The talks held in Geneva, Switzerland on 6–9 November 1918 built upon and were intended to supersede the 1917 Corfu Declaration agreed by Pašić and Yugoslav Committee president Ante Trumbić.

The talks were necessary in the process of creation of Yugoslavia as a means to demonstrate to the Entente powers that various governments and interests groups could cooperate on the project to establish a viable state.

Trumbić and Anton Korošec leading delegations of the Yugoslav Committee and the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs respectively generally conducted the negotiations from a common platform.

Pašić accepted the Geneva Declaration only after President of France Raymond Poincaré personally intervened telling him to agree with the Yugoslav Committee.

In the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the leader of the largest political party, the Croat-Serb Coalition Svetozar Pribićević, rejected the Geneva Declaration as well.

Faced with internal unrest caused by the Green Cadres, peasant revolts, and mutinies in the military, as well as the approaching Italian Army enforcing Italian territorial claims under the Treaty of London following the Armistice of Villa Giusti, the National Council dispatched a delegation to seek urgent unification from Prince Regent Alexander—leading to establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 1 December 1918.

During World War I, the government of Serbia, led by Prime Minister Nikola Pašić, met with the ad-hoc interest group Yugoslav Committee.

The conference was convened in 1917 on the Greek island of Corfu to discuss the system of government in a future union of Serbia and South Slavic-populated Habsburg lands.

[11] The meeting was meant to recapture initiative for Yugoslavist ideas on the unification of South Slavs, and to preserve chances for achieving the expansionist Serbian war aims set out in the Niš Declaration.

Both were thought to be in jeopardy following a trialist reform proposed in the May Declaration of the Yugoslav Club of South Slavic representatives in the Austrian Imperial Council, led by Anton Korošec, while Serbia's allies in the Triple Entente were still supporting the preservation of Austria-Hungary.

[17] In response to Trumbić's demands, Pašić said that if the Croats insisted on a federation, the Serbian government would abandon the unification project in favour of creation of a Greater Serbia.

[18] No agreement on the system of government was reached and the adopted Corfu Declaration left the matter for the future Constituent Assembly to decide by an unspecified qualified majority.

[22] In April, this prompted Pašić to direct Serbian ambassador to the United States to investigate if Serbia could receive Bosnia and Herzegovina as the minimum addition to its pre-war territory.

[21] On 15 October, Lloyd George and Pašić met in London to discuss creation of a unified South Slavic state with or without Serbia – in the latter case potentially within reformed Austria-Hungary.

[24] Supported by British historians Wickham Steed and Arthur Evans, Trumbić unsuccessfully asked Wilson to deploy US troops to Croatia-Slavonia to quell disorder associated with the Green Cadres and stem the tide of Bolshevism.

[30] The same day, the Croatian Sabor declared the end of ties with Austria-Hungary and elected Korošec the president of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.

Trumbić wrote to Korošec on 31 October outlining his talks with Pašić and asking for recognition of the Yugoslav Committee as a body representing interests of peoples living in the newly declared state.

[19] On 1 November, in a report to the Prince Regent, Pašić requested a message to be forwarded to Pribičević through Serbian Army liaison officer in Zagreb, Lieutenant Colonel Dušan Simović.

The Entente allies also declined to recognise the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs or the Serbian claim of being the central unifying force among the South Slavs like Piedmont in Italian unification.

The Supreme War Council also decided not to recognise any formal role of Yugoslav Committee deeming South Slavic unification unrealistic until the parties demonstrate their ability to come to an agreement.

[39][40] On 3 November, Lloyd George and Balfour informed the Serbian government and opposition, as well as Trumbić and Korošec through Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and the secretary of the Czechoslovak National Council Edvard Beneš that no South Slavic union would be considered unless they worked together towards that objective.

[41] Venizelos proposed to the Serbian ambassador to London, on behalf of the Entente, recognition of the Yugoslav Committee, establishment of a coalition government in Serbia involving the current opposition, and establishment of a five-strong joint war cabinet consisting of the presiding foreign minister, two ministers drawn from the Serbian government, and two members of the Yugoslav Committee.

[42] Beneš talked to Čingrija in Geneva and told him that Lloyd George, Balfour, and Clemenceau wanted a unified South Slavic position to help Orlando overcome opposition from his foreign minister Sydney Sonnino.

[48] On the first day of the Geneva talks, Pašić proposed to delegate certain executive tasks to a joint commission to conduct foreign policy and defence until the end of the war.

This changed on 7 November when a coded message was received from Serbian embassy in Paris stating that the President of France Raymond Poincaré wishes Pašić to come to an agreement with the representatives of the National Council.

Thus, the issues at the centre of Pašić–Trumbić dispute were resolved,[54] and a confederal solution was agreed upon for the future union – resembling the dual monarchy system employed by Austria-Hungary.

Protić reported back consent with Pašić's acceptance of the Trumbić's proposal on behalf of the Government on 10 November, adding that the Prince Regent will certainly approve.

[51] In the second telegram, Pašić specified little additional information expanding on his initial message, but he complained that other conference participants exhibited inadequate trust in him and incorrectly claimed that the common ministers would swear oaths to both the king and the National Council.

There was increasing looting associated with a peasant revolt, rebelling former Austro-Hungarian troops, violence by the Green Cadres suspected of promoting Bolshevism, and a reported coup d'état conspiracy.

The Prince Regent accepted the unification offer on behalf of Peter I of Serbia,[70] and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was established without any agreement on the conditions of the union.