Following the end of the Second World War, Marshall Tito, former leader of the Partisans, lead the ethnically diverse, if not artificial, state of Yugoslavia into a new age of optimism that lasted for three decades. Unfortunately, this age ended with his death. His death, along with the fall of the Soviet Union a decade later, left the fate of Yugoslavia, and its many peoples, uncertain. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and its satellites in 1989, a feeling of uncertainty tainted the air in many countries. Both violent and non-violent revolutions plagued most countries and borders that lasted the century began to change. The existing ethnic divides in countries such as Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union resulted in many once united states
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Tito’s Croatian mother and Slovenian mother gave Tito a mixed heritage and an ability to relate to two prominent, Southeastern ethnic groups. Consequentially, Tito appealed to both prominent ethnic groups while he benevolently reigned over the Yugoslavian state. In the aftermath of World War II, “Tito rebuilt a country (Yugoslavia),” whereas, in the aftermath of the fall of Soviet Union, “Milosevic destroyed Yugoslavia,” (Dusko, 64) Tito was universally loved by his people for his non-alignment policy. He remained neutral during the cold war and, despite being a Communist, never allied Yugoslavia with the Soviet Bloc. Tito remained an iconic, legendary figure in Yugoslavian culture as Milosevic came to power. Even Milosevic, “modeled himself after… Marshall Tito,” out of both respect and because of the people’s great love for him (Dusko, 63) . Unfortunately, there was a major power vacuum following Tito’s death. The whole government and culture of Yugoslavia revolved around him so, in turn, Yugoslavia collapsed into near anarchy with his passing. Slobodan Milosevic, despite attempting to model himself after Tito, was unable to fill the void left by his …show more content…
Despite promoting racial bigotry in his country, Milosevic chants in favor of both the Serbian people and for the endurance of “peace and brotherhood among peoples,” at his famous St. Vitus Day speech at Kosovo Field, a former battleground against the Ottoman Empire (Milosevic, 3). Milosevic ignored the pleas of those who want secede peacefully from Yugoslavia and tries to keep Yugoslavia together. At the same time, Milosevic attempted to expand Serbian holdings throughout other regions of Yugoslavia. If Milosevic had let Croatia and Slovenia secede peacefully, then he could have prevented both the violent, incoming civil war and genocide. He also ignored officials within his own government who campaigned on the “transformation of Yugoslavia into a confederation,”(Allcock, 2). Milosevic, if he gave Croatia and Slovenia slightly more autonomy, could have eased the existing racial tensions in Yugoslavia. The possible formation of federation of Yugoslavian peoples acted to keep unity among the Yugoslavian peoples and give them slight freedom at the same time. Unfortunately, Slobodan Milosevic hated compromise and refused to let Yugoslavia transform into a federation. This deafness to the pleas of his people lead to the violent civil war and genocide, and the disunity that still exists in
Tito’s Croatian mother and Slovenian mother gave Tito a mixed heritage and an ability to relate to two prominent, Southeastern ethnic groups. Consequentially, Tito appealed to both prominent ethnic groups while he benevolently reigned over the Yugoslavian state. In the aftermath of World War II, “Tito rebuilt a country (Yugoslavia),” whereas, in the aftermath of the fall of Soviet Union, “Milosevic destroyed Yugoslavia,” (Dusko, 64) Tito was universally loved by his people for his non-alignment policy. He remained neutral during the cold war and, despite being a Communist, never allied Yugoslavia with the Soviet Bloc. Tito remained an iconic, legendary figure in Yugoslavian culture as Milosevic came to power. Even Milosevic, “modeled himself after… Marshall Tito,” out of both respect and because of the people’s great love for him (Dusko, 63) . Unfortunately, there was a major power vacuum following Tito’s death. The whole government and culture of Yugoslavia revolved around him so, in turn, Yugoslavia collapsed into near anarchy with his passing. Slobodan Milosevic, despite attempting to model himself after Tito, was unable to fill the void left by his …show more content…
Despite promoting racial bigotry in his country, Milosevic chants in favor of both the Serbian people and for the endurance of “peace and brotherhood among peoples,” at his famous St. Vitus Day speech at Kosovo Field, a former battleground against the Ottoman Empire (Milosevic, 3). Milosevic ignored the pleas of those who want secede peacefully from Yugoslavia and tries to keep Yugoslavia together. At the same time, Milosevic attempted to expand Serbian holdings throughout other regions of Yugoslavia. If Milosevic had let Croatia and Slovenia secede peacefully, then he could have prevented both the violent, incoming civil war and genocide. He also ignored officials within his own government who campaigned on the “transformation of Yugoslavia into a confederation,”(Allcock, 2). Milosevic, if he gave Croatia and Slovenia slightly more autonomy, could have eased the existing racial tensions in Yugoslavia. The possible formation of federation of Yugoslavian peoples acted to keep unity among the Yugoslavian peoples and give them slight freedom at the same time. Unfortunately, Slobodan Milosevic hated compromise and refused to let Yugoslavia transform into a federation. This deafness to the pleas of his people lead to the violent civil war and genocide, and the disunity that still exists in