“We will look like fools if nothing comes of this Yugoslavia!”: The Establishment of Yugoslavia from the Perspective of Slovene Contemporaries

Abstract

Throughout east, central, and southeast Europe, postwar national historiographies largely represented the breakup of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of successor states as a foregone conclusion, as a process that could only end with the foundation of nation-states, and a significant part of Slovene historiography still clings to such an interpretation. The author attempts to revise this nationalist meta-narrative about the transition from Austria-Hungary to Yugoslavia. Describing the uncertain atmosphere and bringing the open-endedness of developments to the fore, the author contends that very little seemed predetermined in 1918; that other outcomes appeared possible; and that the establishment of the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs as well as its subsequent unification with Serbia was not a product of a prolonged and systematic effort, supported by a mass movement. More than anything, it was a reaction to the changed circumstances of late 1918, and the proclamation of independence caught many by surprise.