| Yugoslav Wars | |||||||
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| Part of Breakup of Yugoslavia, Cold War | |||||||
 The atomic bombing of Bad Radkersburg (1956) |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Anti-Government Forces
| Yugoslav Loyalists
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The breakup of Yugoslavia, commonly known as the Yugoslav Wars, refers to a series of conflicts from 1953 to 1960 which resulted in the dissolution of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. The conflicts begun following the assassination of Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito in 1950 and the ascension of Serbian nationalist Aleksandar Ranković to the position of President of Yugoslavia. The conflict would be the first major war fought on European soil since the conclusion of World War 2 a decade prior and the first proxy war fought between the London Treaty Organization and the Cominform since the Greek Civil War.
Background[]
Ethnic Tensions[]
Since the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in 1918, Yugoslavia was politically dominated by ethnic Serbs. With the Monarchy, capital city, and majority population all being ethnically Serbian. As a result, an underlying tension existed within Yugoslavia between the Serbian establishment and the ethnic minorities within Yugoslavia. The leadership of Josip Broz Tito would keep the ethnic tension in line through promoting a policy of federalism, giving some non-Serbs within Yugoslavia a degree of self-governance.
Assassination of Tito + Power Struggle (1950 -1953)[]
The assassination of Tito by a pro-Stalinist operative on January 28th, 1950, would send a shockwave throughout the Yugoslav political system. Tito's death would leave a power vacuum within the Presidency of Yugoslavia. This power vacuum would lead to a power struggle between Foreign Affairs minister Edvard Kardelj and Interior minister Aleksandar Ranković. Kardelj proclaimed himself President of Yugoslavia on January 30th, 1950; while Ranković would declare himself President on February 2nd, 1950.
Ranković, a prominent Serbian chauvinist and centralist, gained support from ethnic Serbs in Serbia and Kosovo. Meanwhile, Kardelj would gain popular support in the non-Serbian republics of Yugoslavia. After about a year of dispute, the power struggle would come to an end on March 3rd, 1951 after Kardelj would be assassinated by a pro-Serbian operative in his home city of Ljubljana.
Aleksandar Ranković Government (1951 - 1953)[]
With the backing of the ethnically Serbian political establishment in Belgrade, Ranković would assume near-full control in Yugoslavia due to the highly centralized nature of Yugoslavia's government. During his short reign over the entire country, Ranković began giving more and more power to Serbians in Yugoslavia while firing non-Serbs from top government positions. While Ranković and his government claimed they did this in the name of "stability", the aftermath would destabilize the fragile balance of power in Yugoslavia by turning many non-Serbs against the government.
Conflict in Yugoslavia would officially break out in 1953 when Metodija Andonov-Čento, the President of the People's Republic of Macedonia, would declare independence from Yugoslavia on January 12th, 1953. Čento would gain support from a broad coalition of Macedonian Nationalists, many who were non-Communists and others who held pro-Bulgarian, anti-Yugoslav views.
Conflict[]
Metodija Andonov-Čento, President of the Republic of Macedonia (1953 -1960)
Macedonian War of Independence (1953 - 1954)[]
Upon declaring independence, many ethnic Macedonian and Bulgarian Yugoslav forces would defect to the side of Čento. The city of Skopje would be captured by Macedonian partisans with little-to-no resistance. News of Macedonian defection would soon reach Belgrade, and Ranković would mobilize the military to suppress the uprising. Upon arrival of Yugoslav forces to the city of Skopje, many Yugoslav forces which were ethnically Macedonian defected to the side of the Macedonian separatists. After the fall of Skopje on February 6th, 1953; the pro-Yugoslav People's Republic of Macedonia was overthrown. Subsequently, the Macedonian separatists had established the Republic of Macedonia with Metodija Andonov-Čento as President.
Despite the fall of the Pro-Yugoslav regional government, Yugoslav forces were able to establish a stronghold in northeast Macedonia in the city of Tetovo. However, the outbreak of war in Croatia forced Yugoslav forces to withdraw from Macedonia. A peace deal would be reached between the Yugoslav government and the Republic of Macedonia. Yugoslavia would withdraw from Macedonia on March 6th, 1954.
The Adriatic War (1953 - 1960)[]
Zagreb protestors storm the Croatian Executive Council building (April 1953)
The Croatian Spring + Croatian Independence (1953 - 1954)[]
Inspired by the recent developments in Macedonia, many Croatian separatists would take to the streets of Zagreb to protest the Yugoslav government and its Serbian-centric political development. Starting in early March of 1953, large yet unorganized protests would begin in Zagreb. The protests consisted of a large coalition of Croatian students, Nationalists, anti-Communists, and liberals. Initial protests also had no organized goals, with the goals varying from greater Croatian autonomy within the socialist system to full Croatian independence. The Zagreb protests would grow in numbers, and Yugoslav police crackdowns would also intensify. After a police crackdown resulted in the death of 14 Croatian student protestors on the 27th of March, the protests took a militant turn.
When the Yugoslav military was sent into Zagreb to attack the protestors, many ethnically Croatian soldiers and military officers to defect to the side of the Zagreb protestors. With the defecting of military, the protests turned into full on mutiny. Leading this newly independent Croatian military was the young yet charismatic Major General Franjo Tuđman.
Bosnian Independence + Adriatic Republic (1954 - 1955)[]
With the outbreak of violence in Croatia and power in Ranković's Yugoslavia getting more concentrated in the hands of ethnic Serbs, an independence movement in the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina would gain traction in 1953. While most of the ethnic Serbs supported the Yugoslav government, Muslim Bosniaks and Croatians within the republic supported Independence. Due to ethnic instability and a lack of an organized military, the newly independent People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina would vote to form a union with Croatia on the 5th of March 1954.
The Adriatic Confederation was born as a union between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the defeat of Adriatic forces in Tuzla, General Franjo Tuđman would stage a coup in the weak Confederation to centralize power around the military to "better defend against the Serbians". This centralization of power would result in the Adriatic Republic being proclaimed on the 7th of June 1954. The London Treaty Organization would quickly recognize the newly formed Adriatic Republic, and President Douglas MacArthur would begin sending the nation weapons to fight against the remaining Yugoslav government.
An abandoned weapons depot in Bad Radkersburg, Austria.
US-Soviet Proxy War (1955 - 1960)[]
By the mid 1950s, early advances by the various separatists movements in Yugoslavia had come to halt. The Adriatic Republic, despite early advances, suffered devastating defeats in the aforementioned Battle of Tuzla (1954) but also in the Battle of Osijek. In Osijek, Yugoslav forces were able to halt the Adriatic advances with superior weaponry and a newly reorganized chain of command. Soviet equipment such as 9mm Makarov cartridges were discovered on the frontlines, leading many in the CIA to speculate Soviet involvement in the conflict.
In May 1955, an American spy plane flying over Socialist Austria would confirm the existence of Soviet weapon depots in the small town of Bad Radkersburg. It was revealed that the weapons depot in Bad Radkersburg was being used to smuggle Soviet weaponry to loyalists within the Adriatic Republic in order to destabilize the country. Similar smuggling campaigns were also believed to be occurring on the Hungarian-Yugoslav border to further arm Ranković's Yugoslavia, which had now solidly aligned with the Soviet-backed Cominform. This revelation had confirmed US fears of Soviet involvement in the conflict. As a result, the US began to increase its weapon shipments to the Adriatic Republic and Macedonia. By 1955, the conflict had evolved into a fall US-Soviet proxy war, the largest of its kind since the Greek civil war.
Bombing of Bad Radkersburg + End of the War (1956- 1960)[]
Since 1955, U.S. intelligence had picked up reports of a weapons depot in the small Austrian town of Bad Radkersburg. This weapons depot was being used to smuggle Soviet weaponry into the pro-Yugoslav partisans who were seeking to undermine the United States-aligned Adriatic Republic. MacArthur and the Department of War were concerned that the destabilization of the Adriatic Republic could result in further communist intrusions into the Adriatic and even into Italy. MacArthur's Secretary of War, Curtis LeMay, formulated an initial strategy involving conventional carpet bombing for the town. However, behind the scenes, LeMay concurrently devised a covert plan to employ a low-yield nuclear bomb. This covert nuclear plan aligned with MacArthur's interest in leveraging the U.S.'s significant nuclear arsenal, which had exceeded 2,000 warheads since its inaugural test in 1945. The aim was to dissuade Soviet expansionism in Western Europe by showcasing America's nuclear capabilities as a deterrent.
Aftermath[]
See also[]
Sources[]
- Wikipedia Contributors. “Aleksandar Ranković.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Jan. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandar_Rankovi%C4%87. Accessed 20 Aug. 2022.
- “Josip Vidmar.” Wikipedia, 25 Oct. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Vidmar#Anti-Yugoslavization_writings. Accessed 6 Nov. 2022.