Yugoslav irredentism
Yugoslav irredentismwas a political idea advocating merging ofSouth Slav-populated territories withinYugoslaviawith several adjacent territories, includingBulgaria,Western ThraceandGreek Macedonia.The government of theKingdom of Yugoslaviasought the union with Bulgaria or its incorporation into Yugoslavia.[1]The government of theSocialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaunderJosip Broz Titoalso sought to create an integral Yugoslavia that would incorporate within its borders:Greek MacedoniaandThrace,Albania,Bulgaria,portions or the entirety ofAustrian Carinthia,and for a time the entire Italian region ofFriuli-Venezia Giulia.[2]
History
[edit]Proponents of Yugoslav irredentism included bothmonarchistsandrepublicans.[3]Days prior to Yugoslavia's creation in 1918, Yugoslavist politicianSvetozar Pribićevićdeclared that Yugoslavia's borders should extend "from theSočaup toSalonika".[4]Proposals in the interwar period to include Bulgaria within Yugoslavia, included claims by republicans that a republic was necessary for an Integral Yugoslavia with Bulgaria, while others claimed that a republic would not because Bulgaria at that time was a tsardom, and instead claimed that a limitedconstitutional monarchywould be an appropriate form of state that could include Bulgaria within it.[5]The militant movementZvenoinBulgariasupported an Integral Yugoslavia that included Bulgaria as well as Albania within it.[6]The Zveno movement participated in theBulgarian coup d'état of 1934,the coup supporters declared their intention to immediately form an alliance withFranceand to seek the unification of Bulgaria into an Integral Yugoslavia.[7]
OnceWorld War IIbegan, in 1940 GeneralMilan Nedićproposed that Yugoslavia join theAxis Powersand attack Greece to seize Salonika.[8]During World War II, the British government supported the creation of a Greater Yugoslavia after the war due to opposition to the Bulgarian government's accession to the Axis Powers, in May 1941 endorsing Dr. Malcom Burr's paper in favour of the incorporation of Bulgaria into Yugoslavia after the war.[9]
After World War II,Josip Broz Titodeclared that Yugoslavia had the right to haveTriesteand all ofCarinthia,including Austrian Carinthia, saying "We have liberated Carinthia but international conditions were such that we had to leave it temporarily. Carinthia is ours and we shall fight for it".[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Cecil Frank Melville. Balkan racket: the inside story of the political gangster plot which destroyed Yugoslavia and drove Britain out of the Balkans. Jarrold, 1941. Pp. 61.
- ^Ramet 2006,p. 172.
- ^Near East and India,Volume 44. University of Minnesota, 1935. Pp. 4 and 149.
- ^Ivo Banač.The national question in Yugoslavia: origins, history, politics.Cornell University Press, 1984. Pp. 128.
- ^Near East and India,Volume 44. University of Minnesota, 1935. Pp. 149.
- ^Plamen S. Tsvetkov.A history of the Balkans: a regional overview from a Bulgarian perspective.EM Text, 1993. Pp. 195.
- ^Khristo Angelov Khristov.Bulgaria, 1300 years.Sofia, Bulgaria: Sofia Press, 1980. Pp. 192.
- ^John R. Lampe.Yugoslavia As History: Twice There Was a Country.Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Pp. 199.
- ^Dimitris Livanios.The Macedonian question: Britain and the southern Balkans: 1939-1949.Oxford, England, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008 Pp. 103.
- ^Ramet 2006,pp. 172–173.
Sources
[edit]- Ramet, Sabrina P.(2006).The three Yugoslavias: state-building and legitimation, 1918-2005.Bloomington, Indiana, USA: Indiana University Press.
