Brotherhood and unity

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
After the <a href="/facts/Invasion_of_Yugoslavia/RURH0TPp">invasion of Yugoslavia</a> by the <a href="/facts/Axis_powers/Q3z1D8R9">Axis powers</a> in April 1941, the occupying powers and certain collaborator entities sought to incite hatred among the various national, ethnic and religious groups of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav Communist Party successfully publicized the brotherhood and unity of Yugoslavia's <a href="/facts/Nation/ed3XkH6y">nations</a> (narodi) and <a href="/facts/National_minorities/MWYJ3rG1">national minorities</a> (nacionalne manjine, later renamed to narodnosti) in their struggle against their enemies. The decision of the second session of <a href="/facts/AVNOJ/zNHBWuuS">AVNOJ</a> on the <a href="/facts/Federalism/dNaFu2rM">federalization</a> of Yugoslavia in 1943 was regarded as the recognition of this Brotherhood and Unity principle.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a>
After the war, the slogan designated the official <a href="/facts/Policy/0DtXG95q">policy</a> of inter-ethnic relations in the <a href="/facts/Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslavia/PXRlHx9q">Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia</a>, as embodied in its <a href="/facts/1963_Yugoslav_Constitution/oBIKzYAC">federal constitutions of 1963</a> and <a href="/facts/1974_Yugoslav_Constitution/HW0BkdRj">of 1974</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> The policy prescribed that Yugoslavia's nations (<a href="/facts/Serbs/R4RD6MvE">Serbs</a>, <a href="/facts/Macedonians_(ethnic_group)/uA0KNDPA">Macedonians</a>, <a href="/facts/Croats/pxr26XCP">Croats</a>, <a href="/facts/Slovenes/nQphKLCK">Slovenes</a>, <a href="/facts/Montenegrins/YzASGGch">Montenegrins</a>, <a href="/facts/Bosniaks/Ql7ttxoI">Bosniaks</a>) and national minorities (<a href="/facts/Albanians/wc6Mj4KA">Albanians</a>, <a href="/facts/Hungarians/Aqot45Va">Hungarians</a>, <a href="/facts/Romanians/CzdFLDpf">Romanians</a>, <a href="/facts/Bulgarians/xa4djST7">Bulgarians</a>, <a href="/facts/Jews/T9Y4wE6A">Jews</a>, <a href="/facts/Italians/dsdUeJ1n">Italians</a>, <a href="/facts/Ukrainians/393lUkjj">Ukrainians</a> and others) are equal groups that coexist peacefully in the federation, promoting their similarities and interdependence in order to overcome national conflicts and hatred. Every individual was entitled to the expression of their own culture, while the ethnic groups had an oath to one another to maintain peaceful relations. Citizens were also encouraged and allowed to declare their nationality as Yugoslav, which usually polled at 10%. The policy also led to the adoption of national quota systems in all public institutions, including economic organizations, in which national groups were represented by their republic's or province's national composition.
Throughout Yugoslavia many factories, schools, public venues, folklore ensembles and sporting teams used to be named "Brotherhood and unity", as well as the <a href="/facts/Ljubljana/zwTrXoTb">Ljubljana</a>–<a href="/facts/Zagreb/KPf8bzLI">Zagreb</a>–<a href="/facts/Belgrade/Xeaz5zIy">Belgrade</a>–<a href="/facts/Skopje/RICoPBLw">Skopje</a> highway (<a href="/facts/Brotherhood_and_Unity_Highway/J3YTY08M">Brotherhood and Unity Highway</a>). The country had a decoration called the <a href="/facts/Order_of_the_Brotherhood_and_Unity/8KGQWsE9">Order of the Brotherhood and Unity</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>
Several prominent persons from former Yugoslavia were convicted for activities deemed to threaten the brotherhood and unity, such as acts of <a href="/facts/Chauvinism/kINVqra9">chauvinist</a> propaganda, <a href="/facts/Separatism/KubEMvMr">separatism</a> and <a href="/facts/Irredentism/f2pPV9WG">irredentism</a>. Among them were Serbian radical <a href="/facts/Vojislav_%25C5%25A0e%25C5%25A1elj/bXfUbYVu">Vojislav Šešelj</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> former presidents of <a href="/facts/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina/jNVA1gPB">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> (<a href="/facts/Alija_Izetbegovi%25C4%2587/8qIIFYst">Alija Izetbegović</a>) and <a href="/facts/Croatia/MSS0yyvw">Croatia</a> (<a href="/facts/Franjo_Tu%25C4%2591man/uFcqr32E">Franjo Tuđman</a> and <a href="/facts/Stjepan_Mesi%25C4%2587/S45CoVcp">Stjepan Mesić</a>),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> and others. One <a href="/facts/Kosovo/lbyzI6UW">Kosovar</a> Albanian, <a href="/facts/Adem_Dema%25C3%25A7i/Eu1WJrFN">Adem Demaçi</a>, was imprisoned and accused of nationalist machinations.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>

<h2 id="notes">Notes</h2>
<ol>
<li>^ <a href="/facts/Serbo-Croatian_language/MS85Xuwk">Serbo-Croatian</a>: Bratstvo i jedinstvo / Братство и јединство, <a href="/facts/Macedonian_language/FdnWMYBR">Macedonian</a>: Братство и единство, <a href="/facts/Slovene_language/09YPyUQr">Slovene</a>: Bratstvo in enotnost, <a href="/facts/Albanian_language/6CyC8GPJ">Albanian</a>: Vllaznim-Bashkim, later Vëllazërim-Bashkim, <a href="/facts/Hungarian_language/nt4g0ano">Hungarian</a>: Testvériség és egység, <a href="/facts/Italian_language/YXsmvlQG">Italian</a>: Fratellanza e Unità, <a href="/facts/Romanian_language/zAY3GnkL">Romanian</a>: Frăție și unitate, <a href="/facts/Turkish_language/C5X56Ijp">Turkish</a>: Kardeşlik ve Birlik, <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_language/2zDw7rpD">Ukrainian</a>: Братерство і єдність</li>
</ol>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Mesic, Stipe. 2004. The Demise of Yugoslavia: A Political Memoir. Central European University Press. P. 246. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Gow, James; Carmichael, Cathie (2010). Slovenia and the Slovenes: A Small State in the New Europe (Revised and updated ed.). Hurst Publishers Ltd. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-85065-944-0. <a href="978-1-85065-944-0" target="_blank">978-1-85065-944-0</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Cohen, Lenard J. (2008). Cohen, Lenard J.; Dragović-Soso, Jasna (eds.). State Collapse in South-Eastern Europe: New Perspectives on Yugoslavia's Disintegration. Purdue University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9781557534606. <a href="9781557534606" target="_blank">9781557534606</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Donia, Robert J. (2006). Sarajevo: A Biography. University of Michigan Press. p. 236. ISBN 9780472115570. <a href="9780472115570" target="_blank">9780472115570</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Djokić, Dejan (2023). A Concise History of Serbia. Cambridge University Press. p. 453. ISBN 9781009308656. <a href="9781009308656" target="_blank">9781009308656</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">"The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Order of Brotherhood and Unity". medals.org.uk. <a href="https://www.medals.org.uk/yugoslavia/yugoslavia/yugoslavia007.htm" target="_blank">https://www.medals.org.uk/yugoslavia/yugoslavia/yugoslavia007.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Stankovic, Slobodan (1984). "Summary". Radio Free Europe Research. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Calic, Marie-Janine (2019). The Great Cauldron. Harvard University Press. p. 524. ISBN 9780674239104. <a href="9780674239104" target="_blank">9780674239104</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Payerhin, Marek, ed. (2016). Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2016–2017. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 450. ISBN 9781475828979. <a href="9781475828979" target="_blank">9781475828979</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Calic, Marie-Janine (2019). The Great Cauldron. Harvard University Press. p. 524. ISBN 9780674239104. <a href="9780674239104" target="_blank">9780674239104</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Brotherhood and unity open-in-new

Brotherhood and unity