   the term greater serbia or great serbia ( / velika srbija) applies to the serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology directed towards the creation of a serbian land which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to the serbian nation, and regions outside of serbia that are populated mostly by serbs. this movement's main ideology is to unite all serbs (or all historically ruled or serb populated lands) into one state, claiming, depending on the version, different areas of many surrounding countries. the greater serbian ideology including claims to territories of modern-day croatia, bosnia and herzegovina, montenegro and macedonia. in some historical forms, greater serbian aspirations also included territories of albania, bulgaria, hungary and romania. its inspiration comes from the memory and existence of the relatively large and powerful serbian empire that existed in 14th century southeastern europe prior to the ottoman invasion. ==historical perspective==  following the growing nationalistic tendency in europe from the 18th century onwards, such as the unification of italy, serbia â after first gaining its principality within the ottoman empire in 1817 â experienced a popular desire for full unification with the serbs of the remaining territories, mainly those living in neighbouring entities. the idea of territorial expansion of serbia originally formulated 1844 in naÄertanije, a secret political program of the principality of serbia, according to which the new serbian state could include the neighboring areas of montenegro, northern albania, bosnia and herzegovina.
Greater_Serbian_ideology Irredentism