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Yugoslavia: Utopia or Inspiration?: From Exalting Vision to Fractured Reality: An In-Depth Exploration of Yugoslavia’s Rise, Fall, and Legacy
464 pages, Paperback
Published January 24, 2025
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June 8, 2025
4.5 rounded up to 5 stars
I've always found Yugoslavia to be interesting. The country was established, i.e., born, after the end of WWI and died at the end of the 20th century. To date I have visited three of the six (or 7) countries that used to form Yugoslavia -- Croatia, Slovenia (twice), and Bosnia and Herzegonia. In November, I will visit Serbia on a Danube river cruise. In searching for a private tour in Belgrade, I found a walking tour that promised and examination of the creation and demise of Yugoslavia. Then I discovered that the guide was the author of this book and I vowed to read it in advance of the trip.
It took 2.5 weeks to read it. I found it very well-written and very interesting, but the 444 pages covers history from the 6th century through 2024, so there was a lot to absorb!
The Southern Slavs (in Yugoslavia ethnically considered to be the Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians, Montenegrins) arrived in the Balkan Peninsula in the mid 6th century. (Note that the Balkan Peninsula also includes includes the countries Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece). From a geopolitical standpoint, the Balkans sat between the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires and at various times belonged to one or the other. The primary religions in the peninsula have long been Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians, the Christian religions resulting from the breakdown of the Roman Empire. Although the Ottoman Empire brought Islam to the area, resulting in conversions to make life easier. So, in effect, the Balkans have ong been a buffer between West and East on political and religious fronts.
Three fourths of the book focuses on the history from WWI on. The first iteration of Yugoslavia came into existence at the end of WWI. Serbia had fought with the winners, while Croats and Slovenes were part of the loser -- Austria and Hungary. Serbia, then a monarchy, declined the assignment of additional territory to it and instead sought, and got, the creation of Yugoslavia, initially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The head of state was King Alexander I was assassinated in 1934 in France by a Bulgarian. The King ha designated that his cousin was to serve as the regent for his son if the King should die before his son was able to execute royal power. The son, Crown Prince Peter II, was only 11 years old so he did not assume leadership until WWII was underway. The Regent reached a deal with Hitler that would not require Yugoslavia to provide troops to Hitler. The Yugoslav people protested, and the army ousted the Regent and the then 17yr old Prince took over. Hitler declared Yugoslavia an enemy state and ordered it to be attacked and in short time Yugoslavia was defeated and its territory divvied up.
This is when Tito enters the picture as a leader of the resistance. He was quite successful at it and, even though a communist, the British supported him, having gotten from him assurance that he would not join with the Soviet Union post war.
The author describes Tito's rule and how Tito's role changed over time until his death in May 1980. The leader learns about the issues among the constituent parts of Yugoslavia and about the fates of various of Tito's long time friends. There was no one with the credibility and character to successfully undertake governance and, over time, things began to fall apart. A decade after Tito's death, Slobodan Milosevic, a man more interested in power than in keeping Yugoslavia together, rises to take control. His government controls the media and shapes the news. There is much resistance to his rule in urban areas that is thwarted. And of course, the Soviet Union falls apart and many in Yugoslavia want something similiar. Milosevic is not inclined to go in the same direction.
Slovenia secedes. Croatia secedes but not without fighting and horrors on both sides. Then Bosnia and Herzegovnia, resulting in war for 3 years, from 1992-1995. The final war involved Kosovo. This one resulted in NATO military involvement -- bombing of Serbia for 78 days in 1999 -- and ended with Kosovo placed temporarily under UN control. In 2008, Kosovo declared itself independent, however, existence its independence as an independent nation has not been universally recognized. Milosevic was deposed in October 2000. He was subsequently arrested and detained, with others involved in the Yugoslavian breakup wars, in the detention unit of The Hague Tribunal where he died in 2006, before a verdict.
In 2006, Montenegro became an independent country. Note that Macedonia left Yugoslavia in 1991 without and battles. It finally reached agreement with Greece over its name and in 2019 officially became the Republic of North Macedonia.
There is a lot of interesting detail with respect to the demise of Yugoslavia including personal experience, comments from US authorities, quotes from memoirs and other non-fiction by participants in the struggles, observations concerning global coverage, and more. The author's personal interest is reflected, which he acknowledges is personal, but overall the book is a valuable addition to history of Yugoslavia.
Goodreads librarians need to clean up the entry for the book. It has two separate entries. One appears to be for the first edition and one for the second, although I cannot be positive of that. one of the entries indicates it is self-published, but the edition I read was definitely published by Marathon. The edition I read is the second edition, published by Marathon. It was copyrighted in 1924. It's title is slightly different than the first edition. The second edition has been published in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle. Interestingly, the Kindle addition is only available if it will be downloaded to a Kindle or Kindle app on a device allowing color.
I've always found Yugoslavia to be interesting. The country was established, i.e., born, after the end of WWI and died at the end of the 20th century. To date I have visited three of the six (or 7) countries that used to form Yugoslavia -- Croatia, Slovenia (twice), and Bosnia and Herzegonia. In November, I will visit Serbia on a Danube river cruise. In searching for a private tour in Belgrade, I found a walking tour that promised and examination of the creation and demise of Yugoslavia. Then I discovered that the guide was the author of this book and I vowed to read it in advance of the trip.
It took 2.5 weeks to read it. I found it very well-written and very interesting, but the 444 pages covers history from the 6th century through 2024, so there was a lot to absorb!
The Southern Slavs (in Yugoslavia ethnically considered to be the Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians, Montenegrins) arrived in the Balkan Peninsula in the mid 6th century. (Note that the Balkan Peninsula also includes includes the countries Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece). From a geopolitical standpoint, the Balkans sat between the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires and at various times belonged to one or the other. The primary religions in the peninsula have long been Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians, the Christian religions resulting from the breakdown of the Roman Empire. Although the Ottoman Empire brought Islam to the area, resulting in conversions to make life easier. So, in effect, the Balkans have ong been a buffer between West and East on political and religious fronts.
Three fourths of the book focuses on the history from WWI on. The first iteration of Yugoslavia came into existence at the end of WWI. Serbia had fought with the winners, while Croats and Slovenes were part of the loser -- Austria and Hungary. Serbia, then a monarchy, declined the assignment of additional territory to it and instead sought, and got, the creation of Yugoslavia, initially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The head of state was King Alexander I was assassinated in 1934 in France by a Bulgarian. The King ha designated that his cousin was to serve as the regent for his son if the King should die before his son was able to execute royal power. The son, Crown Prince Peter II, was only 11 years old so he did not assume leadership until WWII was underway. The Regent reached a deal with Hitler that would not require Yugoslavia to provide troops to Hitler. The Yugoslav people protested, and the army ousted the Regent and the then 17yr old Prince took over. Hitler declared Yugoslavia an enemy state and ordered it to be attacked and in short time Yugoslavia was defeated and its territory divvied up.
This is when Tito enters the picture as a leader of the resistance. He was quite successful at it and, even though a communist, the British supported him, having gotten from him assurance that he would not join with the Soviet Union post war.
The author describes Tito's rule and how Tito's role changed over time until his death in May 1980. The leader learns about the issues among the constituent parts of Yugoslavia and about the fates of various of Tito's long time friends. There was no one with the credibility and character to successfully undertake governance and, over time, things began to fall apart. A decade after Tito's death, Slobodan Milosevic, a man more interested in power than in keeping Yugoslavia together, rises to take control. His government controls the media and shapes the news. There is much resistance to his rule in urban areas that is thwarted. And of course, the Soviet Union falls apart and many in Yugoslavia want something similiar. Milosevic is not inclined to go in the same direction.
Slovenia secedes. Croatia secedes but not without fighting and horrors on both sides. Then Bosnia and Herzegovnia, resulting in war for 3 years, from 1992-1995. The final war involved Kosovo. This one resulted in NATO military involvement -- bombing of Serbia for 78 days in 1999 -- and ended with Kosovo placed temporarily under UN control. In 2008, Kosovo declared itself independent, however, existence its independence as an independent nation has not been universally recognized. Milosevic was deposed in October 2000. He was subsequently arrested and detained, with others involved in the Yugoslavian breakup wars, in the detention unit of The Hague Tribunal where he died in 2006, before a verdict.
In 2006, Montenegro became an independent country. Note that Macedonia left Yugoslavia in 1991 without and battles. It finally reached agreement with Greece over its name and in 2019 officially became the Republic of North Macedonia.
There is a lot of interesting detail with respect to the demise of Yugoslavia including personal experience, comments from US authorities, quotes from memoirs and other non-fiction by participants in the struggles, observations concerning global coverage, and more. The author's personal interest is reflected, which he acknowledges is personal, but overall the book is a valuable addition to history of Yugoslavia.
Goodreads librarians need to clean up the entry for the book. It has two separate entries. One appears to be for the first edition and one for the second, although I cannot be positive of that. one of the entries indicates it is self-published, but the edition I read was definitely published by Marathon. The edition I read is the second edition, published by Marathon. It was copyrighted in 1924. It's title is slightly different than the first edition. The second edition has been published in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle. Interestingly, the Kindle addition is only available if it will be downloaded to a Kindle or Kindle app on a device allowing color.
Displaying 1 of 1 review