Izvorni znanstveni članak
The Slovene Parliament Member of Radić’s Party: Evaluating Ivan Švegel’s Political Activities
Andrej Rahten
; Zgodovinski inštitut Milka Kosa Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti
Sažetak
This article presents the political activities of the Slovene diplomat and legal expert Ivan Krizostom Švegel (a.k.a. Hans Schwegel, 1875–1962), who primarily served as an Austro-Hungarian consul in the United States and Canada before the First World War. Although his involvement in the delegation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 has not passed unnoticed in Slovene historiography, less is known about his political career. Švegel already expressed his sympathies for the Croatian national demands at the Paris Peace Conference, especially by interceding with American diplomats for the incorporation of Rijeka by Yugoslavia and helping his Croatian counterparts settle the question concerning the affiliation of the Repaš (Hung. Répás) area along the Drava River. In the Temporary National Representation in Belgrade, Švegel represented Trieste and worked within the framework of the Yugoslav Club, headed by the president of the Pan-Slovene People’s Party, Anton Korošec. However, Švegel soon parted ways with Korošec and withdrew from active politics for a few years.
In the election of 1927, he ran on the ticket of the Croatian Peasant Party in the Gorski Kotar region at the personal proposal of Stjepan Radić and made his way into the Croatian parliamentary representation in the Belgrade assembly. Radić’s decision to nominate Švegel as a Slovene candidate in one of the traditionally winnable Croatian constituencies for his party undoubtedly added to the chagrin of Korošec, who had long been at odds with Radić. Much to the surprise of Radić’s most intimate circle, at the end of 1927 Švegel joined the rebellious faction of Ljudevit Kežman, a priest and long-standing secretary of the Croatian Peasant Party. Yet rather than hold him to blame, Radić continued to cooperate with Švegel until the fateful shooting incident in the Belgrade assembly on June 20th, 1928. During the assassination against Radić and his colleagues, Švegel, according to his own testimony, was composed enough to help lift Svetozar Pribićević from his bench to safety.
In the early period of the royal dictatorship, Švegel maintained a low profile until the spring of 1930, when he joined the government as a minister without portfolio, together with three other dissidents from the former Croatian Peasant Party. After he was soon forced to leave his position in the royal government, he briefly returned to diplomacy in 1931 by being appointed envoy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to Buenos Aires. However, no later than 1932, he was forced to leave his office due to disagreements with other officials at the legation and the heads of the foreign ministry and to retire. As his correspondence with Marija Radić reveals, Švegel also remained a faithful adherent to Radić’s views after the Second World War.
Ključne riječi
Ivan Švegel; Stjepan Radić; Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes; Slovenian-Croatian relations; parliamentarism
Hrčak ID:
263860
URI
Datum izdavanja:
9.9.2021.
Posjeta: 624 *