Yugoslavia
On the 13th of July 1922, the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris granted international recognition to a new state that would soon be known as Yugoslavia. This entity emerged from the merger of the Kingdom of Serbia with the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs following World War I. The name itself combined Slavic words meaning south and Slavs to describe a common home for all South Slavic peoples. King Alexander I renamed the country Yugoslavia on the 3rd of October 1929 after years of political crisis. Before this moment, the kingdom had been called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes since its formation in 1918. Austria-Hungary collapsed in 1918, allowing territories like Bačka, Banat, and Baranja to be annexed by the new state. The Podgorica Assembly led to Montenegro's unification into Serbia. Međimurje was occupied by Yugoslav forces while Prekmurje changed hands twice before being held permanently. The Treaty of Trianon in 1920 formally ceded northern Hungarian territories to Yugoslavia.
Marshal Josip Broz Tito ruled the country from 1944 until his death in 1980, first as prime minister and later as president. In 1963, the nation changed its official name to Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Tito was named President for life. The country distanced itself from the Soviets in 1948 when Stalin vetoed an agreement with Bulgaria that would have allowed Yugoslavia to involve itself in Greece's civil war. Tito broke decisively with Moscow on other issues, making Yugoslavia an independent communist state. American leaders began sending money on a small scale in 1949 and on a much larger scale between 1950 and 1953. Tito criticized both Eastern Bloc and NATO nations and started the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961 together with India and other countries. This movement remained the official affiliation of the country until it dissolved. Students in Belgrade joined worldwide protests in 1968, which Tito gradually stopped by giving in to some demands while sacking protest leaders from university posts. A more severe sign of disobedience emerged during the Croatian Spring of 1970 and 1971 when students in Zagreb organized demonstrations for greater autonomy.
From the 1950s to the early 1980s, Yugoslavia was among the fastest growing countries according to official statistics. The unique socialist system featured worker cooperatives where decision-making was less centralized than in other socialist countries. Following the oil price shock in the 1970s, an economic crisis erupted due to disastrous policies involving vast Western capital borrowed to fund growth through exports. Western economies went into recession, decreasing demand for Yugoslav imports and creating a large debt problem. In 1989, 248 firms were declared bankrupt or liquidated while 89,400 workers were laid off according to official sources. During the first nine months of 1990, another 889 enterprises with a combined workforce of 525,000 workers suffered the same fate. More than 600,000 workers were laid out of a total industrial workforce of about 2.7 million within less than two years. An additional half a million people were not paid wages during the early months of 1990 as enterprises sought to avoid bankruptcy. Real earnings fell dramatically while social programs collapsed, creating an atmosphere of despair throughout the population.
After Tito's death on the 4th of May 1980, ethnic tensions grew significantly across Yugoslavia. The legacy of the Constitution of 1974 threw decision-making into paralysis as conflicts became irreconcilable. Albanian majority in Kosovo demanded republic status during the 1981 protests while Serbian authorities suppressed this sentiment. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts drafted a memorandum addressing burning issues concerning Serbs' position as the most numerous people. Serbia found its hands tied because its autonomous provinces had de facto prerogatives of full-fledged republics. The eight-member Council composed of representatives from six republics and two autonomous provinces sometimes entered coalitions that outvoted Serbia. Serbian communist leader Slobodan Milošević began making his way toward leadership after Tito's death. He sought to restore pre-1974 Serbian sovereignty through moves known as the anti-bureaucratic revolution. Ethnic Albanian miners organized the 1989 Kosovo miners' strike which dovetailed into conflict between Albanians and non-Albanians. At around 80% of Kosovo's population in the 1980s, ethnic Albanians were the majority. With Milošević gaining control over Kosovo in 1989, the original residency changed drastically leaving only minimal numbers of Serbians.
On the 25th of June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia became the first republics to declare independence from Yugoslavia. The following day, the Federal Executive Council ordered the army to take control of internationally recognized borders, leading to the Ten-Day War. Yugoslav People's Army forces based in barracks attempted to carry out tasks within 48 hours but faced resistance from Slovene territorial defense forces. A ceasefire was eventually agreed upon under the Brioni Agreement. During three months, the Yugoslav Army completed its pull-out from Slovenia while a bloody war broke out in Croatia in autumn 1991. Ethnic Serbs who had created their own state Republic of Serbian Krajina resisted Croatian police forces trying to bring that region back under jurisdiction. In September 1991, the Republic of Macedonia declared independence becoming the only former republic to gain sovereignty without resistance. On the 9th of January 1992, Bosnian Serbs proclaimed the Republic of the Serbian People in Bosnia-Herzegovina. From the 29th of February to the 1st of March 1992, a European Community-backed referendum saw 99.7 percent vote for independence with turnout at 63.4 percent as most Bosnian Serbs boycotted it. The republic's government declared independence on the 5th of April before war followed shortly thereafter.
From 1993 to 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia tried political and military leaders for war crimes, genocide, and other crimes committed during those wars. United Nations Security Council Resolution 721 adopted on the 27th of November 1991 paved the way to establishing peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia. Various dates are considered the end of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia including the 25th of June 1991 when Croatia and Slovenia declared independence. The Dayton Agreement was signed by leaders of FR Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia on the 14th of December 1995. In 2000, Slobodan Milošević was prosecuted for atrocities committed during his ten-year rule in Serbia and the Yugoslav Wars. After his overthrow from power in 2000, the country dropped aspirations to be sole legal successor and reapplied for UN membership on the 2nd of November 2000. The five successor states extant at that time drafted an Agreement on Succession Issues of the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in April 2001. Marking an important transition, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was officially renamed Serbia and Montenegro in 2003.
In June 2006, Montenegro became an independent nation after results of a May 2006 referendum rendered Serbia and Montenegro no longer existent. After Montenegro's independence, Serbia became legal successor while Montenegro re-applied for international organization membership. In February 2008, the Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia leading to ongoing dispute over whether it is legally recognized state. Republic of Kosovo is not member of United Nations though many states including United States and various European Union members have recognized it as sovereign state. Remembrance of joint state and its positive attributes refers to Yugo-nostalgia. Many aspects refer to socialist system and sense of social security it provided. People from former Yugoslavia still self-identify as Yugoslavs commonly seen in demographics relating to ethnicity today. Religious differences between Orthodox Serbs and Macedonians, Catholic Croats and Slovenes, and Muslim Bosniaks and Albanians alongside nationalism contributed to collapse in 1991. The three major languages were Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, and Macedonian with Serbo-Croatian remaining second language for many born during Yugoslavia time.
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Common questions
When was Yugoslavia officially recognized by the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris?
The Conference of Ambassadors granted international recognition to Yugoslavia on the 13th of July 1922. This new state emerged from the merger of the Kingdom of Serbia with the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs following World War I.
Who ruled Yugoslavia from 1944 until his death in 1980?
Marshal Josip Broz Tito ruled Yugoslavia from 1944 until his death on the 4th of May 1980. He served first as prime minister and later as president before being named President for life in 1963.
What caused the economic crisis in Yugoslavia during the 1970s and 1980s?
An economic crisis erupted after the oil price shock due to disastrous policies involving vast Western capital borrowed to fund growth through exports. Western economies went into recession which decreased demand for Yugoslav imports and created a large debt problem leading to massive layoffs.
Which republics declared independence from Yugoslavia on the 25th of June 1991?
Slovenia and Croatia became the first republics to declare independence from Yugoslavia on the 25th of June 1991. The Federal Executive Council ordered the army to take control of borders immediately resulting in the Ten-Day War.
When did Montenegro become an independent nation ending Serbia and Montenegro?
Montenegro became an independent nation in June 2006 after results of a May 2006 referendum rendered Serbia and Montenegro no longer existent. Serbia became the legal successor while Montenegro re-applied for international organization membership following this split.