Yugoslavia: A History from Beginning to End

What would become the nation of Yugoslavia was created in the turbulent period following the end of World War I in 1918 and ended 74 years later in the chaos of another war. In its relatively brief history, Yugoslavia endured invasion during World War II and a range of styles of leadership that included an autocratic king, an even more autocratic socialist dictator, as well as brief periods of parliamentary democracy.

Yet the factor that would define and eventually destroy this nation was not its style of rule but rather internal divisions based on ethnicity and religion. The creation of Yugoslavia was an attempt to draw together previously separate states with very different histories and cultures. Although these divisions were effectively suppressed for long periods of time, they never disappeared completely. Perhaps the real surprise isn’t that Yugoslavia eventually disintegrated but that it lasted as long as it did. This is the complex, often confusing, and violent story of the creation, history, and eventual fall of Yugoslavia.