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Yugoslav was an ethnic designation used by some people in former Yugoslavia, which continues to be used in some of its successor countries.

After the break up of Yugoslavia, most Yugoslavs switched back to traditional nationalities such as Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Slovenes, Macedonians, Montenegrins etc, but the designation continues to be used by some. In the 2002 census, 49,881 inhabitants of Vojvodina declared themselves to be Yugoslav (at a time when Vojvodina was part of the country still called FR Yugoslavia).

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.

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. It wasn't meant to imply that all South Slavs were a single people, but was rather used as a collective name for Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

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.

After the breakup 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.

Ethnic Credibility

When the term Yugoslav was first introduced, it was meant to unite a common people (the Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks) the same way the Germans united with Bavaria and other regions of Germany. In the book A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples by Fred Singleton, it states that Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks are one and the same people. "Once the South Slavs had settled in the Balkans they also became separated from each other, partly because of geographical obstacles, and partly because of the historical circumstances of foreign occupations." However due to political instability, a Yugoslav state and ethnicity was never accomplished.

See also

• Demographics of Yugoslavia
• Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Demographics of Croatia
• Demographics of Macedonia
• Demographics of Serbia and Montenegro
• Demographics of Slovenia

Compare

• Soviet people

References

1. Statistics of Canada

External links

• The Origin of the South Slavs

• Ethnic groups in Europe
• Ethnic groups in Serbia
• Ethnic groups in Vojvodina
• Yugoslavia