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Yugoslavia: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Former-Yugoslavia-Political-
{{quote|''I am the leader of one country which has two alphabets, three languages, four religions, five nationalities, six republics, surrounded by seven neighbours, a country in which live eight ethnic minorities.''|[[Josip Broz Tito]]}}
"Yugoslavia" was a name given to three different states that existed on the western part of the Balkan peninsula during most of the 20th century. The name is a portmanteau of "jug" (south) and "slaveni" (Slavs).
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The idea of a united South Slavic state has its roots in the Pan-Slavic ideology that emerged in the late 17th century, but only gained prominence in the 19th century, when it was called the "Illyrian movement" (after a popular theory - later discredited - that the Slavs are the descendants of the ancient Illyrians).
The South Slavic people include the following: the [[
'''The Kingdom of Yugoslavia'''
After the end of [[World War
The first ruler of the country, Petar I, soon passed away and rulership of the country was left in the hands of Alexander I, who became one of the most prominent personalities associated with Yugoslavia, second only to [[Josip Broz Tito]].
Ethnic strife plagued the country almost from the beginning. Notice how the other nationalities were not even mentioned in the country's name, and any nationalist sentiments were suppressed.
Alexander attempted to create a strong, centralized Yugoslav state and, in order to implement his reforms, took drastic measures. In 1929 he forced a new Constitution, abolished the historical administrative boundries, banned all national political parties and had many of their leaders arrested and ruled as de facto dictator. He also banned the Communist Party, whose leaders (including Tito) went into hiding.
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Tito and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia soon took all power into their own hands, and tried to form a union with Bulgaria, but Stalin's intervention prevented it. Finally, increasing conflicts between the two leaders led to the Tito-Stalin split in 1948. After that, the country criticized both Eastern bloc and NATO nations and, together with other countries, started the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, which remained the official affiliation of the country until it dissolved. Democratic reforms were not implemented, however, and the country remained a one-party state, with Tito having the final say in most things. Political dissidents (particularly Stalinists) were often dealt with harshly.
Overall relative peace was retained under Tito's rule, though nationalist protests did occur, but these were usually repressed and nationalist leaders were arrested. However one protest in Croatia in the 1970s, called the "Croatian Spring" was backed by large numbers of Croats who claimed that Yugoslavia remained a Serb hegemony and demanded that Serbia's powers be reduced. Tito, whose home republic was Croatia, was concerned over the stability of the country and responded in a manner to appease both Croats and Serbs, he ordered the arrest of the Croat protestors, while at the same time conceding to some of their demands. In 1974, Serbia's influence in the country was significantly reduced as autonomous provinces were created in ethnic Albanian-majority populated [[
After the Tito-Stalin Split, the economy was re-organized along the principles of "worker's self-managment", as advised by Tito's vice president, Milovan Djilas. At first it worked, and Yugoslavia's economy soon recovered and greatly surpassed pre-war levels. This system was later re-organized in an attempt to improve its efficiency, but the market-orientated reforms introduced in the late seventies - and especially during the eighties - led to increasing unemplooyment and reliance on IMF debts (there is evidence that the U.S. government was deliberately intervening to move the country away from socialism). Unlike the people of the Eastern Bloc, Yugoslavs were allowed to emigrate freely, and this caused many to find work in Western Europe, notably Germany.
Yugoslavia had a vibrant cultural scene that included writers such as the Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrich, Miroslav Krlezha, Mesha Selimovich, Branko Chopich and others. The most prominent sculptor was Antun Augustinchich who made a monument standing in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The pianist Ivo Pogorelich and the violinist Stefan Milenkovich were internationally acclaimed classical music performers, while Jakov Gotovac was a prominent composer and a conductor. The Yugoslav pop and rock music was also a very important part of the culture. The Yugoslav New Wave was an esspecially productive musical scene, as well as the authentic subcultural movement called New Primitives.
Yugoslav cinema featured many notable actors, and had it's own sub-genre of war movies, called [[Partisan Movies]] (similar to the Soviet Osterns). Being cheap and much more open than the Eastern Bloc countries, Yugoslavia was a popular place for Western companies to produce their movies. Films such as ''Genghis Khan'' (1965), ''Kelly's Heroes'', ''Cross of Iron'' and the ''[[
'''Break-up and War'''
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[[Category:Hollywood History]]
[[Category:Useful Notes/Europe]]
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