{yoo-goh-slah'-vee-uh} The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the largest of the Balkan countries of southeastern Europe, is bordered by Austria and Hungary in the north, Romania and Bulgaria in the east, Greece and Albania in the south, and Italy and the Adriatic Sea in the west. Created in 1918, Yugoslavia was originally called the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In 1929 the name Yugoslavia (land of the South Slavs) was adopted. Ruled by the Serbian dynasty, the country was wracked by ethnic strife until its dissolution by the Axis occupiers during World War II. Communist-led partisans won control after the war and re-created Yugoslavia as a federal republic in 1945. Until 1991 the country was a federation of six republics (\TSerbia\t, \TCroatia\t, \TSlovenia\t, \TMacedonia\t, \TBosnia and Hercegovina\t, and \TMontenegro\t) and two autonomous provinces (Kosovo and Vojvodina). In 1990 Kosovo, subject to Serbia, claimed republican status. In 1991 Slovenia and Croatia announced their secession from the federation, and Macedonia and Bosnia also voted for independence. Civil war erupted when Croatia's Serbian minority resisted independence and was backed by the Yugoslav army, which invaded Croatia. The cause of Croatian and Slovenian separation was backed by Germany in late 1991, and on Jan. 15, 1992, the 12 nations of the \TEuropean Community\t recognized the independence of the two republics. LAND AND RESOURCES Yugoslavia is divided into several climatic and topographical zones. Primarily mountainous, the country also contains a large segment of the great Pannonian plain in the north and northeast, along the course of the \TDanube\t and \TSava\t rivers. This rich agricultural basin is interrupted by extensive massifs and ridge systems running in all directions through the central and eastern regions. Less than one-third of the surface lies below 200 m (656 ft) in altitude, and about one-fifth lies above 900 m (2,953 ft). On the coast a narrow littoral is hemmed in by the steep karst slopes of the \TDinaric Alps\t, which run the entire length of the Adriatic and isolate the interior from Mediterranean influences. On the northern frontiers the Julian and Karawanken Alps mark the boundaries with Italy and Austria. Soil and Drainage Most of Yugoslavia's agrarian area lies in the north and northwest where fertile loess and chernozem soils are abundant. In the interior and the south (Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia) some moderately productive podzol basins (polja) are scattered. Most Yugoslav rivers drain north and east into the Danube, while the remainder flow into the Adriatic and Aegean seas. Major streams are the Danube and its Sava, \TTisza\t, and Morava tributaries. In the south the Vardar provides a gateway to the Aegean Sea. Yugoslav rivers are generally unimportant to commerce except in the Pannonian plain, where the Sava and Danube carry extensive barge traffic. Climate A Mediterranean climate of long, hot summers and mild winters exists along the littoral and in the extreme south. The interior winters are harsh, with frequent snow and severe cold, although summer temperatures regularly exceed 28 C (80 F). Spring and autumn are moderate in both zones, the latter generally rainy along the coast and in the mountains. Flora and Fauna Vegetation patterns vary sharply from the heavily forested mountains of Bosnia and Serbia to the treeless prairie of the Vojvodina along the Danube and the barren karstlands of the coast. The littoral supports a Mediterranean flora of palms, olives, and cypress with much viniculture. Overall, deciduous forest predominates, but there is much conifer in the higher reaches of the interior. Several species of large and small game are found within Yugoslavia, ranging from black bear and deer (Slovenia, Serbia) to foxes and otter. Hunting for mammals and birds is widely popular, and freshwater fishing (trout, pike, carp) is practiced throughout the country. The coastal towns engage in a limited commercial fishery that has been affected by the recent diminution of Adriatic fish stocks. PEOPLE About 90% of the population belong to one or another of the six officially recognized South Slavic nations: the Serbs (40% of the total); Croats (23%); Slovenes (8%); Macedonians (6%); Montenegrins (2.5%); and the Muslims of Bosnia and Hercegovina (8.9%). The remaining 11% is chiefly Albanians (6.5%) with some Hungarians (2%), Romanians, Turks, and Gypsies. Language and Religion Currently, three languages are recognized as official in dealings with the federal authorities: Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, and Macedonian. (For official purposes, the closely related Serbian and Croatian languages are considered as one.) In addition, minorities are guaranteed the use of their native language in local proceedings and elementary school. Central government documents are routinely presented in both the Cyrillic (Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro) and Latin (Croatia, Slovenia) alphabets. Major religious affiliations include Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Islam. Most Serbs and Macedonians are Orthodox Christians, totaling about 10 million individuals, or 43% of the population. Slovenes and Croats are Roman Catholic, claiming 7 million, or 30%, and the Muslims of Bosnia and the Albanian areas number about 3 million, or 14%. The remainder either do not claim religious affiliation or adhere to the atheism favored by the government. Demography Yugoslavia is a rapidly urbanizing society and now has a majority of the population living in towns and cities. This is a notable development for a country in which almost 80% were rural dwellers as recently as 1940. \TBelgrade\t, \TZagreb\t, \TSkopje\t, \TSarajevo\t, \TLjubljana\t, and \TNovi Sad\t are the major centers. Their growth has been caused largely by recent migrants from the provinces, where a traditionally high birthrate combined with decreasing mortality to produce a rapidly rising population during the 1945-65 era. Since then, growth has slowed to an estimated 0.9% per year, in part because of large semipermanent exports of labor to the West European states. The agrarian population is now less than 30%. Population density is still well below the European average. Education and Medical Care Elementary education is mandatory and free for all children 6-15 years of age. Secondary and tertiary institutions of all types are freely available to those who can pass qualifying examinations. There has been a notable expansion of the university system in the past 20 years, although the older institutions in Belgrade, Zagreb, and Ljubljana remain the most prestigious. Medical care is under the direction of the state via a national insurance scheme covering all citizens, but a private sector is permitted. A postwar decline in mortality through traditional diseases has been partially offset by a rise in cancer and stroke incidence. The Arts Yugoslav artistic roots are anchored in diverse soils. In general, the north and the littoral are heirs to the cultural traditions of the Catholic Germans and Italians, whereas the central and eastern regions were within the orbit of Byzantine and Ottoman Turkish worlds until the 19th century. A sizable segment of the population converted to Islam after the Turkish conquest and are strongly influenced by that cosmopolitan culture. The Croatian and Slovene assertion of national identity (1820-1860s) was built largely on linguistic and literary foundations. The Croats looked back on a heroic age of 16th- and 17th-century drama and poetry centered on the rich port of \TDubrovnik\t, then a rival to Venice. The Slovenes had had a brief moment in the sun through the work of a Protestant humanist group led by the Bible translator Primoz Trubar (1508-86). After long eclipse, both peoples underwent a national awakening following the Napoleonic wars. Ivan Mazuranic (1814-90), August Senoa (1838-81), and Evgenij Kumicic (1850-1904) were foremost exponents of Croatian romanticism and realism, and modernism appeared in the late 19th century, influenced by French and German sources. Of the 20th-century authors, Miroslav Krleza (1893- ) enjoys high repute as a social critic. Among Slovenes, the romantic poet France Presern (1800-49) greatly influenced the development of the modern language. Ivan \TCankar\t, Oton \TZupancic\t, and Prezikov Voranc (1893-1950) were major figures in the 20th century. The beginnings of modern Serbian literature are dated to the pioneering folklore collections of Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic (1787-1864). Outstanding among 19th-century writers were the poets Branko Radicevic (1824-53), Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj (1833-1904), and the Montenegrin Petar Njegos (1813-51), as well as the dramatist Jovan Sterija Popovic (1806-56). More recently, the historian Slobodan Jovanovic (1869-1958) and the novelists Miodrag Bulatovic (1930- ) and Ivo \TAndric\t (Nobel prize, 1961) represent the apex of Serbian literature. The anti-Communist political theorist Milovan \TDjilas\t is the best-known Yugoslav writer in the West. The Croatian sculptor Ivan \TMestrovic\t, active in the interwar era, is the most widely known Yugoslav plastic artist. A school of native painters has arisen since the 1930s. Best known among them are the Croats Ivan Generalic (1914- ) and Ivan Vecenaj (1920- ). Drama was dependent on foreign models into the 19th century. Branislav Nusic (1864-1938) was the most popular Serbian comic writer of the 20th century, and Ivo Vojnovic (1857-1929) portrayed his Dubrovnik milieu in a series of historical dramas. After two decades of innovation and artistic distinction, Yugoslav drama and cinema declined in the 1980s as the social and economic situation worsened. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Under Communist direction Yugoslavia became a partially industrialized and modernized society. After 1945 an overwhelmingly agrarian economy was transformed into a mixed type in which industry and commerce employ the largest share of the work force. True to their Soviet models, the leadership in the early postwar era chose to emphasize heavy industry and transport at the expense of agriculture and consumer goods. A great effort was directed at creating a communications and transportation infrastructure in the more backward south and east of the country. This drive continued for several years after the break with Stalin in 1948 but was gradually altered and redirected as the Belgrade government groped its way toward its own political and economic credos. After four and a half decades of experiment with Marxist-capitalist amalgams, Yugoslavia in the 1990s is struggling to find its way to a free market. Most retail trade, services, and agriculture have always been in private hands, but the major industrial, commercial, and financial sectors are directed by the state bureaucracy. The economy is in turmoil because of the fighting and the very unstable political outlook. Central planning has disintegrated, while the northern republics of Croatia and Slovenia have dissociated themselves from the national markets. Short-term economic prospects are poor. The foreign tourist industry, Yugoslavia's biggest foreign exchange source, collapsed after the outbreak of civil bloodshed. Should Slovenia and Croatia make good on their claims to sovereignty, much of the economic capacity of Yugoslavia will be eliminated. The other four Yugoslav republics have among the lowest per-capita incomes in Europe. Manufacturing and Mining Industry now employs about one quarter of the Yugoslav work force. Major products are ferrous and nonferrous metals, chemicals, electrical machinery, textiles, plastics, and leather goods. The country produces almost all of its domestic consumption of petroleum and is well situated in respect to energy sources (coal, gas, and hydroelectricity). Coal, lignite, copper, iron, and bauxite are the chief minerals in production. Agriculture Most agriculture is still performed by private peasants. Collectivization on the Soviet model was abandoned in 1951, and after that little direct pressure has been exerted by the government for social ownership. The principal field crops are corn, wheat, and sugar beets. Tobacco, fruit, and viniculture are regionally important. Livestock raising is widespread, with pigs, cattle, and sheep most numerous. Cereals are planted on about half the cultivated area. Transportation Automotive transport now rivals the underdeveloped rail system for movement of people and goods. Europe's largest road-tunnel project, under the Karawanken Alps between Slovenia and Austria, was completed in the early 1980s. A modern highway links the entire Adriatic littoral with Italy and Greece. The number of private autos has rapidly increased since the 1960s and now approximates the ratio of the less highly developed Western countries. Rijeka in the upper Adriatic is the chief port. Trade About half of Yugoslavia's foreign trade is with the European Community, but the \TUSSR\t remains its largest single trade partner, followed by Germany and Italy. By category, the most important imports are machinery, semimanufacturers, and fuel. The main exports are machinery, raw materials, and miscellaneous consumer goods. A disproportionately large share of exports have traditionally been directed to Third World countries, where their lower quality and less technically sophisticated design could find a market. This has been increasingly difficult to maintain, however, and the negative trade balances that have been constant since the 1960s have exerted strong pressure on the national economy. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS From the end of World War II until 1990, Yugoslavia was a Communist state, and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) was the only legal political party. Josip Broz (known as \TTito\t) was leader of the LCY throughout the postwar era until his death in 1980. He was also Yugoslavia's president beginning in 1953. After his death a collective presidency was established, with a member from each of the six republics and two provinces. This unwieldy system began to unravel when it was faced with serious conflicts, first in Kosovo with its restive Albanian population, and then in Slovenia and Croatia. After the LCY surrendered its monopoly of power in 1990, the party as well as the federal government quickly lost effectiveness as they were paralyzed by the ethnic struggle. In the Communist era the Federal Assembly (parliament) was divided into two houses; the Federal Chamber and the Chamber of Republics. An executive council (cabinet) was elected by the assembly for four-year terms to operate the federal government. Each of the republics and provinces had its own assembly and executive council, elected in its turn by delegates from subsidiary political units, down to the opstina (commune). The opstina, the basic unit of administration, was both an economic and a political entity, governed by a council of elected members, many of whom were not LCY members. The same was true of the republican and federal assemblies, whose members gradually took a more active role in legislation after Tito's demise. The Communist party retained control of the political process through a combination of ex-officio appointments, overlapping jurisdictions between party and government agencies, and selective nominations for offices at all levels. Most executive posts, as distinct from legislative and judicial ones, were kept within the party's hands. This system worked reasonably well from the LCY standpoint until 1989-90, when ethnic frictions combined with the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe strained it to the breaking point. HISTORY In pre-Roman times the area of modern Yugoslavia was known as \TIllyria\t; under Roman rule it was divided among the provinces of Illyricum, \TDalmatia\t, Pannonia, and Moesia. Slavic-speaking tribes filtered into the region during the 6th century and slowly evolved a series of independent duchies and kingdoms as they were Christianized by their Greek and Western neighbors during the early Middle Ages. The Croatian kingdom was notably successful in the 10th and 11th centuries but then amalgamated (1089) with Hungary and fell under that nation's sway in varying degrees for the next several centuries. Ruled after 1527 by the Habsburg dynasty of Austria-Hungary, the Croats were able to retain much autonomy in the multi-ethnic empire until its collapse at the end of World War I. Their Slovene neighbors had been under Germanic or Italian domination since the 8th century and never established an independent state. The Serbs created a powerful medieval state that reached its zenith under \TStephen Dusan\t in the 14th century when it challenged Byzantium for mastery in the southern Balkans. Soon afterward, however, the Ottoman Turks conquered both peoples and began a 500-year reign that profoundly affected Serbian culture and tradition. As Turkish power diminished through the 18th and 19th centuries, South Slavic aspirations revived. Independent kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro were recognized by the Congress of Berlin (see \TBerlin, Congress of\t) in 1878. The \TBalkan Wars\t (1911-13) further reduced Turkish dominion, a process completed by Turkey's defeat in World War I. The Serbs were the strongest partner in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which was established in 1918 with \TPeter I\t of Serbia as its sovereign. Beginning with the first premier, Nikola \TPasic\t, leadership was exercised almost exclusively by Serbian politicians and bureaucrats, culminating (1929) in a royal dictatorship under King \Talexander\t. The unpopularity of this regime stimulated a radical anti-Serbian movement among many Croats and other minorities, which led to Alexander's assassination (1934). By the time of the German-Italian invasion in April 1941, the country was fragmented into hostile factions, and its ensuing complete dismemberment was easily accomplished by the occupiers. A collaborationist regime under Ante Pavelic was set up in Croatia by the Germans. Its violent terrorism against Serbs and Muslims soon resulted in its own discredit and the beginning of an anti-Axis resistance by the middle of 1941. The resistance was led by the small Communist party from the outset, but men and women of all political beliefs were to be found in its ranks. Its platform was the expulsion of the occupiers and social and ethnic equity in a new Yugoslavia. After much bloodshed in three years of fierce warfare against both the Axis and domestic opponents (notably Pavelic's Ustasa and General Draza \TMihajlovic\t's Serbian Chetniks), the Communist partisans seized control from the retreating Germans in 1944. With much popular support, the partisans' leader, Josip Broz (Tito), brushed aside the claims of the royal government-in-exile and instituted a thoroughgoing Marxist regime at war's end. Unlike nearly all other Communist parties in postwar Eastern Europe, the LCY did not depend on Soviet military and economic support for its position of leadership. Tito's reluctance to follow Soviet advice and resistance to Soviet exploitation had incensed Stalin, who expelled Yugoslavia from the Communist bloc in 1948. After great tension and confusion, the party leadership came to grips with its novel predicament. They gradually improved relations with the Western countries, sought friends in the Third World, and adopted a policy of nonalignment between East and West. After Stalin's death in 1953, relations with the Soviet bloc underwent several cycles of amity and strain, dependent on the LCY's perceptions of its own interests. At least outwardly, the Soviets came to accept the Yugoslavs' insistence on autonomy to choose their "separate road" to socialism. Internally, the LCY abandoned orthodox Marxism in economic affairs or altered it in favor of pragmatic action to meet the needs of the time. After Tito's death in 1980 the prestige and power of the central government began to weaken, as no other leader commanded strong nationwide support, The Croatians and Slovenes, in particular, demanded greater autonomy in economic policy. They believed that the extensive postwar assistance given to the less developed republics of Montenegro, Bosnia, and Macedonia had resulted in considerable disservice to themselves. This dissatisfaction combined with ancient cultural frictions led to a strong separatist movement by 1990. When the LCY renounced its political monopoly, both Slovenia and Croatia elected non-Communist governments. When Serbia's Communist leader, Slobodan \TMilosevic\t, opposed their demands for a new and less centralized union, both republics unilaterally declared their independence in June 1991. Croatia's Serbian minority, which opposed independence, rose in revolt against the Croatian government, and the Serbian-led Yugoslav army moved in to support them. Repeated attempts by the European Community to negotiate a cease-fire failed to put an end to the fighting, and on Jan. 15, 1992, the Community recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia. Philip J. Adler Bibliography: \TGeneral\t: Ramet, Pedro, ed., Yugoslavia in the 1980s (1985); Tomasevich, Jozo, Peasants, Politics, and Economic Change in Yugoslavia (1975); West, Rebecca, Black Lamb, Grey Falcon, 2 vols. (1944; repr. 1982); Wilson, Duncan, Tito's Yugoslavia (1977). \TPeople\t AND \TSociety\t: Doder, Dusko, The Yugoslavs (1978); Halpern, Barbara and Joel, A Serbian Village in Historical Perspective (1983); Lydall, Harold, Yugoslav Socialism (1984). \Teconomics\t: Artisien, Patrick, Joint Ventures in Yugoslav Industry (1985); Carter, April, Democratic Reform in Yugoslavia (1982); Dyker, David A., Yugoslavia: Socialism, Development, and Debt (1990); Estrin, Saul, Self-Management: Economic Theory and Yugoslav Practice (1984); Lydall, Harold, Yugoslavia in Crisis (1989); Moore, John H., Growth With Self-Management: Yugoslav Industrialization 1952-1975 (1980); Singleton, F., and Carter, B., The Economy of Yugoslavia (1982); Sirc, Ljubo, The Yugoslav Economy under Self-Management (1979). \LPolitic\ls AND \Tgovernment\t: Allcock, John B., et al., eds., Yugoslavia in Transition: Choices and Constraints (1991); Banac, Ivo, The National Question in Yugoslavia (1984); Burg, S. L., Conflict and Cohesion in Socialist Yugoslavia (1983); Djilas, Milovan, Tito: The Story from Inside (1980); Dragnich, Alex N., and Todorovich, Slavko, The Saga of Kosovo: Focus on Serbian-Albanian Relationships (1985); Pavlovich, Stephen, The Improbable Survivor: Yugoslavia and Its Problems, 1918-1988 (1988); Rusinow, Dennison, The Yugoslav Experiment 1948-1974 (1977) and, as ed., Yugoslavia: A Fractured Federalism (1988). \Thistory\t: Clissold, Stephen, et al., eds., A Short History of Yugoslavia (1968); Dedijer, Vladimir, et al., History of Yugoslavia (1974); Djilas, Aleksa, The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953 (1991); Petrovich, Michael B., A History of Modern Serbia, vols. 1-2 (1976); Singleton, Fred, A Short History of the Yugoslav Peoples (1985), and Twentieth Century Yugoslavia (1976); Soulis, George, Serbs and Byzantium During the Reign of Tsar Stephen Dusan (1331-1355) and His Successors (1984); Tomasevich, Jozo, Peasants, Politics, and Economic Change in Yugoslavia (1975).