yugoslavias implosion

in accordance with cpsu general-secretary Leonid Brezhnev’s doctrine
of limited sovereignty. The events in Czechoslovakia in 1968 had
a great effect on Yugoslavia, particularly in terms of its effort to preserve
its national sovereignty. Yugoslavia strongly supported Czechoslovakia,
and the concept of a system of “total national defense”—the
militarization of society “to strengthen the influence of the military
factor in all spheres of life”—began to evolve. 176
Aware of the complexity of intercommunal relations in Yugoslavia,
the ussr adopted an ever more hostile attitude toward Yugoslavia.
The Soviet Union was especially worried by the growing
demands for decentralization in Yugoslavia as well as the liberalization
of the party structure. The Soviet leadership had always been
apprehensive of the Yugoslav model, which as far back as 1948 had
raised questions about the monolithic structure of the cpsu and its
incontestable vanguard role in the world Socialist movement. The
Soviet troop buildup near the Yugoslav border and military exercises
in neighboring countries in 1968 were signals that the Soviets
meant business. In 1971, Brezhnev insisted on the replacement of
the reform-minded leadership in Croatia and—as Savka Dabčević
Kučar, 177 then Croatian prime minister, testified—the Soviet leader
told Tito: “If you won’t do that, we will do it ourselves. We are in
favor of the status quo regarding Yalta. ” 178 Kučar said that Tito told
her explicitly that “the Army is getting ready around Zagreb”—
readying itself to move against the Croatian government if it
did not abandon its aims of economic decentralization and other
steps designed to give Croatia greater control over its own affairs. 179
Czechoslovakia, Croatia, and Slovenia were all part of the same
syndrome: They all expected support from the West, but that support
176 Marko Milivojević in Yugoslavia’s Security Dilemmas .
177 Kučar was one of the most prominent Croatian communist political
leaders in 70s . A leading factor in the Croatian Spring .
178 Interview with Savka Dabčević Kučar, HTV, May 7, 2001 .
179 Ljudi iz 1971 . – Prekinuta šutnja, Biblioteka VRIJEME, 1990 .
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