Description
Book SynopsisBased on archival research and fieldwork, this book presents a thematic history of Yugoslavia in the 20th century. It demonstrates that the instability of the three 20th-century Yugoslav states can be attributed to the failure of succeeding governments to establish the rule of law and political legitimacy.
Trade ReviewRamet (Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology) is a distinguished leading scholar on Yugoslavia who has made important contributions to the substantial literature on that unhappy land. This first-rate volume is a substantially enlarged, rewritten edition of Nationalism and Federalism in Yugoslavia, 1962, 1991 (CH, Feb'93, 30—3476). It is a must read posing big questions, e.g., why Yugoslavs have repeatedly failed to create an effective legitimate state structure and rule of law. Ramet rejects the myth, unfortunately widespread in the West, that the driving force has been ethnic conflict and ancient hatreds. Her work complements the study by V. P. Gagnon Jr., The Myth of Ethnic War: Serbia and Croatia in the 1990s (CH, Sep'05, 43—0597), by focusing on elite behavior. While she looks at prior state—building efforts (1918—29), she concentrates chiefly on Tito's Yugoslavia. Nearly half of this thick volume covers the post, 1989 period through KFOR and Kosovo. The inclusion of 150 pages of notes and more than 25 pages of bibliography underscore the deep research of this work, which concludes with a short chapter on the separate paths of Slovenia, Macedonia, and Croatia. Ramet throws much light on three Yugoslavias and also helps readers think about similar events elsewhere. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower—division undergraduates through faculty.—H. Steck, SUNY College at Cortland
* Choice *
. . . a must read posing big questions. . .
* Choice *
. . . This is a rich and powerful book . . . . The product of twenty years of detailed research and contemplation, Ramet's latest work takes a rightful place on the short list of essential reading about the Yugoslavias.
* Journal of Modern History *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. A Theory of Legitimacy
2. The First Yugoslavia, Part 1: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, 1918-29
3. The First Yugoslavia, Part 2: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1929-41
4. World War Two and the Partisan Struggle, 1941-45
5. Happy Comrades? Tito, Stalin, and the Birth of the Second Yugoslavia, 1945-51
6. Dreaming a New Dream, 1950-62
7. The Reform Crisis, 1962-70
8. The Rise and Fall of Yugoslav Liberalism, 1967-73
9. Problems of Underdevelopment, 1965-90
10. Nationalist Tensions, 1968-90
11. Autumn of the Socialist Experiment, 1974-89
12. Hail Caesar! The Rise of Slobodan Miloševic
13. The Road to War
14. The War of Yugoslav Succession: Phase 1, June-December 1991
15. The War of Yugoslav Succession: Phase 2, 1992—95
16. A Flawed Peace: Post-Dayton Bosnia
17. The Third Yugoslavia and after, 1992-2004
18. UNMIK, KFOR, and the Future of Kosovo
19. Separate Paths: Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia
20. Conclusion
Select Bibliography
