https://doi.org/10.1177/1611894419835750 Journal of Modern European History 2019, Vol. 17(2) 196–208 © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1611894419835750 journals.sagepub.com/home/meh 1. The name ‘Yugoslavia’ is used in this article in reference to the entire period 1918–1941 even though in 1918–1929 the official name of the country was Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and it was changed to Yugoslavia only in January 1929, when King Aleksandar Karadjordjević introduced royal dictatorship, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament. Narrating democracy in interwar Yugoslavia: From state creation to its collapse Maria Falina Dublin City University, Ireland Abstract This article examines the narratives of democracy in interwar Yugoslavia. It starts with the premise that the commitment to democracy in the immediate post-war period was deep and sincere as it was seen as an answer to domestic and international political challenges. The article focuses on how democracy was understood and narrated, and maintains that virtually every political actor engaged with the idea and/ or practice of democracy, thereby making it a subject of an important debate. Thus, democracy was at the time as significant a concept and theme as was nationalism, which usually receives more attention in historical analysis. Such issues as national self-determination, the establishment of the state, and the symbolic place of Yugoslavia among well-established European nations impacted the way democracy was debated. At the same time, local political actors used claims to possess better expertise in democracy to back up specific ideological and national projects. Finally, socio-economic issues emerged in the later half of the period to complement the national considerations. A significant difference in the narratives of democracy as understood primarily in political terms and the narrative of democracy that emphasizes its social and economic dimension emerged towards the late 1930s. Keywords Croatia, democracy, federalism, interwar period, national self-determination, peasantry, republicanism, Serbia, social justice, Yugoslavia The establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in December 1918 was accompanied by many uncertainties and unresolved issues; yet, the majority of political actors embraced the spirit and values of democracy, believing that they would eventually lead to peace and prosperity. 1 This Corresponding author: Maria Falina, School of History and Geography, Dublin City University, St Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland. Email: maria.falina@dcu.ie 835750MEH 0 0 10.1177/1611894419835750Journal of Modern European HistoryFalina research-article 2019 Special Issue: Narratives of Democracy