The influence of religion on the process of Yugoslavia's disintegration

Abstract

The article analyzes the role of religion in the disintegration of the Yugoslav Federation, focusing on the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. The author seeks to answer the question of how far the involvement of religious institutions and the national–religious identities of individual communities influenced the collapse of this multiethnic and multireligious state. The study employs an analysis of historical sources, religious press, church documents, and academic works in political science and religious studies. The discussion is conducted from a socio-cultural perspective, excluding theological aspects. The author distinguishes three main religions that played a crucial role in this process: Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Islam. The analysis shows that the Serbian Orthodox Church, drawing on the myth of the „Holy Land of Kosovo”, co-created a national discourse that strengthened Serbian identity and mobilization. The Catholic Church in Croatia and Slovenia supported nation-building processes by emphasizing cultural and civilizational distinctiveness from the East, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina it constituted one of the components of a complex multi-faith structure. Islam, associated with the national identity of Bosniaks and Albanians, was perceived as a factor fostering separatism but also served as a means of defending the community against marginalization. The study concludes that religion, instead of performing an integrative function, became in Yugoslavia a disintegrative force, used by political elites to legitimize their actions and construct national narratives. Consequently, the process of Yugoslav dissolution had not only political and ethnic but also religious and cultural dimensions.