The fundamental issue in the first years after the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was related to the future organization of Dubrovnik Archive, considering that the invaluable materials still lay in the Rector’s Palace, which assumed a completely new role and a special place in the newly formed Kingdom. Namely, following the end of World War I and the foundation of the new state, the Rector’s Palace in Dubrovnik, as a cultural property of national significance, was proclaimed a cultural-historical monument, on the one hand, and also a residence of the king, on the other. Therefore, it came under the jurisdiction of the Court of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later the Court of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), i.e. of the Royal Office. The jurisdiction over the Archive itself, specifically over the materials kept in it, was in the hands of the Ministry of Education. In 1921, Antonije Vučetić was named the first administrator of Dubrovnik Archive. Vučetić immediately and unequivocally advanced the thesis that Dubrovnik Archive, despite not being of the rank of the Archives in Zagreb and Belgrade, still is “the most celebrated in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes”. Above all else, he emphasized the historical significance of this Archive, containing materials important for the history of the Republic of Dubrovnik, but also for the Serbian and Croatian histories from the 11th to the 19th centuries. In the year 1930, a new administrator was appointed to Dubrovnik Archive. It was Branimir Truhelka. He realized that in the case of the most important matters related to the Archive, in the case of all the Archive’s needs, they should turn, if possible, directly to the Court of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, i.e. to the Minister of the Court. The year 1931 marks the beginning of Truhelka’s systematic efforts to obtain the most that could be obtained for Dubrovnik Archive, to explain its significance to the authorities on the Court, and - without insisting on moving the Archive from the Rector’s Palace, being aware of the lack of support for this - to do everything to provide the safe keeping of valuable materials and to secure research in the Archive. Until the beginning of World War II and the occupation of Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik Archive prospered and an increasing number of researchers came to work in it. Thus, Dubrovnik Archive proved itself to be an unavoidable source for studying the past of both the Republic of Dubrovnik and the Serbian people.
