Yugoslavs
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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. The designation was used by people who did not have a strong ethnic identity or did not wish to express it, but who still had patriotic feelings for the country and did not want their ethnicity to be recorded as undeclared.
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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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 most common reasons included:
- mixed marriages — some families of varied ethnic background preferred not to choose an ethnicity
- relatively minor nationalities — some people among the Muslims by nationality or the Vojvodina Bunjevci did not have strong national affiliations
- ethnically diverse areas — in places like Vojvodina and Bosnia-Herzegovina, many people wished to express the sentiment that one's ethnic background is irrelevant
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, mostly in Serbia and Montenegro, which kept the name "Yugoslavia" the longest, until 2003.
See also
- Soviet people
- Demographics of Yugoslavia
- Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Demographics of Croatia
- Demographics of Macedonia
- Demographics of Serbia and Montenegro
- Demographics of Slovenia