Azlizan Mat Enh - Center for History Politics and International Affairs Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia.

Abstract This article discusses the consequences of World War I towards the struggle for independence for the Balkan States. It argues that the formational process of the state of Yugoslavia was a political compromise among the Slav nations, namely the Serbs, the Croats and the Muslims in the Balkans consisting of the former Austria-Hungarian territories. The research method was based on the content analysis of declassified documents from the Public Record Office, London and the personal collection of Seton Watson documents at the University of London. This article finds that the idea of Greater Serbia is at odds with the idea of Jugoslav. This is the threat to the unification of a new state. Pressure from outside, such as Italy wanting to take advantage of the Austrian-Hungarian place in the Balkans, has alarmed Jugoslav and Serbian leaders. The Italian threat forced the Slav political leaders to immediately agree to form a Yugoslav government, even if not wholeheartedly.

Politics, Yugoslavia, Britain, Muslim, Slav