Elusive Compromise: A History of Interwar Yugoslavia (Columbia/Hurst)

by Dejan Djokić

Book Overview

Before Tito's Yugoslavia, which disintegrated wildly in the 1990s, there was another, lesser known Yugoslav state. Based on Dejan Djokic's original research in Croatian, Serbian, British, and American archives, Elusive Compromise is a unique and original history of interwar Yugoslavia from 1918 through 1941. Djokic argues that this period can be best understood by analyzing political attempts to reach a Serb-Croat compromise. Historians have long recognized the Croats' rejection of state centralism, but Djokic shows that by the mid-1930s many Serbs had accepted federalism as well. It is commonly believed that during this period Serbs and non-Serbs were engaged in constant conflict; however, Djokic argues that the radicalization leading to the war years and the subsequent communist takeover was instead a response to the political mismanagement of the country. Elusive Compromise places Yugoslavia in the context of a Europe-wide struggle between democracy and dictatorship, and provides a thorough understanding of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and other multinational states. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231700202
• ISBN13: 9780231700207
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.3"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher