punishment.... In the Balkan Wars, Serbia not only doubled its territory, but also its external enemies.[9]

After returning from the Balkan war, he published his influential bookSerbia and Albania: A Contribution to the Critique of the Conqueror Policy of the Serbian Bourgeoisie,which analyzes the roots ofSerbian-Albanian conflictand consider "among the most importantMarxistcontributions on the national question in the Balkans ".[10]

He died on the frontlines in World War I atVrače brdo[sr].He died as a member of Morava division in November 1914 in aBattle of Kolubaraagainst Austro-Hungarian army atLjig's bank. In 1915,Leon Trotskywrote about the political impact of his death:

How many harbingers of theBalkan Federationhave fallen in the wars of the last years! The heaviest blow for Serbian and all Balkan social-democracy in the war was the fate of Dimitrije Tucovic who was one of the noblest and most heroic figures of the Serbian workers' movement.[11]

TheSlavija SquareinBelgradewas renamed in Tucović's honor in 1947 until the early 2000s, when it was changed back to Slavija.[4]He has streets named after him inSkopje,Užice,Belgrade, Kragujevac, and many other cities and towns of former Yugoslavia.

Selected works

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  • Union Organization (Sindikalne organizacije) 1904.
  • Unions and Party (Sindikati i partija) 1904.
  • Austria-Hungary in the Balkans (Austro-Ugarska na Balkanu) 1908.
  • Labor Law and Social Democracy (Zakon o radnjama i socijalna demokratija) 1908.
  • The labor movement in Serbia (Radnički pokret u Srbiji) 1909.
  • Balkan Conference (Balkanska konferencija) 1910.
  • First Balkan Social Democratic Conference (Prva balkanska socijaldemokratska konferencija) 1910.
  • The Albanian question (Albansko pitanje) 1910.
  • War and Peace (Rat i mir) 1910.
  • Women's liberation (Oslobođenje žene) 1910.
  • Tactics and action (Taktika i akcija) 1910.
  • Bourgeois and proletarian Serbia (Buržoaska i proleterska Srbija) 1911.
  • Marx and Slavs (Marks i Sloveni) 1911.
  • Serbia and Albania(Srbija i Arbanija) 1914.

References

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  1. ^"ČULI STE ZA NJEGA, A ZNATE LI KO JE ON? Dimitrije Tucović, čovek koji je kritikovao Srbe zbog zločina nad Albancima!".Telegraf.rs.20 November 2014.
  2. ^"The remains of Dimitrije Tucovic transferred to the Alley of the Greats".mod.gov.rs.Ministry of Defence Republic of Serbia. 15 December 2016.
  3. ^"13. maj - Dan OŠ „Dimitrije Tucović" Čajetina ".zlatibor.rs.13 May 2014.
  4. ^abcdeMitrović, Nemanja (13 May 2021)."Balkan i istorija: Dimitrije Tucović - socijalista koji je branio Albance, prkosio imperijalizmu i ratovao za Srbiju".BBC(in Serbian).
  5. ^MacKenzie, David (1996).Serbs and Russians.East European Monographs. p. 113.ISBN9780880333566.
  6. ^ab"Dimitrije Tucović".Nova enciklopedija u boji Vuk Karadžić--Larousse II.Vuk Karadžić. 1978.
  7. ^Tucović, Dimitrije (1950). "Prva balkanska socijaldemokratska konferencija".Izabrani spisi, knjiga II.Belgrade: Prosveta. p. 23.
  8. ^"Tucovićevo pismo o zločinima srpske vojske nad Albancima"(in Serbian). Archived fromthe originalon 17 December 2009.
  9. ^Gallagher, Tom (2005).The Balkans in the New Millennium: In the Shadow of War and Peace.Routledge. p. 22.ISBN9781134273041.
  10. ^Holberg, A. (22 March 2000)."Review:" Serbia and Albania "by Dimitrije Tucovic".www.labournet.net.
  11. ^"Leon Trotsky: Political Profiles (Rakovsky and Kolarov)".www.marxists.org.
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