Movement to unite Slav peoples of eastern and central Europe.
It began in the early 19th century when Slav intellectuals studied their common cultures. Political goals for Slavic unity increased in 1848, when a Slav congress organized by Franti 0161; ek Palacký met in Prague to press for equal rights under Austrian rule. In the 1860s the movement became popular in Russia, to which Pan-Slavs looked for protection from Turkish and Austro-Hungarian rule; this led Russia and Serbia into wars against the Ottoman Empire in 187677. In the 20th century, nationalist rivalries among the Slav peoples prevented their effective collaboration.