Yugoslavia
1918–1992 country in Southeastern Europe
Yugoslavia (; lit. 'Land of the South Slavs') was a country in Central Europe and the Balkans that existed from 1918 to 1992. It came into existence following World War I, under the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, from the merger of the Kingdom of Serbia with the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, and constituted the first union of South Slavic peoples as a sovereign state, following centuries of foreign rule over the region under the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy.
Under the rule of the House of Karađorđević, the kingdom gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris and was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929. Peter I was the country's first sovereign. Upon his father's death in 1921, Alexander I went on to rule the country through an extended period of political crisis that culminated in the 6 January Dictatorship and, ultimately, his assassination in 1934. Prince Paul headed the state as a prince regent until Alexander's son Peter II was declared of-age, which happened following the Yugoslav coup d'état in March 1941. Alexander I was the longest reigning of the three Yugoslav monarchs.
The kingdom was invaded and occupied by the Axis powers in April 1941, marking the start of World War II in Yugoslavia. The Communist-led Partisan resistance went on to proclaim the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia and acquire the backing of the Allies at the Tehran Conference in late November 1943. In 1944, King Peter II, then living in exile, gave his recognition to the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia as the legitimate government.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Yugoslavia” as 1918–1992 country in Southeastern Europe. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 1918–1992 country in Southeastern Europe. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q36704. VIAF identifies the subject as 129724016. Authority coordinates are 44.820, 20.427. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1918, 1992, 1922 and 1929.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Yugoslavia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Yugoslavia primary sources, Yugoslavia archive and Yugoslavia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Yugoslavia”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Yugoslavia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.