Milka Planinc
Encyclopedia
Milka Planinc was an ethnic Croatia
n Yugoslav politician. She served as a Prime Minister of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
from 1982 to 1986. She was the first female head of government
in the history of real socialism
.
Her mandate as prime minister was remembered as the times when the government finally decided to regulate external debt of SFR Yugoslavia and to start to pay it back. In order to achieve necessary means, her cabinet implemented restrictive economic measures for a few years. The
political roles which Planinc held during her career included Secretary of the People’s Assembly of Trešnjevka
1957; Secretary of Cultural Affairs of the City of Zagreb
1961–1963; Secretary of Education 1963–1965; President of the Assembly 1967–1971; Leader of the Communist Party in Croatia 1971–1982; and President of the Federal Executive Council (Prime Minister) of SFR Yugoslavia 1982–1986.
, Dalmatia
. She attended school, but with the onset of World War II her schooling was interrupted. She joined the Communist Youth League in 1941, which was a pivotal year in Planinc’s life and for her country. Nazi Germany
invaded Yugoslavia and divided the country among German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian occupying authorities. Soon a resistance group known as the Partisans
was formed, led by a locksmith named Josip Broz who called himself "Tito". Planinc waited impatiently for the day when she would be old enough to join the anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia.
Aged 19, Planinc joined the Partisans
and became extremely devoted to Tito. In 1944 she joined the Communist party
. She became county commissar of the 11th Dalmatian Shock Brigade whose job it was to teach party principles and policies, and ensure party loyalty. Planinc spent years working for the Partisans and the Communist party, and when they gained control of the entire region she enrolled in the Higher School of Administration in Zagreb to continue her education. Partisan commander Simo Dubajić
later alleged that Planinc was involved with the post-war massacre at Kočevski Rog
.
She married an engineer named Zvonko Planinc. The couple had a son and a daughter. From the late 1990s until her death, Milka Planinc was using a wheelchair and rarely left her apartment. She resided in Zagreb
until her death on 7 October 2010, aged 85.
. She specialized in education, agitation, and propaganda, and in 1959 she was elected into the Croatian Central Committee, the executive body. Although she served in a variety of posts in Zagreb, as an official in the Secretariat for Education and Culture of the Zagreb City Assembly, Secretary of the Zagreb City League of Communists Committee, and as Republican Secretary for Education, greater party acknowledgment did not come until 1966 when she was elected into the Presidium of the LCC, and then to the executive committee of the LCC in 1968.
After the events of Croatian Spring
, the leadership of LCC was removed, and Planinc became president of the Central Committee in 1971. She made the decision to arrest Franjo Tuđman, Marko Veselica
, Dražen Budiša
, Šime Đodan and Vlado Gotovac, among others, who had all participated in the Croatian Spring.
When Tito died in 1980, he left a plan for a rotation of eight leaders, with the leader coming from each federal unit in turn. On 29 April 1982, the Federal Conference of the Socialist Alliance of the Working People of Yugoslavia approved a list of ministers submitted by Planinc, and on 15 May 1982 a joint session of the National Assembly’s two houses named her head of the Federal Executive Council; thus she became prime minister. She became the first woman to occupy such a high post in the country's 64 year history. Planinc had a new governmental body, The Federal Executive Committee, and it consisted of 29 members. All of the members of this committee were new, except for five that were members of the old committee.
The 1974 constitution had left the central government with very little authority, as the power was divided into the separate republics. Planinc tried to re-focus the central government and gain international alliances with visits to Britain
, the United States
, and Moscow
. Though her visits to Washington
gave her promises of economic support, her visit to Moscow
was said to be with "nothing lost, and nothing gained".
Planinc offered her resignation in October 1985, but this was not accepted. On February 12, 1986 Planinc's government submitted a request to the International Monetary Fund
for advanced surveillance. The request was approved a month later. Her term ended in May 1986, and before long she became a member of the LCY Central Committee.
The former prime minister spent the rest of her time living through bitter days of war with the disestablishment of Communism, the fall of the Berlin wall
, and the fighting between Croats and Serbs. In 1993 her husband died, and in 1994 her son Zoran committed suicide.
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n Yugoslav politician. She served as a Prime Minister of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
from 1982 to 1986. She was the first female head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
in the history of real socialism
Real socialism
The Real socialism is a political term, popularized during the Brezhnev era in the Soviet Union, in relation to the rapidly changing socioeconomic reality of the Eastern Bloc countries, faced with the sharply declining increments of growth and the need for economic reform...
.
Her mandate as prime minister was remembered as the times when the government finally decided to regulate external debt of SFR Yugoslavia and to start to pay it back. In order to achieve necessary means, her cabinet implemented restrictive economic measures for a few years. The
political roles which Planinc held during her career included Secretary of the People’s Assembly of Trešnjevka
Trešnjevka
Trešnjevka is a large neighbourhood in the western part of the city of Zagreb, Croatia.It is administratively divided into two districts:* Trešnjevka - sjever...
1957; Secretary of Cultural Affairs of the City of Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
1961–1963; Secretary of Education 1963–1965; President of the Assembly 1967–1971; Leader of the Communist Party in Croatia 1971–1982; and President of the Federal Executive Council (Prime Minister) of SFR Yugoslavia 1982–1986.
Biography
Planinc was born Milka Malada in Žitnić, a small village near DrnišDrniš
Drniš is a town in Croatia, located in inland Dalmatia at halfway between Šibenik and Knin. Its municipality population is 8,595 , with 3,332 in the town itself and the rest in two dozen surrounding villages...
, Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. She attended school, but with the onset of World War II her schooling was interrupted. She joined the Communist Youth League in 1941, which was a pivotal year in Planinc’s life and for her country. Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invaded Yugoslavia and divided the country among German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian occupying authorities. Soon a resistance group known as the Partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
was formed, led by a locksmith named Josip Broz who called himself "Tito". Planinc waited impatiently for the day when she would be old enough to join the anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia.
Aged 19, Planinc joined the Partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
and became extremely devoted to Tito. In 1944 she joined the Communist party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
. She became county commissar of the 11th Dalmatian Shock Brigade whose job it was to teach party principles and policies, and ensure party loyalty. Planinc spent years working for the Partisans and the Communist party, and when they gained control of the entire region she enrolled in the Higher School of Administration in Zagreb to continue her education. Partisan commander Simo Dubajić
Simo Dubajić
Simo Dubajić was a Yugoslav Partisan soldier. A Serb from Croatia, he gained prominence by being involved in inter-ethnic conflicts between Croats and Serbs on two separate occasions, once during World War II and again during the Croatian War of Independence.Dubajić was born in the village of...
later alleged that Planinc was involved with the post-war massacre at Kočevski Rog
Kocevski Rog
The Kočevski Rog or Kočevje Rog or simply Rog is a karstified plateau in the Kočevje Highlands above the Črmošnjice Valley. The plateau is part of the traditional Lower Carniola region of Slovenia and of the Dinaric Alps. The highest area is the central part, with the 1099 meter high peak Veliki...
.
She married an engineer named Zvonko Planinc. The couple had a son and a daughter. From the late 1990s until her death, Milka Planinc was using a wheelchair and rarely left her apartment. She resided in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
until her death on 7 October 2010, aged 85.
Political career
Planinc began to pursue a full-time career within the League of Communists of CroatiaLeague of Communists of Croatia
League of Communists of Croatia was the Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia . Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia .- History :...
. She specialized in education, agitation, and propaganda, and in 1959 she was elected into the Croatian Central Committee, the executive body. Although she served in a variety of posts in Zagreb, as an official in the Secretariat for Education and Culture of the Zagreb City Assembly, Secretary of the Zagreb City League of Communists Committee, and as Republican Secretary for Education, greater party acknowledgment did not come until 1966 when she was elected into the Presidium of the LCC, and then to the executive committee of the LCC in 1968.
After the events of Croatian Spring
Croatian Spring
The Croatian Spring was a political movement from the early 1970s that called for greater rights for Croatia which was then part of Yugoslavia as well as democratic and economic reforms.-History:...
, the leadership of LCC was removed, and Planinc became president of the Central Committee in 1971. She made the decision to arrest Franjo Tuđman, Marko Veselica
Marko Veselica
Marko Veselica is a Croatian politician.During the Croatian Spring, Marko Veselica developed a reputation of being a Croatian nationalist. He was close to Ivan Milas. As a prominent Croatian dissident his Croation nationalist views brought him into conflict with the Communist authorities of...
, Dražen Budiša
Dražen Budiša
Dražen Budiša is a Croatian politician who used to be leading opposition figure in the 1990s and a two-time presidential candidate.-During Yugoslavia:...
, Šime Đodan and Vlado Gotovac, among others, who had all participated in the Croatian Spring.
When Tito died in 1980, he left a plan for a rotation of eight leaders, with the leader coming from each federal unit in turn. On 29 April 1982, the Federal Conference of the Socialist Alliance of the Working People of Yugoslavia approved a list of ministers submitted by Planinc, and on 15 May 1982 a joint session of the National Assembly’s two houses named her head of the Federal Executive Council; thus she became prime minister. She became the first woman to occupy such a high post in the country's 64 year history. Planinc had a new governmental body, The Federal Executive Committee, and it consisted of 29 members. All of the members of this committee were new, except for five that were members of the old committee.
The 1974 constitution had left the central government with very little authority, as the power was divided into the separate republics. Planinc tried to re-focus the central government and gain international alliances with visits to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Though her visits to Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
gave her promises of economic support, her visit to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
was said to be with "nothing lost, and nothing gained".
Planinc offered her resignation in October 1985, but this was not accepted. On February 12, 1986 Planinc's government submitted a request to the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
for advanced surveillance. The request was approved a month later. Her term ended in May 1986, and before long she became a member of the LCY Central Committee.
The former prime minister spent the rest of her time living through bitter days of war with the disestablishment of Communism, the fall of the Berlin wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, and the fighting between Croats and Serbs. In 1993 her husband died, and in 1994 her son Zoran committed suicide.