The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics

Very interesting and useful, even though it focuses on the short (but pivotally important) time period of 1918-1921.

This is perhaps one of the best books on thenational/nationalist problems that have beset the former Yugoslaviasince its formation after World War I. In fact, the author primarily analyzes the short period during and immediately after the establishment of Yugoslavia in 1918, his central thesis being that the overlapping nationalist ideologies and problems which appeared then were never directly addressed and continued to plague the country (all up until its disintegration in 1990 and even afterwards). "The National Question in Yugoslavia" extensively describes the nationalisms of all Yugoslav peoples, not just the Croats. Also, since the work focuses on the early 1920s, it would have been pointless to discuss the origins of the Croatian Ustasha, since this ultra-nationalist fascist movement only emerged about ten years later. In the same vein, one could criticize this book for not providing a deeper exploration of the origins of the Serbian Chetnik movement... This is definitely THE book to read if you want a better understanding of the problems and rivalries that existed in Yugoslavia and led to the violent break-up of that country twice: during World War II and at the beginning of the 1990s.

A while since I read this book. Useful detail of croatian political dynamics dating from mid/late C19 to late 1930's. Avoids any real detail on the rise to power of the Ustashe movement. The content tries to be objective and suceeds to a certain extent.