Religious Diversity and Equality in Interwar Yugoslavia

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between religion and state- and nation-building in interwar Yugoslavia. In the current scholarship, the relationship between religion and nationalism in interwar Yugoslavia has been assessed primarily in terms of its contribution to the Croat-Serbian tension and exacerbating political crisis leading to the collapse of the state (Ekmečić, 1989; Radić, 2000, 2003). This approach continues the historiographical tradition of studying the positive link between religion and national identity in the Balkans, where indeed since the 19th century religion has played an important role in the development of national ideologies and national movements (Jelavich, 1983; Kitromilides, 1994). This articles provides a more detailed exploration of the dynamic behind the religious communities’ shift from initial support of Yugoslavia in 1918 to disenchantment with the Yugoslav idea and withdrawal of support. I argue that the reasons for this shift are closely linked to how Yugoslav authorities approached the question of religious diversity and attempted to secure religious equality in the context of establishing new state structures; and to what assumptions were made about the role and place of religion in relation to both the new state and the Yugoslav nation. The article thus questions the presumption that religion was inevitably a destabilizing factor in the interwar period.