| Native Name: | |
| Conventional Long Name: | Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina |
| Common Name: | Vojvodina |
| Subdivision: | Autonomous province |
| Nation: | Serbia in Yugoslavia |
| Image Map Caption: | Vojvodina (dark red) in Serbia (red), within Yugoslavia |
| Capital: | Novi Sad |
| Government Type: | Autonomous province |
| Stat Year1: | 1991 |
| Stat Area1: | 21506 |
| Stat Pop1: | 1,952,533 |
| Year Leader1: | 1990 |
| Era: | Cold War |
| Event Start: | Provincial status |
| Date Start: | 1 September |
| Year Start: | 1945 |
| Event1: | Autonomous Provincial status |
| Date Event1: | 1968 |
| Event2: | Constitutional reform expanding autonomy |
| Date Event2: | 1974 |
| Event End: | Constitutional reform reducing autonomy |
| Year End: | 1990 |
| Date End: | 28 September |
| P1: | Banat (1941–1944) |
| Flag P1: | Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg |
| P2: | Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)Kingdom of Hungary |
| Flag P2: | Flag of Hungary (1920–1946).svg |
| P3: | Independent State of Croatia |
| Flag P3: | Flag of Independent State of Croatia.svg |
| S1: |  Serbia |
| Flag S1: | Flag of Vojvodina.svg |
The Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ({{lang|sh-Latn|Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina; Hungarian: Vajdaság Szocialista Autonóm Tartomány) was one of two autonomous provinces within the Socialist Republic of Serbia, in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The province is the direct predecessor to the modern-day Serbian Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.
The province was formally created in 1945 in the aftermath of the World War II in Yugoslavia, as the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ({{lang|sh-Latn|Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina; Hungarian: Vajdaság Autonóm Tartomány). In 1968, it was granted a higher level of political autonomy, and the adjective Socialist was added to its official name. In 1990, after the constitutional reform influenced by what is known as the anti-bureaucratic revolution, its autonomy was reduced to the pre-1968 level, and the term Socialist was dropped from its name. It was encompassing regions of Srem, Banat and Bačka, with capital in Novi Sad.
Throughout its existence Serbs in Vojvodina constituted the largest ethnic group in the province with a parallel strong affirmation of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural elements central to the province's identity. Alongside Serbian standard of then official Serbo-Croatian, socialist Vojvodina officially used other languages including Hungarian, Pannonian Rusyn, Slovak and Romanian. After the opposition failed to secure any seats in the 1945 elections (followed by the formal introduction of a one-party system), the province was ruled by the League of Communists of Vojvodina, part of both the Serbian and wider Yugoslav ruling party.
During the Second World War in Yugoslavia (1941–1945), the territory was occupied by the Axis Powers. In the autumn of 1944, Yugoslav partisans and the Red Army expelled Axis troops from most parts the region which was then placed under military administration. At that time, the political status of the territory was not yet determined. The projected borders of future Vojvodina included the regions of Banat, Bačka, Baranja and most of the region of Syrmia, including Zemun. The de jure temporary border between Vojvodina and Croatia in Syrmia was Vukovar-Vinkovci-Županja line. De facto, western parts of Syrmia remained under Axis military control until April 1945. From 17 October 1944 to 27 January 1945, most of the region (Banat, Bačka, Baranja) was under direct military administration, and by the spring of 1945, provisional regional administration was created.
The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ({{lang|sh-Latn| Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina) was formed in 1945, as an autonomous province within the People's Republic of Serbia, a federal unit of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.
The process was initiated on 30–31 July 1945, when the provisional provincial assembly of Vojvodina decided that the province should join Serbia. This decision was confirmed in the third AVNOJ assembly on 10 August 1945, and the law that regulated the autonomous status of Vojvodina within Serbia was adopted on 1 September 1945. The final borders of Vojvodina with Croatia and Central Serbia were defined in 1945: Baranja and western Syrmia were assigned to Croatia, while small parts of Banat and Syrmia near Belgrade were assigned to Central Serbia. A small part of northern Mačva near Sremska Mitrovica was assigned to Vojvodina. The capital city of the province was Novi Sad, which was also the capital of the former Danube Banovina province that existed before World War II.
The position of Vojvodina within Serbia was defined by the Constitution of Yugoslavia (1946) and the Constitution of Serbia (1947). The first Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina was adopted in 1948, and the second in 1953. After the constitutional reform in 1963, the third statute was adopted, in the same year.
Until 1968, Vojvodina enjoyed a limited level of autonomy within Serbia. After the constitutional reform, that was enacted in 1968, the province was granted a higher level of autonomy, and its name was changed to the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ({{lang|sh-Latn|Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina). Under the Constitutional Law of 21 February 1969, it achieved legislative autonomy, and in the same time, four minority languages were also recognized (besides Serbo-Croatian) as official languages (Article 67) in the province (Magyar, Slovak, Romanian, Rusyn).[1]
Under the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, the province gained higher level of autonomy, that defined Vojvodina (still remaining within Serbia) as one of the subjects of the Yugoslav federation, and also gave it voting rights equivalent to Serbia itself on the country's collective presidency. The Constitution of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ({{lang|sh-Latn|Ustav Socijalističke Autonomne Pokrajine Vojvodine), that was adopted in 1974, became the highest legal act of the province, replacing the previous Constitutional Law of 1969.
After the constitutional reform in Yugoslavia (1988), the process of democratization was initiated. In 1989, amendments to the Constitution of Serbia were adopted, limiting the autonomy of Vojvodina. Under the rule of the Serbian president Slobodan Milošević, the new Constitution of Serbia was adopted on 28 September 1990, omitting the adjective Socialist from the official names and further reducing the rights of autonomous provinces. After this, the Vojvodina was no longer a subject of the Yugoslav federation, but again only the autonomous province of Serbia, with limited level of autonomy. The name of the province was also reverted to the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.
During the entire period from 1945 to 1990, the only authorized political party in the province was the League of Communists of Vojvodina, which was part of the League of Communists of Serbia and part of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.
Institutions of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina included:
Presidents of the Presidency of Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina:
| Ethnicity | Number | % | |
| Serbs | 841,246 | 50.6 | |
| Hungarians | 428,932 | 25.8 | |
| Croats | 134,232 | 8.1 | |
| Slovaks | 72,032 | 4.3 | |
| Romanians | 59,263 | 3.6 | |
| Germans | 31,821 | 1.9 | |
| Montenegrins | 30,589 | 1.9 | |
| Rusyns and Ukrainians | 22,083 | 1.3 | |
| Macedonians | 9,090 | 0.5 | |
| Romani | 7,585 | 0.4 | |
| Slovenes | 7,223 | 0.4 | |
| Russians | 5,148 | 0.3 | |
| Czechs | 3,976 | 0.3 | |
| Bulgarians | 3,501 | 0.2 | |
| Yugoslavs | 1,050 | 0.1 | |
| Others | 5,441 | 0.3 |
| Ethnicity | Number | % | |
| Serbs | 865,538 | 50.9 | |
| Hungarians | 435,179 | 25.6 | |
| Croats | 127,027 | 7.5 | |
| Slovaks | 71,153 | 4.2 | |
| Romanians | 57,218 | 3.4 | |
| Montenegrins | 30,516 | 1.8 | |
| Rusyns | 23,038 | 1.4 | |
| Macedonians | 11,622 | 0.7 | |
| Others | 78,254 | 4.6 |
| Ethnicity | Number | % | |
| Serbs | 1,017,713 | 54.9 | |
| Hungarians | 442,560 | 23.9 | |
| Croats | 145,341 | 7.8 | |
| Slovaks | 73,830 | 4 | |
| Romanians | 57,259 | 3.1 | |
| Montenegrins | 34,782 | 1.9 | |
| Rusyns | 23,038 | 1.4 | |
| Macedonians | 11,622 | 0.7 | |
| Others | 83,480 | 4.4 |
According to the 1981 census, the population of the province included: