INTERNATIONAL LEGAL RECOGNITION OF THE KINGDOM OF SERBS, CROATS AND SLOVENES

Abstract

The paper studies international legal recognition of a state using the example of the recognition of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1919-1920. One aspect of the paper is based on historiographical literature, presenting and analysing the factual situation, which forms the basis for the legal analysis. The legal analysis is based on the nature of state recognition, as perceived at the beginning of the 20th century. The backbone of the paper is the actual course of recognition of the Kingdom of SCS. Nevertheless, the paper also touches on the topic of the origin of the Kingdom of SCS and problematizes the issue of whether that state was new or old. The main emphasis for the topic is the exploration of whether the Kingdom of SCS, at the time when it was striving to obtain recognition from the allies in the Great War, satisfied the conditions of statehood from the point of view of the then relevant norms of International Public Law. The paper follows a dual theoretical understanding of the international legal concept of recognition through both declarative and constitutive theories, reflecting different understanding of recognition both in the period following the end of the First World War and today in the 21st century. To that extent, consideration of the historical concept of legal recognition contributes to a more complete understanding of this issue in contemporary international law as well.