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NATIONALISM IN YUGOSLAVIA
TITO AND COMMUNIST CONTROL
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NATIONALISM IN YUGOSLAVIA
TITO AND COMMUNIST CONTROL
As Tito consolidated his Communist control of Yugoslavia, a centralized Soviet-style state was created. Most sectors of the economy were nationalized by 1946 and repression of the opposition followed. Development of industry, as opposed to agriculture, was emphasized and no widespread collectivization ever occurred. A series of five-year plans produced only mixed gains until moderate economic reforms starting in 1965 met with success. Tito remained absolute ruler of the country until his death in 1980, but he eventually allowed some decentralization and autonomy for the six ethnically based republics of Yugoslavia.
Following a split with the Soviet Union in 1948, Yugoslavia became a leader in the global nonaligned movement. Soviet-Yugoslav conflict lessened following Stalin's death in 1953, but Yugoslavia never joined the Warsaw Pact, or Comecon. Instead, Tito sought better relations with the West, perhaps to offset Yugoslavia's stagnating economic growth in the 1970s. After Tito's death in 1980, Yugoslavia was wracked by high inflation, increasing unemployment, and low productivity. Collective leadership after Tito's death was unsuccessful. The weakening of Soviet-style Communism and the lack of a dominant leader allowed ethnically based nationalism to tear the country apart by 1990.
In January of 1990, the Communist Party lost its monopoly on power. In December of 1990, the Serbs elected the ultra-nationalist Slobodan Milosevic as president. On June 25, 1991,Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence, which the Serb-dominated central government refused to recognize. The first of a continuing series of two-way and three-way civil wars followed as Serbia sought to retain control of major regions of the former Yugoslavia. Croatia and Slovenia successfully defended their newfound independence, but also sometimes fought each other. Croatia eventually lost a third of its territory to Serbia. Soon thereafter, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzogovina (December, 1991; February-March, 1992) seceded as well. On March 27,1992, a "rump" Yugoslavia consisting only of Serbia and Montenegro tacitly recognized the secession of Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia.
Civil wars now raged throughout the former Yugoslavia, with Bosnian Muslims being the least powerful force and most victimized people of the region. Bosnian territory was invaded by both the Croats and the Serbs. In a confused atmosphere, the Yugoslav Serbs claimed that Bosnian Serbs under Radovan Karadzic were acting independently of their government; however, the world community quickly judged the Yugoslav Serbs and Bosnian Serbs to be equally complicit in the slaughter of weak Bosnia. The Serb policy of "ethnic cleansing" and brutal use of murder and other forms of terror brought world condemnation, but little concrete action.
In June of 1993, the United Nations declared six areas "safe havens," but failed to enforce peace there effectively. Most Bosnian areas were under near-constant attack by Serbs (and occasionally, Croats) until more active involvement by the West&emdash;from NATO and the U.S., for example&emdash; brought some relief in 1995-1996. The Dayton Accords of November 1995 sought a lasting peace, but Bosnia had already been effectively dismembered and its largely Muslim population devastated for decades to come. It remains to be seen whether the Dayton Accords' reapportionment of the former Bosnia-Herzegovina between Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Serbs will succeed.
Lloyd, James H. (ed) Comparing Nations: Case Studies. Los Angeles: West Publishing, 1999. (pp. 188-189)
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NATIONALISM IN UKRAINE
STALIN
Following the end of the war, in mid-1945, Stalin cunningly engineered acceptance of the Ukrainian S.S.R. as an "independent" charter member of the new United Nations. Domestically, Ukraine was absolutely devastated by the war. Between five and seven million Ukrainians had died, perhaps ten million were homeless, and the cities and villages of Ukraine were largely destroyed. Ukraine's material wealth was reduced by nearly one-half. The return of Stalinist rule brought more repression and emphasis on "Sovietization" of Ukraine's society and economy. Years of recovery were necessary before industrial and agricultural production reached prewar levels. More than one-half million Ukrainians were deported between 1945-1950 to ensure that no resurgence of nationalism would occur.
After Stalin's death in 1953, Khrushchev's rise to power raised the possibility of moderate improvement for the people of Ukraine. Khrushchev had climbed the Soviet ladder with long years of work in Ukraine. However, de-Stalinization under Khrushchev brought only minor improvements in the living standard and minimal decentralization for Ukraine.
Following Khrushchev, Brezhnev reinstituted a more Stalinist style of rule and simply reversed many of Ukraine's hard-won efforts to gain more nationalist autonomy. Meanwhile, Ukraine's economic performance stagnated throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 became a huge rallying cry for Ukrainian nationalists. Prompted by a combination of reaction to Chernobyl and unprecedented "openness" and "restructuring" under the new Soviet leader Gorbachev in 1985-1986, a true Ukrainian independence drive was rapidly forming.
Ukrainians seized on Chernobyl as a symbol of all that was historically wrong and repressive about Soviet and Russian rule over Ukraine. Celebration of Ukrainian language and culture intensified and more nationalist autonomy for the Ukrainian S.S.R. was soon demanded.
Ukrainian activism did much to hasten the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union. Elections in 1989 brought many non-Communist candidates into office. True parliamentary democracy began in March of 1990 when the monopoly hold of the Communist Party was finally broken. Following an abortive coup in August of 1991 by opponents of Gorbachev, Ukraine declared its full independence on August 24, 1991.
Ukrainian independence has allowed unprecedented celebration of the indigenous culture. However, decades of repressive Russian-dominated Soviet Communism has made rediscovery of Ukrainian culture much more difficult. Many challenges for the future remain, but, overall, the unifying force of Ukrainian nationalism offers much hope.
Lloyd, James H. (ed) Comparing Nations: Case Studies. Los Angeles: West Publishing, 1999. (pp. 187-188)
HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE CONTENT STANDARDS
10.9 Students analyze the international developments in the post-World World War II world.
For additional information see the California Department of Education web site at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf
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