Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or Socialist Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, breaking up as a consequence of the Yugoslav Wars. Spanning an area of 255,804 square kilometres (98,766 sq mi) in the Balkans, Yugoslavia was bordered by the Adriatic Sea and Italy to the west, Austria and Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east, and Albania and Greece to the south. It was a one-party socialist state and federation governed by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and had six constituent republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Within Serbia was the Yugoslav capital city of Belgrade as well as two autonomous Yugoslav provinces: Kosovo and Vojvodina.
This article is about the form of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. For the country as a whole, see Yugoslavia.
Federal People's Republic
of Yugoslavia (1945–1963)
Federativna Narodna
Republika Jugoslavija (Serbo-Croatian Latin)
- Федеративна Народна Република
Југославија (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic)
Федеративна Народна Република
Југославија (Macedonian)
Federativna ljudska republika
Jugoslavija (Slovene)
Socialist Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia (1963–1992)
Socijalistička Federativna
Republika Jugoslavija (Serbo-Croatian Latin)
- Социјалистичка Федеративна Република
Југославија (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic)
Социјалистичка Федеративна Република
Југославија (Macedonian)
Socialistična federativna republika
Jugoslavija (Slovene)
of Yugoslavia (1945–1963)
Republika Jugoslavija (Serbo-Croatian Latin)
- Федеративна Народна Република
Југославија (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic)
Федеративна Народна Република
Југославија (Macedonian)
Federativna ljudska republika
Jugoslavija (Slovene)
Socialist Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia (1963–1992)
Republika Jugoslavija (Serbo-Croatian Latin)
- Социјалистичка Федеративна Република
Југославија (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic)
Социјалистичка Федеративна Република
Југославија (Macedonian)
Socialistična federativna republika
Jugoslavija (Slovene)
None at the federal level[a]
- Serbs (36.3%)
- Croats (19.7%)
- Bosniaks (8.9%)
- Slovenes (7.8%)
- Albanians (7.7%)
- Macedonians (6.0%)
- Yugoslavs (5.4%)
- Montenegrins (2.6%)
- Hungarians (1.9%)
- Others (3.6%)[1]
Secular state[2][3]
State atheism (de facto)
Yugoslav
Yugoslavian
29 November 1943
29 November 1945
31 January 1946
c. 1948
1 September 1961
7 April 1963
21 February 1974
4 May 1980
27 June 1991
27 April 1992
255,804 km2 (98,766 sq mi)
23,229,846
1989 estimate
$103.04 billion
$6,604
0.913[4]
very high
Yugoslav dinar (YUN)[d]
right
+38
The SFR Yugoslavia traces its origins to 26 November 1942, when the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia formed during World War II to resist Axis occupation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following the country's liberation, King Peter II was deposed, the monarchy was ended, and on 29 November 1945, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed. Led by Josip Broz Tito, the new communist government sided with the Eastern Bloc at the beginning of the Cold War but pursued a policy of neutrality following the 1948 Tito–Stalin split; it became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, and transitioned from a command economy to market-based socialism.
After Tito died on 4 May 1980, the Yugoslav economy began to collapse, which increased unemployment and inflation.[9][10] The economic crisis led to rising ethnic nationalism and political dissidence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, efforts to transition into a confederation failed; the two wealthiest republics, Croatia and Slovenia, seceded and gained some international recognition in 1991. The federation dissolved along the borders of federated republics, hastened by the start of the Yugoslav Wars, and formally broke up on 27 April 1992. Two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, remained within a reconstituted state known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or FR Yugoslavia, but this state was not recognized internationally as the sole successor state to SFR Yugoslavia. "Former Yugoslavia" is now commonly used retrospectively.
The name Yugoslavia, an anglicised transcription of Jugoslavija, is a compound word made up of jug ('yug'; with the 'j' pronounced like an English 'y') and slavija. The Slavic word jug means 'south', while slavija ("Slavia") denotes a 'land of the Slavs'. Thus, a translation of Jugoslavija would be 'South-Slavia' or 'Land of the South Slavs'. The federation's official name varied considerably between 1945 and 1992.[11] Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 under the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In January 1929, King Alexander I assumed dictatorship of the kingdom and renamed it the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, for the first time making "Yugoslavia"—which had been used colloquially for decades (even before the country was formed)—the state's official name.[11] After the Axis occupied the kingdom during World War II, the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) announced in 1943 the formation of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (DF Yugoslavia or DFY) in the country's substantial resistance-controlled areas. The name deliberately left the republic-or-kingdom question open. In 1945, King Peter II was officially deposed, with the state reorganized as a republic, and accordingly renamed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FPR Yugoslavia or FPRY), with the constitution coming into force in 1946.[12] In 1963, amid pervasive liberal constitutional reforms, the name Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was introduced. The state is most commonly called by that name, which it held for the longest period. Of the three main Yugoslav languages, the Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian names for the state were identical, while Slovene slightly differed in capitalization and the spelling of the adjective Socialist. The names are as follows:
Due to the name's length, abbreviations were often used for the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, though it was most commonly known simply as Yugoslavia. The most common abbreviation is SFRY, though "SFR Yugoslavia" was also used in an official capacity, particularly by the media.
National anthem[edit]
The national anthem of Yugoslavia was the Pan-Slavic anthem "Hej, Sloveni" (transl. Hey, Slavs). First aired and sung on World War II-era sessions of AVNOJ, it first served as a de facto state anthem of Yugoslavia during its provisional establishment in 1943. It was always intended to serve as a temporary anthem until a more Yugoslav-themed replacement was found, which never happened; as a result, it was constitutionally recognized in 1988 (and as temporary in 1977), after 43 years of continued de facto 'temporary' usage and only years prior to the breakup.[157] The Yugoslav anthem was inherited by its successor state union of Serbia and Montenegro and likewise was never replaced during its existence despite similar expectations.
The present-day states which succeeded Yugoslavia are still today sometimes collectively referred to as the former Yugoslavia (or shortened as Ex-Yu or similar). These countries are, listed chronologically:
In 2001, former constituent republics reached the partially implemented Agreement on Succession Issues of the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that became effective on 2 June 2004.[158][159]
All of the successor states are or were candidates for European Union membership, with Slovenia and Croatia being the two who have already joined the union. Slovenia joined in 2004, and Croatia followed in 2013. North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are official candidates. Bosnia and Herzegovina has submitted an application and Kosovo has not submitted an application but is recognized as a potential candidate for a possible future enlargement of the European Union.[160] All states of the former Yugoslavia, with the exception of Kosovo, have subscribed to the Stabilisation and Association Process with the EU. European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo is a deployment of EU police and civilian resources to Kosovo in an attempt to restore rule of law and combat the widespread organized crime.
The successor states of Yugoslavia continue to have a population growth rate that is close to zero or negative. This is mostly due to emigration, which intensified during and after the Yugoslav Wars, during the 1990s to 2000s, but also due to low birth rates. More than 2.5 million refugees were created by the fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, which led to a massive surge in North American immigration. Close to 120,000 refugees from the former Yugoslavia were registered in the United States from 1991 to 2002, and 67,000 migrants from the former Yugoslavia were registered in Canada between 1991 and 2001.[161][162][163][164]
Net population growth over the two decades between 1991 and 2011 was thus practically zero (below 0.1% p.a. on average). Broken down by territory:
Remembrance of the time of the joint state and its perceived positive attributes, such as the social stability, the possibility to travel freely, the level of education and the welfare system, is typically referred to as Yugo-nostalgia.[167] People who identify with the former Yugoslav state may self-identify as Yugoslavs. The social, linguistic, economic and cultural ties between former Yugoslav countries are sometimes referred to as the "Yugosphere".[168][169]