Yugoslavism

Yugoslavism is a political and cultural ideology that sought to unite South Slavic peoples—primarily Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and later Bosniaks, Montenegrins, and Macedonians—within a single state or federation, often emphasizing shared history, language, or destiny as a basis for political unity.

The idea has roots in 19th-century South Slavic nationalism and cultural movements, such as the Illyrian movement in the Habsburg Empire, which promoted linguistic and cultural cooperation among South Slavs and laid groundwork for a broader Yugoslav identity.

After World War I, reformers and politicians pursued unification, leading to the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. The monarchy pursued centralization, and in 1929 the state was renamed Yugoslavia. Debates between centralist and federalist approaches, and tensions among national identities, defined early Yugoslav politics and the appeal of a wider Yugoslav identity.

In the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992), Yugoslavism was shaped by the leadership of Josip Broz Tito, who promoted “brotherhood and unity” to balance six republics: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia, along with autonomous provinces. The system combined federal structures with worker self-management and non-aligned foreign policy, presenting a multiethnic federation under a unified political framework.

From the late 1980s and into the 1990s, rising nationalism and territorial ambitions contributed to the dissolution of the Yugoslav state. Independence declarations and wars led to its breakup, though discussions of Yugoslavism persist in historical and cultural contexts as a lens on multiethnic statehood in the region.