Serbs and Croats are often considered to be one ethnic group, living together in a single Yugoslavia. And they only fell out with its collapse. And the Croats are supposedly just spoiled Serbs, who fell under the corrupting influence of the rotten West.
But is this really true? What is the difference between Serbs and Croats?
I would like to disappoint the readers right away: the Serbs and Croats have never been a single people. Except, of course, for the pan-Slavic unity in the middle of the first millennium AD.
History and Religion
https://www.Serbs and Croats are descended from closely related, but still different Slavic tribes. Serbs are descended from the Sorb tribe (from the Slavic “sobry, syabry” – brothers) , whose representatives, the Lusatian Serbs, who did not leave for the Balkans, still live in eastern Germany.
But the Croats were formed from the white, black and red Croats (Khorutans) who lived in the Carpathians one and a half thousand years ago. It is believed that the name “Croats” is of Iranian origin, but what it means exactly is unknown to this day.
Serbs and Croats have many differences in history.
The Serbs had their own powerful kingdom in the Middle Ages, which extended over the entire Balkans. But then they were conquered by the Ottoman Empire, against which they fought for several centuries for their independence.
The Croats spent almost their entire conscious history until the 20th century as autonomous countries. Sometimes as part of Hungary, sometimes as part of Austria, sometimes as part of Austria-Hungary.
An important difference between Serbs and Croats is religion. Yes, both nations are Christians. But Croats are Catholics. And Serbs are Orthodox.
Language and writing
Serbian and Croatian are almost mutually intelligible. The differences between them are smaller than between Russian and Belarusian. However, there are quite a few differences, mostly in pronunciation and vocabulary.
For example, the Croats love native Slavic words. In Croatian, football is called nogomet , and the months are named in Slavic (listopad – October). The Serbs are simpler in terms of linguistic purism – their football is fudbal, and the months have international Latin designations.
Due to Western influence, the Croatians use only the Latin alphabet in writing. And the Serbs are generally supposed to write in Cyrillic, but now they are slowly but surely switching to the Latin alphabet.
Names and surnames
Serbs and Croats are quite easy to distinguish by their names. Serbs, on the contrary, often have purely Slavic names – Slobodan, Radovan, Slavoljub, Ljubisha. And most Serbian surnames come from patronymics and end in a Slavic – IC: Milosevic, Vucic.
Croatians have both Slavic (Domagoj, Ivica, Ante) and Latin names (thanks to the Catholic faith) – Christian, Mario, Dominic. Croatian surnames can come from common words: Pletikosa (Hairdresser), Srna (Deer), and so on.
Appearance and character
Serbs and Croats are also distinguished by their appearance by those in the know. Croats are more northern, have not known the Turkish yoke, but have seen German power. That is why there are more fair-haired people among them. Among the Serbs, who are more southern, brunettes are more common.
The Serbs, as a more southern people, are considered by their neighbors to be more ardent and warlike comrades, with their own imperial idea. The Croats are much calmer in mentality, disciplined and hardworking.
In general, Serbs and Croats are different peoples. But still close. If only because they have lived side by side for hundreds of years.