ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a historical overview of the development of sports policy and politics in the ex-Yugoslav countries that have been, or are, part of the Western Balkans. This chapter represents the first study of the early developments of sports policies in these countries. From the birth of organized sports during the periods of the aristocratic regimes of the Kingdom of Montenegro or Kingdom of Serbia, the Yugoslav dictatorship between two world wars, and the sociopolitical monopoly of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, the concept of physical culture represented its key element. The Berlin congress marked the intensification of international cooperation that resulted in the establishment of the Sokol movement. During the period between the two world wars, physical education was primarily organized as part of a broader emancipatory process and later as a revolutionary reflex. Sport was seen as one segment of culture, but physical culture remained one of the strongholds for solidarity and processes of emancipation throughout the twentieth century. Strong attention was dedicated to integrating physical education into the concept of physical culture. The post-socialist period reflects the effects of national awakenings, the pluralization of politics, and the liberalization of the economy in sport.
