An authoritative history of Yugoslavia, published in 2000, with a new chapter on the ethnic wars in Croatia and Bosnia, and Kosovo.

Why did Yugoslavia fall apart? Was its violent demise inevitable? Did its population simply fall victim to the lure of nationalism? How did this multinational state survive for so long, and where do we situate the short life of Yugoslavia in the long history of Europe in the twentieth century? A History of Yugoslavia provides a concise, accessible, comprehensive synthesis of the political, cultural, social, and economic life of Yugoslavia—from its nineteenth-century South Slavic origins to the bloody demise of the multinational state of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Calic takes a fresh and innovative look at the colorful, multifaceted, and complex history of Yugoslavia, emphasizing major social, economic, and intellectual changes from the turn of the twentieth century and the transition to modern industrialized mass society. She traces the origins of ethnic, religious, and cultural divisions, applying the latest social science approaches, and drawing on the breadth of recent state-of-the-art literature, to present a balanced interpretation of events that takes into account the differing perceptions and interests of the actors involved. Uniquely, Calic frames the history of Yugoslavia for readers as an essentially open-ended process, undertaken from a variety of different regional perspectives with varied composite agenda. She shuns traditional, deterministic explanations that notorious Balkan hatreds or any other kind of exceptionalism are to blame for Yugoslavia’s demise, and along the way she highlights the agency of twentieth-century modern mass society in the politicization of differences. While analyzing nuanced political and social-economic processes, Calic describes the experiences and emotions of ordinary people in a vivid way. As a result, her groundbreaking work provides scholars and learned readers alike with an accessible, trenchant, and authoritative introduction to Yugoslavia's complex history.

This book provides a survey of the history of the South Slav peoples who came together at the end of the First World War to form the first Yugoslav kingdom.

Created after World War I, 'Yugoslavia' was a combination of ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse but connected South Slav peoples - Slovenes, Croats and Serbs but also Bosnian Muslims, Macedonians, and Montenegrins - in addition to non-Slav minorities. The Great Powers and the country's intellectual and political elites believed that a coherent identity could be formed in which the different South Slav groups in the state could identify with a single Balkan Yugoslav identity. Pieter Troch draws on previously unpublished sources from the domain of education to show how the state's nationalities policy initially allowed for a flexible and inclusive Yugoslav nationhood, and how that system was slowly replaced with a more domineering and rigid 'top-down' nationalism during the dictatorship of King Alexander I - who banned political parties and coded a strongly politicised Yugoslav national identity. As Yugoslav society became increasingly split between the 'pro-Yugoslav' central regime and 'anti-Yugoslav' opposition, the seeds were sown for the failure of the Yugoslav idea. Nationalism and Yugoslavia provides a valuable new insight into the complexities of pre-war Yugoslavia.

​“This book is very timely: the instrumentalization of history for political goals has become a pressing issue and worrisome feature of many polities, to the point of challenging even the most consolidated democracies. Focusing on Yugoslavia’s fragile successor states, the authors explore plurifold analytical levels, including local, regional, transnational, European and global perspectives. The authors comprehensively demonstrate how politicizing history, in the postwar and postcommunist societies of what was once Yugoslavia, has prevented both reconciliation and democratization.” —Sabine Rutar, Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Germany “Ognjenovic and Jozelic focus here on the former Yugoslavia before and after its fragmentation to explore and evaluate the various uses of histories by nationalists, both those who promoted ‘federal nationalism’ and those who peddle specific local nationalisms in successor states. The book deals specifically with the Western Balkans, but these developments have their parallels in many other parts of the world, and the book will be useful well beyond the region on which the study is based.” —Paul Mojzes, Professor Emeritus, Rosemont College, USA “The former Yugoslavia has become a battlefield for the ‘Memory Wars’, in spite of the wealth of judicially established facts and available evidences gathered about the atrocities in the region, and various initiatives aimed at dealing with the past and efforts at transitional justice. Focusing on three periods of Yugoslav history – the Second World War, socialist Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav wars of 1991–2001 – the contributors show that despite these efforts to deal with the past, sustainable peace and reconciliation across ethnic and religious groups remain a distant aim.” —Marijana Toma, Center for Cultural Decontamination, Serbia This book analyzes how nationalists in the former Yugoslavia have politicized history to further their political agendas, retaining and prolonging conflict among different cultural and religious groups, and impeding the process of lasting reconciliation. It explores how narratives have been (mis)used, drawing on examples from all of the former Yugoslav republics. With contributors from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, it provides a vital assessment of how nationalists have attempted to (re)shape public collective memory and relativize facts.

An incisive and revealing history of how Yugoslavia plunged into violence in the 1990s Over the past two years, the entire world watched in horror as one of Europe's most stable countries plunged into an orgy of violence and bloodshed that has invoked comparisons to the Holocaust. Aside from empty threats and diplomatic hand wringing, the West has done little to stop the ethnic cleansing, the sieges, and the brutality that has characterized the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Contrary to common wisdom, the hyper-violent disintegration of the former Yugoslavia is not simply and exclusively the product of inherent and irrational ethnic animosities and centuries of strife. In this engaging book, journalist Christopher Bennett traces the turning point to the 1987 struggle within the Serbian Communist party which was between adherents of a Serb nationalist ideology -embodied by Slobodan Milosevic- and the other Yugoslavs who clung to the vision of a multinational state. As soon as Milosevic gained the upper hand, he ruthlessly purged his rivals and launched a massive campaign of media indoctrination to stir up Serb nationalism. This new nationalism, which has repelled the world since 1991, is primarily Milosevic's creation and not merely the result of historical enmity. As a student at two different Yugoslav universities in the 1980's, Bennett witnessed firsthand many if the critical events which contributed to Yugoslavia's destruction. He renders an incisive and accessible history, covering the period from Tito's dictatorship to the present day.

This books main aim is to explore the history of the Yugoslav idea, or Yugoslavism, between the states creation in 1918 and its dissolution in the early 1990s. The key theme that emerges is that Yugoslavism was a fluid concept, understood differently at different times by different Yugoslav nations, leaders and social groups.

Yugoslavia was a phenomenon of the 'short' twentieth century. Its two incarnations fell between the cataclysm of the First World War which destroyed the old order, and the transformation of Europe which followed the collapse of communism in 1989. The task of building a viable, unified state was complicated not only by Yugoslavia's diverse cultural composition, but also by the pressures which the evolution of international society have placed on the modern state. Yugoslavia - Explains and examines the key themes in the history of the former Yugoslavia - Synthesises the main strands in contemporary debate about the origins of the Yugoslav crisis - Presents a truly international history, exposing in full the role played by other countries in the rise and fall of the nation Focussing on both domestic and external factors, Ann Lane presents a balanced analysis of this ultimately failed attempt at state-building in a region of cultural diversity.

A chronological scholarly survey of the history of historical writing in five volumes. Each volume covers a particular period of time, from the beginning of writing to the present day, and from all over the world.

Nearly twenty years after it ceased to exist as a multinational federation, Yugoslavia still has the power to provoke controversy and debate. Bringing together contributions from twelve of the leading scholars of modern and contemporary South East Europe, this volume explores the history of Yugoslavia from creation to dissolution. Drawing on the very latest historical research, this book explains how the country came about, how it evolved and why, eventually, it failed. From the start of the twentieth century, through the First World War, the interwar years and the Second World War, to the road to socialism under President Tito and the wars of Yugoslav succession in the 1990s, this volume provides up to date analysis of the causes and consequences of a range of events that shaped the development of this remarkable state across its various iterations. The book concludes by examining post-conflict relations in the era of European integration. Traversing ninety years of history, this volume presents a fascinating story of how a country that once served as the model for multiethnic states around the world has now become a byword for ethno-national fragmentation and conflict. Contributors include Dejan Djokić, James Ker-Lindsay, Connie Robinson, Mark Cornwall, John Paul Newman, Tomislav Dulić, Stevan K. Pavlowitch, Dejan Jović, Nebojša Vladisavljević, Florian Bieber, Jasna Dragović-Soso and Eric Gordy.