Open AccessThe Kremlin and the Politics of Yugoslavia during the Years of the Soviet-Yugoslav Conflict, 1948–1953
Author(s) -
Аникеев Анатолий Семёнович
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
slavânskij mir v tretʹem tysâčeletii
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2782-442X
pISSN - 2412-6446
DOI - 10.31168/2412-6446.2020.15.3-4.05
Subject(s) - communism , nationalism , marxist philosophy , politics , political science , socialism , internationalism (politics) , foreign policy , democracy , political economy , criticism , sociology , law
Using extensive material from Russian archives, this article analyzes the problem of the Soviet leadership’s perception of the domestic and foreign policy of Yugoslavia during the years of the Soviet-Yugoslav conflict that arose in 1948. The article shows how relations developed between the two countries in the first post-war years, and what requirements were made of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) in the Kremlin: loyalty to Marxist theory, the idea of internationalism, and comprehensive support for the slogan of unity of all countries of “people’s democracy” led by the USSR. The article examines the process of gradual orientation towards the priority of national interests that the CPY leadership undertook and the subsequent reaction of Moscow, which accused the CPY of revisionism and nationalism. The nature of the contradictions between the two communist parties is investigated in the context of the geopolitical strategy of the USSR at that time and the regional policy of Yugoslavia. The refusal of Tito and his associates to admit the Kremlin’s accusations laid the foundation for the search for their own “authentic” model of socialism, based on “true” Marxist theory, free from the distortions of Stalinism, which was defined in Belgrade as state-bureaucratic capitalism. The gradual formation and evolution of the Yugoslav model, reforms in the economy and social sphere, and the introduction of workers’ self-government, which took place in the early 1950s, became the object of close attention and total criticism from the Soviet leadership. Moscow closely followed the foreign policy of Yugoslavia, whose main priority at that time was to preserve the country’s independence by any means. The rapprochement of Yugoslavia with the United States and other Western countries caused particular concern and irritation to the Kremlin, which believed that this would help strengthen NATO in the region and weaken the position of the Soviet bloc.