yugoslavias implosion

Security Service (Uprava Državne Bezbednosti, or udb) 167 played a
key role in supporting Tito’s resistance to and struggle against Soviet
pressure in the nov and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (kpj)
and in ensuring Tito’s survival. Army officers were mostly trained
and educated in the ussr after the war; Tito relied on the udb out of
fear of the Army’s loyalty to Stalin.
Between 1954 and 1964, Yugoslavia enjoyed one of the highest
growth rates in the world; the gross national product increased by 80
percent, industrial output doubled, agricultural output increased by
40 percent, the per capita national income increased annually by 7.6
percent, total exports rose by 121 percent, and total imports increased
by 98 percent. Yet such robust growth could not be sustained in the
face of the limitations of the centralist administrative system. Vast
amounts of the national budget were spent on the Army; by 1990, the
sfry earmarked 4.6 percent of its national income (u.s. $2.5 billion)
for the ypa, which was the fourth largest force in Europe. 168 The
incongruity between economic growth and the centralist administrative
system was the main reason behind Yugoslavia’s ongoing
national debate about democratization and decentralization. The
Army was seen as a guarantor of the integrity of Yugoslavia.
The Army resumed its political role in supporting the regime
after wide-reaching purges in the 1960s. In 1966, citing “various
deformities in the work of the State Security Service” 169 (i.e., misconduct
and alleged eavesdropping on Tito), the Brioni Plenum dismissed
State Security Service head Aleksandar Ranković and others.
Ranković was removed because he was blocking the implementation
167 The State Security Service (UDB) was set up in 1946; it was part of the Federal
Secretariat for Internal Affairs and was led by Aleksandar Rankovic .
168 According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, The Military Balance, 1990–91
(London: IISS), pp . 95–96, at the outbreak of the recent Balkan war, the YPA numbered 180,000,
including 100,000 conscripts (when the members of the Territorial Defense organization
were included, the total number of troops approached two million) . At the time, the YPA had
1,850 tanks, 2,000 artillery pieces, 455 combat aircraft, 198 helicopters, and 60 warships .
169 Latinka Perović, Zatvaranje kruga (Closing the Circle), Svijetlost, Sarajevo, 1990, p . 41 .
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