Archival material

Archival material

Archival material from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Archival material from the period of the socialist Yugoslavia

The archival material kept in the Archives belongs to the following record groups:

of central state organs and institutions, central bodies of political parties and other organizations and professional and other associations of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia;
of central political organs of the National Liberation Movement, organs of authority and administration and political and other organizations of Yugoslavia from the time of the National Liberation War;
of federal organs and organizations of Yugoslavia from World War II to the creation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, generated in the work of state bodies, institutions, organizations and communities set up for the implementation of the functions of the federation.

The entire archival stock of the Archives is kept, classified and processed within specific archival records groups, i.e. according to the origin - the sources of archival material, strictly abiding by the principle of provenance.

The Archives of Serbia and Montenegro houses 777 record groups- collections about 22000 meters long.

Archival material from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

In classifying and processing record groups, those from from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia have been accorded priority in view of their having become accessible for use, and most of them have been processed and equipped with finding aids.

The original order as established in their source registry office has been restored in the case of a number of more fully preserved record groups from this period. The finding aids for these record groups are administrative books.

Those record groups the material of which has been preserved in fragments, have been classified and processed in the Archives respecting, wherever possible, the organizational structure of the source of the records concerned or their functions and powers reconstructed on the basis of the material preserved and the regulations under which various bodies and organizations were founded and their purviews defined. Finding aids - inventories with supporting devices (historical note, indices and similar) have been prepared for these record groups, which, either in more detail or in summary form, indicate the content of archival material and also refer the researcher to specific documents within the record group.

A number of collections from this period are undergoing classification and processing, but elementary data on the records exists and is available to users.

From the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia 145 record groups or parts of record groups 4963 linear metres long have been preserved. The most important in terms of content have been processed bearing in mind the needs of science and of the users. The finding aids for archive groups from this period are: inventories, calendars, card files, lists or administrative books, depending on the manner and level of archival material classification. The number of record groups and the quantity of materials from this period would undoubtedly be larger had it not been for the large-scale devastation of this part of our cultural heritage too during World War II. Apart from that, selected archival records were systematically carted away by the occupying power. Today we cannot express the extent of destroyed or missing archival material in terms of the number of file covers or linear metres, as no precise data on that exist, but the magnitude of the destruction and loss is obvious from the fact that even of the 145 preserved groups of records of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia only a few are complete. Most of the groups are incomplete, and of some only fragments have been preserved. A case in point is the group of records of the Ministerial Council, i.e. the Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which has been formed in the Archives from fragments of documents collected and found in other record groups. In view of the importance of this record group and its place in the hierarchy of state power, the loss is inestimable. Another group in fragments is the archival material of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which, given its function, should have contained the most important archives of this department, etc.

Despite the incompleteness of archival material from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, record groups of the central bodies of authority and state administration in the spheres of internal and foreign policy, finance, economy, health, education, culture, welfare, justice, banking etc. constitute valuable and crucial sources for studying the history of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Archival material from the period of the socialist Yugoslavia

The record groups containing documents of the organs and organizations of socialist Yugoslavia are the most numerous and contain the largest quantity of material. The material for these record groups has not been fully preserved either and it was often taken over by the Archives in a state of disarray. This was the consequence, as is in fact the case in many other countries, of the negligent attitude of the administrative bodies generating the records, which take great care of currently used records, frequently disregarding, amid the daily routine, the aspect of their historic significance.

The Archives has over 579 archive groups or parts of archive groups from this period of a length of 16,800 metres.

In respect of record groups dating from this period the Archives accords priority in classification and processing to those whose material has become accessible.

The principles of classification and processing applied to archive groups from this period are also different and depend on: the completeness of the records, the quantity of ephemeral records to be separated as they do not constitute material for permanent retention; the office administration system of the sources of archival material, in particular their filing systems, etc.

From an archival standpoint the condition of record holdings from this period in the Archives is not satisfactory as a large number of record groups have not been adequately processed nor have inventories been made, even though provisional summary lists exist for most of them making it possible for researchers to use them, but definitely with greater efforts and more time allocated to research.

Although the archival material from this period is voluminous in terms of record groups and quantity, the material has not been adequately preserved, especially not up to the year 1953. Thus, for instance, the record group of the Government of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, which would normally contain voluminous records of a political, administrative and executive nature of great historic significance, only contains archival material of second-class value and importance. Apart from other documents, minutes and materials from government sessions are lacking. The situation is similar with some other important record groups.

The preserved archival material in the Archives within the record groups from this period is testimony to the socio-economic development and transformation of the country. On the basis of these sources one can get a picture of the formation of the new Yugoslavia, the establishment of the new constitutional order, the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country, the planned development of the economy, the development of self-management, etc.

Personal archives and collections

In addition to archival material of record groups from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the socialist Yugoslavia, private records and collections also comprise significant documents of the Archives.

The Archives comprises 53 personal archives - collections with approximately 140 linear metres of material.

Personal archives and collections resulted from the work of eminent political, cultural, public and other figures and contain valuable documents for studying the history of Yugoslavia and are an excellent supplement to many incomplete archive groups, especially those from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The most important private collections are, for example, those of Jovan Jovanovic - Pizon, Milan Stojadinovic, Sava Kosanovic, Dragoljub Jovanovic, Vojislav Jovanovic - Marambo, and others.

Despite the paucity of archival material in many record groups of the central state administration of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as those from the socialist period, the material held in the Archives is a first-class, inexhaustible and unavoidable source for scientific research of the overall political, social, economic and cultural life of Yugoslavia.