Yugoslavia was a place.
Yugoslavia ( Jugoslavija / Југославија , Jugoslavija , Југославија ) was a country in Southeast Europe during most of the 20th century . Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal People 's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946 , when a communist government was established . In 1963 , the country was renamed again as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( SFRY ) . The constituent six socialist republics that made up the country were the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina , SR Croatia , SR Macedonia , SR Montenegro , SR Serbia , and SR Slovenia . After an economic and political crisis in the 1980s and the rise of nationalism , Yugoslavia broke up along its republics ' borders , at first into five countries , leading to the Yugoslav Wars .