Tito shapes yugoslavia's economy
After World War II, Tito took control of Yugoslavia's economy and instituted a disastrous Soviet-style Five Year Plan. Tito abandoned the plan after breaking with the Soviet Union, as the plan had depended on Soviet trade. He then began to decentralize Yugoslavia's economy — a major deviation from Soviet Communism.
By the mid-1960's, Tito had allowed Yugoslavia to develop workers’ self-management, foreign trade, and a limited market economy. He also gave Yugoslavians the freedom to travel. This liberal Communism allowed Yugoslavians to enjoy more freedom and economic prosperity than citizens of Soviet bloc countries. Yugoslavia had one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
By the mid-1960's, Tito had allowed Yugoslavia to develop workers’ self-management, foreign trade, and a limited market economy. He also gave Yugoslavians the freedom to travel. This liberal Communism allowed Yugoslavians to enjoy more freedom and economic prosperity than citizens of Soviet bloc countries. Yugoslavia had one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
"Tito presided over a series of economic and political changes that distanced the country more and more from its initial Communist model. Though he sought change and endorsed it, he was not an advocate of change that would disturb the dominant role of the CPY." |
Tito stops reforms
Despite this economic freedom, Tito retained complete political control of Yugoslavia. In 1972, he suddenly stopped economic reforms when he saw that they were giving rise to liberal and nationalistic ideas that threatened the absolute power of the Communist Party. He ordered a purge of nationalists and introduced a dysfunctional economic system that set Yugoslavia on a slow decline.
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"In order to function effectively, economic enterprises and management were given autonomy, but only insofar as it did not infringe on Party authority. The same was true of culture, so long as it did not deal with subjects that were taboo, meaning the Party, the revolution, and of course Tito himself."
-Milovan Djilas, prominent leader alongside Tito in Communist Party of Yugoslavia (1980)