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was arbitrary and untenable, and he argued that “with perhaps the<br />

exception of Slovenia, the boundaries of no republic in Yugoslavia<br />

are adequate, especially not those of Serbia.” In the event of a<br />

break-up, the Serbian people would continue to live in four to five<br />

republics, but in none of them would they be “able to live their own<br />

lives.” 40<br />

Not only did the Faculty of Law professors challenge the federal<br />

character of Yugoslavia, they also formulated the objectives of<br />

the “anti-bureaucratic revolution” of 1989 that threw Yugoslavia<br />

into a bloody war. Vojislav Koštunica and Kosta Čavoški, lecturers at<br />

the Faculty of Law, were actively involved in promoting the Serbian<br />

national program for decades.<br />

The democratic trends that were emerging in the Yugoslav<br />

republics corresponded to similar developments in Eastern Europe,<br />

especially in Czechoslovakia, as well as in the Soviet Union. In the<br />

case of Yugoslavia, these developments were mostly in response to<br />

economic stagnation and in support of demands for economic liberalization.<br />

Slovenia and Croatia were in the forefront of the drive<br />

for greater economic decentralization and for putting the country’s<br />

accounts in order. The federal leadership was quick to react, not only<br />

to preserve its own position, but also because it was under pressure<br />

from the Soviet Union and from conservative forces—including the<br />

party and the Yugoslav People’s Army (ypa). Having been branded<br />

as Ustashist and separatist, the Croat mass movement was harshly<br />

crushed in 1971, with around three thousand people being imprisoned;<br />

in Serbia there were no arrests of liberals but around three<br />

thousand people were removed from their jobs in 1972.<br />

The federal leadership’s crackdown in Croatia and Serbia could<br />

not have been possible without the support of the conservative and<br />

dogmatic segment of the Serbian party structures. The federal leadership<br />

had always relied on the conservative wing in the League of<br />

40 Pravni anali (Legal records), Beograd, 1971, No 3, p .232<br />

57<br />

ChApter 1

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