National Anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Himna Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca (1919–1929)
Himna Kraljevine Jugoslavije (1929–1941)
English: Anthem of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (1919–1929); National Anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–1941)
	Former national anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Lyrics	Jovan Đorđević, Antun Mihanović, and Simon Jenko, 1918
Music	Davorin Jenko and Josif Runjanin, 1918
Adopted	1919
Relinquished	1941
Preceded by	"Bože pravde" (as Kingdom of Serbia); "Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori (as Kingdom of Montenegro); "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" (as part of Austria-Hungary); "Shumi Maritsa" and "Anthem of His Majesty the Tsar" (as part of Kingdom of Bulgaria)
Succeeded by	"Hey, Slavs" (as Socialist Yugoslavia); "Deutschlandlied" and "Horst-Wessel-Lied" (as part of Nazi Germany); "Lijepa naša domovino" (as part of Independent State of Croatia); "Marcia Reale" and "Giovinezza" (as part of Fascist Kingdom of Italy); "Himnusz" (as part of Kingdom of Hungary); "Shumi Maritsa" and "Anthem of His Majesty the Tsar" (as part of Kingdom of Bulgaria)
Audio sample
	Instrumental rendition file; help;

The National Anthem of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia^[e] 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.^[f]

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

Serbo-Croatian lyrics^[1]

English lyrics

Cyrillic script	Latin script
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,^[g] 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.
^ Serbo-Croatian: Himna Kraljevine Jugoslavije, Химна Краљевине Југославије
^ 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

[1] Đorđević wrote "Bože pravde", Mihanović wrote "Lijepa naša domovino", and Jenko wrote "Naprej zastava slave".

[2] Arranged in 1918, lyrics' dates vary.

[3] Jenko composed "Bože pravde" and "Naprej zastava slave"; Runjanin composed "Lijepa naša domovino".

[4] Arranged in 1918, compositions' dates vary.

[5] Serbo-Croatian: Himna Kraljevine Jugoslavije, Химна Краљевине Југославије

[6] 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.

[8] This verse was changed to "Краља Александра, Боже храни," ("God sustain and guide King Alexander") during the reign of Alexander I of Yugoslavia.

[Citanka-7] Textbook for the 3rd class of primary schools in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, editor: S. Čajkovac PhD, 1934.

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