The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

change. In the underground and during the war, Tito had risen to the
leadership of the people and then to the presidency of a prosperous
country on the side of the non-aligned states; it was an international beacon
of hope.
During the last decade of his life, nothing politically important happened
in the country. Tito’s reputation as a leader of the non-aligned states mere -
ly grew. When he died in 1980, the whole country was in mourning.
“Comrade Tito, we swear to you that we will not deviate from your
path”, was one song sung to ward off the fear of change in a state which
had lost its most important integrating identity figure.
Tito always emphasized the importance of the army, which guaranteed
his power, and was to defend the country externally and internally. He
therefore gave it political decision-making powers greater than those of
the party. As the successor to the partisans, the army in Yugoslavia enjoyed
an unchallenged, specially privileged position. Its command had a
seat in the Presidium, the highest political body in the country. The sal -
aries of the officers were among the highest in the country; they got
the best flats, and could start their well-paid retirement at the age of
forty-five, their children received preferential treatment for university applications,
grants and the best jobs. Since Yugoslavia saw itself as a
country threatened from both east and west, the Yugoslav People’s
Army was the fourth-strongest in Europe. It had many weapons factories,
which also produced for personal use and for export. With the disintegration
of Yugoslavia, the army command saw its communist ideals
collapse, and was threatened with the loss of its privileges, and of some
70,000 professional soldiers.
After the Second World War, communist Yugoslavia was initially the
most faithful and devoted ally of the Soviet Union. After the break be -
tween Tito and Stalin in 1948, Yugoslavia made use of its status as a
non-aligned country, which meant that it was tied into the Cold War in a
special way. Independence from the Soviet Union was achieved before
the founding of Nato in 1949 and the Warsaw Pact in 1955, so that both
blocks tolerated Yugoslavia’s special position. Even during the Cold War,
Yugoslavia played an important role as a model socialist country; after
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