Postcard from Europe: Tito nostalgia

Many people told me many conflicting things after I arrived in Belgrade last year – everyone in the Balkans has their version of history – but one view was often shared: a fondness for the past, the greatness of Yugoslavia, when this southern European country mattered immensely on the world stage and when Yugoslavs of all ethnic and religious origins lived harmoniously in their beautiful land.

Behind it all was the hand of Josip Broz 'Tito' – that half-Croat, half-Slovene Marshal who rose to power heading the Communist resistance against the Nazis during the Second World War and then led the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until his death thirty years ago.

His was a unique sort of Communism – far more open to the west and liberal than his Stalinist counterparts, Yugoslavs could travel without visas to almost everywhere in the world.

The country was a founding member of the Non-Aligned movement – that militarily neutral grouping that ensured Yugoslavia sided neither with the US nor the Soviet Union, but gained an influential, impartial voice. And nationalism of the different Yugoslav republics was kept under wraps to ensure unity.

Yugoslavia's golden era?

People here recall that time – particularly the 1970s – as the golden era. Many never even bothered to leave the country – spending their holidays on the coast of Croatia, the mountains of Montenegro or the bustling hearts of Belgrade, Sarajevo or Zagreb.

But ten years after Tito's death, it all began to unravel, as nationalist leaders fuelled ethnic conflict, leading to the devastating wars in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and then Kosovo. The country fragmented into its constituent republics. Tito's dream had died.

Thirty years on, Yugo-nostalgia still exists. Visitors from across the former Yugoslavia descended on his tomb in Belgrade last week in their droves, one woman crying when she recalled the greatness of life under Tito.

From the ashes of Yugoslavia emerged poor, isolated countries like Serbia, only now recovering from the sanctions and bombing of the 1990s. The region has been left out of the EU – just Slovenia has joined, while the others are waiting anxiously in the queue for membership. And distrust lingers between the different ethnic groups – especially in Bosnia where ethnic Serbs, Croats and Muslims are perhaps more segregated now than ever.

In fact, the ruthless sides of life under Tito have been relegated within popular memory: his work camps for political dissidents, his secret police, his suppression of religion – he, like other Communist leaders ruled with an iron fist. Instead, there is a longing for the peace, stability and influence of the past, of Tito's land.

His legacy is much debated – some say he sewed the seeds of the wars that ensued – but his profile and his leadership is widely missed.

Author: Mark Lowen

Editor: Neil King