By Nolan J and Dan S

In the time of Marshal Tito, Yugoslavia looked like this as a union of several nations acting as one.

A Brief History of Yugoslavia

In modern times, the former republic of Yugoslavia only remains as Macedonia.

Starting in 1918, Yugoslavia was ruled by a constituent assembly. From 1918 to 1928, the state functioned ordinarily with no significant political happenings. In 1929, King Alexander I took power and outlawed all political groups, particularly communist parties.

In 1934, King Alexander was assassinated by a Croatian fascist on a trip to Marseilles. His successor was 11 year old King Peter II, and the country was run by a regency headed up by Prince Paul, Alexander’s cousin. When Prince Paul signed the Tripartite Treaty with Germany on March 25, 1941 he lost popular support and when he returned to Yugoslavia he was exiled as a result of a coup d'état headed by Army General Dušan Simović. The General then appointed the now 17 year old King Peter as the sole leader.

Prior to Marshal Tito

Under the rule of the monarchs, Yugoslavia was very repressed with minimal political freedoms and harsh working conditions. As a result, more and more support was gained by communist parties either working outside the country or underground.

In 1941 Germany invaded Yugoslavia. After 11 days of fighting, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrendered to the axis and was occupied. However the communist Yugoslav Partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito, immediately created a resistance and experienced great success by using guerrilla warfare. The Partisans developed into the largest resistance army in Europe, eventually removing the Axis entirely from the Yugoslavian republics in 1945.

Leading up to Marshal Tito

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After the war, Marshal Tito was democratically elected by the people of Yugoslavia by a massive majority. His official position was the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. At this point the country was known as the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, whish soon became the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. With Stalin’s support, Tito assumed full dictatorial power with the support and consent of the Yugoslavian people.

Rise to Power

Stop sending people to kill me. We've already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle (...) If you don't stop sending killers, I'll send one to Moscow, and I won't have to send a second.

—Josip Broz Tito(Wikipedia)

Epic Quotes bank

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•When Tito first came to power as secretary General of Yugoslavia in 1937, he cleared the communist party of any disloyal or untrustworthy party members. Tito then completely over-hauled the platforms and policies of the communist party that were supported by the people of Yugoslavia. For the first time the entire nation of Yugoslavia was united, and wanted to persevere their nation rather than separate into different nations.

•During the second world war Yugoslavia was divided by two resistance forces leaders, Tito and Mihajlovic. Tito’s forces prompted national unity and resistance to the Axis powers, while Mihajlovic was cooperating with the axis. The conflict between the two forces led to a civil war, won by the Tito forces.

•After the second world war, Tito had accomplished the most effective communist resistance in history, Tito had held off the axis. While converting Yugoslavia to communism by abolishing the class structure, he also restructured the economic system.

Tito’s Rise To Power

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•After the second world war, Tito put Yugoslavia through an intense form of dictatorship because he wanted to turn Yugoslavia into a nation that worked similar to the Soviet Union. In the early years of Tito’s dictatorship he did not collectivize the Yugoslavian land, but he did force the small land farmer to provide large portions of their produce to the state. Under Tito rule the nation was more united then ever, and felt a desire to remain a nation.

A New Age

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•Tito sought to improve life. Unlike others who rose to power on the communist wave after World War II, Tito did not long demand that his people suffer for a distant vision of a better life. After an initial Soviet-influenced bleak period, Tito moved toward radical improvement of life in the country. Yugoslavia gradually became a bright spot amid the general grayness of Eastern Europe.

•—The New York Times, May 5 1980

Titoism

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Titoism was a special kind of communism that still had free-market and consumerism focuses. The people had certain rights that differed from classic communism. These were such things as workers’ self-management and allowing employees to have decision-sharing roles. The people were also allowed to travel abroad. Tito’s general approach was to make life for his people pleasurable.

Titoism

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On May 4th 1980 at 3:05 pm marshal Joseph Tito died. Shortly before his death his leg was amputated due to circulation problems. He was buried in a mausoleum in Belgrade. The Yugoslavs were worried that Tito’s successor would not be able to hold Yugoslavia together due to ethnic differences in the Yugoslav people. Conflict increased, and a series of Yugoslav wars broke out causing Yugoslavia to be separated in 1995. As a nation Yugoslavia was better off with Tito in power because he kept the country united.

Tito’s death

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http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/tito_josip_broz.jsp

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/topics/tito-obit.pdf

http://www.notablebiographies.com/St-Tr/Tito-Marshal.html

Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Broz_Tito

Bibliography