Why did Yugoslavia fall apart? Was its violent demise inevitable? Did its population simply fall victim to the lure of nationalism? How did this multinational state survive for so long, and where do we situate the short life of Yugoslavia in the long history of Europe in the twentieth century? The Complete History of Yugoslavia by Marie-Janine Calic provides a concise, accessible, comprehensive synthesis of the political, cultural, social, and economic life of Yugoslavia-from its nineteenth-century South Slavic origins to the bloody demise of the multinational state of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. In this book, Calic takes a fresh and innovative look at the colorful, multifaceted, and complex history of Yugoslavia, emphasizing major social, economic, and intellectual changes from the turn of the twentieth century and the transition to modern industrialized mass society. She traces the origins of ethnic, religious, and cultural divisions, applying the latest social science approaches, and drawing on the breadth of recent state-of-the-art literature, to present a balanced interpretation of events that takes into account the differing perceptions and interests of the actors involved. Uniquely, Calic frames the history of Yugoslavia for readers as an essentially open-ended process, undertaken from a variety of different regional perspectives with varied composite agenda; thus, she shuns traditional, deterministic explanations that notorious Balkan hatreds or any other kind of exceptionalism are to blame for Yugoslavia's demise, and along the way she highlights the agency of twentieth-century modern mass society in the politicization of differences. Additionally, while analyzing nuanced political and social-economic processes, Calic describes the experiences and emotions of ordinary people in a vivid way. As a result, her groundbreaking work provides scholars and learned readers alike with an accessible, trenchant, and authoritative introduction to Yugoslavia's complex history.
Marie-Janine Calic is a professor for East and Southeast European history at the University of Munich and is a renowned expert in Balkan affairs. Previously, she held a position as the political adviser to the special coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe in Brussels (1999-mid-2002). She also worked and consulted for UNPROFOR headquarters in Zagreb, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (The Hague), and the Conflict Prevention Network of the European Commission and Parliament (Brussels). She is a regular commentator on Balkan affairs for the media.
List of Maps List of Tables Introduction Abbreviations Chronology Part I: The South Slavic Movement and the Founding of the Yugoslav State (1878 to 1918) 1. The South Slavic Countries around 1900: The Dawn of a New Century 2. The National Question across the Balkans (1875 to 1903) 3. Radicalization (1903 to 1912) 4. The Three Balkan Wars (1912/1913 to 1914/1918) Part II: The First Yugoslavia (1918 to 1941) 5. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (1918 to 1929) 6. The 1920s: Tradition and Change 7. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929 to 1941) Part III: The Second World War (1941 to 1945) 8. Occupation, Collaboration, and Resistance 9. The 1940s: Total War Part IV: Socialist Yugoslavia (1945 to 1980) 10. The Consolidation of Communist Rule (1943 to 1948) 11. Tito's Socialism (1948 to 1964) 12. The 1960s: Transition to an Industrial Society 13. Reforms and Rivalries (1964 to 1968) 14. The New Nationalism (1967 to 1971) 15. After the Boom Years (1971 to 1980) Part V: After Tito (1980 to 1991) 16. The Crisis of Socialist Modernity (1980 to 1989) 17. The 1980s: Anomie 18. Disintegration and the Collapse of the State (1989 to 1991) Part VI: The Demise of Yugoslavia (1991 to the Present) 19. The War of Succession (1991 to 1999) 20. What Remained of Yugoslavia Concluding Remarks Appendix A Parties, Political Organizations, and Committees Appendix B Maps Appendix C Tables Notes Bibliography Index of Persons
A History of Yugoslavia is the best general history of Yugoslavia since the publication of John R. Lampe's Yugoslavia as History: Twice There Was a Country. This text is highly recommended as an excellent introduction to the history of Yugoslavia. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty.
