Yugoslavia, a communist state, was the only communist country to establish formal foreign and trade relations with the European members of NATO.
But what was the trade like? And how did it benefit either side?
Title. I don't think this is a 101 question which is why I'm asking here
In this video from the Cold War Youtube Channel, there is a bit at the end that describes "Titoism", and it involves worker self-management and market socialism. Can someone go into more detail about how the economy of SFR Yugoslavia worked, and how "successful" it was?
Was the standard of living and the economic situation of the people better or worse than it is now?
Backstory: My grandma is open to learning about socialism and knows that something's got to give in the US, but isn't sure that socialism would be successful here. On the phone today, she pointed to Yugoslavia as a reason to worry about what could unfold if we did indeed turn into a socialist country.
Now, I'm not familiar with the events surrounding the breakup of Yugoslavia, so I'm mostly looking for neutral/leftist sources to learn from and maybe shed some more light on the whole situation. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
What do you think about Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, its system, its president Josip Broz Tito and its relations with the rest of the world. Also, can you compare it with todays Cuba for example, or any other country in the world today?
Introduction
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a key player in 20th century geopolitics, yet many people in the West know remarkably little about it. Socialists and non-socialists alike are often extremely uneducated about this particular country, and its various achievements; often all that is known is that it was led by Tito, one of the most popular heads of state in the 20th century. While this is a useful piece of information, it is hardly a sufficient socialist analysis of this great nation. Let us thus examine Yugoslavia in detail, and make a proper analysis.
All sources are included at the end, to avoid scattering links throughout the post. Whenever I quote from one of these sources, I will indicate which source I am referencing, so that you can check the original if you would like to.
Summary
The University of Rochester gives the following overall assessment of the communist era in Yugoslavia:
>The history of Yugoslavia since 1945 embraces a period of rapid economic, political, and social modernization reflected in urban and industrial growth, improvements in literacy and economic well-being, changes in the traditional patriarchal family structure, moderation of ethnic hostilities, and integration into the international economy. However, in dialectical fashion, it also embraces a period of economic decline and intense ethnic reaction. In a very real sense, the route to the collapse of the Yugoslav federation, like the collapse of the Soviet federation, was paved by the policy toward nationalities that each had pursued, but it was precipitated by involvement in the global economy.
Now that we have a brief impression of the rise and fall of the nation, let us go into a bit more detail.
A Brief Look at Pre-War Yugoslavia
In order to understand the achievements of socialism in Yugoslavia, we must first understand what conditions were like before socialism. The University of Rochester gives this assessment of pre-war Yugoslavia:
>The country remained largely undeveloped throughout the interwar years. Seventy-seven percent of the population were peasants. Illiteracy rates of those older than 10 ranged between 83.8% in Macedonia and 8.8% in Slovenia, with the national figure being 51.5% in 1921. Mortality and fertility were both high, epidemics were common despite innovative programs created by Andrija Stampar, the Croatian public health leader, and the government was ineffective in providing preventive and cura
... keep reading on reddit β‘I'm asking here and not the 101 subreddit bc even knowing that Albania was socialist isn't 101 knowledge. I'm asking these together because I didn't wanna waste space with two separate threads.
Also, I know that considering the SFRY a socialist country can be controversial due to the Titoist path it took, but I feel like that's not the point of this question.
Title.
