Josip Broz Tito

Lore & Background

Josip Broz was born in Kumrovec in present-day Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Drafted into military service, he distinguished himself, becoming the youngest sergeant major in the Austro-Hungarian Army. After being wounded and captured by the Russians during World War I, he was sent to a work camp in the Ural Mountains. Tito participated in the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the Russian Civil War. Upon his return to the Balkans in 1920, he entered the newly established Kingdom of Yugoslavia, where he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Having assumed control over the party by 1937, Tito became its general secretary in 1939 and led it until his death.

During World War II, after the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, he led the Yugoslav guerrilla movement, the Partisans (1941–1945), often regarded as the most effective resistance movement in German-occupied Europe. By the end of 1943, the Partisans, with the Allies' backing, took power in Yugoslavia. After the war, Tito served as prime minister (1943–1963), president (1953–1980; from 1974 president for life), and marshal of Yugoslavia. Under his leadership, Yugoslavia became a communist state, known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia and thereafter as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Reader's Guide

Tito's significance lies in his leadership of Yugoslavia for nearly four decades, during which he defied Soviet hegemony in the Eastern Bloc, resulting in Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Cominform in 1948 in the Tito–Stalin split. He initiated the idiosyncratic model of socialist self-management alongside Edvard Kardelj and Milovan Đilas. Tito wavered between supporting a centralised or more decentralised federation, and ended up favouring the latter to keep ethnic tensions under control. A powerful cult of personality arose around him and was sustained for several years after his death. Following his death, Yugoslavia's leadership was transformed into an annually rotating presidency. Twelve years later, as communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and ethnic tensions escalated, Yugoslavia broke into several independent states and descended into a decade of interethnic wars. Historians critical of Tito view his presidency as authoritarian, while others characterise him as a benevolent dictator. He was popular in Yugoslavia and abroad, and remains so in the former countries of Yugoslavia. He gained further international attention as a co-founder of the Non-Aligned Movement and received a total of 98 foreign decorations.

Did You Know?

• Tito was the youngest sergeant major in the Austro-Hungarian Army at age 22.
• He participated in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War.
• Tito was the only leader during Joseph Stalin's lifetime to defy Soviet hegemony in the Eastern Bloc.
• He received 98 foreign decorations, including the Legion of Honour and the Order of the Bath.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Jasper Ridley, Tito: A Biography (Constable and Company Ltd., 1994), p. 128." — Josip Broz Tito "Jasper Ridley, Tito: A Biography (Constable and Company Ltd., 1994), p. 142." — Josip Broz Tito "Jasper Ridley, Tito: A Biography (Constable and Company Ltd., 1994), p. 155." — Josip Broz Tito "Jasper Ridley, Tito: A Biography (Constable and Company Ltd., 1994), p. 177." — Josip Broz Tito