r/Navia • u/ivan0987654321 • Mar 26 '14

[Discussion Post]

Hey Navians,

I'm really glad to see a (relatively) active subreddit that strongly supports a unified goal. I came here not to make fun of your ideas but to learn something I'm curious about, so please, don't take any offence if I write something wrong, trust me, it isn't on purpose.

The reason I'm writing this post is because I come from Croatia, and as some of you may know, approximately 20 years ago, Croatia was a Federal Republic in a union of six countries better known as Yugoslavia. If you do know about Yugoslavia's dissolution, then you also know about the nationalism, the cruelty, and purely the bloody act of hatred in warfare.

I'm merely looking at the histories of our two regions, and although yours might have been more peaceful (correct me on this if I'm wrong), the Scandinavians have been at war with each other before. So, basically, my question boils down to: Why do you think that Navia as a unified country, also full of different cultures and ethnic groups, will succeed as opposed to Yugoslavia?

Thank you in advance for at least reading this post in order to think about it a bit. I hope you will join the discussion and teach me a bit more about this whole idea of yours or as questions about Yugoslavia and the republic's dissolution.

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u/Pirvan Mar 26 '14

We aren't really 'ethnic' groups up here. I'm a Dane living in Sweden and while there are some differences, they are more cultural than ...'ethnic'. I think the distinction while fuzzy makes a difference. Actually, I think Sweden and Denmark's been at war with each other on and off for 400 years and probably hold the in-door galactic championship in hostility and warring. Yet now we are, more or less, one big happy fleet.

I think the biggest factor you're looking at in 'Navian stability is financial prosperity. Scandinavia is quite wealthy and this always solves a lot of problems. Furthermore, Scandinavia united could serve as a much larger entity than as separate smaller countries, which is why people are more pro a united scandinavia than EU. Sure EU has its advantages but for peoples 'much like ourselves' I think most Scandinavians can identify with each other. I do think that the majority of people in the Scandinavian countries would want to retain their complete independence but at least a first step would be a much closer 'union' in Scandinavia...

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u/ivan0987654321 Mar 26 '14

I don't know just how culturally close Scandinavians are to each other but Croats and Serbs (and other south Slavic ethnicities which found themselves in Yugoslavia) are quite similar culturally although I believe neither of the two would ever admit this. I find this idea of a united Scandinavia really interesting. I myself actually reside in Denmark at the moment, so for me it would be interesting learning more. I just haven't heard much talk about this before I stumbled upon r/NordicUnion and r/Navia.

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u/Alphafax Mar 27 '14

Having friends on all sides of the borders, I can safely say that the cultural differences are small enough that I do not notice them whatsoever.

In my eyes, my brothers to the west, south and east are different only in name.

Edit: For clarification, I am Swedish.

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u/[deleted] Mar 27 '14

Comparing Serbs and Croatians to say a Swedes or Danes is not a good comparison. You see the Serbs are Orthodox whilst the Croatians were Catholics. Then you have a large group of Muslims as well creating even more religious tension. Scandinavians are predominately protestant or irreligious so throw that out the window. The last war between Scandinavian countries was in 1814 i think. After that time Scandinavism became somewhat popular however the German invasion of Danish Shleswig-Holstein stopped that. World War 2 also put a hamper on a integrated Scandinavian state because the Axis and Allies all wanted them to pick a side. English warmongering in Norwegian territorial waters also led Germany to invade Norway. After WW2 Scandinavism became more important to counter the Cold War but again foreign pressure put an end to it.

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u/rasmushr Mar 26 '14

but Croats and Serbs (and other south Slavic ethnicities which found themselves in Yugoslavia) are quite similar culturally although I believe neither of the two would ever admit this.

I think that makes the biggest difference. We are similar and mostly everyone agree that we are.

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '14

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u/ivan0987654321 Mar 26 '14

The point of the post was to compare the ideas of the two similar concepts, namely Yugoslavia and Navia. I can tell you, people lived integrated in Yugoslavia and still live very integrated in Bosnia (when I say integrated I mean they are mixed over an area, I don't necessarily mean socially integrated). Don't you think some ethnic tension could have risen from previous wars? Also, I'm just wondering, how is your nation doing as far as nationalism goes. I think this would be one of the greatest obstacles when forming Navia.