Editing Yugoslavia (section)

== History ==

Yugoslavia passed through a monarchy, wartime occupation, a socialist federation, and a smaller federal republic formed by Serbia and Montenegro.

=== Kingdom ===

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed on 1 December 1918. It united the Kingdom of Serbia with Montenegro and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which had been formed from former Austro-Hungarian territories after the [[First World War]]. Belgrade became the capital of the new state.<ref name="serbia-history"/><ref name="slovenia-history"/>

The Vidovdan Constitution was adopted on 28 June 1921 and established a centralised constitutional monarchy under the Karađorđević dynasty. Political disagreements developed over the authority of the central government, the position of the historic regions, and the distribution of power between Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Bosnian, Montenegrin, and Macedonian political groups.

Croatian Peasant Party leader [[Stjepan Radić]] was shot in the National Assembly on 20 June 1928 and died on 8 August. King Alexander I suspended the constitution and established a royal dictatorship on 6 January 1929. The state was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October and reorganised into administrative provinces known as banovinas.<ref name="croatia-history"/>

Alexander I was assassinated in Marseille on 9 October 1934. A regency governed on behalf of the underage Peter II until a military coup removed the regency on 27 March 1941.

=== Second World War ===

Germany and its allies invaded Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941. The Yugoslav armed forces capitulated on 17 April. The country was divided between German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian occupation zones and Axis-supported administrations. The Yugoslav royal government continued to operate in exile.<ref name="second-world-war"/>

Armed resistance was conducted principally by the communist-led Yugoslav Partisans and the royalist Chetnik movement. The Partisans established political councils across several regions and organised the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia. Its second session, held at Jajce on 29 November 1943, approved the creation of a federal Yugoslav state.

Partisan forces and the Soviet Red Army took control of Belgrade in October 1944. The Partisans secured control over most Yugoslav territory by May 1945. The monarchy was abolished on 29 November 1945, when the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed.<ref name="bosnia-history"/><ref name="croatia-history"/>

=== Socialist federation ===

The post-war state was organised as a federation of six republics. [[Josip Broz Tito]] served as prime minister and later president. The ruling Communist Party of Yugoslavia was renamed the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in 1952.

Yugoslavia broke with the Soviet Union in 1948 and followed an independent socialist policy. State ownership remained central to the economy, while worker self-management was introduced in enterprises. Yugoslavia later became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and maintained relations with both western and socialist countries.

The country was renamed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 7 April 1963. Federal institutions included the presidency, the Federal Executive Council, and the Federal Assembly. The republics maintained their own governments, assemblies, courts, and administrative institutions.

Industrialisation and urban growth expanded after the war. New factories, power stations, roads, railways, housing districts, schools, and hospitals were constructed throughout the federation. Tourism developed along the Adriatic coast, while Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Ljubljana, Skopje, Novi Sad, Split, and other cities became major industrial and administrative centres.<ref name="bosnia-history"/><ref name="slovenia-history"/>

The constitution adopted on 21 February 1974 transferred greater authority to the republics and autonomous provinces. It also created a collective federal presidency intended to operate after Tito's death. Tito died on 4 May 1980, after which the presidency rotated between representatives of the republics and provinces.

=== Dissolution ===

Economic difficulties, regional disagreements, constitutional disputes, and competing national political movements weakened federal authority during the 1980s. Multiparty elections were introduced in several republics during 1990.

Slovenia and Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991. Fighting began between the Slovenian Territorial Defence and the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] on 27 June. The conflict ended through the Brioni Agreement of 7 July, and Yugoslav forces completed their withdrawal from Slovenia on 25 October.<ref name="slovenia-history"/>

Fighting in Croatia developed between Croatian forces, the Yugoslav People's Army, and Serb forces controlling parts of Croatian territory. North Macedonia held an independence referendum on 8 September 1991 and adopted a new constitution on 17 November.<ref name="croatia-history"/><ref name="north-macedonia-history"/>

Bosnia and Herzegovina held an independence referendum on 29 February and 1 March 1992 and declared independence on 3 March. The [[Bosnian War]] began the following month.<ref name="bosnia-history"/>

Serbia and Montenegro established the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 27 April 1992. The new federation consisted only of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro. It retained Belgrade as its capital and continued using the Yugoslav dinar.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was reorganised as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro on 4 February 2003, ending the use of Yugoslavia as the official state name. Montenegro declared independence on 3 June 2006. Serbia became the continuing state of the former union on 5 June.<ref name="montenegro-history"/>