Yugoslavs
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| United States: 328,547 (2000 census)[1] Serbia: 80,721 (2002 census)[2] Canada: 60,000 - 80,000(2005)[citation needed] | |
| Languages | |
| Serbo-Croatian, fewer Slovenian or Macedonian | |
| Religion | |
| Atheism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| South Slavs |
Yugoslavs (Bosnian: Jugosloveni; Macedonian, Serbian Cyrillic: Југословени; Latinic: Jugosloveni; Croatian: Jugoslaveni, Slovenian: Jugoslovani) is an ethnic designation used by some people in former Yugoslavia, which continues to be used in some of its successor countries.
In socialist Yugoslavia, 1943-1991, official designation for those who wanted to declared themselves that way was with quotation marks, "Yugoslavs" (introduced in census 1971). Quotation marks were added to distinguish the ethnicity from statehood (legal statuses such as citizenship), which was written without quotation marks.
A few years before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, most of those who declared themselves "Yugoslavs" reverted to or adopted traditional nationalities such as "Muslims" (in the sense of nationality), Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs, Slovenes as well as those which were played down including Janjevci, Bunjevci and Šokci etc) but the designation continues to be used by some.
It was estimated, according to comparison of census statistics (such as declared language), that Yugoslavs came mostly from the predominant population with a Slavic background.
In the 2002 census, 49,881 inhabitants of the Serbian province Vojvodina declared themselves as "Yugoslav" (at a time when Serbia was part of the country still called FR Yugoslavia).
Background
One use of the term Yugoslavs is for people who believe that Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, and Montenegrins are one and the same people, and that Slovenes and Macedonians are slightly different linguistically but are an extended and crucial part of the Yugoslav identity, who have cultural differences (mainly religious) because of empires which ruled their tribes in the past. For instance, if one wished to see the impact of Germanic and Hungarian influences on the Yugoslavs, they would look to the (Catholic) Croatian and Slovenian region, the (Muslim) Bosnian region under the Ottoman influence, and the (Orthodox) Serbian region under both Ottoman, Russian and, in the middle ages, Greek influence. Those who were raised in the Yugoslav spirit embrace the three different nationalities as one ethnicity who speak one language, and see this as the reason to unite in a similar way that Italy was unified in 1861.[6]
History
Since the late 18th century, when traditional European ethnic affiliations started to mature into modern ethnic identities, there have been numerous attempts to define a common South Slavic ethnic identity.
Corfu agreement
During June and July 1917, the Yugoslav Committee met with the Serbian Government in Corfu and on 20 July a declaration that laid the foundation for the post-war state was issued. The preamble stated that the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were "the same by blood, by language, by the feelings of their unity, by the continuity and integrity of the territory which they inhabit undividedly, and by the common vital interests of their national survival and manifold development of their moral and material life." The future state was to be called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and was to be a constitutional monarchy under the Karađorđević dynasty.
World War I
On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, in Sarajevo. Princip was a member of Young Bosnia, a group whose aims included the unification of the Yugoslavs and independence from Austria-Hungary..[7]
After the assassination, Princip was captured. During his trial he stated "I am a Yugoslav nationalist, aiming for the unification of all Yugoslavs, and I do not care what form of state, but it must be free from Austria."[8]
Before the Second World War
The Illyrian movement sought to identify Southern Slavs with ancient Illyrians and to construct the Illyrian literary language which would unite not only Serbian and Croatian, but also Slovenian. Some Serbian writers contended that all Southern Slavs (or at least those speaking Serbo-Croatian) were Serbs, some Croatian writers thought that they were all Croats. Some settled for a common designation of Serbo-Croats.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the term Yugoslavs started to be used as a synonym for South Slavs, especially to denote those in Austria-Hungary.
After the First World War, when South Slavic lands were united in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the term Yugoslavs was used to refer to all of its inhabitants, but particularly to those of Southern Slavic origin.
In 1929, King Alexander sought to resolve a deep political crisis brought on by ethnic tensions by assuming dictatorial powers, renaming the country "Kingdom of Yugoslavia", and officially pronouncing that there is one single Yugoslav nation with three tribes. The Yugoslav ethnic designation was thus for a time imposed on all South Slavs in Yugoslavia. Changes in Yugoslav politics after King Alexander's death in 1934 brought an end to this policy, but the designation continued to be used by some people.
Second Yugoslavia and later
After liberation from Axis Powers in 1945, the new socialist Yugoslavia became a federal country which officially recognized and valued its ethnic diversity. Traditional ethnic identities again became the primary ethnic designations used by most inhabitants of Yugoslavia. However, many people still declared themselves as "Yugoslavs" because they wanted to express an identification with Yugoslavia as a whole, but not specifically with any of its peoples.
The 1971 census recorded 273,077 "Yugoslavs", or 1.33% of the total population. The 1981 census recorded 1,216,463 or 5.4% Yugoslavs. In the 1991 census of 5.51% (239,777) of the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared themselves to be "Yugoslav". 4.25% of the population of the republic of Montenegro also declared themselves "Yugoslav" in the same census.
The Constitution of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1990 that ratified a Presidency of 7 member-Presidents accounted 1 of them to be elected amongst/by the republic's "Yugoslavs", thereby introducing the Yugoslavs next to Muslims, Serbs and Croats into the Constitutional framework of BH, although on an inferior level. But due to the Bosnian War that erupted in 1992, this Constitution was short-lived and unrealized.
The first census taken in independent Croatia revealed that "Yugoslavs" made up around 2% of the population. This to date has been the highest percentage of "Yugoslavs" within Croatia's borders. The 2001 census in Croatia registered only 176 Yugoslavs.
After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, most "Yugoslavs" switched back to traditional ethnic designations. Nevertheless, the concept has survived into Bosnia and Herzegovina (where most towns have a tiny percentage), and Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006), which kept the name "Yugoslavia" the longest, right up to February, 2003. New censa will show whether Yugoslav is still being used in the new states of Serbia and Montenegro respectively.
Famous Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs have affected world history on many occasions.[9][10] One prime example is the leader, president for life, and founder of second Yugoslavia, Marshal Josip Broz Tito. First to organize a resistance against Nazi Germany in Yugoslavia,[11][12][13] he effectively expelled Nazi occupation in Yugoslavia, co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement, and defied Stalin's Soviet pressure on Yugoslavia. Other prominent figures include writer Ivo Andric, Yugoslav Committee member Ante Trumbic, and Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip. Princip, also being a prime example of a Yugoslav who impacted world history, triggered the first World War by successfully assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife in the city of Sarajevo.
Other Yugoslavs include entertainers and singers, such as Lepa Brena, Goran Bregovic, Branko Đurić and Mile Kitic. Most recently, Oliver Dulić, Serbia's parliament speaker, identified himself as a Yugoslav.
See also
- Bosniaks
- Serbs
- Croats
- Slovenes
- Macedonians
- Demographics of Yugoslavia
- Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Demographics of Croatia
- Demographics of Macedonia
- Demographics of Montenegro
- Demographics of Serbia
- Demographics of Slovenia
References
- ^ US census
- ^ 2002 census in Republic of Serbia
- ^ Statistics of Canada
- ^ Slovenian census 2002 (in English)
- ^ Croatian 2001 census, detailed classification by nationality
- ^ A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples
- ^ Wikipedia's World War I Article
- ^ Gavrilo Princip
- ^ World War 1 Lecture 15: The Balkan causes of World War I
- ^ Tito-Stalin Split
- ^ Tito and his People by Howard Fast
- ^ Liberation of Belgrade and Yugoslavia
- ^ The Resistance Movement in Yugoslavia