The European Union was created for many reasons, one of the primary being (after the chaos and destruction of the 2$^{nd}$ World War) making war ''not only unthinkable, but materially impossible''. However, the EU was not the first attempt at combining European Countries. The birth of a previous entity will celebrate its centenary next year: Yugoslavia came into existence in 1918, after the 1$^{st}$ World War. The idea was to define a sole state for the Southern (юг, yug) Slavic people (hence yug-slavia), although other possible benefits included shared wealth and military strength between the nations involved. Yugoslavia began to fracture in 1991 with Slovenia and Croatia declaring independence, and the name 'Yugoslavia' was used until 2003 by Serbia and Montenegro. In these final remnants of the state, some of the older generation still remain proud of their 'Yugoslavian' cultural identity. Although the EU is vastly different from Yugoslavia (for one, the former is a political union, while the latter was a state merger) many have pointed out that there is much to be learned from the initial historical attempt at uniting European Countries that was Yugoslavia.
Bonus:
After the 1$^{st}$ World War another large state merger was proposed to counter the strength of Russia and Germany. Intermarium would have comprised up to 10 modern countries in Eastern Europe. All of the countries were swallowed up by Russia before the merger could be seriously attempted...well, except Finland.
After the 1$^{st}$ World War another large state merger was proposed to counter the strength of Russia and Germany. Intermarium would have comprised up to 10 modern countries in Eastern Europe. All of the countries were swallowed up by Russia before the merger could be seriously attempted...well, except Finland.
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