Yugoslav Requisition Policy in Kosovo (1945-1952)

The purpose of the research paper is to study the requisition policy in the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, through which a campaign to collect agricultural and livestock products was implemented and transformed into a system of measures aimed at stabilizing the state. The scientific novelty. Using the example of Kosovo, various aspects and specific types of implementation of the requisition policy are studied, emphasizing the state’s role in its pursuit. Conclusions. After the end of World War II, the Yugoslav government implemented a planned economy, one element of which was the ‘requisition’ policy. The campaign to collect agricultural and livestock products was performed in all regions of the state, but the rural population of Kosovo, which made up 85% of the total population of the region, suffered the most from it. The requisition was planned and performed for the following reasons: 1. The initial proclamation of the requisition policy on behalf of the army and police; 2. Seizure of products in the name of brotherhood, unity, and state rebuilding; 3. In the name of assistance to underdeveloped and passive regions; 4. The need to provide for state institutions; 5. The need to create a reserve export fund with neighboring communist countries to exchange agricultural products for industrial goods. The mandatory seizure was initially focused on white wheat and then was spread to other agricultural and livestock products. Kosovo peasants had no benefits (the author did not find such documents in the archives) and were not exempted from requisitions (facts of exemption from requisitions are found in Albania, Macedonia, and some other states). At the same time, for the entire period from 1947 to 1965, Kosovo received only 2.3% of gross investments, which was the lowest rate of all regions of Yugoslavia. Was requisition a necessity or an obligation? Failure to fulfill plans on the ground and increased demand for agricultural products forced the state to provide constant clarifications, orders, and additional acts with which it regulated and improved the requisition policy. State bodies did not have realistic plans for the volume of requisitions and social distribution. At the same time, the requisition process did not depend exclusively on the executing bodies and their actions. The problem was the lack of food supplies, losing of producers’ interest in increasing agricultural productivity, and, as a result, a decline in production. Implementing of the requisition policy did not produce tangible and expected results, but turned into severe social and economic consequences.