Tito

1
Tito
in Yugoslavia
2
Early Life

• Born as Josip Broz in Austria-Hungary as
  part of the Slavic minority population
• in 1910, at age 18, he joined the Social
  Democratic Party of Croatia-Slavonia (we can
  conjecture this is where his leftist roots began)

• World War I
• in 1913, he was drafted into the
  Austrian-Hungarian army, and when the war broke
  out, he was sent to fight on the Russian front
• he was wounded and captured in 1915 by the
  Russians
• during his imprisonment, he became fluent in
  Russian and was exposed to much Bolshevik
  propaganda
• he was released when Tsar Nicholas abdicated
  in 1917
• Tito supported the Bolsheviks and went to
  Petrograd to fight with Lenins Revolutionaries
  again, captured and imprisoned
• he was released when the Communists took power
  in October 1917 and joined the Red Guard to fight
  the Russian Civil War

Safra, Jacob E. and Yeshua, Ilan. Tito, Josip
Broz. Encylopaedia Britannica, Volume 11.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., USA, 2003) CNN
Cold War Profile Josip Broz Tito. Website
http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profile
s/tito/. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
3
Inter-war Period

• returned to Croatia (now part of the new Kingdom
  of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes) in 1920 and
  joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY)
• the CPY was banned after a young communist
  assassinated the Minister of the Interior
• he was arrested many times, but continued with
  his underground communist activities
• In April 1927, he joined the CPYs Zagreb
  Committee
• later, he was named deputy of the Politburo of
  the CPY Central committee and leader of the
  Croatian and Slovenian committees
• arrested again, and released in 1934 shortly
  after, was named a full member of the CPY
  Politburo and Central committee (it was here that
  he adopted the name Tito)
• by this time, the parliamentary regime had been
  replaced by the royal Yugoslav dictatorship but
  the ban on the communist party was still in
  effect
• 1935 went to the USSR and worked for a year in
  the Balkan section of the Comintern
• he returned to Yugoslavia after being named the
  Secretary-General of the CPY, which was still
  illegal and proceeded to replenish the ranks of
  the CPY which had been reduced by Stalins purges
• in 1940, Titos position was officially ratified
  by 105/6000 members of the CPY at a secret
  meeting in Zagreb

Safra, Jacob E. and Yeshua, Ilan. Tito, Josip
Broz. Encylopaedia Britannica, Volume 11.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., USA, 2003) CNN
Cold War Profile Josip Broz Tito. Website
http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profile
s/tito/. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
4
World War II

• Tito didnt respond to Germanys invasion on
  Yugoslavia on Stalins orders until after Germany
  attacked the USSR in June 1941, because of the
  Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact
• then, he called a Central committee meeting and
  was named Military Commander of the Partisans
• their goal was to not only liberate Yugoslavia
  from the Axis powers, but to seize power for the
  Communist party
• Tito created a revolutionary government for the
  areas that the Partisans freed from Axis control
• opposition Serbian Chetniks, supported by Allies
  the govt in exile
• however, after Partisans stood up to intense
  Axis attacks in Jan to June 1943, Allied leaders
  decided to support them
• Tehran Conference the Partisons were officially
  recognized by Roosevelt, Churchill (who hoped
  that Tito would cooperate with the govt in
  exile), and Stalin
• resulted in Allied aid parachuted behind Axis
  lines to assist the Partisans

Safra, Jacob E. and Yeshua, Ilan. Tito, Josip
Broz. Encylopaedia Britannica, Volume 11.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., USA, 2003) CNN
Cold War Profile Josip Broz Tito. Website
http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profile
s/tito/. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
5

• after Yalta Conference Tito consolidated power
  by purging his govt of non-communists
• November 1945 new constitution
• Tito organized strong army secret police (UDBA)
  which imprisoned and executed a number of Nazi
  collaborators, Catholic priests, those whod
  opposed the communist-led war effort, and
  communists who didnt agree with Tito
• then he proceeded to centralize the economy and
  society in Stalinist fashion

Wounded Tito with Ivan Ribar during the Offensive
on Sutjeska June 13, 1943 www.biologydaily.com/bi
ology/Josip_Broz_Tito
Safra, Jacob E. and Yeshua, Ilan. Tito, Josip
Broz. Encylopaedia Britannica, Volume 11.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., USA, 2003) CNN
Cold War Profile Josip Broz Tito. Website
http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profile
s/tito/. Retrieved March 2, 2007.
6
Post-war

• After the Communist Partisan Movement led by Tito
  played a central role in liberating Yugoslavia,
  he consolidated his power and took control of the
  country in the summer and fall of 1945 by purging
  his government of non-communists and by holding
  fraudulent elections
• The Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia was
  proclaimed under a new constitution in November
  1945.
• The new constitution called for six constituent
  republics under a single centralized government
  in Belgrade.
• The population of Yugoslavia included a mix of
  cultural, language, and religious groups there
  were Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and
  Muslims
• To maintain his control, Tito developed and
  enforced a plan called Brotherhood and Unity
  which demanded purges to be carried out among the
  Serbs, Montenegrins, Croats, Muslims, Slovenes,
  Albanians, and many others who were nationalistic
  and did not support the greater Yugoslavia.
• Trials of captured collaborationists, Catholic
  prelates, opposition figures, and even distrusted
  communists were conducted in order to fashion
  Yugoslavia in the Soviet mold.
• Source http//www.edukits.ca/diversity/balkans/st
  udent/background_after_ww2.html

7
Titos Yugoslavia

• Tito then proceeded to centralize the economy
  and society in Stalinist fashion although
  agriculture was not successfully collectivized.
• Although Yugoslavia was closely associated
  with the USSR and was a leading member of the
  Cominform, Tito often pursued independent
  policies and did not hesitate to curtail the
  activies of Soviet agents.
• Stalin disliked Tito's attempt to ignore his
  suggestions as to how the new Yugoslav government
  and economy would be run.
• Source http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank
  /profiles/tito/

http//www.soros.org.mk/archive/G08/images/Sg5905.
jpg

• Stalin was also very unhappy with Tito's
  foreign-policy decisions taken independently of
  Moscow first to try to form a Balkan federation
  with Bulgarian leader Dimitrov, second with
  Yugoslavia's relations with Albania and finally
  with Tito's decision to support the communists in
  the Greek Civil War.

8

• Stalin's response in June 1948 by expelling the
  "Tito clique" from Cominform, in essence, kicking
  Yugoslvia out of the "socialist camp" to go it
  alone. Stalin imposed economic boycotts and
  sanctions but stopped short of physically
  invading Yugoslavia.
• Tito succeeded in maintaining his position
  despite the hostility of the USSR and his
  neighbors.
• Source http//history1900s.about.com/gi/dynamic/o
  ffsite.htm?sitehttp3A2F2Fwww.bartleby.com2F65
  2Fti2FTito-Jos.html

9
Titos Policies Non-alignment

• The West smoothed Yugoslavias course by offering
  aid and military assistance
• By 1953, military aid had evolved into an
  informal association with NATO cia a tripartite
  pact with Greece and Turkey that included a
  provision for mutual defense
• After Stalins death in 1953, Tito was faced with
  two choices
• either continue the Westward course and give up
  one-party dictatorship
• or seek reconciliation with a somewhat reformed
  new Soviet system under Nikita Khrushchev
• He chose the latter
• However, the limits of reconciliation became
  obvious after the Soviet intervention in Hungary
  in 1956 which was followed by a new Soviet
  campaign against Tito, blaming the Yugoslavs for
  inspiring the Hungarian uprising.

10

• Tito started to seek alliance elsewhere with
  leaders of developing countries
• Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt
• Jawaharlal Nehru of India
• Led to a closer cooperation among states that
  were nonengaged in the East-West confrontation.
• From non-engagement evolved the policy of active
  non-alignment
• The promotion of alternatives to bloc politics,
  as opposed to mere neutrality

The Brioni Declaration - Nasser, Tito, and Nehru,
July 19, 1956
www.answers.com/topic/josip-broz-tito
11
Consequences

• Over the 40 years Tito ruled Yugoslavia, it
  changed beyond recognition.
• It developed its own brand of socialism, and a
  society far more open than that of its communist
  neighbors. For them, and for many communists
  around the world, Yugoslavia seemed to be a
  paradise on earth.
• Tito's Yugoslavia also gained enormous prestige
  as a founder of the non-aligned movement, which
  aimed to find a place in world politics for
  countries that did not want to stand foursquare
  behind either of the two superpowers.
• There was much substance to Tito's Yugoslavia,
  much was illusion too. The economy was built on
  the shaky foundations of massive western loans.
  Even liberal communism had its limits, as did the
  very nature of the federation.
• Yugoslav brotherhood and unity dissolved
  quickly following Tito's death. An escalation of
  gruesome and violent acts by citizens against one
  another led to demands for the autonomy of
  republics and to a fracturing along ethnic lines.