National Anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

1919–1941 national anthem of Yugoslavia

file
help

The "National anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia" (Serbo-Croatian: Himna Kraljevine Jugoslavije, Химна Краљевине Југославије, lit. 'Anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia') was created in December 1918 from the national anthems of the Kingdom's three historical constituent lands: Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (Croatia), Kingdom of Serbia (Serbia) and Duchy of Carniola (Slovenia).

At the time, the Yugoslav authorities considered the three dominant South Slavic ethnic groups – Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes – as three interchangeable names for one ethnic group (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: narod "nation" or "people"), while the Pan-Slavic politicians and parts of academia viewed them as three subgroups of one South Slavic nation (Croatian: Jugoslaveni, Serbian: Jugosloveni, Југословени Slovene: Jugoslovani; "Yugoslavs"). Accordingly, the official language was thus called Serbo-Croato-Slovene.^[e]

History

Although a law on the national anthem did not exist, the anthems of all three South Slavic nations were unified into a single anthem of the Kingdom. It started with a few measures from the Serbian anthem "Bože pravde", continued with a few lines from the Croatian anthem "Lijepa naša domovino", which were in turn followed by a few lines from the traditional Slovenian anthem "Naprej zastava slave". The anthem finished with some lines from the Serbian anthem again.

It was officially used between 1919 and 1941; there was no official document that declared it invalid or void. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was not in effect after the April capitulation.

Lyrics

[1]

Transliteration	Poetic English Translation
Боже правде, Ти што спасе Од пропасти до сад нас, Чуј и од сад наше гласе, И од сад нам буди спас! Лијепа наша домовино, Ој јуначка земљо мила, Старе славе дједовино, Да би вазда сретна била! 𝄆 Напреј застава славе, На бој јунашка кри! За благор очетњаве Нај пушка говори! 𝄇 Боже спаси, Боже храни Нашег Краља и наш род! Краља Петра, Боже храни,^[f] Моли ти се сав наш род.	Bože pravde, Ti što spase Od propasti do sad nas, Čuj i od sad naše glasa, I od sad nam budi spas! Lepa naša domovino, oj junačka zemlja mila, Stare slave djedovino, Da bi vazda sretna bila! 𝄆 Naprej zastava slave, Na boj junaška kri! Za blagor očetnjave Naj puška govori! 𝄇 Bože spasi, Bože hrani Našeg Kralja i naš rod! Kralja Petra, Bože hrani, Moli ti se sav naš rod.	God of justice, save thy people, Lord, protect us day by day; Hear our voices supplicating, Grant salvation now, we pray. Blessed homeland, we salute thee, Fairest proud soil, heroes hold dear. Fatherland, allegiance we pledge, Honouring thee, land without peer. 𝄆 "Advance with banners waving! Fight on!" our heroes cry. To save our country's glory The roaring guns reply. 𝄇 God protect our noble monarch, God watch over great and small, God sustain and guide King Peter, God defend and keep us all!

Notes

^ Đorđević wrote "Bože pravde", Mihanović wrote "Lijepa naša domovino", and Jenko wrote "Naprej zastava slave".
^ Arranged in 1918, lyrics' dates vary.
^ Jenko composed "Bože pravde" and "Naprej zastava slave"; Runjanin composed "Lijepa naša domovino".
^ Arranged in 1918, compositions' dates vary.
^ In practice however, Slovene was given no leeway as the language was a standardized form of much more widely used Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian, written in both Gaj's Latin and Serbian Cyrillic. The dialects of the languages, however, form a coherent Western South Slavic dialect continuum, where Kajkavian dialect merges into Slovene dialects. The anthem itself was partially in Slovene.
^ This verse was changed to "Краља Александра, Боже храни," ("God sustain and guide King Alexander") during the reign of Alexander I of Yugoslavia.

References

^ Textbook for the 3rd class of primary schools in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, editor: S. Čajkovac PhD, 1934.

External links

Media related to National anthems of Yugoslavia at Wikimedia Commons

Former anthems of Europe

Austria (then Austria-Hungary, 1797–1918)
Austria (1920–29)
Austria (1929–38)
Baden (1865–71)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–98)
Bulgaria (1885–1947)
Bulgaria (1947–51)
Bulgaria (1951–64)
Czechoslovakia (1918–92)
Danzig (1920–39)
France (1590–1792)
France (1804–14, 1815)
France (1814–15, 1815–30)
France (1830–48)
France (1848–52)
France (1852–70)
Germany (1871–1918)
Germany (1933–45)
East Germany (1949–90)
West Germany (1949–52)
Italy (1861–1946)
Italy (1943–1945)
Montenegro (1870—1918)
Netherlands (1815–1932)
Norway (1782–1820)
Norway (1820–64)
Ottoman Empire 1829–1923
Papal States (then Vatican City, 1857–1949)
Portugal (1809–1834)
Portugal (1834–1910)
Prussia (1830–40)
Romania (1862–1884)
Romania (1884–1948)
Romania (1948–53)
Romania (1953–75)
Romania (1975–77)
Romania (1977–90)
San Marino (to 1894)
Sardinia (1830s–61)
Slovakia (1939–45)
Slovenia (1919–89)
Spain (1931–39)
Switzerland (1848–1961)
Two Sicilies (1815–61)
Württemberg (1806–71)
Yugoslavia (1919–41)
Yugoslavia (then Serbia and Montenegro, 1945–2006)

Former Russian Empire, the Soviet Union or their successor states	Russian Empire (1791–98) Russian Empire (1798–1816) Russian Empire (1816–33) Russian Empire (1833–1917) Russian Republic (1917) Russian State (1918–20) Russian SFSR (then the Soviet Union, 1917–44) Soviet Union (1944–91) Russia (1991–2000) Armenian SSR (1944–91) Azerbaijan SSR (then Azerbaijan, 1944–92) Belarus (1918–20) Byelorussian SSR (1952–91) Chechen-Ingush ASSR (1966–91) Chechnya (then the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, 1991–2000) Crimean People's Republic (1917–18) Dagestan (Russia) (2003–2016) Estonian SSR (1945–90) Georgian SSR (1946–90) Georgia (1918–21, 1990–2004) Karelo-Finnish SSR (1945–56) Kazakh SSR (1945–91) Kazakhstan (1991–2006) Latvian SSR (1945–90) Lithuanian SSR (1950–88) Moldavian SSR (1945–91) Ukrainian SSR (then Ukraine, 1949–92)

Former Russian Empire,
the Soviet Union or
their successor states