Varaždin City Government in the Interwar Period (1918-1941)

Abstract

The article analyzes the structure, scope and territorial jurisdiction of the Varaždin City Government, a unit of local administration that governed the Varaždin municipality in the period 1918-1941. From 1918 to 1920, the city municipality included the area of the city of Varaždin together with the villages of Varaždin Breg and Novo Selo, and from January 1, 1921 it was further expanded with the village of Šandorovec.
Two basic laws defined the structure and scope of city governments between the two world wars: the Law on the Organization of City Municipalities in the Kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia of 1895 and the Law on City Municipalities of 1934. After the introduction of the dictatorship in 1929, two more laws were passed that had a decisive impact on the functioning of cities. One dissolved all self-governments on the territory of the state and the other annulled all existing election procedures, so that all subsequent city councils were appointed by a Ban’s decision. The abolition of previous legislation, strict hierarchical supervision, the appointment of city councils and government commissioners close to the state regime and the complete denial of electoral principles led, especially in the first half of the 1930s, to the narrowing of self-governing rights of city municipalities.
The paper presents three mutually coordinated bodies of the City Government: the council as a local representative body, committees as advisory bodies of the council and the government as an executive body.
The chapter on the city council, in addition to the structure and competencies, provides a chronological overview of the mandate of the council and a list of mayors and government commissioners who changed during the interwar years. In the 1920s, four city councils were elected and from 1929 to 1941, five were appointed. All four elected councils disbanded before the end of a six-year term due to political and party disagreements, lack of a solid coalition or personal animosities. The city council was chaired by the mayors or presidents of the city municipality. In the observed period, Varaždin had four elected and eight appointed mayors and six government commissioners. The longest-serving elected mayor was Vjenceslav Podgajski with a four-and-a-half-year term.
The council had standing committees for more efficient solution of administrative cases and faster decision making. The committees were established in accordance with the statute (Legal-Political Committee, Excise, Economic, For Paupers and Orphans, For City Enterprises, etc.) or particular legislation (School, Agricultural, Committee for Emergency Passages, Health, etc.). Their number varied over the years between twelve and eighteen.
The performance of all administrative and self-governing tasks belonged to the domain of the government, which was divided into organizational units, the so-called sections. However, little attention was paid to the organization itself. The greatest progress towards better organization was made only in 1937, when the number of departments was finally stabilized and the systematic marking of files with numerical designations of organizational units began. From then until 1941 the administrative work had been conducted in twelve and later thirteen departments (one department was established in 1938).
This article should make it easier for researchers to use the material of exceptionally valuable, frequently used and researched archival fonds of the State Archives in Varaždin, but it can also serve as a guide for understanding the administrative history of other city governments in continental Croatia, whose functioning is defined by the same legislation and the general socio-political climate of the interwar period.