Editing Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992)

<blockquote>''"Yugoslavia" redirects here. For the kingdom, see [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941)]]. For its successor rump state, see [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2006)]].''</blockquote>{{Infobox country|name=Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|national_languages=Macedonian<br>Serbo-Croatian<br>Slovene|capital=[[Belgrade]]|population_estimate_year=2021|population_estimate=23,229,846|area_km2=255,804|government_type=One-party parliamentary republic|mode_of_production=[[Socialism]]|image_map_size=200|native_name=Социјалистичка Федеративна Република Југославија<br>Socialistična Federativna Republika Jugoslavija|year_end=1992|year_start=1945|image_map=Yugoslavia map.png|image_symbol=Yugoslav COA.png|symbol_type=Emblem|image_flag=Yugoslav flag.png|largest_city=[[Belgrade]]}}
'''Yugoslavia''', officially the '''Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia''', was a [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-aligned]] [[socialist state]] in the [[Balkans]]. It was a multiethnic federation that consisted of 28 [[Nation|nationalities]].<ref name=":03">{{Citation|author=[[Michael Parenti]]|year=2000|title=To Kill a Nation|chapter=Hypocritical Humanitarianism|page=13|pdf=https://leftychan.net/edu/src/1614706295182-3.pdf|publisher=Verso}}</ref> The [[United States of America|USA]] tolerated Yugoslavia's existence during the [[Cold War]] because it served as a buffer against the [[Warsaw Pact]], but the United States turned against it soon after.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=[[Michael Parenti]]|year=2000|title=To Kill a Nation|page=17–18|chapter=Third Worldization|publisher=Verso|pdf=https://leftychan.net/edu/src/1614706295182-3.pdf}}</ref>

==History==

===Second World War===
In April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by [[Fascism|fascist]] armies from [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Germany]], [[Kingdom of Italy (1922-1943)|Italy]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]], [[Kingdom of Romania (1881–1947)|Romania]], and [[Kingdom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)|Bulgaria]]. The country was split into German and Italian zones of control. A partisan resistance movement began in the summer of 1941 and grew to an army of 800,000 by 1944, when the partisans and the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet]] [[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Red Army]] liberated Belgrade.<ref name=":1">{{News citation|author=Richard Becker|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=Yugoslavia: Nationalist competition opened door to imperialist intervention|date=2005-10-01|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/yugoslavia-nationalist-competition-opened-door-to-imperialist-intervention/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123173046/https://www.liberationschool.org/yugoslavia-nationalist-competition-opened-door-to-imperialist-intervention/|archive-date=2022-01-23|retrieved=2022-06-21}}</ref> The party grew from 12,000 at the start of the war to 148,000 at the end, but the new membership included some [[Kulak|kulaks]] and [[Petty bourgeoisie|petty bourgeois]] who had opposed the Nazis.<ref name=":02233232">{{Citation|author=Ludo Martens|year=1996|title=Another View of Stalin|chapter=From Stalin to Khrushchev|isbn=9782872620814|publisher=Editions EPO|pdf=https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/bafykbzaceab64vxtxpqt2cdl4zsrsftmedqidn4foq74gr25qkd35z5nwogdi?filename=Ludo%20Martens%20-%20Another%20View%20of%20Stalin-Editions%20EPO%20%281996%29.pdf|page=246–247}}</ref>

===Postwar period===
After the war, the [[Council of National Liberation]] was established as the new organ of state power. In 1946, it created the People's Federative Republic of Yugoslavia with six republics and two autonomous regions, both in [[Socialist Republic of Serbia (1944–1992)|Serbia]]. The General Secretary of the ruling [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia]] was [[Josip Broz Tito]]. Other party leaders included Serbian [[Alexander Ranković]], [[Socialist Republic of Montenegro (1945–1992)|Montenegrin]] [[Milovan Djilas]], and [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia (1945–1991)|Slovenian]] [[Edvard Kardelj]].

In June 1948, the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]] and [[Eastern Bloc]] broke relations with Yugoslavia, disrupting its five-year plan and increasing its trade deficit.<ref name=":1" /> Following the split, Tito began a purge against pro-[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] elements of the party and arrested 100,000 to 200,000 people. He considered the USSR to be a mix of [[feudalism]] and [[state capitalism]].<ref name=":02233232" />

In 1950, Yugoslavia began a policy of [[workers' self-management]] and passed a law stating that the [[means of production]] should be controlled by workers' councils.<ref name=":1" /> Tito legalized buying and selling land in 1953.<ref name=":02233232" />

===Market socialism===
In the 1960s, Yugoslavia moved to [[market socialism]]. The productive forces stayed in control of the state, but goods were produced and sold according to the market. By 1968, almost 80% of investment came from enterprises and banks. Market policies increased petty-bourgeois [[nationalism]], especially in [[Socialist Republic of Croatia (1943–1991)|Croatia]] and Slovenia.<ref name=":1" />

In 1974, Yugoslavia adopted a new constitution that decentralized the government.<ref name=":1" />

===Decline and IMF austerity===
After Tito's death in 1980, the [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]] imposed an austerity program on Yugoslavia, increasing unemployment.<ref name=":1" /> The IMF and [[The World Bank|World Bank]] forced Yugoslavia to freeze wages, eliminate price subsidies and most worker-managed enterprises, and cut social spending. They decreased domestic production by allowing unlimited foreign capital into the country.<ref name=":3">{{Citation|author=[[Michael Parenti]]|year=2000|title=To Kill a Nation|page=20–21|chapter=Third Worldization|publisher=Verso|pdf=https://leftychan.net/edu/src/1614706295182-3.pdf}}</ref> By 1991, unemployment had reached 20% and annual inflation was about 200%,<ref name=":1" /> and the annual economic growth rate in 1990 was -10%.<ref name=":3" />

=== Yugoslav Wars ===
{{Main article|Yugoslav Wars}}
Croatia and Slovenia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991 with support from the United States and [[Federal Republic of Germany|Germany]]. [[Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1943–1992)|Bosnia and Herzegovina]] broke away in April 1992, reducing Yugoslavia to only [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2006)|Serbia and Montenegro]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Victor Penn|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=Yugoslavia: Ten years after the NATO massacre|date=2009-03-31|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/09-03-31-yugoslavia-ten-years-after-nato-html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506081614/https://www.liberationnews.org/09-03-31-yugoslavia-ten-years-after-nato-html/|archive-date=2022-05-06|retrieved=2022-09-09}}</ref>

==Economy==
From 1939 to 1975, income tripled and industrial development increased by nine times.<ref name=":1" /> Between 1952 and 1979, Yugoslavia's economy grew by almost 400%. The economy began to stagnate after Tito's death.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=Latinka Perović, et al.|year=2017|title=Yugoslavia from a Historical Perspective|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113132255/http://www.yuhistorija.com/doc/yugoslavia%20from%20a%20historical%20perspective.pdf|city=Belgrade|publisher=Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia}}</ref> The republics of Slovenia and Croatia and the autonomous province of [[Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (1945–1990)|Vojvodina]] were the most economically developed and had the highest per capita income. The southern areas of Montenegro, [[Socialist Republic of Macedonia (1944–1991)|Macedonia]], and [[Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo (1945–1990)|Kosovo]] were the least developed, although the government subsidized more development in these regions.<ref name=":1" />

Large and medium-scale industry, transport, and [[Bank|banking]] were nationalized in Yugoslavia.'''<ref name=":02">{{Citation|year=1954|title=Political Economy|chapter=The Economic System of the People's Democracies in Europe|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/subject/economy/authors/pe/pe-ch41.htm|section=The Character of the People's Democratic Revolution|mia=https://www.marxists.org/subject/economy/authors/pe/index.htm}}</ref>''' 60% of [[Proletariat|workers]] remained in the public sector as late as 1990. Citizens had a guaranteed right to an income and a month of paid vacation.<ref name=":2" />

==Living standards==

===Healthcare===
Yugoslavia had [[Universal healthcare|free medical care]].<ref name=":2" /> From 1939 to 1978, the number of hospital beds per 10,000 people increased from 19 to 60 and the number of physicians increased by 400%, while infant mortality decreased by 75%. Diphtheria, malaria, and typhus were also eliminated. 82% of the population was covered by health insurance.<ref>{{Citation|author=Muhamed Saric, Victor R. Godwin|title=The Once and Future Health System in the Former Yugoslavia: Myths and Realities|title-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060917174823/http://www.nyu.edu/projects/rodwin/future.html|publisher=New York University}}</ref> From 1948 to 1981, the life expectancy increased from 53 years for women and 48.6 years for men to 73.2 and 67.7 years, respectively. By 1966, Yugoslavia's mortality rate decreased to 8.1 deaths per thousand people, which was lower than [[French Republic|France]] or the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|UK]] at the time.<ref name=":0" />

===Housing===
Every year from the early 1960's to the 1980's, over 100,000 apartments were built and given to workers. By the late 1970's, all three-member worker households had electricity and almost all had plumbing.<ref name=":0" />

===Literacy===
From 1948 to 1981, illiteracy for ages ten and up decreased from 25.4% to 9.5%. In 1921, more than half of the adult population had been illiterate.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Former socialist states]]