Its popularity continued to increase when it was adopted as the organizational anthem of the Sokol ("falcon") physical education movement, which was based on Pan-Slavic ideals and active across Austria-Hungary.

In 1905, the erection of a monument to the Slovene poet France Prešeren in Ljubljana was celebrated by a large gathering of people singing "Hey, Slavs".

During the First World War, the song was often used by Slavic soldiers from opposite sides of the front line to communicate common nationalist sentiment and prevent bloodshed.

Contrary to popular assumption, there was no official state anthem of the clerofascist Slovak Republic (1939–45), though "Hej, Slováci" was used by the ruling party.

Hej, Slováci, ešte naša slovenská reč žije, Dokiaľ naše verné srdce za náš národ bije.

Let there be as many devils, as there are people in the world God is with us: who's against us, will by Perun be swept Even if a tremendous storm rises above us, The stone cracks, the oak breaks, and the earth quakes!

Since the old Yugoslav anthem included references to king and kingdom, the anti-royalist Partisan resistance led by Josip Broz Tito and his Communist party decided to avoid it and opted for "Hey, Slavs" instead.

There were several attempts to promote other, more specifically Yugoslav songs as the national anthem, but none gained much public support and "Hey, Slavs" continued to be used unofficially.

[citation needed] "Hey, Slavs" under its Serbo-Croatian title "Hej, Slaveni" was therefore the national anthem of Yugoslavia for a total of 48 years, from 1943 to 1992.

[8] Hej Slaveni, jošte živi R[ij]eč (duh) naših d[j]edova Dok za narod srce bije Njihovih sinova Živi, živi duh slavenski Živjet će v[j]ekov'ma 𝄆 Zalud pr[ij]eti ponor pakla Zalud vatra groma 𝄇 Nek se sada i nad nama Burom sve raznese St[j]ena puca, dub se lama Zemlja nek se trese Mi stojimo postojano Kano klisurine 𝄆 Proklet bio izdajica Svoje domovine!

𝄇 Хеј Словени, јоште живи Р[иј]еч (дух) наших д[ј]едова Док за народ срце бије Њихових синова Живи, живи дух словенски Живеће в[ј]еков'ма 𝄆 Залуд пр[иј]ети понор пакла, Залуд ватра грома 𝄇 Нек' се сада и над нама Буром све разнесе Ст[ј]ена пуца, дуб се лама, Земља нек' се тресе Ми стојимо постојано Кано клисурине, 𝄆 Проклет био издајица Своје домовине!

𝄇 Hej Slovani, naša reč slovanska živo klije dokler naše verno srce za naš narod bije Živi, živi, duh slovanski, bodi živ na veke, 𝄆 grom in peklo, prazne vaše proti nam so steke 𝄇 Naj tedaj nad nami strašna burja se le znese, skala poka, dob se lomi, zemlja naj se strese Bratje, mi stojimo trdno kakor zidi grada, 𝄆 črna zemlja naj pogrezne tega, kdor odpada!

𝄇 Еј, Словени, жив е тука зборот свет на родот штом за народ срце чука преку син во внукот!

𝄇 Ej, Sloveni, živ e tuka zborot svet na rodot štom za narod srce čuka preku sin vo vnukot!

[10] Even after the end of the federation, "Hey, Slavs" was sometimes still mistakenly played by organizers of sports events that involve Serbian teams as a guest side.

Notable performances, some of which were intentional, include the 2013 UEFA U-19 Championship semi-final football match between Serbia and Portugal as well as the Olympiacos–Partizan ULEB Champions league basketball game in 2010.

[13][14] In 2015, French organizers of 2015 European Touring Car Cup season erroneously played "Hey, Slavs" when Serbian racing driver Dušan Borković won 1st place at Circuit Paul Ricard.