Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Социјалистичка Федеративна Република Југославија
*Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija*
*Socialistična federativna republika Jugoslavija*
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Социјалистичка Федеративна Република Југославија; Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija; Socialistična federativna republika Jugoslavija
1943–1992
	Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Belgrade
Common languages	Serbo-Croatian (Official), Slovenian, Macedonian, Albanian, Hungarian and languages of other nationalities.
Government	Socialist republic
President
• 1945 - 1953	Ivan Ribar
• 1953 - 1980	Josip Broz Tito
• 1991	Stjepan Mesić (last President)
Prime Minister
• 1989 - 1991	Ante Marković (last Prime Minister)
Historical era	Cold War
• Proclamation	November 29, 1943 1943
• UN membership	October 24 1945
• Constitution	February 21 1974
• Secessions	June 25, 1991 - April 27, 1992 1992
Area
July 1989	255,804 km2 (98,766 sq mi)
Population
• July 1989	23,724,919
Currency	Yugoslav dinar
Time zone	UTC+1
Calling code	38
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Independent State of Croatia
	Montenegro (Second World War)
File:National flag of Serbia 2004-2006.svg	Nedić's Serbia
File:Yu-1922d.gif	Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Slovenia
Croatia
Republic of Macedonia
Bosnia and Herzegovina	File:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1998 (bordered).svg
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croat and Macedonian (Cyrillic only): Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija or Социјалистичка Федеративна Република Југославија, Slovene: Socialistična federativna republika Jugoslavija) was the Yugoslav state that existed from the end of World War II (1945) until it was formally dissolved in 1992 (de facto dissolved in 1991 with no leaders representing it) amid the Yugoslav wars. It was a socialist state that comprised the area of the present-day independent states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. In 1992, the two remaining states still committed to a union, Serbia and Montenegro, formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992 which was not officially recognized as the successor of the SFRY by the international community.

Formed from the remains of the pre-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the country was proclaimed in 1943 and named Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. In 1946, it became the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia^[1] and in 1963 the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslavia pursued a policy of neutrality during the Cold War and became one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement.

History

Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was constituted at the AVNOJ (Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia) conference in Jajce, Bosnia-Herzegovina (November 29 - December 4 1943) while negotiations with the royal government in exile continued. On November 29 1945 the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia was established as a socialist state during the first meeting of democratically established and Communist-led Parliament in Belgrade. On January 31, 1946, the new constitution of FPR Yugoslavia selected the six constituent republics.^[1]

The first prime minister was Josip Broz Tito and president Ivan Ribar. In 1953, Tito was elected as president and later in 1974 named "President for life."

Like the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that preceded it, the SFRY bordered Italy and Austria to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Romania and Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, Albania to the southwest, and the Adriatic Sea to the west.

Yugoslavia, unlike other Eastern and Central European communist countries, chose a course independent of the Soviet Union (see Informbiro), and was a member of neither the Warsaw pact nor NATO. In 1961, Yugoslavia became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, and, alongside countries like Indonesia, one of its central-left influences that promoted a non-confrontational policy towards the U.S.

The most significant change to the borders of the SFRY occurred in 1954, when the adjacent Free Territory of Trieste was dissolved by the Treaty of Osimo. The Yugoslav Zone B, which covered 515.5 km², became part of the SFRY. Zone B was already occupied by the Yugoslav National Army.

In 1974, a new federal constitution was ratified that gave more autonomy to the individual republics, thereby basically fulfilling the main goals of the 1971 Croatian Spring movement. One of the provisions of the new constitution was that each republic officially had the option to declare independence from the federation.

After Tito's death in 1980, tensions between the various peoples grew. In June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia decided to end all the relationships with other federal republics and become independent states (allowed by the 1974 federal constitution, with the assent of the other republics), which was the end of the SFRY (as proclaimed by the Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the former Yugoslavia). They were followed by the republics of Macedonia in September of 1991 and Bosnia and Herzegovina in March of 1992.

Serbia and Montenegro generally did not agree with the fact that Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina were leaving. However, when Slovenia left, Serbia and Montenegro did vote in support of that idea. Some of the regions of Croatia (Kordun, Lika, Banija, parts of Dalamtia and Eastern Slavonia) and Bosnia had Serbian inhabitants (in varying proportions to the majority), and it was the plan of Slobodan Milošević to unite them all in a great Serbian republic. This however led to a conflict of interests. After the Serbian aggression (ethnic Serb uprisings in Croatia backed-up by federal Serbian controlled Army) Croats tried to strike a deal with Serbs to divide/trade the territories of Croatia and particularly Bosnia in an attempt to end or lessen the hostilities already going on in Croatia and emerging hostilities in Bosnia. This was done ignoring the populatiuon that didn't see itself as Serb or Croat - the moslem Bosnians. (See more in the articles Ten-Day war, Croatian War of Independence and war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.)

Serbia and Montenegro formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in April 1992. The FRY was reformed and renamed Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. In June 2006 it was split into the two independent countries when Montenegro seceded after a referendum.

Politics

The defining document of the state was the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was amended in 1963 and 1974.

The Communist Party of Yugoslavia had won the first elections, and remained in power throughout the state's existence. It was also called League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and it was composed of individual parties from each constituent republic.

The primary political leader of the state was Josip Broz Tito, but there were several other important politicians, particularly after Tito's death: see the list of leaders of communist Yugoslavia.

When the individual republics organized multi-party elections in the 1990s, the Communist Parties mostly failed to win re-election.

Foreign Relations

Under Tito, Yugoslavia adopted a policy of neutrality in the Cold War. It developed close relations with developing countries as well as maintaining cordial relations with the United States and Western European countries. Because of its neutrality, Yugoslavia was often the only Communist country to have diplomatic relations with strongly anti-Communist governments. Stalin considered Tito a traitor and openly offered condemnation towards him.

Military

Much like the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that preceded it, the socialist Yugoslavia maintained a strong military force.

The Yugoslav People's Army or JNA/JLA was the main organization of the military forces. It was composed of the ground army, navy and aviation. Most of it's military equipment and pieces were domestically produced soviet-bloc designs under licence.

The regular army mostly originated from the Yugoslav Partisans of the Second World War. Yugoslavia also had a thriving arms industry and sold to such nations as Kuwait, Iraq, Myanmar amongst many others. Yugoslavian companies like Zastava Arms would re-produce Soviet design weaponry under licence as well as create weaponry from scratch. SOKO was an example of a successful design by Yugoslavia before the Yugoslav wars.

Template:Yugoslavia Labelled Map Each of the six Republics had their own "territorial defense", a National Guard of sorts, which were established in the frame of a new doctrine called “general people’s resistance” as an answer to the brutal end of the Prague Spring by the Warsaw Pact in Czechoslovakia.

Administrative divisions

Internally, the state was divided into six Socialist Republics, and two Socialist Autonomous Provinces that were part of SR Serbia. The federal capital was Belgrade. Republics and provinces were (in alphabetical order):

Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with capital in Sarajevo;
Socialist Republic of Croatia, with capital in Zagreb;
Socialist Republic of Macedonia, with capital in Skopje;
Socialist Republic of Montenegro, with capital in Titograd (now Podgorica);
Socialist Republic of Serbia, with capital in Belgrade, which also contained:
5a. Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, with capital in Priština;

5b. Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, with capital in Novi Sad;
Socialist Republic of Slovenia, with capital in Ljubljana.

Demographics

SFRY recognised "nations" (narodi) and "nationalities" (narodnosti) separately; the former including the constituent Slavic peoples, and the latter other Slavic and non-Slavic ethnic groups, including the Hungarians and Albanians.

The country consisted of six republics, with their appropriate constitutional nations:

Slovenia - Slovenes
Croatia - Croats (and Serbs up to 1990) (whereas Hungarians, Muslims, Italians and Jews were recognized minorities - as well as Serbs since 1990)
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Serbs, Croats (and Muslims since 1974; Yugoslavs since 1990)
Serbia - Serbs and all of its citizens
- Vojvodina (linguistic groups): Serbo-Croat speakers, Hungarians, Romanians, Slovaks, Rusyns.
- Kosovo and Metohija: Albanians, Serbo-Croat speakers
Montenegro - all of its citizens
Macedonia - Macedonians

Also, there was the Yugoslav ethnic designation, for the people who wanted to identify with the entire country, including people who were born to parents in mixed marriages.

Cultural diversity was a major factor for the dissolution of the federation. Nationalism during Tito's rule was cracked down upon wherever it sprung up (e.g. the "Croatian Spring" of the mid 1970's or the Memorandum of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in mid 1980's).

Tito's successors chose a different way towards the nationalists, instead promoting their ideas and taking their side on some issues, claiming they will defend them and fight, even war, for their cause. Nationalists from other ethnic groups responded with arguments such as "During your [Tito's] rule, our culture had been cracked down upon, our people oppressed ... but now you won't anymore" and so forth, initiating hatred towards the different nationalities.

Economy

Despite common origins, the economy of socialist Yugoslavia was much different from economies of the Soviet Union and other Eastern European socialist countries, especially after the Yugoslav-Soviet break-up of 1948. Rather than being owned by the state, companies were socially owned and managed with workers' self-management. The occupation and liberation struggle in World War II left Yugoslavia's infrastructure devastated. Even the most developed parts of the country were largely rural and the little industry the country had was largely damaged or destroyed.

With the exception of a recession in mid-1960s, the country's economy prospered formidably. Unemployment was low and the education level of the work force steadily increased. Due to Yugoslavia's neutrality and a leading role in the Non-aligned Movement, Yugoslav companies exported to both Western and Eastern markets. Yugoslav companies carried out construction of numerous major infrastructural and industrial projects in Africa, Europe and Asia.

The fact that Yugoslavs were allowed to emigrate freely from 1960s onwards prompted many to find work in Western Europe, notably Germany. This contributed to keeping unemployment in check and also acted as a source of capital and foreign currency.

In 1970s, the economy was reorganized according to Edvard Kardelj's theory of associated labour, in which the right to decision making and a share in profits of socially owned companies is based on the investment of labour. All companies were transformed into organizations of associated labour. The smallest, basic organizations of associated labour, roughly corresponded to a small company or a department in a large company. These were organized into enterprises which in turn associated into composite organizations of associated labour, which could be large companies or even whole industry branches in a certain area. Most executive decision making was based in enterprises, so that these continued to compete to an extent even when they were part of a same composite organization. The appointment of managers and strategic policy of composite organizations were, depending on their size and importance, in practice often subject to political and personal influence-peddling.

In order to give all employees the same access to decision making, the basic organisations of associated labour were also introduced into public services, including health and education. The basic organizations were usually made up of no more than a few dozen people and had their own workers councils, whose assent was needed for strategic decisions and appointment of managers in enterprises or public institutions.

The Yugoslav wars, consequent loss of market, as well as mismanagement and/or non-transparent privatization brought further economic trouble for all former republics of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Only Slovenia's economy grew steadily after the initial shock and slump. Croatia reached its 1990 GDP in 2003, a feat yet to be accomplished by other former Yugoslav republics.

The currency of the SFRY was the Yugoslav dinar.

Miscellaneous

Yugoslavia used to be described as a small country with big problems: seven neighbouring countries, six republics, five nationalities, four languages, three religions, two alphabets and one political party.^[2]
Yugoslavia was also stated to be surrounded with "worries" ("brigama" in Serbo-Croatian). That word could be constructed using the first letters of the names of the surrounding countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Greece, Albania, Hungary (Mađarska in Serbo-Croatian) and Austria).
Yugoslavia shared the same melody for national anthem with Poland. Its first lyrics were written in 1834 under the title Hey, Slovaks (Hej, Slováci) and it has since served as the anthem of the Pan-Slavic movement, the anthem of the Sokol physical education and political movement, as well as the anthem of the WWII Slovak Republic, Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro. The song is also considered to be the second, unofficial anthem of the Slovaks. Its melody is based on Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, which has been also the anthem of Poland since 1926 but it is much slower and more accentuated. http://www.marxists.org/subject/yugoslavia/music/servie-serbian.mp3

References

^ ^a ^b [1] Proclamation of Constitution of the Feredative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, 31. 1. 1946.
^ Borrell, John (1990-08-06). "Yugoslavia The Old Demons Arise". TIME Magazine. Retrieved 2007-01-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)