ABSTRACT
Yugoslavia was more than a country – it was also an idea.1 This perhaps explains why the mere mention of the common South Slav state, 20 years after it has ceased to exist, is still capable of stirring up intense emotions. Yugoslavia, especially Tito’s socialist federation, was often regarded as an idyll, both inside and outside of the country. It was an example of how a shared vision, based on ethnic and linguistic proximity and inspired by a united purpose, could bring together cultural, religious and regional differences to create a single, united polity. It was something to be celebrated, although Yugoslavia’s problems were clear even to many of its most enthusiastic supporters.2 Even today, the Yugoslav concept has its adherents and admirers. The phenomenon of ‘Yugonostalgia’, so prevalent in parts of the former Yugoslavia, can in part be interpreted as a continuing expression of the power of the idea.3
