Yugoslavia

Modern nation states have grown out of the simple but revolutionary idea that they represent ‘the people’ better than the states from which they emerged – usually empires. However, once established, nation states also have to fend off challengers. They are stable only as long as they suppress rivals within their borders who claim to represent the people better than they do. The new nation states created a century ago in eastern Europe are prime examples of these patterns.

Yugoslavia is particularly instructive. It came together rapidly after the First World War as a constitutional Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It quickly faced challenges because the peoples on this