Yugoslav irredentism

Map of Greater Yugoslavia as claimed by Yugoslav nationalists. The claim includes all territories claimed by South Slavic ethnics. There were several attempts to create a Greater Yugoslavia during Communist Yugoslavia however all plans were abandoned when the communists in Greece lost the war and the occurrence of the Tito-Stalin Split.

Greater Yugoslavia (Bulgarian: Велика Югославия, Velika Yugoslaviya, Croatian: Velika Jugoslavija, Macedonian: Голема Југославија, Golema Jugoslavija, Slovenian: Večja Jugoslavija, Serbian: Велика Југославија, Velika Jugoslavija) is an irredentist concept held by Yugoslav proponents who would desire a reunified Yugoslavia but with the inclusion of Bulgaria into the federation before adding territories south and east of Bulgaria and Northern Albania.

Origin of the Concept

The concept of Greater Yugoslavia is held by many Yugoslavs who still identify themselves as Yugoslav today. Yugoslav nationalists who advocate the creation of a Greater Yugoslavia support the inclusion of Bulgaria into the federation. Those nationalists are often seen as minimalists because of radical nationalists who seek to expand Yugoslavia's borders beyond south of Montenegro, south and east of Bulgaria including Eastern Thrace, Western Thrace, Albania and parts of Anatolia. The radicals often say the reasoning behind such expansion of territory is because they want to ensure military power, economic strength, and the expansion of Yugoslav culture and language will be equal to or better than Russia in their goal to create a "Russia of the South"

Attempt

The first attempt to create a Greater Yugoslavia was attempted by Marshal Tito. Tito supported the Greek communists during the Greek Civil War because the communists promised to give the territory of Macedonia to Yugoslavia. When the communists lost the civil war, the idea of annexing Macedonia was set aside.

There were plans to include Bulgaria into the federation but the plan was later abandoned after the Tito-Stalin Split.