Abstract
Yugoslavia was created in 1917 by Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in the World War I context. It was later joined in 1929 by Voivodina, Montenegro and Bosnia. It has experienced wars and changes in political regimes, being first a monarchy and turning to communism after the Second World War under the influence of Tito. In fact, it became the Federation of Yugoslavia in 1945, a multinational country whose population has had different experiences throughout its history. In 1989, Yugoslavia was a federal state, composed of six republics, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia, and of two autonomous provinces, Voivodina and Kosovo. However, ten years later, only two republics remained within the Federation, which was still in the process of further disintegration, since Montenegro was seeking greater autonomy and Serbia was losing control over Kosovo. The disintegration was the result of multiple and extremely violent conflicts between the different ethnic groups which composed the country. How can a country, even multinational, peacefully function for more than forty years and then suddenly completely disintegrate in extreme violence? What elements can help us understand the outburst of a civil war? Theories about the dismemberment of Yugoslavia are numerous, sometimes competing. Scholars often refer to economic, political, international, cultural, nationalist or religious causes. But as Jovic highlights it, we need to take into account a cluster of factors to understand this process, and try to avoid relying on unicausal theories.
