51 Facts About SFR Yugoslavia

1.

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe.

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2.

Name SFR Yugoslavia, an Anglicised transcription of Jugoslavija, is a composite word made up of jug and slavija.

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3.

SFR Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 under the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

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4.

The most common abbreviation is SFRY, though SFR Yugoslavia was used in an official capacity, particularly by the media.

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5.

On 6 April 1941, SFR Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers led by Nazi Germany; by 17 April 1941, the country was fully occupied and was carved up by the Axis.

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6.

The conclusions, known as the Tito-Subasic Agreement, granted the King's recognition to the AVNOJ and the Democratic Federal SFR Yugoslavia and provided for the establishment of a joint Yugoslav coalition government headed by Tito with Subasic as the foreign minister, with the AVNOJ confirmed as the provisional Yugoslav parliament.

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7.

Belgrade, the capital of SFR Yugoslavia, was liberated with the help of the Soviet Red Army in October 1944, and the formation of a new Yugoslav government was postponed until 2 November 1944, when the Belgrade Agreement was signed and the provisional government formed.

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8.

SFR Yugoslavia was now once more a fully intact state, with its borders closely resembling their pre-1941 form and was envisioned by the Partisans as a "Democratic Federation", including six federated states: the Federated State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federated State of Croatia, Federated State of Macedonia, Federated State of Montenegro, Federated State of Serbia, and Federated State of Slovenia .

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9.

On 29 November 1945, the second anniversary of the Second Session of the AVNOJ, the Constituent Assembly of SFR Yugoslavia formally abolished the monarchy and declared the state a republic.

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10.

The new SFR Yugoslavia closely followed the Stalinist Soviet model of economic development in this early period, some aspects of which achieved considerable success.

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11.

Tensions with the West were high as SFR Yugoslavia joined the Cominform, and the early phase of the Cold War began with SFR Yugoslavia pursuing an aggressive foreign policy.

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12.

SFR Yugoslavia dispatched significant assistance, in terms of arms and ammunition, supplies, military experts on partisan warfare, and even allowed the Greek Communist forces to use Yugoslav territory as a safe haven.

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13.

The major point of contention was that SFR Yugoslavia wanted to absorb the two and transform them into additional federated republics.

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14.

However, having largely liberated itself with only limited Red Army support, SFR Yugoslavia steered an independent course and was constantly experiencing tensions with the Soviet Union.

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15.

Tito was wary of becoming too dependent on the West as well, and military security arrangements concluded in 1953 as SFR Yugoslavia refused to join NATO and began developing a significant military industry of its own.

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16.

SFR Yugoslavia began a number of fundamental reforms in the early 1950s, bringing about change in three major directions: rapid liberalization and decentralization of the country's political system, the institution of a new, unique economic system, and a diplomatic policy of non-alignment.

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17.

SFR Yugoslavia refused to take part in the Communist Warsaw Pact and instead took a neutral stance in the Cold War, becoming a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement along with countries like India, Egypt and Indonesia, and pursuing centre-left influences that promoted a non-confrontational policy towards the United States.

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18.

The Communist Party of SFR Yugoslavia changed its name at this time to the League of Communists of SFR Yugoslavia, becoming a federation of six republican Communist parties.

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19.

SFR Yugoslavia's loss marked a significant alteration, and it was reported that many Yugoslavs openly mourned his death.

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20.

SFR Yugoslavia had come into conflict with the leaders of the Republics arguing that Yugoslavia needed to economize due to the growing problem of foreign debt.

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21.

SFR Yugoslavia was the host nation of the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.

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22.

However, SFR Yugoslavia's games had Western countries participating, while the Soviet Union's Olympics were boycotted by some.

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23.

SFR Yugoslavia's work was left incomplete as Yugoslavia broke apart in the 1990s.

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24.

However, the issue of economic inequality between the republics, autonomous provinces, and nations of SFR Yugoslavia resulted in tensions with claims of disadvantage and accusations of privileges against others by these groups.

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25.

SFR Yugoslavia then began a campaign against the ruling Communist elite of SR Serbia, demanding reductions in the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina.

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26.

Carington's plan realized that SFR Yugoslavia was in a state of dissolution and decided that each republic must accept the inevitable independence of the others, along with a promise to Serbian President Milosevic that the European Union would ensure that Serbs outside of Serbia would be protected.

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27.

The international media gave immense attention to bombardment of Dubrovnik and claimed this was evidence of Milosevic pursuing the creation of a Greater Serbia as SFR Yugoslavia collapsed, presumably with the aid of the subordinate Montenegrin leadership of Bulatovic and Serb nationalists in Montenegro to foster Montenegrin support for the retaking of Dubrovnik.

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28.

In public, pro-state media in Serbia claimed to Bosnians that Bosnia and Herzegovina could be included a new voluntary union within a new SFR Yugoslavia based on democratic government, but this was not taken seriously by the Bosnia and Herzegovina's government.

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29.

Badinter Commission later noted that SFR Yugoslavia disintegrated into several independent states, so it is not possible to talk about the secession of Slovenia and Croatia from SFR Yugoslavia.

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30.

In September 1992, the Federal Republic of SFR Yugoslavia failed to achieve de jure recognition as the continuation of the Socialist Federal Republic in the United Nations.

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31.

The League of Communists of SFR Yugoslavia won the first elections, and remained in power throughout the state's existence.

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32.

SFR Yugoslavia's parliament was known as the Federal Assembly which was housed in the building which currently houses Serbia's parliament.

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33.

SFR Yugoslavia provided major assistance to anti-colonialist movements in the Third World.

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34.

SFR Yugoslavia saw the murder of Patrice Lumumba in 1961 as the "greatest crime in contemporary history".

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35.

On 1 January 1967, SFR Yugoslavia was the first Communist country to open its borders to all foreign visitors and abolish visa requirements.

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36.

SFR Yugoslavia's plan called for Arab countries to recognize the State of Israel in exchange for Israel returning territories it had gained.

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37.

SFR Yugoslavia therefore initiated purchase of 10 American excess and therefore cheap C-47 planes in 1946.

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38.

Population of SFR Yugoslavia spoke mainly three languages: Serbo-Croatian, Slovene and Macedonian.

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39.

Armed forces of SFR Yugoslavia consisted of the Yugoslav People's Army, Territorial Defense, Civil Defense and Milicija in wartime.

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40.

SFR Yugoslavia had a thriving arms industry and exported to nations such as Kuwait, Iraq, and Burma, among others .

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41.

Period of the existence of the SFR Yugoslavia was marked by significant development in the field of education.

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42.

Unlike in other socialist societies, SFR Yugoslavia was considered tolerant to a popular and classical art as long as it was not overly critical of the ruling regime, which made SFR Yugoslavia appear to be a free country despite its one-party regime structure.

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43.

Also, many foreign films were shot on locations in SFR Yugoslavia including domestic crews, such as Force 10 from Navarone, Armour of God, as well as Escape from Sobibor.

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44.

SFR Yugoslavia was the first non-Western European country to host a European Championship, UEFA Euro 1976.

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45.

SFR Yugoslavia won two Olympic gold medals – 1972 in Munich and 1984 in Los Angeles.

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46.

SFR Yugoslavia never got to compete at the European Championship because the competition got established in 1994.

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47.

SFR Yugoslavia's went on to win three more Grand Slam titles under the flag of FR Yugoslavia as well as yet one more Grand Slam after immigration to the United States.

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48.

In men's tennis, SFR Yugoslavia never produced a Grand Slam champion, though it had two finalists.

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49.

For many years, SFR Yugoslavia was considered the second strongest chess nation in the world after the Soviet Union.

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50.

Present-day states which succeeded SFR Yugoslavia are still today sometimes collectively referred to as the former SFR Yugoslavia .

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51.

Successor states of SFR Yugoslavia continue to have a population growth rate that is close to zero or negative.

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