The Tito- Stalin Split or Yugoslav- soviet split was a conflict between the leaders of SFR Yugoslavia

and the Soviet Union, which resulted in Yugoslavia’s expulsion from the Communist Information
Bureau (COMINFORM) in 1948. This was the beginning of the Informbiro period, marked by poor
relations with the USSR, that came to an end in 1955.
During the Second World War, Yugoslavia was occupied by the Axis. The occupying powers were
opposed by several resistance groups; the communist resistance, led by Tito, was the largest and
took control of the country in 1945, with minimal Soviet intervention. At this point, Tito was loyal
to Moscow.
Tito’s leading role in liberating Yugoslavia not only greatly strengthened his position in this party
and among the Yugoslav people, but also caused him to be more insistent that Yugoslavia would
get more room to follow its own interests than other Eastern Block leaders. This had already led to
some friction between the 2 countries before the WW2 was even over. Although Tito was formally
an ally to Stalin after the WW2, the soviets had set up a spy ring in the Yugoslav party as early as
1945, resulting in an uneasy alliance.
In the immediate aftermath of the WW2 there occurred several armed incidents between
Yugoslavia and the Western Block. Following the war, Yugoslavia successfully captured the
territory of Istria, as well as other cities that had formed part of Italy in the 20’s. This move was
direct benefit to the Slavic populations of the region. Yugoslav was looking to incorporate Trieste
into the country as well, which was opposed by the Western Allies and Stalin. This led to several
armed incidents, notably Yugoslav fighter planes shooting down American transport aircraft,
causing angry criticism from the West and from Stalin. From 1945 to 1948, at least four US aircraft
were shot down. Stalin was opposed to this provocations, as he felt that the USSR was unready to
face the West in open war so soon after the loses of WW2. Stalin couldn’t tolerate this threat.
After a resolution and because of the previous events, the expulsion of the USSR banished
Yugoslavia from the international association of socialist states. Tito used the estrangement from
the USSR to obtain US aid via the Marshall Plan, as well as to find the Non- Aligned Movement in
which Yugoslavia was a leading force.
The collapse of the Soviet Union
Started in the late 1980’s and was complete when the country broke up into 15 independent
states on December 25, 1991. This signaled the end of the cold war between the Soviet Union and
the united states.
Gorvachev becomes general secretary
Was elected general secretary of the Soviet Union in 1985. When he took over the Soviet Union
economy was in bad shape and his idea was to reform the economy and modernize the political
situation in the country.
Glasnost and Perestroika
There were two main platforms of gorvachev’s reform. The first he called Glasnost allowed more
freedom of speech and openness in govenments. Government officers would be held accountable
to the people for their actions although Glasnost was a good thing for the people, it also allowed
people to protest and the media to report on issues for the first time. Many of the out line states
used this new found freedom to express their desire for independence.
The other major reform was called perestroika meant restructuring. Gorvachev meant to
restructure the soviet economy to work more efficiently. He allowed some private ownership and
released some of the tight control the government had on the economy. However, the people and
the economy of the USSR were used to the government doing everything. Things got worse before
they got better.
Baltic region
With the new found freedom of gorvachev’s reforms some outlined soviet states began to reveal.
The first states to demand their freedom were the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
Nationalist movement spreads
Soon more states wanted their independence including Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.
The central government began to feel the pressure of so many states wanting independence.
The communist government on the verge of collapse, soviet hardliners decided to take action in
august of 1991, they kidnapped Gorvachev and announced to the world that he was too sick to
govern. They would be taking over. When the soviet citizens began to protest the hardliners called
in the military to shut them down. However, the soldiers refused to shoot and arrest their own
people. Without the military to back them up, the takeover had failed.
The Soviet Union breaks up
On December, 24 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved. At the same time Michael Gorvachev
announced his resignation. The Soviet Union divided up into 15 separate independent countries,
including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, kazajstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania,
Moldova.
Incluir mapa de antes y despues del quiebre de la USSR