The breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s resulted in a brutal civil war. The conflict ended an experiment in multinational coexistence across the Western Balkans. But the tragic end of Yugoslavia shouldn’t define the way we think about its history. The Yugoslav nationalities played an outsized role in the struggle against Nazi Germany. During the Cold War, Yugoslavia’s government helped organize the Non-Aligned Movement and developed their own form of socialism.

Catherine Samary, historian of the Balkans and author of several books including Yugoslavia Dismembered, joins Long Reads to discuss this history. This is the first part of a two-part interview.