The idea of Yugoslavia had already emerged before World War I. This history examines the origins of the idea among related but separate peoples and follows their institutions and ideas right through to the present conflict and tragedy.

Empires and fragmented borderlands, 800-1800 --Unifying aspirations and rural resistance, 1804-1903 -- New divisions, Yugoslav ties, and balkan wars, 1903-1914 -- First world war and the first Yugoslavia, 1914-1921 -- Parliamentary kingdom, 1921-1928 -- Authoritarian kingdom, 1929-1941 -- World war and civil war, 1941-1945 -- Founding the second Yugoslavia, 1946-1953 -- Tito's Yugoslavia ascending, 1954-1967 -- Tito's Yugoslavia descending, 1968-1988 -- Ethnic politics and the end of Yugoslavia -- Ethnic wars and successor states, 1991-1999.