'Croatian Institute of History (Hrvatski Institut za Povijest)'
Abstract
Belje je najveći veleposjed u srednjem Podunavlju. Nastao je 1698. i nakon četvrt tisućljeća pod okriljem carske kuće Habsburg došao je većim dijelom pod novu jugoslavensku državu. Belje ustvari postaje u toj državi dvorski posjed, iako se to nastoji prikriti njegovom pripadnošću pod razna ministarstva i generalnu direkciju u Beogradu. Njegove bilance su uvijek nejasne i netočne, a njegovi ravnatelji ljudi bliski dvoru. Ovaj rad pokušava pokazati koliki je politika imala značaj na upravljanje tim dobrom i kako se u službi politike sve na dobru mijenja. Tek nakon smrti kralja Aleksandra uprava Belja dobiva nešto više samostalnosti, ali u odnosu na radnu snagu i izolaciju od Osijeka nema promjene.Because it was the estate of a junior branch of the Habsburg family, Belje was treated as land confiscated by the state after 1918. At first it was occupied by the army, then it came under the administration of the National government of Baranja, Bačka and Banat, and finally it fell under the control of the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Finances in Belgrade, which meant that it was officially the property of the crown. All this had a negative effect on the economy of the estate, which became a problematic enterprise instead of a model of successful agricultural production. Following the death of King Alexander, and with the establishment of commercial ties between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Third Reich, Belje attained relative independence in its export policy. Nonetheless, as regards the hiring of labourers and connections with Croatia, Great Serbian policy continued to hold sway
