Research series

Yugoslavia — The Country That Disappeared

Thirty connected research articles on life, institutions, crisis, breakup, and the consequences of Yugoslavia. The series is designed for sequential reading while each article remains independently sourced and verifiable.

30 articles Completed series

Part 1 / 30

Series sequence

30 articles in reading order

Series chapter

I. System, everyday life and the road to crisis

From everyday life and self-management to economic crisis, national tensions and the internationalization of breakup.

Part 1 / 30

R293 · Part 1 June 4, 2022 15 min

The Yugoslavia People Still Remember

What do the data support about memories of work, school, healthcare, housing and social security in Yugoslavia — and where does nostalgia need correction?

Read article

Who Owned the Factory? Yugoslav Workers’ Self-Management

Part 2 / 30

R294 · Part 2 June 5, 2022 17 min

Who Owned the Factory? Yugoslav Workers’ Self-Management

How social ownership, workers’ councils and the market worked, and how much real power an ordinary worker had under Yugoslav self-management.

Read article

Between East and West: How Yugoslavia Became Non-Aligned

Part 3 / 30

R295 · Part 3 June 6, 2022 14 min

Between East and West: How Yugoslavia Became Non-Aligned

From the break with Stalin to Belgrade 1961: how Yugoslavia turned its position between the blocs into an independent foreign-policy strategy.

Read article

Yugoslavia Without Myth: Repression, Goli Otok, the Party, and Structural Weaknesses

Part 4 / 30

R296 · Part 4 June 8, 2022 19 min

Yugoslavia Without Myth: Repression, Goli Otok, the Party, and Structural Weaknesses

Repression, Goli Otok, Party rule and structural weaknesses — the other side of a country many people also remember with affection.

Read article

After Tito: Debt, Inflation, and a Decade of Insecurity

Part 5 / 30

R297 · Part 5 June 9, 2022 19 min

After Tito: Debt, Inflation, and a Decade of Insecurity

Debt, oil, interest rates, inefficient investment and inflation: how the economic crisis of the 1980s eroded Yugoslav social security.

Read article

The IMF, Debt, and the Transformation of Yugoslavia: Who Set the Rules for Exiting the Crisis?

Part 6 / 30

R298 · Part 6 June 10, 2022 19 min

The IMF, Debt, and the Transformation of Yugoslavia: Who Set the Rules for Exiting the Crisis?

How the foreign-exchange crisis, IMF, World Bank and foreign creditors shaped the conditions of Yugoslavia’s response to economic crisis.

Read article

When the worker became a Slovene, a Serb, a Croat, an Albanian…: how the social crisis became a national question

Part 7 / 30

R299 · Part 7 June 11, 2022 21 min

When the worker became a Slovene, a Serb, a Croat, an Albanian…: how the social crisis became a national question

How economic insecurity, regional inequality, constitutional disputes and political elites increasingly translated conflict into national terms.

Read article

When the Yugoslav Crisis Became International: Germany, the United States, the European Community, and the Question of Recognition

Part 8 / 30

R300 · Part 8 June 12, 2022 18 min

When the Yugoslav Crisis Became International: Germany, the United States, the European Community, and the Question of Recognition

How Germany, the United States and the European Community shaped the international framework of breakup and the dispute over recognition.

Read article

Series chapter

II. Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia: the transition into war

Weapons, independence, Croatia and Bosnia — four steps from political rupture to open conflict.

The Disarmament of the Territorial Defence and the MSNZ: Who Controlled the Weapons Before Slovenian Independence?

Part 9 / 30

R301 · Part 9 June 14, 2022 18 min

The Disarmament of the Territorial Defence and the MSNZ: Who Controlled the Weapons Before Slovenian Independence?

What happened to Slovenia’s Territorial Defence weapons in 1990 and how an alternative defence structure formed before independence.

Read article

Slovenian Arms 1991–1993: Aid to Croatia and Bosnia, Trade, Money, and Scandals

Part 10 / 30

R302 · Part 10 June 15, 2022 18 min

Slovenian Arms 1991–1993: Aid to Croatia and Bosnia, Trade, Money, and Scandals

Aid to Croatia and Bosnia, covert transports, cash payments and scandals: reconstructing Slovenia’s arms issue from 1991 to 1993.

Read article

Croatia 1990–1991: From Political Dispute to War — Krajina, the JNA, Tuđman, and the Serbian Rebellion

Part 11 / 30

R303 · Part 11 June 16, 2022 24 min

Croatia 1990–1991: From Political Dispute to War — Krajina, the JNA, Tuđman, and the Serbian Rebellion

How Croatia moved from the 1990 elections, parallel Serb structures and a changing JNA role into open war.

Read article

Bosnia 1992: A Republic Without a Majority — Referendum, Three National Political Projects, and the Beginning of the Bloodiest War of the Breakup

Part 12 / 30

R304 · Part 12 June 17, 2022 24 min

Bosnia 1992: A Republic Without a Majority — Referendum, Three National Political Projects, and the Beginning of the Bloodiest War of the Breakup

Referendum, three national political projects, parallel authorities and armament: how Bosnia and Herzegovina moved into war in spring 1992.

Read article

Series chapter

III. Kosovo, Rambouillet, NATO and the postwar status

The road to the 1999 war, the bombing campaign, depleted uranium and the international regime that followed the Yugoslav withdrawal.

Kosovo Before 1999: Autonomy, Repression, Parallel Society, and the Road from Rugova to the KLA

Part 13 / 30

R305 · Part 13 June 18, 2022 21 min

Kosovo Before 1999: Autonomy, Repression, Parallel Society, and the Road from Rugova to the KLA

From autonomy and protests to Rugova’s nonviolent resistance and the rise of the KLA: Kosovo’s political road before the 1999 war.

Read article

Rambouillet 1999: Račak, Appendix B, and the Road to NATO’s Bombing Campaign

Part 14 / 30

R306 · Part 14 June 19, 2022 20 min

Rambouillet 1999: Račak, Appendix B, and the Road to NATO’s Bombing Campaign

Račak, Rambouillet, Appendix B and diplomacy under threat of attack: what happened in the months before NATO’s bombing campaign.

Read article

78 Days: NATO’s 1999 Bombing of Yugoslavia — Military Targets, Civilian Casualties, and the War in Kosovo

Part 15 / 30

R307 · Part 15 June 21, 2022 23 min

78 Days: NATO’s 1999 Bombing of Yugoslavia — Military Targets, Civilian Casualties, and the War in Kosovo

What NATO bombed during 78 days, how many civilian deaths can be documented, and what was simultaneously happening to Kosovo’s population.

Read article

Depleted Uranium After 1999: What NATO Used, What UNEP Found, and What We Actually Know About Health Risk

Part 16 / 30

R308 · Part 16 June 22, 2022 16 min

Depleted Uranium After 1999: What NATO Used, What UNEP Found, and What We Actually Know About Health Risk

What NATO used, what UNEP found on the ground, and what health research actually says about the risks of depleted uranium.

Read article

Kosovo after the Bombing: UNSCR 1244, UNMIK, KFOR, Post-War Violence, Status Negotiations and the Road to 2008

Part 30 / 30

R322 · Part 30 July 8, 2022 26 min

Kosovo after the Bombing: UNSCR 1244, UNMIK, KFOR, Post-War Violence, Status Negotiations and the Road to 2008

From Resolution 1244 and UNMIK to postwar violence, status negotiations and Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

Read article

Series chapter

IV. Political change, privatization and transition

From 5 October 2000 to new owners, banks, disputed privatizations and the question of who carried the costs of transition.

5 October 2000: Elections, Otpor, Foreign Assistance, and the Fall of Slobodan Milošević

Part 17 / 30

R309 · Part 17 June 23, 2022 27 min

5 October 2000: Elections, Otpor, Foreign Assistance, and the Fall of Slobodan Milošević

Elections, parallel vote counting, Kolubara, Otpor and foreign assistance: how 5 October 2000 became the end of Milošević’s rule.

Read article

Privatization After 2000: Where Did Social Ownership Go, and Who Acquired Serbia’s Enterprises?

Part 18 / 30

R310 · Part 18 June 24, 2022 24 min

Privatization After 2000: Where Did Social Ownership Go, and Who Acquired Serbia’s Enterprises?

How Serbia privatized socially owned firms after 2000, who bought them, and what happened to workers, banks and ownership.

Read article

Who Gained After the Breakup of Yugoslavia? Ownership, Banks, Markets, Military Presence, Debt, and Political Influence

Part 19 / 30

R311 · Part 19 June 25, 2022 26 min

Who Gained After the Breakup of Yugoslavia? Ownership, Banks, Markets, Military Presence, Debt, and Political Influence

Who gained statehood, companies, markets, military presence or political influence after breakup — without turning later benefit into proof of prior design.

Read article

Yugoslavia Before and After the Breakup: Wages, Work, Housing, Debt, Inequality, Emigration, and Quality of Life

Part 20 / 30

R312 · Part 20 June 27, 2022 28 min

Yugoslavia Before and After the Breakup: Wages, Work, Housing, Debt, Inequality, Emigration, and Quality of Life

A comparison of work, housing, debt, inequality, emigration and living standards before breakup and across the successor states.

Read article

Seven Post-Yugoslav Economies, Seven Paths: Why Did They Develop So Differently After the Breakup?

Part 21 / 30

R313 · Part 21 June 28, 2022 27 min

Seven Post-Yugoslav Economies, Seven Paths: Why Did They Develop So Differently After the Breakup?

Why the successor states differ today: starting conditions, wars, reforms, privatization, institutions, EU integration and emigration.

Read article

Who Got the Socially Owned Assets? Major Privatizations, New Owners and Lost Companies from Slovenia to Kosovo

Part 22 / 30

R314 · Part 22 June 29, 2022 25 min

Who Got the Socially Owned Assets? Major Privatizations, New Owners and Lost Companies from Slovenia to Kosovo

Who received former social property after its dismantling and what happened to selected companies after privatization.

Read article

Sold Too Cheaply? Anatomy of the Most Controversial Privatizations of Former Yugoslavia: Price, Value, Debt, Land and Final Owners

Part 23 / 30

R315 · Part 23 June 30, 2022 28 min

Sold Too Cheaply? Anatomy of the Most Controversial Privatizations of Former Yugoslavia: Price, Value, Debt, Land and Final Owners

The sale price is the end point of a process. This article follows price, debt, restructuring, land and the company’s path to the moment of sale.

Read article

New Owners and Old Connections: Management Buyouts, Banks, Business Networks and Judicially Proven Abuse in Post-Yugoslav Privatization

Part 24 / 30

R316 · Part 24 July 1, 2022 25 min

New Owners and Old Connections: Management Buyouts, Banks, Business Networks and Judicially Proven Abuse in Post-Yugoslav Privatization

Management buyouts, banks and business-political networks: separating lawful ties from judicially proven abuses in privatization.

Read article

Who Paid the Transition Bill? Bank Rescues, State Assumption of Debt, Guarantees, Subsidies, Bankruptcies and the Socialization of Private Losses from Slovenia to Kosovo

Part 25 / 30

R317 · Part 25 July 3, 2022 24 min

Who Paid the Transition Bill? Bank Rescues, State Assumption of Debt, Guarantees, Subsidies, Bankruptcies and the Socialization of Private Losses from Slovenia to Kosovo

Who absorbed transition losses — owners, banks, workers or the state — through recapitalizations, guarantees, bankruptcies, write-offs and subsidies.

Read article

Series chapter

V. War endings and different exits from Yugoslavia

Croatia, Bosnia, Srebrenica, North Macedonia and Montenegro show that the breakup did not end everywhere in the same way.

Croatia 1992–1995: From Frozen Front to Flash and Storm — UNPROFOR, Krajina, the Serbian Exodus, Crimes and Peaceful Reintegration

Part 26 / 30

R318 · Part 26 July 4, 2022 18 min

Croatia 1992–1995: From Frozen Front to Flash and Storm — UNPROFOR, Krajina, the Serbian Exodus, Crimes and Peaceful Reintegration

From UNPROFOR to Flash, Storm and peaceful reintegration: Croatia’s war after 1991 and the consequences for the Serb population.

Read article

Bosnia 1992–1995: From the Siege of Sarajevo to Dayton — Three Armies, Ethnic Cleansing, the Croat–Bosniak War, Safe Areas, NATO and the End of the War

Part 27 / 30

R319 · Part 27 July 5, 2022 21 min

Bosnia 1992–1995: From the Siege of Sarajevo to Dayton — Three Armies, Ethnic Cleansing, the Croat–Bosniak War, Safe Areas, NATO and the End of the War

From the siege of Sarajevo to Dayton: three armies, ethnic cleansing, the Croat-Bosniak war, safe areas and a changing military balance.

Read article

Srebrenica 1995: What Is Proven, What Is Disputed and What the Documents Actually Say

Part 28 / 30

R320 · Part 28 July 6, 2022 31 min

Srebrenica 1995: What Is Proven, What Is Disputed and What the Documents Actually Say

Srebrenica through judgments, UN documents, forensics, testimony and disputed interpretations — clearly separating established facts from unproven claims.

Read article

Two Different Paths out of Yugoslavia: North Macedonia and Montenegro — From a Relatively Peaceful Exit to Ohrid 2001 and the 2006 Referendum

Part 29 / 30

R321 · Part 29 July 7, 2022 20 min

Two Different Paths out of Yugoslavia: North Macedonia and Montenegro — From a Relatively Peaceful Exit to Ohrid 2001 and the 2006 Referendum

North Macedonia and Montenegro show two different exits from Yugoslavia: from peaceful separation to Ohrid 2001 and the 2006 referendum.

Read article