| History 1945-1980 | |
| The Communists Take Control | After leading the most active resistance group in Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito and the Yugoslav Communist Party was set to take control of the country. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed on November 29, 1945, and in 1946 a Soviet, Stalinist-style constitution was created. The Constitution of 1946 set up a federation of six republics (Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Hercegovina). The Constitution also created autonomous provinces within Serbia called Vojvodina and Kosovo. |
| Yugoslav - Soviet Split | By
1948, the Communist Party had placed all wealth, except for privately owned
land, under state control, had begun a rapid modernization and industrialization
plan under Soviet guidelines and had grown to 470,000 members. However,
on May 22, 1948, Stalin expelled Yugoslavia from the Soviet-controlled Cominform,
making Yugoslavia the first Eastern European country to pursue a Communism
of its own devices. The rift between Stalin and Tito was not an abrupt split; many factors contributed to the leaders' decisions. Among those factors were Stalin's ending his support of "national roads to socialism;" Tito's foreign policy moves after World War II (such as choosing to support the Greek Communists against Stalin's will), and Tito's belief that the Soviet Union would subsidize and support his rapid costly modernization. |
| "Socialist
- Self Management" |
At
first, Tito and Yugoslavia were not convinced of the permanency of Stalin's
decision and decided to refrain from taking any action. In 1949, eager to
exploit the apparent rift, the West began to aid Yugoslavia economically
(preventing famine) and militarily (as the United States did in 1951). During
this time, Yugoslavia continued with plans to collectivize agriculture,
but disbanded in 1950 when Stalin's disapproval of Yugloslavia's actions
and refusal to cooperate with them became apparent. In order to remain independent
of Western aid, Yugoslavia began "participatory workers councils"
and in 1950 and 1951 passed new laws producing the economic system called
"Socialist Self-Management." In 1953, the Federal Assembly ratified a new constitution that codified the changes that created "Socialist Self-Management." This constitution also created the Federal Executive Council, reorganized the Federal Assembly and reduced the autonomy of the six republics. |
| Quick Success | The
new economic system brought immediate benefits and doubled manufacturing
exports by 1960. After dissolving the last of the collective farms in
1953 and implementing various agricultural reforms, the Yugoslav farm
system also produced record yields. Following this economic prosperity
was an intellectual and cultural liberalization of Yugoslavia, which allowed
more access to Western works, made available more consumer goods, decreased
travel restrictions and limited secret police activity. |
| The Death of Stalin | In March of 1953, while Yugoslavia was undergoing economic and domestic reforms, Stalin died. After his death, the new Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, sought to repair relations with Yugoslavia. The two countries did not agree to a complete return to pre-rift relations and instead restored interstate relations in 1956, after Khrushchev's condemnation of Stalin. Relations between the two countries suffered several setbacks, including the Soviet crackdowns in Hungary, the Soviet-Sino split of the early 1960s and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. But by 1971 had entered a stage of détente as Yugoslavia pursued a policy of non-alignment to either the Western or Soviet blocs. |
| Domestic Questions | For
all the success of the ambitious reforms of the early 1950s, many unseen
repercussions surfaced later in the decade and on into the 1960s. By 1961
Yugoslavia had high inflation and a large foreign-trade deficit. The resulting
anti-inflation measures caused a recession in 1962. Spurned by the economic hardships of the time were three crucial debates about Yugoslav society and government: 1) the question of how much political and personal freedom that should be allowed, 2) the question of whether to use a federalized or centralized decision-making process, and 3) the question of whether to enhance the already industrialized northern (Hapsburg) regions or to build up the more backwards southern (Ottoman) regions. Yugoslavia ratified a new constitution in 1963, which expanded self-management and changed the Federal Assembly. The new constitution was followed by legislative actions between 1964 and 1967, which covered trade and economic management. |
| Political and Ethnic Strife | These
reforms, deemed dangerous to Yugoslavia's survival, became opposed by some
party leaders, most notably Alexander Rankovic. It was discovered that the
secret police, directed by Rankovic, were guilty of crimes against the Albanians
in Kosovo, and Rankovic was forced to resign after purges of the secret
police. The 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia caused the country to turn its focus to defense and foreign policy until in 1969 violence erupted in Kosovo and Macedonia when ethnic Albanians began demanding equal rights and a republican status for Kosovo. These demands allowed new constitutional amendments to pass in 1971, transforming Yugoslavia into a loose federation in which the federal government was responsible only for defense, foreign affairs, a common market and money, the self-management system and ethnic and civil rights. The amendments placed the majority of decision making in the hands of the republic governments. |
| A New Federalism | During
this time, more party reforms were initiated, including the introduction
of multicandidate elections, the expansion of press and university and the
acceptance of opposing interpretations of Marx, which the Croatian reformers
took too far for Tito's liking by engaging in very anti-Yugoslavian, anti-Serb
and Croatian nationalistic actions. In 1971 Tito purged the Croatian leaders who he felt had gone to far. In order to maintain stability, Tito passed some mandates that the Croatian leaders had been seeking; these changes produced the Constitution of 1974 (official in February 21, 1974). The constitution attempted to do away with some of negative aspects of confederation system, but could not crack the already strong power systems in place in each of the republics. |
| Bibliography | Rothschild and Nancy
M. Wingfield, Return to Diversity, A Political History of East Central Europe
Since World War II. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).
The Library of Congress Country Studies (Website) Good information. Reliable source from the U.S. Library of Congress, covers history well up to 1974 in Yugoslavia. Also does good job with other topics concerning the country (e.g. Economics and Geography) “Serbian and Montenegro Background Notes” from U.S. Department
of State (Website) Reliable source from U.S. Department of State. Very sparse on history of country, but covers current topics and issues very well. |