We will look like fools if nothing comes of this Yugoslavia! : the establishment of Yugoslavia from the perspective of Slovene contemporaries

Stergar, Rok (author)

Throughout east, central, and southeast Europe, postwar national historiographies largely represented the breakup of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of successor states as a foregone conclusion, as a process that could only end with the foundation of nation-states, and a significant part of Slovene historiography still clings to such an interpretation. The author attempts to revise this nationalist meta-narrative about the transition from Austria-Hungary to Yugoslavia. Describing the uncertain atmosphere and bringing the open-endedness of developments to the fore, the author contends that very little seemed predetermined in 1918; that other outcomes appeared possible; and that the establishment of the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs as well as its subsequent unification with Serbia was not a product of a prolonged and systematic effort, supported by a mass movement. More than anything, it was a reaction to the changed circumstances of late 1918, and the proclamation of independence caught many by surprise.

• Language: English
• Keywords: establishment of Yugoslavia, 1918, dissolution of Austria-Hungary, postimperial transitions
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2023
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 82-101
• Numbering: Vol. 10, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-148241
• UDC: 94(497.1)"1918"
• ISSN on article: 2688-8211
• DOI: 10.5325/hiperboreea.10.1.0082
• COBISS.SI-ID: 155309315
• Publication date in RUL: 04.08.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Hiperboreea
• Publisher: Penn State University Press
• ISSN: 2688-8211
• COBISS.SI-ID: 52408579

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: nastanek Jugoslavije, razpad Avstro-Ogrske, postimperialne tranzicije

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: J6-1801-2019
• Name: Postimperialne tranzicije in transformacije iz lokalne perspektive: slovenska mejna območja med dvojno monarhijo in nacionalnimi državami (1918-1923)

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: N6-0190-2021
• Name: Hraniti zmago: Preskrba s hrano in postimperialna tranzicija v čeških deželah in Sloveniji, 1918-1923