"Tito's Yugoslavia" – Socialism with a human face

The third episode of the series "Tito's Yugoslavia" tells the story of the socialist modernization of a country that emerged from the war devastated and economically exhausted, and then achieved one of the fastest periods of development in Europe. After the conflict with the Soviet Union in 1948, the Yugoslav leadership set out on its own path of development, striving to build a socialist society different from the Soviet model.

With rich archival material and interviews with experts from various backgrounds, the episode reconstructs what architect Lejla Kreševljaković calls “the construction of a new man and society through modernization.” The focus is on industrialization, electrification, urbanization, and the creation of a new working class, processes that fundamentally changed the daily lives of millions of people.

The controversies of that period are also presented – from the failed attempt to collectivize villages according to the Soviet model, which culminated in the suppression of the Cazin Rebellion, to the authorities' abandonment of such a policy in the early 1950s.

This was followed by the accelerated building of the working class through industrialization and self-management. As the interlocutors in the film point out, the goal was not only economic development, but also the creation of a new socialist man. Special attention was paid to the position of workers and working conditions, and one of the key ideas of the time was that the worker must be satisfied. Modernization thus grew into a broader social and educational project that was supposed to change the way of life and worldviews of entire generations.

Don't miss the third episode of the documentary series "Tito's Yugoslavia", tonight at 20 pm on Television Vijesti.