Josip Broz Tito

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Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito

Josip Broz Tito


In office
January 14, 1953 – May 4, 1980
Preceded by Ivan Ribar
Succeeded by Lazar Koliševski

In office
November 29, 1945 – January 14, 1953
Succeeded by Petar Stambolić

Born May 25, 1892(1892-05-25)
Kumrovec, Croatia, Austria-Hungary
Died May 4, 1980 (aged 87)
Ljubljana, Slovenia, Yugoslavia
Political party League of Communists of Yugoslavia
Spouse Pelagija Broz
Hertha Haas
Davorjanka Paunović Zdenka
Jovanka Broz
Religion Atheist
Stamp of the Soviet Union, Josip Broz Tito, 1982 (Michel № 5151, Scott № 5019)
Stamp of the Soviet Union, Josip Broz Tito, 1982 (Michel № 5151, Scott № 5019)

Josip Broz Tito (Serbian Cyrillic: Јосип Броз Тито, listen , Kumrovec, Austria-Hungary May 7, 1892, [May 25 according to official birth certificate] – Ljubljana, SFRY May 4, 1980) was the leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 until his death. During World War II, Tito organized the anti-fascist resistance movement known as the Yugoslav Partisans. Later he was a founding member of Cominform[1] but resisted Soviet influence (see Titoism), and became one of the founders and promoters of the Non-Aligned Movement. He died on May 4, 1980, in Ljubljana.

Contents

Josip Broz was born in Kumrovec, Croatia, then part of Austria-Hungary, in an area called Zagorje. He was the seventh child of Franjo and Marija Broz. His father, Franjo Broz, was a Croat, while his mother Marija (born Javeršek) was a Slovenian. After spending part of his childhood years with his maternal grandfather in Podsreda, he entered the primary school in Kumrovec, and failed the second grade. He left school in 1905.

In 1907, moving out of the rural environment, Broz started working as a machinist's apprentice in Sisak. There, he became aware of the labor movement and celebrated May 1 - Labour Day for the first time. In 1910, he joined the union of metallurgy workers and at the same time the Social-Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia. Between 1911 and 1913, Broz worked for shorter periods in Kamnik (Slovenia), Cenkovo (Bohemia), Munich and Mannheim (Germany), where he worked for Benz automobile factory; he then went to Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where he worked at Daimler as a test driver.

In May 1912, Broz won a silver medal at an army fencing competition in Budapest. In the autumn of 1913, Broz was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army and at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he was sent to Ruma. He was arrested for anti-war propaganda and imprisoned in the Petrovaradin fortress. In January 1915, he was sent to the Eastern Front in Galicia to fight against Russia. He distinguished himself as a capable soldier and was recommended for military decoration. On Easter March 25, 1915, while in Bukovina, he was seriously wounded and captured by Russians.

After thirteen months at the hospital, Broz was sent to a work camp in the Ural Mountains where prisoners selected him for their camp leader. In February 1917 revolting workers broke into the prison and freed the prisoners. Broz joined a Bolshevik group. In April 1917, he was arrested again but managed to escape and join the demonstrations in Saint Petersburg on July 16-17, 1917. On his way to Poland, Broz was caught and imprisoned in the Petropavlovsk fortress for three weeks. He was again sent to Kungur, but he escaped from the train. He hid out with a Russian family where he met and married Pelagija Belousova. Broz then enlisted with the Red Guards in Omsk. In the spring of 1918, he applied for membership in the Russian Communist Party. In June 1918 Broz left Omsk to find work and support his family. He was employed as a mechanic near Omsk for a year. In January 1920 he and his wife made a long and difficult journey home where he arrived in September.

Broz immediately joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The CPY's influence on the political life of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was growing rapidly. In the 1920 elections the Communists won 59 seats and became the third strongest party. The king's regime would not tolerate the CPY and declared it illegal. In 1921 all Communist-won mandates were nullified. Broz continued his work underground despite pressure on Communists from the government. As 1921 began he moved to Veliko Trojstvo near Bjelovar and found work as machinist.

In 1925, Broz moved to Kraljevica where he started working at a shipyard. He was elected as a union leader and a year later he led a shipyard strike. He was fired and moved to Belgrade, where he worked in a train coach factory in Smederevska Palanka. He was elected as Workers Commissary but was fired as soon as his CPY membership was revealed. Broz then moved to Zagreb, where he was appointed secretary of Metal Workers Union of Croatia.

In 1934, he became a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, then based in Vienna, Austria, and adopted the code name "Tito".

In 1935, Tito travelled to the Soviet Union, working for a year in the Balkan section of Comintern. He was a member of the Soviet Communist Party and the Soviet secret police (NKVD). In 1936, the Comintern sent Comrade Walter (i.e. Tito) back to Yugoslavia to purge the Communist Party there. In 1937, Stalin had the Secretary-General of the CPY Milan Gorkic murdered in Moscow. The same year, Tito returned from the Soviet Union to Yugoslavia after being named there by Stalin as Secretary-General of the still-outlawed CPY. During this period, he faithfully followed Comintern policy, criticizing Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany until the pact of 1939, and then switching to a criticism of western democracies until 1941.

On April 6, 1941, German, Italian and Hungarian forces attacked Yugoslavia. The Luftwaffe bombed Belgrade and other major Yugoslav cities. On April 17, representatives of Yugoslavia's legitimate government and military signed an armistice with Germany at Belgrade, ending eleven days of resistance against the invading German Wehrmacht.

The Independent State of Croatia was established as a Nazi puppet-state, ruled by the Ustaša, a militant wing of the Croatian Party of Rights, from which it split off in 1929. Until 1941, it was in exile in Italy, and was therefore limited in its activities. German troops occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as part of Serbia and Slovenia, while other parts of the country were occupied by Bulgaria, Hungary and Italy.

Tito did not initially respond to the German invasion because of Stalin's non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany[citation needed]. After Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Tito called a Central committee meeting on July 4, 1941, which named him Military Commander and issued a call to arms.

However, on June 22 (the day of the invasion) in the Brezovica forest near the city of Sisak, Croatia, the Partisans formed the famous First Sisak Partisan Brigade (mostly consisting of Croats from the nearby city). This shows that Tito, in fact, took advantage of the Pact to prepare as best he could for the inevitable, so that his men could rise up on the very first day of Operation Barbarossa.[citation needed] Despite this slight delay in response created by the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, this was, nevertheless, the first anti-fascist unit in Europe. The Partisans soon began a widespread and successful guerrilla campaign and started liberating chunks of territory. The activities provoked Germans into "retaliation" against civilians that resulted in mass murders (for each killed German soldier, 100 civilians were to be killed and for each wounded, 50). In the liberated territories, the partisans organized people's committees to act as civilian government. Tito was the most prominent leader of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia - AVNOJ, which convened in Bihac on November 26, 1942, and in Jajce on November 29, 1943. In these two sessions, they established the basis for post-war organisation of the country, making it a federation. In Jajce, Tito was named President of the National Committee of Liberation.[2] On December 4, 1943, while most of the country was still occupied by the Axis, Tito proclaimed a provisional democratic Yugoslav government.

Tito's partisans faced competition from the largely Serbian Chetniks, who were long supported by the British and the royal government in exile. After the partisans stood up to intense Axis attacks between January and June 1943, Allied leaders switched their support to them. American President Roosevelt, British Premier Churchill and Soviet leader Stalin officially recognized the partisans at the Tehran Conference. This resulted in Allied aid being parachuted behind Axis lines to assist the partisans. As the leader of the communist resistance, Tito was a target for the Axis forces in occupied Yugoslavia. The Germans came close to capturing or killing Tito on at least three occasions: in the 1943 Fall Weiss offensive; in the subsequent Schwarz offensive, in which he was wounded on June 9, being saved only because his loyal dog sacrificed himself; and on May 25, 1944, when he barely managed to evade the Germans after their Operation Rösselsprung airdrop outside his Drvar headquarters.

The partisans were supported directly by Allied airdrops to their headquarters, with Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean playing a significant role in the liaison missions. The Balkan Air Force was formed in June 1944 to control operations that were mainly aimed at helping his forces. Due to his close ties to Stalin, Tito often quarreled with the British and American staff officers attached to his headquarters.

On April 5, 1945, Tito signed an agreement with the USSR allowing "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory". Aided by the Red Army, the partisans won the war for liberation in 1945. At the end of the war, all external forces were ordered off Yugoslav soil after the end of hostilities in Europe.

Marshal Tito
Marshal Tito

After the Tito-Šubašić Agreement in late 1944, the provisional government of Democratic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was assembled on March 7, 1945, in Belgrade, headed by Tito. After the elections in November 1945, Tito became the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. It was at this time that Tito's forces, in loose conjunction with the Red Army, were involved in deportations of Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans). The entire Danube Swabians minority was labeled as Nazi collaborators since many had fought in the notorious 7th SS Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen", a unit comprised mostly of volunteers from the ranks of that minority.

In November 1945, a new constitution was proclaimed and Tito organized a strong army, the JNA (for a period the 5th strongest army in Europe), and a secret police force, the UDBA. The UDBA and the security agency, OZNA, were charged (among other things) with seeking out, imprisoning and bringing to trial large numbers of Nazi collaborators; sometimes this included Catholic priests due to the widespread involvement of Croatian Catholic clergy with the Ustaša regime. Many innocent people and non-combatants were killed in the days immediately after the war since they were inextricably mixed with Nazi collaborators, Chetniks, Ustaše (the NDH version of the SS) and a few Domobran units fleeing the victorious partisans, despite Tito's largely upheld promise for harmless surrender to the latter: this is referred to as the Bleiburg massacre.[3]Other crime of foibe massacres involved Tito's dictatorship too.

Tito's rule had several characteristics of a dictatorship, though it fell short on that common in other communist states after the Second World War. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia won the first post-war elections, in which "simplified" ballots allowed only for the alternatives of yes and no. Despite the controversial nature of these ballots, it must be noted that Tito evidently enjoyed massive popular support at the time. The Party immediately used its power to seek out remaining collaborators, nationalists and anti-Communists, partially using methods characteristic of Stalinist "People's Republic".[4]Tito's administration did, however, unite a country that had been severely affected by the war and successfully suppressed the nationalist sentiments of the peoples of Yugoslavia in favor of the common Yugoslav goal.[citation needed]

In October 1946, in its first special session for 75 years, the Vatican excommunicated Tito and the Yugoslav government for sentencing Catholic archbishop Stepinac to 16 years in prison on charges of helping terrorists and of forcing conversion of Serbs to Catholicism.[5] The sentence was later commuted. Later, Yugoslavia became by far the most religiously liberal among the socialist states[citation needed], since Tito believed that oppression only makes religion spread. Tito always considered religious agitation a great threat.[citation needed]

In 1948, motivated by the desire to create a strong independent economy, Tito became the first (and the only successful) socialist leader to defy Stalin's leadership in the COMINFORM; he was one of the few people to stand up to Stalin's demands for absolute loyalty. Stalin took it personally – for once, to no avail. "Stop sending people to kill me", Tito wrote. "If you don't stop sending killers, I'll send one to Moscow, and I won't have to send a second."[6] The Yugoslav Communist Party was expelled from the association on June 28, 1948. This rift with the Soviet Union brought Tito much international recognition, but also triggered a period of instability often referred to as the Informbiro period. Tito's form of communism was labelled Titoism by Moscow, which encouraged purges against suspected "Titoites'" throughout the Communist bloc. The crisis nearly escalated into an armed conflict.[7]

On June 26, 1950, the National Assembly supported a crucial bill written by Milovan Đilas and Tito about "self-management" (samoupravljanje): a type of independent socialism that experimented with profit sharing with workers in state-run enterprises. On January 13, 1953, they established that the law on self-management was the basis of the entire social order in Yugoslavia. Tito also succeeded Ivan Ribar as the President of Yugoslavia on January 14, 1953.

After Stalin's death Tito rejected the USSR's invitation for a visit to discuss normalization of relations between two nations. Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin visited Tito in Belgrade in 1955 and apologized for wrongdoings by Stalin's administration.[8] Tito visited USSR in 1956, which signaled to the world that animosity between Yugoslavia and USSR was easing.[9] However, the relationship between the USSR and Yugoslavia would reach another low in the late 1960s.

Tito with Actress Sophia Loren
Tito with Actress Sophia Loren

Under Tito's leadership, Yugoslavia became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement. In 1961, Tito co-founded the movement with Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, India's Jawaharlal Nehru, Indonesia's Sukarno and Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, in an action called The Initiative of Five (Tito, Nehru, Nasser, Sukarno, Nkrumah), thus establishing strong ties with third world countries. This move did much to improve Yugoslavia's diplomatic position.

On April 7, 1963, the country changed its official name to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Reforms encouraged private enterprise and greatly relaxed restrictions on freedom of speech and religious expression.[10] In 1966 an agreement with the Vatican was signed according new freedom to the Yugoslav Roman Catholic Church, particularly to teach the catechism and open seminaries. Tito's new socialism met opposition from traditional communists culminating in conspiracy headed by Aleksandar Rankovic.[11] In the same year Tito declared that Communists must henceforth chart Yugoslavia's course by the force of their arguments (implying a granting of freedom of discussion and an abandonment of dictatorship). The state security agency (UDBA) saw its power scaled back and its staff reduced to 5000.

On January 1, 1967, Yugoslavia was the first communist country to open its borders to all foreign visitors and abolish visa requirements.[12] In the same year Tito became active in promoting a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. His plan called for Arabs to recognize State of Israel in exchange for territories Israel gained.[13] Arabs rejected his land for peace concept.

Tito meets with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi in 1975.
Tito meets with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi in 1975.

In 1967, Tito offered Czechoslovak leader Alexander Dubček the chance to fly to Prague on three hours notice if Dubček needed help in facing down the Soviets.[14]

In 1971, Tito was re-elected as President of Yugoslavia for sixth time. In his speech in front of Federal Assembly he introduced 20 sweeping constitutional amendments that would provide an updated framework on which the country would be based. The amendments provided for a collective presidency, a 22 member body consisting of elected representatives from six republics and two autonomous provinces. The body would have a single chairman of the presidency and chairmanship would rotate among six republics. When the Federal Assembly fails to agree on legislation, the collective presidency would have the power to rule by decree. Amendments also provided for stronger cabinet with considerable power to initiate and pursue legislature independently from the Communist Party. Djemal Bijedic was chosen as the Premier. The new amendments aimed to decentralize the country by granting greater autonomy to republics and provinces. The federal government would retain authority only over foreign affairs, defense, internal security, monetary affairs, free trade within Yugoslavia, and development loans to poorer regions. Control of education, healthcare, and housing would be exercised entirely by the governments of the republics and the autonomous provinces.[15]

Tito's greatest strength, in the eyes of the western communists, had been in suppressing nationalist insurrections and maintaining unity throughout the country. It was Tito's call for unity, and related methods, that held together the people of Yugoslavia. This ability was put to a test several times during his reign, notably during the so-called Croatian Spring (also referred to as masovni pokret, maspok, meaning "mass movement") when the government had to suppress both public demonstrations and dissenting opinions within the Communist Party. Despite this suppression, much of maspok's demands were later realised with the new constitution.

On May 16, 1974, the new Constitution was passed, and Josip Broz Tito was named President for life.

Tito was notable for pursuing a foreign policy of neutrality during the Cold War and for establishing close ties with developing countries. Tito's strong belief in self-determination caused early rift with Stalin and consequently, the Eastern Bloc. His public speeches often reiterated that policy of neutrality and cooperation with all countries is natural as long as these countries are not using their influence to pressure Yugoslavia to take sides. Relations with the United States and Western European nations were generally cordial.

1978, Josip Broz Tito and Jimmy Carter visit in the Oval Office.
1978, Josip Broz Tito and Jimmy Carter visit in the Oval Office.

Yugoslavia had a liberal travel policy permitting foreigners to freely travel through the country and its citizens to travel worldwide.[16] This was limited by most Communist countries. A number of Yugoslav citizens worked throughout Western Europe.

Tito also developed warm relations with Burma under U Nu, travelling to the country in 1955 and again in 1959, though he didn't receive the same treatment in 1959 from the new leader, Ne Win.

Because of its neutrality, Yugoslavia would often be one of the only Communist countries to have diplomatic relations with right-wing, anti-Communist governments. For example, Yugoslavia was the only communist country allowed to have an embassy in Alfredo Stroessner's Paraguay.[17] However, one notable exception to Yugoslavia's neutral stance toward anti-communist countries was Chile under Augusto Pinochet; Yugoslavia was one of many communist countries which severed diplomatic relations with Chile after Allende was overthrown.[18]

After the constitutional changes of 1974, Tito increasingly took the role of senior statesman. His direct involvement in domestic policy and governing was diminishing.

In January 1980, Tito was admitted to Klinični center Ljubljana (the clinical centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia) with circulation problems in his legs. His left leg was amputated soon afterwards. He died there on May 4, 1980, three days before his 88th birthday. His funeral drew many world statesmen.[19] Based on the number of attending politicians and state delegations, it was the largest statesman funeral in history (Big Slavs, 2007)[citation needed]. They included four kings, thirty-one presidents, six princes, twenty-two prime ministers and forty-seven ministers of foreign affairs. They came from both sides of the Cold War, from 128 different nations [20].

Tito was most admired for his speeches about brotherhood and unity, some of which are listed below.

"We have spilt an ocean of blood for brotherhood and unity of our peoples and we shall not allow anyone to touch or destroy it from within."[21]

"No one questioned ' who is a Serb, who is a Croat, who is a Muslim (Bosniak) ', we were all one people, that's how it was back then, and I still think it is that way today."[22]

"None of our republics would be anything if we weren't all together; but we have to create our own history - history of United Yugoslavia, also in the future."

"We study and take as an example the Soviet system, but we are developing socialism in our country in somewhat different forms."[citation needed]

"I will give everything from myself to make sure that Yugoslavia is great, not just geographically but great in spirit, and that it hold firmly to its neutrality and sovereignty that has been established through great sacrifice in the last battle (referring to the second World War)."

"A decade ago young people en masse began declaring themselves as Yugoslavs. It was a form of rising Yugoslav nationalism, which was a reaction to brotherhood and unity and a feeling of belonging to a single socialist self-managing society. This pleased me a lot."

"To say the least - this is a disloyal, non-objective attitude towards our Party and our country. It's a consequence of a terrible delusion that has been blown up to monstrous dimensions in order to destroy the reputation of our Party and its leadership, to take away the glory of the Yugoslavian people and their struggle. To trample everything great that our nation achieved with great sacrifices and blood loss - in order to break the unity of our Party, which represents a guarantee for successful development of socialism in our country and for the establishment of happiness of our people."

"Let that man be a Bosnian, Herzegovinian. Outside they don't call you by another name, except simply a Bosnian. Whether that be a muslim (bosniak), serb or croat. Everyone can be what they feel that they are, and no one has a right to force a nationality upon them."

"Bosnia and Herzegovina was once a seed of division between the croat and serb people. Officials in Zagreb and Belgrade brought forth decisions on Bosnia-Herzegovina - decisions involving its wealth and decisions to exploit the country even more; but they didn't care about what their decisions would do to the people living in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They, for the sake of achieving their goals, pitted one people against the other."

"During the war, a battle was fought here, not only for the creation of a new Yugoslavia, but also a battle for Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign republic. To some generals and leaders their position on this was not quite clear. I never once doubted my stance on Bosnia. I always said that Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot belong to this or that, only to the people that lived there since the beginning of time."

At the time of his death, speculation began about whether his successors could continue to hold Yugoslavia together. Ethnic divisions and conflict grew and eventually erupted in a series of Yugoslav wars a decade after his death. Tito was buried in a mausoleum in Belgrade, called Kuća Cveća (The House of Flowers) and numerous people visit the place as a shrine to "better times", although it no longer holds a guard of honour.

The gifts he received during his presidency are kept in the Museum of the History of Yugoslavia (whose old names were "Museum 25. May", and "Museum of the Revolution") in Belgrade. The value of the collection is priceless: it includes works of many world-famous artists, including original prints of Los Caprichos by Francisco Goya, and many others.

During his life and especially in the first year after his death, several places were named after Tito. Several of these places have since returned to their original names, such as Podgorica, formerly Titograd (though Podgorica's international airport is still identified by the code TGD), which reverted to its original name in 1992. Streets in Belgrade, the capital, have all reverted back to their original pre-World War II and pre-communist names as well.

Tito's first wife was Pelagija Broz (née Belousova), a Russian who bore him a son, Žarko. They were married in Omsk before moving to Yugoslavia. She was transported to Moscow by the communists when Tito was imprisoned in 1928.

His next notable relationship was with Hertha Haas, a woman of Jewish descent whom he met in Paris in 1937. They never married, although in May 1941, she bore him a son, Mišo. They parted company in 1943 in Jajce during the second meeting of AVNOJ. All throughout his relationship with Haas, Tito maintained a promiscuous life and had a parallel relationship with Davorjanka Paunovic, codename Zdenka, a courier and his personal secretary, who, by all accounts, was the love of his life. She died of tuberculosis in 1946 and Tito insisted that she be buried in the backyard of the Beli Dvor, his Belgrade residence.[23]

His best known wife was Jovanka Broz (born Budisavljevic). Tito was just shy of his 59th birthday, while she was 27, when they finally married in April 1952, with state security chief Aleksandar Rankovic as the best man. Their eventual marriage came about somewhat unexpectedly since Tito actually rejected her some years earlier when his confidante Ivan Krajacic brought her in originally. At that time, she was in her early 20s and Tito, objecting to her energetic personality, opted for the more mature opera singer Zinka Kunc instead. Not the one to be discouraged easily, Jovanka continued working at Beli Dvor, where she managed the staff of servants and eventually got another chance after Tito's strange relationship with Zinka failed. Since Jovanka was the only female companion he married while in power, she also went down in history as Yugoslavia's first lady. Their relationship was not a happy one, however. It had gone through many, often public, ups and downs with episodes of infidelities and even allegations of preparation for a coup d'etat by the latter pair. Certain unofficial reports suggest Tito and Jovanka even formally divorced in the late 1970s, shortly before his death. The couple did not have any children.

Tito's notable grandchildren include Aleksandra Broz, a prominent theatre director in Croatia, Svetlana Broz, a cardiologist and writer in Bosnia and Josip (Joška) Broz.

Though Tito was most likely born on May 7, he celebrated his birthday on May 25, after he became president of Yugoslavia, to mark the occasion of an unsuccessful attempt at his life by the Nazis in 1944. Nazis found forged documents of Tito's, where May 25 was stated as his birthday. They attacked Tito on the day they believed was his birthday.[citation needed]

Tito spoke four languages in addition to his native Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian: Czech, German, Russian, and English.

May 25 was institutionalized as the Day of Youth in former Yugoslavia. The Relay of Youth started about two months earlier, each time from a different town of Yugoslavia. The baton passed through hundreds of hands of relay runners and typically visited all major cities of the country. On May 25 of each year, the baton finally passed into the hands of Marshal Tito at the end of festivities at Yugoslav People's Army Stadium (hosting FK Partizan) in Belgrade.(May 25, 1977: Marica Lojen of Kumrovec passing the baton into Tito's hands: http://www.titoville.com/images/tito-in-stafeta.jpg)

A popular explanation of the sobriquet claims that it is a conjunction of two Serbo-Croatian words, ti (meaning "you") and to (meaning "this"). As the story goes, during the frantic times of his command, he would issue commands with those two words, by pointing to the person, and then task.[24] However, when Tito adopted the name, he was in no position to give orders because he was not the leader of the communist party, just a member.

Tito is also an old, though uncommon, Croatian name, corresponding to Titus. Tito's biographer, Vladimir Dedijer, claimed that it came from the Croatian romantic writer, Tituš Brezovački, but the name is very well known in Zagorje.

The newest theory is from Croatian journalist Denis Kuljiš. He got information from descendant of Comintern spy Baturin, operating in Istanbul in the thirties, about his code system. Josip Broz was one of his agents, and his secret nicks were always names of pistols (including “Valter”, confirmed by Tito himself). One of last nicknames was “TT” (TT-33, Soviet gun), and Broz after coming back to Yugoslavia even signed some communist party documents with that name. Kuljiš thinks that in a few years “TT” (pronouncing “te te”) became “Tito”.

Tito received many awards and decorations both from his own country and from other countries. Most notable of these are:

Award or decoration Country Date received Remarks Ref
People's Hero of Yugoslavia SFRY 6 November 1944, 15 May 1972, 16 May 1977 only person to receive it three times [25]
Order of Léopold Belgium 6 October 1970 highest military order of Belgium. [25]
Order of the Elephant Denmark 29 October 1974 highest order of Denmark. [26]
Médaille militaire France 5 May 1956 Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower also received it. [27]
Medal Zwycięstwa i Wolności 1945 Poland 16 March 1946 670,000 of the medals were awarded from 1958 to 1992 [25]
Krzyż Partyzancki Poland 16 March 1946 55,000 of the medals were awarded [25]
Order of Victory USSR 9 September 1945 highest military decoration of the Soviet Union
one of 5 foreigners to receive it
[28]
Order of Suvorov USSR September 1944 [25]
Order of Lenin USSR 5 June 1972 [25]
Order of the October Revolution USSR 16 August 1977 [25]

  • Barnett, Neil. Tito. London: Haus Publishing, 2006 (paperback, ISBN 1-904950-31-0).
  • Carter, April. Marshal Tito: A Bibliography (Bibliographies of World Leaders). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1989 (hardcover, ISBN 0-313-28087-8).
  • Dedijer, Vladimir. Tito. New York: Arno Press, 1980 (hardcover, ISBN 0-405-04565-4).
  • Djilas, Milovan, Tito: The Story from Inside. London: Phoenix Press, 2001 (new paperback ed., ISBN 1-84212-047-6).
  • MacLean, Fitzroy. Tito: A Pictorial Biography. McGraw-Hill 1980 (Hardcover, ISBN 0-07-044671-7).
  • Pavlowitch, Stevan K. Tito: Yugoslavia's Great Dictator, A Reassessment. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1992 (hardcover, ISBN 0-8142-0600-X; paperback, ISBN 0-8142-0601-8); London: C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers), 1993 (hardcover, ISBN 1-85065-150-7; paperback, ISBN 1-85065-155-8).
  • Vukcevich, Boško S. Tito: Architect of Yugoslav Disintegration. Orlando, FL: Rivercross Publishing, 1995 (hardcover, ISBN 0-944957-46-3).
  • West, Richard. Tito and the Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1994 (hardcover, ISBN 1-85619-437-X); New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1996 (paperback, ISBN 0-7867-0332-6).
  • New Power

  1. ^ Ian Bremmer, The J Curve: A New Way To Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall, Page 175
  2. ^ Rebirth in Bosnia, Time Magazine Dec 13, 1943
  3. ^ Democide in totalitarian States
  4. ^ Democide and mass murders
  5. ^ Excommunicate's Interview - Time Magazine, October 21, 1946.
  6. ^ "Untold tales of the Great Conquerors", U.S. News & World Report, January 3, 2006.
  7. ^ No Words Left? August 22, 1949.
  8. ^ Come Back, Little Tito June 06, 1955.
  9. ^ Discrimination in a Tomb June 18, 1956.
  10. ^ Socialism of Sorts June 10, 1966.
  11. ^ Unmeritorious Pardon December 16, 1966.
  12. ^ Beyond Dictatorship January 20, 1967.
  13. ^ Still a Fever August 25, 1967.
  14. ^ Back to the Business of Reform August 16, 1968.
  15. ^ Yugoslavia: Tito's Daring Experiment August 09, 1971.
  16. ^ Socialism of Sorts June 10, 1966.
  17. ^ Paraguay: A Country Study, "Foreign Relations": "Foreign policy under Stroessner was based on two major principles: nonintervention in the affairs of other countries and no relations with countries under Marxist governments. The only exception to the second principle was Yugoslavia."
  18. ^ J. Samuel Valenzuela and Arturo Valenzuela (eds.), Military Rule in Chile: Dictatorship and Oppositions, p. 316
  19. ^ Josip Broz Tito Statement on the Death of the President of Yugoslavia May 4, 1980.
  20. ^ Jasper Ridley, Tito: A Biography, p. 19
  21. ^ Tito's Speeches
  22. ^ Tito Videos
  23. ^ Interview with Lordan Zafranovic
  24. ^ This explanation for the name's origin is provided in Fitzroy Maclean's 1949 book, Eastern Approaches.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g List of Tito's decorations, orders and medals on titoville.com
  26. ^ Recipients of Order of the Elephant
  27. ^ Recipients of Médaille militaire
  28. ^ List of order of Victory recipients

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Military offices
Preceded by
Rank established
Marshal of Yugoslavia
29 November 19434 May 1980
Succeeded by
Rank absolished
Preceded by
Position established
Federal secretary of people's defence
29 November 194514 January 1953
Succeeded by
Ivan Gošnjak
Political offices
Preceded by
Drago Marušić
as Prime Minister Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Federal Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
29 November 194529 June 1963
Succeeded by
Petar Stambolić
Preceded by
Ivan Ribar
President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
14 January 19534 May 1980
President for Life from 1974
Succeeded by
Lazar Koliševski
as Chairman of the Collective Presidency of Yugoslavia
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