Serbian Nation: Integrative and Disintegrative Processes

Serbian nation appeared only after the conquest of Serbian medieval states by the Ottomans, during the time of frequent migrations of Serbian people to the North and Northwest. We shall search for its origins, but special attention will be dedicated to 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, when, although most of Serbs lived under foreign rule, two modern Serbian states (Serbia and Montenegro) emerged and existed as independent countries. Basic question this project should give an answer to is: Have Serbs succeeded in forming the Serbian nation within borders of Serbian national states, and in Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, until 1918, i.e. before Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created. If they have succeeded, then the answer must be profounder. In that case, participants will be expected to show what the level of Serbian nation’s integration was, where it has been more and where less present, and which factors have impacted on such outcome. Another emerging issue would then be whether the process of Serbian national integration has continued in Yugoslavia and to what extent. Has Serbian national identity been strong enough to cope with other national, ethnical, political and state problems which have occurred in Yugoslavia, or were there any cracks in that national identity which have enabled later disintegrative processes? Final shaping of Serbian nation must be stressed, as well as phenomena which have contributed to dissolution of one nation into several others.