Tito’s Split with Stalin (1948)

Tito was denounced at the Cominform Meeting on 28 June 1948 (anniversary of Kosovo) because:

Tito would not allow the Soviets to secure more internal control over affairs in Yugoslavia.

Tito would not give up his ideas of a Balkan federation with Albania and Bulgaria, which threatened Stalin.

Tito’s Yugoslavia 1952-1980

After the split with Stalin, Tito secured a remarkable position for Yugoslavia between the First and Second Worlds.

Tito capitalized on the fact that he had led the struggle to liberate his country, in contrast to others who had relied on the Red Army.

He established stability and economic prosperity, but placed severe limits on political freedoms.

Tito controlled ethnic tensions through political repression.

Tito’s Inner Circle

Aleksander Ranković: A ruthless Serbian bureaucrat with a pleasant appearance.

Edvard Kardelj: A meticulous middle-class Slovenian.

Milovan Djilas: An intellectual student from Montenegro.

After 1948, Kardelj and Djilas convinced Tito that he had to develop a distinctive ideology to retain his Communist legitimacy: “Self-management” instead of the Leninist “democratic centralism”.

“Self-Management” in Practice

Tito interpreted “Self-management” in different ways to suit each new changing situation.

Tito could be very repressive or liberal as he felt the situation demanded.

Tito did not solve Yugoslavia’s constitutional and ethnic problems, he just managed them very well.

Tito as a Ruler

Tito became a literal godfather to many peasant families in the traditional Balkan way

Tito as a World Figure:

Tito and Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth

Tito and Churchill

Tito and Khrushchev

Tito and the Shah of Iran

Tito and Nixon

Tito and Jimmy Carter

Tito and Kim Il Sung of North Korea

Tito and Colonel Qaddafi

Tito and Ho Chi Minh

The Beginning of the “Non-Aligned Movement”

September 1961: A Conference at Belgrade sponsored by Tito established the “Non-Aligned Movement”.

The “Non-Aligned Movement” was a group mostly of developing countries.

They supported neutrality towards the superpowers (i.e. the US and formerly the USSR) in world politics.

The movement was inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister Nehru, Tito, and Nasser of Egypt. Membership

By 1994, 109 countries were members of the “Non-Aligned Movement”

The Challenge of Djilas

Milovan Djilas wrote a series of articles in 1953 maintaining that “self-management” required the Party to relinquish control and for Yugoslavia to become more democratic.

Tito crushed him and had him denounced by the Central Committee Plenary Meeting in January 1954.

Djilas ultimately spent about a decade in prison.

He died in 1995 as an outsider who had produced many critical books on Tito, Stalin, and Communism.

Rankovic, Tito’s Enforcer

Through the 1950s and 1960s, Aleksandar Rankovic extended the control of the UDBa secret police over Yugoslav society.

Rankovic had established his credentials as an enforcer after the post-WW2 purges.

Most UDBa officers were Serbs.

A Serbian nationalist in Communist garb.

The Removal of Rankovic

When policy debate favored some amount of liberalization, particularly among Croatians, Tito moved to support economic liberalization and denounce Rankovic at the Fourth Plenum of the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1966.

In June 1968, to disarm student protesters, Tito agreed to fulfill their demands but then ignored them completely.

The fall of Rankovic emboldened Croatians to promote the Croatian language and Kosovo Albanians to create some unrest.

In 1968, Muslims in Yugoslavia were recognized as a “constituent nation”, not merely a minority.

The Economic Pressures of the 1960s and early 1970s

Massive influx of peasants into cities and into Western Europe as guest workers.

“Guest workers” brought back hard currency and western culture.

By 1969, 22% of Yugoslavia’s workforce was abroad.

After 1973, there was a massive repatriation with the economic downturn of the late 1970s.

The liberalization period in Croatia (1969-1971) was like what happened in Czechoslovakia after 1968.

In Croatia, though, older concerns about incipient nationalism reemerged.

Tito clamps down again

In 1971-1972, sensing that liberalization had gotten out of hand, Tito applied pressure and had many Croats arrested.

The possibility of liberal Croats and Serbs finding common ground was squelched by Tito, who reverted to time-honored Communist methods of repression.

Serbian and Croatian nationalist factions both were driven underground and became hardline through the 1980s.


	Tito was denounced at the Cominform Meeting on 28 June 1948 (anniversary of Kosovo) because:
		Tito would not allow the Soviets to secure more internal control over affairs in Yugoslavia.
		Tito would not give up his ideas of a Balkan federation with Albania and Bulgaria, which threatened Stalin.


	After the split with Stalin, Tito secured a remarkable position for Yugoslavia between the First and Second Worlds.
	Tito capitalized on the fact that he had led the struggle to liberate his country, in contrast to others who had relied on the Red Army.
	He established stability and economic prosperity, but placed severe limits on political freedoms.
	Tito controlled ethnic tensions through political repression.


	Aleksander Ranković: A ruthless Serbian bureaucrat with a pleasant appearance.
	Edvard Kardelj: A meticulous middle-class Slovenian.
	Milovan Djilas: An intellectual student from Montenegro.
	After 1948, Kardelj and Djilas convinced Tito that he had to develop a distinctive ideology to retain his Communist legitimacy: “Self-management” instead of the Leninist “democratic centralism”.


	Tito interpreted “Self-management” in different ways to suit each new changing situation.
	Tito could be very repressive or liberal as he felt the situation demanded.
	Tito did not solve Yugoslavia’s constitutional and ethnic problems, he just managed them very well.


	Tito became a literal godfather to many peasant families in the traditional Balkan way


	September 1961: A Conference at Belgrade sponsored by Tito established the “Non-Aligned Movement”.
	The “Non-Aligned Movement” was a group mostly of developing countries.
	They supported neutrality towards the superpowers (i.e. the US and formerly the USSR) in world politics.
	The movement was inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister Nehru, Tito, and Nasser of Egypt. Membership
	By 1994, 109 countries were members of the “Non-Aligned Movement”


	Milovan Djilas wrote a series of articles in 1953 maintaining that “self-management” required the Party to relinquish control and for Yugoslavia to become more democratic.
	Tito crushed him and had him denounced by the Central Committee Plenary Meeting in January 1954.
	Djilas ultimately spent about a decade in prison.
	He died in 1995 as an outsider who had produced many critical books on Tito, Stalin, and Communism.


	Through the 1950s and 1960s, Aleksandar Rankovic extended the control of the UDBa secret police over Yugoslav society.
	Rankovic had established his credentials as an enforcer after the post-WW2 purges.
	Most UDBa officers were Serbs.
	A Serbian nationalist in Communist garb.


	When policy debate favored some amount of liberalization, particularly among Croatians, Tito moved to support economic liberalization and denounce Rankovic at the Fourth Plenum of the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1966.
	In June 1968, to disarm student protesters, Tito agreed to fulfill their demands but then ignored them completely.
	The fall of Rankovic emboldened Croatians to promote the Croatian language and Kosovo Albanians to create some unrest.
	In 1968, Muslims in Yugoslavia were recognized as a “constituent nation”, not merely a minority.


	Massive influx of peasants into cities and into Western Europe as guest workers.
	“Guest workers” brought back hard currency and western culture.
	By 1969, 22% of Yugoslavia’s workforce was abroad.
	After 1973, there was a massive repatriation with the economic downturn of the late 1970s.
	The liberalization period in Croatia (1969-1971) was like what happened in Czechoslovakia after 1968.
	In Croatia, though, older concerns about incipient nationalism reemerged.


	In 1971-1972, sensing that liberalization had gotten out of hand, Tito applied pressure and had many Croats arrested.
	The possibility of liberal Croats and Serbs finding common ground was squelched by Tito, who reverted to time-honored Communist methods of repression.
	Serbian and Croatian nationalist factions both were driven underground and became hardline through the 1980s.