Table of Contents

Introduction: liberation and unification; Part I. Ultima Ratio Regnum, the Coming of Alexander's Dictatorship: 1. All the king's men: civil-military relations in Serbia and Yugoslavia, 1903–1921; 2. A warriors' caste: veteran and patriotic associations against the state; 3. Resurrecting Lazar: modernization, medievalization and the Chetniks in the 'classical south'; Part II. In the Shadow of War: 4. In extremis: death throes and birth pains in the Habsburg south Slav lands; 5. Refractions of the Habsburg war: ongoing conflicts and contested commemorations; 6. No man's land: the invalid and volunteer questions; Part III. Re-mobilization: 7. Authoritarianism and new war, 1929–1941; 8. 'The gale of the world', 1941–1945; Conclusion: brotherhood and unity; Bibliography; Index.

Promotional Information

A study of the impact of the Great War on state and society in Yugoslavia during the interwar period.

About the Author

John Paul Newman is Lecturer in Twentieth-Century European History at Maynooth University, Ireland. He was a postdoctoral fellow at University College Dublin and a research fellow at the Imre Kertesz Kolleg in Jena. He is co-editor (with Julia Eichenberg) of The Great War and Veterans' Internationalism (2013).

Reviews

'Yugoslavia in the Shadow of War is extremely effective at explaining the complexities and ambiguities of veteran associations and the state's culture of commemoration, drawing on a wide range of archival and printed primary sources.' Rory Yeomans, Slavic Review

'John Paul Newman's book, based on archival research on Yugoslavia's war veterans and the associations they formed, frames these inter-war divisions in a context so fundamental for understanding the new state's social composition that it is surprising a book like this has not been written before.' Catherine Baker, English Historical Review

'… the role of the legacy of World War I [in Yugoslav history], the very event that created the conditions for establishing the kingdom, has not received sufficient scholarly attention. John Paul Newman's great book, Yugoslavia in the Shadow of War, makes an excellent contribution to our understanding of that role.' Tea Sindbæk Andersen, Austrian History Yearbook

'The book is meticulously researched, and Newman skilfully guides his reader through the labyrinth of interwar Yugoslav politics and personalities.' Maria Falina, Hungarian Historical Review

'In this fluent, engaging and enlightening study, Newman draws on the scholarship of the threat to democracy in interwar Western Europe to explain the failure of parliamentary democracy in Yugoslavia.' Geoffrey Swain, H-Net

'Yugoslavia in the Shadow of War is thoroughly researched, well-argued and very readable.' Rok Stergar, European History Quarterly

'This succinctly written volume will be a welcome read to both experienced scholars of former Yugoslavia as well as those interested more broadly in military, or rather, post-war history.' Vjeran Pavlaković, Southeastern Europe