One Story – Several Interpretations : Post-Yugoslav Historiography on Yugoslavia

Bíró, László (2025) One Story – Several Interpretations : Post-Yugoslav Historiography on Yugoslavia. HISTORICAL STUDIES ON CENTRAL EUROPE, 5 (2). pp. 243-268. ISSN 2786-0930

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Abstract

The Yugoslav state was founded on 1 December 1918, when Serbia and Montenegro united with the South Slavic provinces of the disintegrated Austria–Hungary. This state emerged from the unification of South Slavs, each being at a different stage of identity formation. Yugoslavia was destroyed in 1941 during World War II, but it was later re-established as a federal republic, with a strong internal cohesion built on the ideals of “brotherhood and unity.” However, in 1991, the Yugoslav state collapsed once again. The experience of living in a common state was different for each of the nations involved, and today’s national historiographies present different perspectives on the Yugoslav era. This study aims to explore the main historical narratives of each nation, emphasising diverging interpretations. Among these national historiographies, the Serbian one tends to adopt a more positive view of the former state, while Slovenian historians regard the years spent in Yugoslavia as a developmental phase that also yielded certain achievements. Croatian historiography, on the other hand, perceives the Yugoslav period primarily as a time of resistance against Serbian dominance and centralism in the context of national development.

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