Nielsen, C: Making Yugoslavs

Christian Axboe Nielsen is an associate professor in the Department of Culture and Society at Aarhus University.

Christian Axboe Nielsen uses extensive archival research to explain the failure of King Aleksandar's dictatorship's program of forced nationalization in the interwar era.

"Clear, coherent, and lively, Making Yugoslavs is blazing a path that I sincerely hope that other historians will follow. I was impressed with the wealth of archival sources - from most regions of the country - that the author consulted." -- Gregor Kranjc, Department of History, Brock University "By merit of its extensive research, compelling narrative, and astute analysis, Christian A. Nielsen's Making Yugoslavs makes an original contribution to our understanding of interwar Yugoslavia and the legacies of this period for the country's subsequent evolution and eventual demise. Its examination of the dynamics that impeded nation- and state-building in Yugoslavia will make the book of interest not only to students of identity and nationalism but also to those interested in comparative politics and the trend towards authoritarian politics in interwar Europe. Making Yugoslavs is likely to become a standard work on this period of Yugoslavia's troubled history." -- Mark Biondich, Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University

Introduction Part I: The Collapse of Constitutional Monarchy In Yugoslavia 1. National Ideology and the Formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 2. "A Tribal and Parliamentary Dictatorship": The 1920s in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes Part II: The Advent of the Alexandrine Dictatorship 3. Cutting the Gordian Knot: The Dictatorship's First Year Part III: Making Modern Yugoslavs out of "Tribalists" 4. Nationalist Workers of Yugoslavia, Unite!: Moulding Yugoslavs 5. Policing Yugoslavism: Surveillance, Denunciations, and Ideology in Daily Life Part IV: The Assassination of Aleksandar and the Strange Afterlife of His Dictatorship 6. The Return of "Democracy" 7. Epilogue and Conclusion: "Preserve My Yugoslavia": The Struggle Surrounding the Alexandrine Legacy