Yugoslavia was a generic name that he met a multicultural state of Balkan Peninsula , with different names, existed between 1918 and 2003 .

That State was formed on December 1, 1918 , when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed. It lasted until 1929, when it was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . This monarchical and centralist state existed until 1941, when it was occupied by Nazi Germany .

After the end of World War II , in 1945, the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, which was ruled by Marshal Joseph Tito . Unlike other Eastern European countries, Tito imposed a model of self-managed socialism , which put limits on the influence of the Soviet Union .

In 1963, it was renamed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and lasted until 1991, when Croatia and Slovenia proclaimed their independence.

This secession led to the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars , after which Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were recognized as independent republics by the international community.

Serbia and Montenegro tried to preserve the union, so in 1992 they formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which finally disintegrated in 2003 .

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How did Yugoslavia come about?

At the beginning of the 20th century the Balkan Peninsula was inhabited for the most part by the South Slavs. Among them, Croats and Slovenes were integrated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire , while Serbs and Montenegrins had gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878.

In 1913, the triumph of Serbia and Montenegro over the Turks in the Balkan Wars contributed to exacerbating the Pan-Slavic sentiment of the peoples of the region.

In 1918, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire allowed the concretion of the unity of all the South Slavs, who united to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, proclaimed on December 1, 1918. Its form of government was the constitutional monarchy and its first king was Alexander I of the Serbian dynasty of the Karadordević.

The new government set out to achieve political and economic cohesion in the different regions that made up the kingdom. But the great cultural and religious diversity made that goal difficult and led to constant political conflicts between the different nationalities.

Due to these conflicts, in 1929, King Alexander I abolished the Constitution, closed Parliament and changed the name of the State, which was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia .

The authoritarian attitude of the monarch generated the opposition of Croatian, Slovenian and Macedonian extremists. In 1934, while the king was visiting the French city of Marseille, he was shot to death by an extremist who belonged to a Macedonian independence group.

Alexander I was succeeded by a regent, Prince Paul, who launched a pro-German foreign policy.

In 1941, during World War II, a coup deposed the regent and brought Pedro II to power, who distanced himself from the Axis powers . This provoked the reaction of Nazi Germany, whose troops occupied the territory of Yugoslavia, while the king was exiled in London.

At the end of the war with the victory of the Allies , in 1945, the monarchy was abolished and the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was created . The longest and most stable period in the history of Yugoslavia then began.

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Characteristics of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia

The main characteristics of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia were the following:

• It was made up of six socialist republics : Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The latter included two autonomous provinces Vojvodina and Kosovo and Metojia.
• Its capital was the city of Belgrade, in present-day Serbia.
• It was governed by leaders of the Communist Party , which was the only one legally qualified to hold state positions.
• Its top leader was Marshal Joseph Tito , who ruled it until his death in 1980.
• It presented a great cultural and religious diversity , since several languages ​​were spoken (Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, Albanian, Macedonian) and three different religions were practiced (Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Muslim).
• In 1963 it changed its name to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• It was attached to the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries  that, in the context of the Cold War , sought to strike a balance between the socialist and capitalist bloc.

When Yugoslavia is dissolved/end

• After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the disappearance of the Soviet Union in 1991, political conflicts broke out in Yugoslavia between members of the federation.
• These tensions led to the separation of Croatia and Slovenia, which, in June 1991, proclaimed their independence. As this secession was rejected by the federal government, dominated by the Serbs, the so-called Yugoslav Wars began.
• After bloody clashes and the intervention of the United States and the European Union , between 1992 and 1995 Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were recognized as independent republics by the international community.
• Serbia and Montenegro tried to preserve the former union with the creation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. But, the divisions continued, since, in 1998, the Serbian province of Kosovo, with a majority population of Albanian origin and Muslim religion, separated from Yugoslavia. This led to the Kosovo War (1998-99), after which the government of this region was left in the hands of NATO and the United Nations.
• In 2003, Yugoslavia changed its name to the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro, but it was dissolved in 2006 to give rise to two separate states.

Current countries that made up the former Yugoslavia

The current states that made up the former Yugoslavia are:

These states are joined by Kosovo, whose leaders proclaimed independence in 2008, but this is not unanimously recognized by the international community.