What was the Illyrian Movement?

BRY2K

Illyrian movement was a nationalistic campaign initiated by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835-1849 (there is some disagreement regarding the official dates). This movement aimed to create a Croatian national establishment under Austro-Hungarian rule through linguistic and ethnic unity among South Slavs. The "Illyrian" name was chosen instead of "Slavic", because of the theory that the local population had an Illyrian origin. Choosing "Illyrian" as their title was a symbolic move on the part of movement members and leadership, an attempt to bring the history of the Croatian people to the forefront. It is somewhat comparable to the French recalling the Gauls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyrian_movement Jun 06 08, 8:40 PM

jbooker8

Illyrian movement (Croatian: Ilirski pokret) was a nationalistic campaign initiated by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of 19th century, around the years of 1835-1849 (there is some disagreement regarding the official dates). This movement aimed to create a Croatian national establishment under Austro-Hungarian rule through linguistic and ethnic unity among South Slavs. http://www.americola.com/sites/Illyrian_Movement Jun 07 08, 9:06 AM

stuthehistoryguy

It should be noted that the Illyrian movement was, perhaps foremost, a reaction against the domination of Serbia in South Slavic linguistics and nationalism. Whereas the preeminent Serb writer Vuk Karadzic had asserted unity through embracing a shared Slavic heritage, the Illyrians were more interested in proclaiming themselves a more distinct people--particularly with an affinity for the Roman past. Not sure what to cite here; I was a graduate student under Keith Hitchins, a very prominent historian of Balkan nationalism, for about three years, and we heard about this stuff pretty much every week. Jun 07 08, 5:10 PM