These would be the last elections held in Yugoslavia before World War II. By the time of the first postwar elections, in 1945, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia was rapidly consolidating power, and the non-Communist opposition boycotted the vote after claiming to have been targeted with severe intimidation.[2] As a result, the 1938 elections would be the last multi-party elections held in Yugoslavia until the Communists gave up their monopoly of power in 1990.[3]
Although the United Opposition, de facto led by the Croatian Peasant Party leader Maček, had attracted 44.9% of the vote, due to the electoral rules by which the government parties received 40% of the seats in the National Assembly before votes were counted, the opposition vote only translated into 67 seats out of a total of 373. Milan Stojadinović second cabinet collapsed in February 1939, due to his pro-Axis policy. He was replaced by Dragiša Cvetković as Prime Minister and de jure JRZ leader. The Cvetković–Maček Cabinet was concluded in August 1939 establishing autonomous Banovina of Croatia. Maček became the Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia and several members of the United Opposition were added to the new cabinet.[4]