Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia came into existence in 1918 right after the first World War. Before the first World War Yugoslav lands were a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but after the Empire's dissolution the lands and their many different peoples were forced to be a part of one nationstate. Before being invaded by the axis powers Yugoslavia was a kingdom, after the second World War the Communist Party of Yugoslavia established a one party state headed by Josip Broz Tito. Even though Josip Broz Tito and the CPY(Communist Party of Yugoslavia) were allies with Stalin during the war against the Axis they had a major falling out as Yugoslavia defied Moscow openly. Yugoslavia had liberated itself during the war, thus had no obligation to be under Moscow's boot, it was then shortly after kicked from Comecon. Being the only Communist state to defy Moscow it gained attention from the West, the US offered economic assistance to which Josip Broz Tito accepted the aid. After Stalin's death the tensions between Moscow and Yugoslavia relaxed, they even started to get economic aid from the Eastern Bloc, now benefiting from both East and West economic aid. While the Communist Party ruled, they did not have a centralized economy modeled from the latest Communist fad, Josip Broz Tito wanted to make both East and West happy so he created a system known as Market Socialism. This economic system let the markets guide production while also nationalizing all industry with worker self-management, the system was a success and made the country richer than even some West nations. Unfortunately the system would come to an end when the country broke up into different nations that hate one another to this day.

Josip Broz Tito was the dictator of Yugoslavia, some regarded him as a hero and others a typical dictator. He was the man that kept so many people that hated one another united in one Federation, he was the man that took back his home from the Axis Powers with little to no help from the outside, and he was the man that defied Stalin. While Josip Broz Tito could easily be seen as a hero let us keep in mind that he constantly eliminated political opponents, denied elections, declared himself the President of his nation for life, and allowed human rights abuses. Tito was the reason Yugoslavia escaped from being under the boot of Moscow, having defied Stalin and becoming the only Communist to do so. The rivalry between Stalin and Tito was intense, more than a couple assassination attempts were put on Tito's life by Stalin, but Tito had none of it and sent a letter to Stalin that said the following: "Stalin, 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."