Yugoslavs
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| Yugoslavs Југословени - Jugosloveni Jugoslaveni Jugoslovani |
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| Total population | unknown |
| Regions with significant populations | United States: 328,547 (2000 census)[1] Serbia and Montenegro: 80,721 (2002 census)[2] Bosnia and Herzegovina: |
| Language | Serbo-Croatian, fewer Slovenian or Macedonian |
| Religion | Atheism, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Islam |
| Related ethnic groups | South Slavs |
Yugoslav (Serbian and Macedonian Cyrillic: Југословени, Latin: Jugosloveni; Croatian: Jugoslaveni, Slovenian: Jugoslovani) 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).
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[edit] Background
One use of the term Yugoslavs is for people who believe that Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks are one and the same people who have cultural differences (mainly religious) because of empires which ruled their tribes in the past. For instance, if one wished to see the impact of Germanic and Hungarian influences on the Yugoslavs they would look at the (Catholic) Croatian region, the (Muslim) Bosnian region under the Ottoman influence, and the (Orthodox) Serbian region under both Russian and Ottoman influence. Yugoslavs are convinced that the three different nationalities are one ethnicity who speak one language which need to unite in a similar way Germany united.[5]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
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.
[edit] 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.
The Constitution of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1990 that ratified a Presidency of 7 member-Presidents accounted 1 of them to be elected amongst/by the republic's Yugoslavs, thereby introducing the Yugoslavs next to Muslims, Serbs and Croats into the Constitutional framework of BH, although on an inferior level. But due to the Bosnian War that erupted in 1992, this Constitution was short-lived and unrealized.
The first census taken in independent Croatia revealed that Yugoslavs made up around 2% of the population. This to date has been the highest percentage of Yugoslavs within Croatia's borers. Due to the disparity with religion and language on one side, Orthodoxy and Serbian having been declared previously, and nationality on the other, that what was Yugoslav, accompanied by a mild drop in numbers of ethnic-Serbs in Croatia, it is fair to assume that the majority of this 2% Yugoslav population were previously (and possibly again afterwards) Serbs, or more correctly, closely affiliated citizens embedded within the ethnic Serbian circles. The 2001 census in Croatia registered only 176 Yugoslavs.
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.
[edit] 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 Prussians 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.
[edit] See also
- Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Demographics of Croatia
- Demographics of Macedonia
- Demographics of Serbia and Montenegro
