Sloga translated from Serbian simply means "concord" in English. It is also a name of the Federation of United Serbs "Sloga" or ''Savez Sjedinjenih Srba "Sloga"'' formed in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, in 1909 with the merger of three federations—the Serbian Orthodox Federation "Srbobran" of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, the First Serbian Benevolent Federation of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and the First Montenegrin Federation of Chicago. It was part of Serb fraternal movement in the diaspora, led by

Michael Pupin Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin ( sr-Cyrl, Михајло Идворски Пупин, ; 4 October 1858Although Pupin's birth year is sometimes given as 1854 (and Serbia and Montenegro issued a postage stamp in 2004 to commemorate the 150th anniversary o ...

with the support of Bishop

Nikolaj Velimirović Nikolaj Velimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николај Велимировић; – ) was bishop of the eparchies of Ohrid and Žiča (1920–1956) in the Serbian Orthodox Church. An influential theological writer and a highly gifted orato ...

who visited the United States during the period of the federation's early beginnings. Sloga's thousands of members were Serbs from different places in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and surrounding countries (then known as empires such as the

Habsburg Monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

to the north and north east and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

to the south and south east of the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

), as well as some American-born, sons and daughters of the first settlers in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

in the 1800s. Their old homelands were eventually united into the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

after the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1929 the country was renamed

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. No different than the web and flow of all other ethnic American citizens of the time. Members of "Sloga" federation at that time represented many branches of different benevolent societies throughout the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Many of these societies no longer exist, and most of the mining and industrial towns where the branches were located are no longer home to large numbers of America's Serbs. Today their descendants are scattered in big cities throughout the United States and Canada.

Leaders of the Federation of United Serbs "Sloga"

* President:

, born in

Idvor Idvor () is a village in northern Serbia. It is located in the Kovačica municipality, South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority (93.98%) and its population numbers 1,198 people (2002 census). Name In Serb ...

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

, then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

; member of the benevolent society ''Slovenski Jug'' (Slavic South) No. 150,

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. * Vice President: Pavle H. Pavlović, born in

Soko Banja Sokobanja ( sr-cyr, Сокобања, ) is a spa town and municipality located in the Zaječar District of the eastern Serbia. As of 2011, the population of the town is 7,982, while population of the municipality is 16,021. Geography Sokobanja ...

; member of the benevolent society ''Slovenski Jug'' (Slavic South) No. 150,

Main Source

* Copied and adapted from the 1919 "Sloga" federation's regular yearly almanac (''Srpski narodni kalendar'') which was entitled "Srbija" and in it contained a complete list of the above federation's officers.

References

{{reflist Serbian-American history Diaspora organizations in the United States Serbian words and phrases