Yugoslavia Yugoslavia is a GMIC-section

[Christian Zulus]

Was Yugoslavia a communist country? Will also edit to ask what it had to do with the Soviet Union?

Bizzarre.

Did'nt seem like it when I was there in the late 80's.

C

Dear Colin,

very good question .

Well, I would say, that in the 1950s - 1960s Yugoslavia converted to a rather "socialdemocratic" country, but with authoritairian structures. Somehow a vital "melange" between Sweden and China , despite the fact, that life in Yugoslavia was rather free & liberal and the YU-Passport had been the best passport in the world: No visas to East or West .

Communsim - or Socialism - has a broad range of types of social systems and "Titoism" is just one part in the history of Socialism.

Best regards

Christian

[Ed_Haynes]

It boils down, I guess, to a matter of definition. Yugoslavia, while it followed its own unique path under Tito, was clearly neither capitalist nor a Cold-War ally of the USA and its chums in NATO. Remember that, together with people like Nehru and Nasser, Tito was founder of the non-alligned movement, and that Yugoslavia maintained a distinctly socialist economy. Phaleristically, it falls easily into a wider "Communist/Socialist" world. Only if one expects any sort of doctrinal adherence to a mythical "Communist" monolithic ideology world its inclusion here seem strange?

The Yugoslavia we examine here was a very different creature from what was earlier allied to Hitler or what now exists in post-Tito fragments.

[Bob]

Well done, everyone!

Despite the absence of a good, English-language reference book, a great deal of information has been brought together here. We just need - to catch up with Mongolia and Albania -- THAT BOOK?!

180168190414

can't comment on if it's "good" but at least it's english!

[Christian Zulus]

Dear Ed,

wise words .

The founding of the Non-Aligned Movement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement had been an important role of Yugoslavia in it's history. The acting Secretary General of that organization is since 2006 comrade Fidel Castro.

But I had the same impressions like Colin already in the 1960s (I visited YU the first time in 1962): There had been not so much difference to Italy or Austria - you couldn't "feel" communism .

Best regards

Christian

It boils down, I guess, to a matter of definition. Yugoslavia, while it followed its own unique path under Tito, was clearly neither capitalist nor a Cold-War ally of the USA and its chums in NATO. Remember that, together with people like Nehru and Nasser, Tito was founder of the non-alligned movement, and that Yugoslavia maintained a distinctly socialist economy. Phaleristically, it falls easily into a wider "Communist/Socialist" world. Only if one expects any sort of doctrinal adherence to a mythical "Communist" monolithic ideology world its inclusion here seem strange?

The Yugoslavia we examine here was a very different creature from what was earlier allied to Hitler or what now exists in post-Tito fragments.

[Christian Zulus]

180168190414

can't comment on if it's "good" but at least it's english!

Dear Bob,

I think, there will be a comprehensive book about communist YU-awards next year: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=213259 .

Best regards

Christian