Tito-Stalin split

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The Tito-Stalin Split was a conflict between the leaders of Yugoslavia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which resulted in Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) in 1948. It was ostensibly caused by Yugoslavia's disloyalty to the USSR and socialism in general, but most evidence suggests it had more to do with Josip Broz Tito's national pride and refusal to submit fully to Josef Stalin's will.

Contents

1 Origins
2 First Cominform
3 Trip to Moscow
4 Letter exchange
5 Second Cominform
6 Results
7 Further reading
8 External links

Origins

Unlike the other new communist states in Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia's Communist Party (CPY) was largely successful in liberating itself from Axis domination, needing less help from the Red Army than others. Tito's leading role in liberating Yugoslavia not only greatly strengthened his position in his party and among the Yugoslav people, but also caused him to be more insistent that Yugoslavia have some room for independent policy than other Eastern European leaders who were beholden to the Soviets. This had already led to some friction between the two countries before World War II was even over. The Soviets had set up a spy ring in the Yugoslav party as early as 1945.

First Cominform

However, the world still saw the two countries as the closest of allies. This was evident at the first meeting of the Cominform in 1947. The Yugoslav representatives were the most strident critics of communists parties that were held to be insufficiently devoted to the cause, specifically the Italian and French parties for engaging in coalition politics. They were essentially arguing Soviet positions. The headquarters for Cominform were even set up in Belgrade. However, all was not well between the two countries, due to a number of disputes.

Trip to Moscow

The friction that led to the ultimate split had many causes. Yugoslavs had found that joint-stock companies favored in the Soviet Union were not effective in Yugoslavia. Also, Tito's deployment of troops in Albania to protect them from a civil war in Greece, without consulting the Soviets, had greatly angered Stalin. Finally, Stalin was enraged by Tito's initiative in pursuing a federation with Bulgaria, an idea which he agreed to in theory, but which had also happened without Soviet consultation. He summoned two of Tito's officials, Milovan Đilas and Edvard Kardelj, to Moscow to discuss these matters. From the brow-beating and intimidation that took place during these talks, the two became convinced that Yugoslav-Soviet relations had already reached an impasse, and that the Soviets were determined to force them to toe the line.

Letter exchange

Between the trip to Moscow and the second meeting of the Cominform, the CPSU and CPY exchanged a series of letters in which they aired out their grievances. The first CPSU letter, on March 27, 1948, accused the Yugoslavs of denigrating Soviet socialism by making statements such as "'socialism in the Soviet Union has ceased to be revolutionary.'" It also stated that the CPY was not democratic enough, and that it was not acting as a vanguard that would lead the country to socialism. It said "we cannot consider such a Communist party organization to be Marxist-Leninist, Bolshevik." The CPY response on April 13 strongly denied the Soviet accusations and defended the revolutionary nature of the party, and its high opinion of the Soviet Union. However, it added that "No matter how much each of us loves the land of socialism, the USSR, he can, in no case, love his own country less." The Soviet answer on May 4 admonished the CPY for failing to admit and correct its mistakes, and went on to accuse the CPY of being too proud of their successes against the Germans, saying that the Red Army had saved them from destruction. They CPY's response on May 17 exasperatedly suggested that the matter be settled at the meeting of the Cominform, which was to take place in June.

Second Cominform

Tito did not even attend the second meeting of the Cominform, knowing that Yugoslavia was to be openly attacked. On June 28, the other member countries expelled Yugoslavia, citing "nationalist elements" that had "managed in the course of the past five or six months to reach a dominant position in the leadership" of the CPY. The resolution warned Yugoslavia that it was on the path back to bourgeoise capitalism due to its nationalist, independence-minded positions.

Results

The expulsion effectively banished Yugoslavia from the international brotherhood of socialist states. After the expulsion, Tito violently suppressed people who supported the resolution, calling them "Cominformists," see Informbiro article. Many were sent to a gulag-like prison camp at Goli otok.

Likewise, the other socialist states of Eastern Europe underwent massive purges, with many show trials of alleged "Titoists." Titoism was associated with the position that countries should take a national road to socialism different from that of the Soviet Union. This had been allowed in the years directly after World War II but was suppressed in the last years of Stalinism. After Stalin's death and the repudiation of his policies by Nikita Khrushchev, Tito was reinstated and Yugoslavia re-admitted into the international brotherhood of socialist states.

Tito used the estrangement from the USSR to become involved the non-aligned movement, in which Yugoslavia was a leading force. The event was important not only for Yugoslavia's history and Tito's career, but also for the development of socialism globally. It was the first major split among communist states. Communist disunity cast doubt on the idea that socialism was to be a unified force that would eventually sweep across the whole world.

External links

[Behind the Tito-Stalin Clash]

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