South Slavs

Lore & Background

In the 20th century, the country of Yugoslavia united a majority of the South Slavic peoples and lands—with the exception of Bulgarians and Bulgaria—into a single state. The Pan-Slavic concept of Yugoslavia emerged in late 17th-century Croatia, at the time part of the Habsburg monarchy, and gained prominence through the 19th-century Illyrian movement. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929, was proclaimed on 1 December 1918, following the unification of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs with the kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro. With the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, several independent sovereign states were formed. The term 'Yugoslavs' was and sometimes is still used as a synonym for 'South Slavs', but it usually excludes Bulgarians since Bulgaria never formed part of the former Yugoslavia.

Reader's Guide

The South Slavs are known in Serbian, Macedonian, and Montenegrin as Južni Sloveni; in Bulgarian as Yuzhni Slavyani; in Croatian and Bosnian as Južni Slaveni; and in Slovene as Južni Slovani. The Slavic root *jug- means 'south'. The Slavic ethnonym itself was used by 6th-century writers to describe the southern group of Early Slavs (the Sclaveni); West Slavs were called Veneti and East Slavs Antes. The South Slavs are also called Balkan Slavs. Another name popular in the early modern period was Illyrians, using the name of a pre-Slavic Balkan people, a name first adopted by Dalmatian intellectuals in the late 15th century to refer to South Slavic lands and population. It was then used by the Habsburg monarchy and France, and notably adopted by the 19th-century Croatian Illyrian movement. Eventually, the idea of Yugoslavism appeared, aimed at uniting all South Slav-populated territories into a common state. From this idea emerged Yugoslavia—which, however, did not include Bulgaria.

Did You Know?

• The Slavic root *jug- means 'south'.
• The term 'Yugoslavs' usually excludes Bulgarians since Bulgaria never formed part of the former Yugoslavia.
• The first Slavic chieftain recorded by name was Daurentius, who dismissed Avar suzerainty.
• The South Slavs are also called Balkan Slavs.