Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia

Abstract

The first Yugoslav state — the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes — came into existence in 1918. The peoples who joined together to form it did not share a common cultural tradition. Over 80 per cent of the population of 12 million spoke one of the South Slav languages, but there were also significant minorities of non-Slavs, including Magyars, Germans, Romanians, Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, gypsies and Italians.1 Nowhere in Europe is there an area of comparable size to Yugoslavia2 which contains such a rich diversity of geographical environments, languages, religions and cultural traditions. Yugoslavia occupies a strategic position in South-eastern Europe, lying across the main routes through the Balkans linking the Danubian lowlands with the Adriatic and Aegean Seas. Central Europe, Alpine Europe and Mediterranean Europe meet in Yugoslavia. Throughout recorded history the South Slav lowlands have been a meeting place for cultural influences from all parts of the European continent and from Western Asia. The present cultural diversity is a legacy from the rich historical experiences of the inhabitants of this area, during the fifteen centuries since the break-up of the Roman Empire. As the first Slav-speaking settlers established themselves, they came under the influence either of the Eastern (Byzantine Greek) tradition or that of the Western (Latin) half of the Empire.