Yugoslavia

YUGOSLAVIA, a convenient name for the Serb, Croat, and Slovene state (Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata, i Slovenaca), which orig inated at the end of 1918 by the union of parts of the former Austro-Hungarian empire with Serbia and, at a slightly later date, with Montenegro. The declared basis of the union was ethnic, the desire being to group together all the South Slays (Yugoslays), though the actual frontiers represent a series of compromises. The inhabitants are mainly South Slav, but the new kingdom is, nevertheless, one of the most heterogeneous of the post-war states of Europe. Serbs constitute over one-third of the total population, and outnumber any other single element. But the Serbia of 1918 was not a unit, its frontiers having undergone notable changes since the outbreak of the Balkan wars. The Catholic Croats of Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia, the next largest group, number over three millions, but surpass the Serbs of Serbia both in culture and economic development. Serbia--or, more accurately, the Serbs of Belgrade, the only large town in the old kingdom—is however quite definitely the dominant partner.

The predominance of the Serbs of Belgrade is due both to political and geographical causes. Among the former we have to note that Belgrade, the capital of the old Serbian state as it is of the new Yugoslav one, possessed all the advantages of the presence of an organized national administration. No other part of the new state—apart from the small kingdom of Montenegro —had had any experience of complete self-government. Even when associated with numerical preponderance and military strength this might not have ensured concentration of power at Belgrade, had it not been for the outstanding position of the town at the convergence of great highways.

Divisions.—Yugoslavia has an area of 96,00o sq.m., almost pre cisely three times that of post-war Austria, with a population in 1931 that just doubles that of Austria. It is made up of the fol lowing 7 areas : (I) the Serbia of the treaty of Bucharest (1913) with some minor modifications ; (2) the Montenegro of 1912; (3) Bosnia and Hercegovina; Dalmatia, without the town of Zara and the islands of Lagosta and Pelagosa; (5) Croatia Slavonia, without Fiume but with some minor additions; (6) Slovenia; (7) the Voyvodina or Duchy.

Of these the first two were independent South Slav states, Serbia having had its area nearly doubled and its population in creased by one-half as the result of the Balkan wars. In both the Cyrillic alphabet is used, and the majority of the people belong to the Eastern or Orthodox church. But the new territories in the south, obtained by Serbia as the result of the Balkan wars, contain a considerable Muslim element, both in Old Serbia and in Macedonia. Bosnia and Hercegovina, nominally Turkish till

the Austro-Hungarian annexation in 1908, had been administered by the Austro-Hungarian government since 1878. There is a large Muslim element in the population, Bosnia being the most northerly Muslim outpost in Europe.

Dalmatia was a purely Austrian province, with a mainly Catho lic population. Italian influence was, however, strong in the coastal towns, particularly in Zara, which has been assigned to Italy. The Catholic Slays of Dalmatia use the Latin alphabet and thus technically rank as Croats. Croatia-Slavonia (capital Zagreb) was formerly attached to Hungary, its port, Fiume, forming the chief Hungarian sea-outlet. To the Croatia-Slavonia which is included in Yugoslavia were added the commune of Kastav, on the peninsula of Istria to the west of Fiume, the island of Krk (Veglia), and a small area (Medjimurje) between the Mur and the Drava, with a Croat population. The port of Fiume, after long negotiation, went to Italy. Slovenia, the land of the Slovenes, is a name which has been given to a part of pre war Austria inhabited by Slovenes and now attached to Yugo slavia : there has, however, never been a Slovene state since the early Middle Ages, and Slovenia is made up of fragments of former Austrian provinces. Thus it includes southern Styria, with the town of Maribor (Marburg), the greater part of Carniola, with the town of Ljubljana (Laibach), and a few communes only of Carinthia. To these has been added a small area (Prekmurje) north of the river Mur, formerly attached to Hungary but con taining a Slovene population. The Slovenes are predominantly Catholics and highly westernized. Finally, the Voyvodina is similarly composed of scraps of territory, brought together be cause of the composition of the population and without any physi cal unity of its own. It includes the southern and often swampy southern part of the Hungarian plain, and both from the ethnic and the religious standpoint the population is very mixed. The Slav majority is due primarily to the flight of Balkan Serbs before the advancing Turk, for such low-lying lands were as a rule avoided by the early Slav settlers, who preferred wooded and hilly country. The considerable German and Magyar groups mostly owe their origin to a deliberate process of colonization, the Germans particularly having done much to drain and make habitable the swampy lands. The Rumanian element is due to migration from the hilly country to the east, especially during the 18th century. Many of the Slays, particularly towards the east, belong to the Orthodox Church, while Catholics are in a majority to the west. There is also a Protestant element (German and Magyar).