Yugoslavia. As a nation, Yugoslavia was established in 1918, after World War I. Its core was SERBIA (which had already been independent), joined by Montenegro (another independent country) and former Austro-Hungarian areas inhabited by southern Slavic peoples. On the eve of World War II, Yugoslavia had a population of 15,500,500, 43 percent of whom were Serbs, 34 percent Croats, 7 percent Slovenes, and 7 percent Macedonians; the rest were Germans, Hungarians, Albanians, Jews, and Gypsies. By religion, 49 percent belonged to the Orthodox church, 37 percent were Catholics, 11 percent Moslems…
