After the German invasion and fragmentation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, partisans formed the
Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) in 1942. On 29 November 1943 an AVNOJ conference proclaimed the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, while negotiations with the royal government in exile continued. After the
liberation of
Belgrade on 20 October 1944, the Communist-led government on 29 November 1945 declared
King Peter II deposed and proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. From 1945 to 1953, the President of the Presidency of the National Assembly was the office of the Yugoslav head of state. The post was held by
Ivan Ribar. From 1953 to 1963,
Josip Broz Tito simultaneously held the offices of the President of the Republic (head of state) and the
President of the
Federal Executive Council (head of government), which were combined under the terms of
a recent constitutional amendment. The
1963 Constitution renamed the state as Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and divided the office of the President of the Republic from that of President of the Federal Council, even if the President of the Republic retained the power to preside over the Government when it met, on the
French model. The
1974 Constitution provided for a
collective federal presidency, consisting of representatives of the six republics, the two autonomous provinces within Serbia and (until 1988) the
President of the League of Communists, with a chairman in rotation. Notwithstanding, this constitutional provision was suspended because Tito was elected by parliament as
President for Life, who thus chaired the collective presidency on a permanent basis. After
his death in 1980, one member was annually elected
President of the Presidency and performed many of the personal duties expected of a president, though the collective presidency as a whole remained head of state.
List ==Timeline==