yugoslavias implosion

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ChApter 2
would have meant the end of the East-West understanding which
had emerged after Yalta (i.e., that the West and the Soviet Union
would not seek to change the postwar division of Europe). None
received Western support. The dangers of Croatian separatism and
of the revival of Ustashism were exaggerated by the federal government
and the Army in an effort to convince the general public that
forces in Croatia were incapable of dealing with the movement, for
greater decentralization of the republics and that federal intervention
was essential. This excuse was used to reassert the role of the
federal government, encouraging conservatives to rely increasingly
on Tito, the police, and the Army. The Army’s suppression of the
“Croatian Spring” in 1971 was a turning point because the movement
in support of democratic and economic reform was so popular in
Croatia, it could not be suppressed by any other means. Soviet intervention
always loomed as a possibility if internal developments took
the wrong course.
Thus, the democratization of Yugoslavia was overshadowed
by “fear now of military dictatorship in the country and of Soviet
influence, so the forces behind Socialist democracy gradually drew
back and created room for both.” 180 The removal of the Croatian
Communist leadership by Tito and the federal government was followed
by the dismissal of the Serbian leadership (for moving toward
the West) in 1972, marking a victory for the Stalinists and “unitarists.”
The single-party system, the Yugoslav community model, and
the Socialist economic model were all exhausted. The resulting vacuum
was the main cause of Soviet fears and resulting threats.
The constant efforts of the ussr to secure an outlet to the open
southern seas, such as the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, subjected
Yugoslavia (and Albania) and the ypa to enduring pressure. In
view of the events in Czechoslovakia, inadequate protection of the
northeast Yugoslavia frontier became a cause for concern because
180 Latinka Perović, Zatvaranje kruga, Svijetlost, Sarajevo, 1990, p . 104 .