 While in Vienna, he joined South Slav students in promoting the cause of Yugoslav unity and worked closely with two Yugoslav student societies, the Serbian cultural society "Zora" (Dawn) and the Croatian student club "Zvonimir", which shared his views on "integral Yugoslavism" (the eventual assimilation of all South Slav cultures into one).Despite finding like-minded students in Vienna, the city's climate took a toll on Andrić's health.He contracted tuberculosis and became seriously ill, then asked to leave Vienna on medical grounds and continue his studies elsewhere, though Hawkesworth believes he may actually have been taking part in a protest of South Slav students that were boycotting German-speaking universities and transferring to Slavic ones.