Yugoslavia

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Revision as of 20:56, 15 August 2008

Краљевина Југославија Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Flag	Coat of arms
Motto "Један народ, један краљ, једна држава" (Serbo-Croatian) ("One nation, one king, one country")
Anthem Химна Краљевине Југославије (Serbo-Croatian) (National Anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
Capital (and largest city)	Belgrade 44°48′N, 20°28′E
Official languages	Serbo-Croatian
Recognized regional languages	Slovenian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Albanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Rusyn
Government  - Monarch  - Prime Minister	Semi-constitutional monarchy King Alexander III Čedomir Marković
Formation	December 25, 1815
Area  - Total  - Water (%)	255,898 km² 93,320 sq mi 0.37
Population  - July 2007 estimate  - Density	23,945,671 93.57 /km² 256.59 /sq mi
GDP (PPP)  - Total  - Per capita	2008 estimate $1,125.446 billion $47,000
Gini (2000)	42.6 (medium)
HDI (2005)	0.900 (high)
Currency	Dinar (KYD)
Time zone - Summer (DST)	CET (UTC +1) CEST (UTC +2)
Internet TLD	.yu
Calling code	+381

Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Jugoslavija), officially the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Crotian: Kraljevina Jugoslavija), is a feudal monarchy located in the Balkans in southeast Europe. It borders Italy and the Adriatic Sea to the west; Austria and Hungary to the north; Romania to the northeast; the Black Sea to the East; Greece to the south; and Albania to the southwest. It has an area of 255,898 km² and a population just shy of 24 million. It has managed, albeit with great difficult, to suppress (for the most part) ethnic nationalism, and fostered a national identity transcending ethnicity, religion, language, etc. Most Yugoslavians get along cordially regardless of their background, and think of themselves as Yugoslavians first.

Brief History: For many centuries, many Slavic nations, to the north as far as Moldova all the way south to Macedonia, was ruled by a Tsar in Bulgaria. Beginning with the addition of large tracts of territory by the great conqueror and national hero Simeon I in the early 10th century, the Bulgarian Empire over the years would continue to gradually consolidate its territory in Eastern Europe.

Not only did the Bulgarian Empire make strides by adding externally to its land, the Tsars began to meld the Empire internally to their liking. With the specter of war always looming, the Tsar was able to draw a great number of concessions from the populace that served to solidify his power. Also, by weakening the power of other nobles by siding with the bourgeoise, the Tsar would steadily ennervate the aristocracy to his own gain.

However, the Tsar's policies would eventually lead to his downfall. When the Empire was eventually boxed in by its rivals, the Tsar found his debt steadily rising with no gain in land to compensate. The Tsar attempted to raise taxes, but the populace, disillusioned by their sovereign, rose up against his rule in 1793, modelling the French Revolution. Ruling over so many diverse subjects, the Bulgarian Empire began to collapse rapidly.

However, these same subjects found no unity at the end of the war. Squabbling over political power found its release in the form of violence, as the various national forces engaged in total war intent on subjugating one another's people, and any dissidents within their own nation. The fratricidal wars continued relentlessly for two decades, with the carnage and destruction seeming to rage on without end.

But there would be deliverance. The aristocrats of Yugoslavia had taken refuge in London, anticipating the butchery of the revolution, and bided their time as their homeland tore itself apart. When the moment was right, they returned to their war-scarred land, and began a campaign of delegitimation against the various nationalist states. Their message was simple; the centralization of the king had created an apparatus and precedent for the insanity that had consumed Yugoslavia. If the order of their land was one based upon local control and individual consent in all matters, no Tsar, no nationalist would be able to inflict their evil upon others without being suppressed for their misdeeds.

Quickly, the warring Yugoslav nationalists were overthrown by an uprising led by the aristocracy. The other nationalists of the former Bulgarian empire were too entrenched in warfare with one another, and were unable to retaliate against the Yugoslavs. From then on, the various nationalities of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia would live in a patchwork of autonomous communities trading and coexisting with one another. A system of common law, based upon the judgements of various independent jurists and inspired by the decentralized theory of natural law of the medieval ages, would cooperate out of self-interest free of compulsion.

Under this new system, security and justice was provided on a for-profit basis, with a vast and complex network of independent jurists, police and scholars providing an ever-evolving system of customary law. Within time, the advantage of cooperation was realized and the best and wisest were given leading roles in coordinating law and order, not as central planners but as a voluntary clearing house and third party that could be changed at any time. The leader of whatever company would be the leader was called king, not in the sense of the absolute monarchs but in the Anglo-Saxon sense of 'cyninge', a respected leader who was voluntarily followed for security.

With this order, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was able to maintain its independence despite the crises that rattled Europe. And to this day it continues to grow in peace and prosperity, a once war-torn land filled with enmity and hate now nurtured by commerce and self-determination.