Part Two - Indymedia

Setting the Stage 29
the party's disastrous decision to accelerate its campaign for the socialization
of the countryside in 1949 and its later introduction of workers'
self-management. 20
A second circumstance that inevitably shaped the form and content of
CPY domestic policies was the national question. From the moment of its
formal inception in December 1918, Yugoslavia's fate was inextricably
connected with the relations between its constituent nations and nationalities.
Despite claims to the contrary, Yugoslavia's recent conflicts have
not resulted from "ancient ethnic hatreds." It is true that a degree of tension
has long existed between many of the peoples of Yugoslavia; yet that
tension has only periodically produced violence. During much of their
long history, Yugoslavia's ethnic groups have managed to coexist on the
Balkan peninsula reasonably peacefully, if not harmoniously. Indeed,
during the 19th and 20th centuries the growth of Serb, Croat, Slovene,
and other national ideologies was accompanied by the development of
"Yugoslavism" as a kind of South Slavic national identity. The precise
content of the Yugoslav national idea varied considerably over time and
among different national groups; nonetheless, its popularity among
many in the region should not be dismissed.
Unfortunately, much of that appeal was squandered during the interwar
period by the Serbian-dominated government's insensitive and bullying
approach to the country's other constituent peoples. Even so, the
strongest expression of hostility among Yugoslavia's nations came only
during the Second World War with the genocidal policies of the Croatian
fascist UstaSa and the subsequent massacres of Croats and Muslims by
Serbian Cetnik organizations. The legacy of hatred caused by those
events was perhaps the greatest challenge that Yugoslavia's postwar
Communist party would face. Indeed the Communist regime deserves
some credit for tempering those hostilities and maintaining peace among
the Yugoslav nations for nearly 50 years. Yet, as is now clear, the Communists
may also be blamed for failing ultimately to face the national problem
head on and find a lasting solution.
The position of the CPY concerning the national question had varied
during the interwar period from complete indifference and unitarism to
advocating the mandatory dissolution of Yugoslavia as an artificial creation
of Versailles. By the beginning of the war, however, the party had
finally settled on a federal solution to the problem within a united Yugoslavia.
From the very beginning of Yugoslavia's occupation, the party
spoke out for national self-determination and the equality, brotherhood,
and unity of all Yugoslav nations within a federal structure that ultimately
included the six sovereign republics of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia,
Bosnia-Hercegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro, the autonomous
province of Vojvodina, and the autonomous region of Kosovo-Metohia.