Myth of Tito

The Myth of Tito was a complex political myth with Josip Broz Tito as its main protagonist. The Myth of Tito became one of the main elements of the political mythology of socialist Yugoslavia. It presented Tito as a flawless leader of the Communist revolution in Yugoslavia. The Myth of Tito as a faultless leader was expanded to include all leaders of the Communist Party. One of the most powerful elements of the Myths of Tito was the often mislaid myth of the military capability of Tito's army of Communists, which resulted in the belief that Tito's Partisans liberated Yugoslavia from Axis occupation. The only more deeply rooted Myth of Tito in the West was the Myth of Tito as the great "Yugoslav nationalist". Tito's political product - socialist Yugoslavia - was also mythologized as part of the Myth of Tito. As part of the Myth of Tito, Yugoslavia was a dreamland of equal nations and nationalities, an economic paradise of working people and a true oasis of a beautiful life.

The construction of the Myth of Tito began during World War II. The works of historians published in Yugoslavia during the regime of the Communist party popularized the Myth of Tito as a flawless leader of Communist revolution in Yugoslavia. In 1948, the Myth of Tito's "historical No!" to Stalin and Soviet Union during the Tito–Stalin split was given the same weight as the myth about the struggle of Yugoslav Communist forces against occupiers and "domestic traitors". The Myth of Tito was almost unanimously accepted and parroted by western scholars.

The Myth of Tito received significant coverage and was the main topic of many scientific studies and works. The deconstruction of the Myth of Tito began after Tito's death, when more works with criticism of Tito and his Communist regime were published. These works pointed out that both the mythologized faultless Tito and his political product - dreamland Yugoslavia - never actually existed. In reality, many catastrophic political moves were drawn which slowly but inevitably pushed the country and its Communist leaders into total catastrophe and disintegration. The myth of Tito inevitably perished to become a caricature of the unfounded political regime and its ruler who died together with his "paradise country".

Still, many decades after Tito's death, there is no consensus about him. Many scholars in the region of Yugoslavia became engaged in serious revisionism of historical narratives built around the Myth of Tito. On the other hand, some authors continue to support the historical narratives about Tito and Yugoslavia forged during the Communist regime. Some authors believe that attempts to preserve the Myth of Tito have the final aim to preserve the monopoly of Communists over the anti-fascist struggle they forcibly acquired. Parts of this Communist myth continued to be taken for granted in the West well into the 21st century. In 2015, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published a text in which it emphasized that the Myth of Tito survived the end of the Cold War and the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia, referring to Tito as one of the greatest mass murderers of the 20th century.

Construction

World War II

Idolizing Tito began during World War II and he became one of the main elements of the political mythology of socialist Yugoslavia. The works of historians published in Yugoslavia during the regime of the Communist party popularized the Myth of Tito as a flawless leader of the revolution. The Myth of Tito as a faultless leader was expanded to include all leaders of the Communist Party. This myth was almost unanimously accepted and parroted by western scholars. During the whole period of Tito's regime, the myth of Tito as a faultless leader was carefully nurtured. Mark Almond explained that one of the most powerful Myths of Tito was the belief that Tito's army of Communists liberated Yugoslavia from Axis occupation. Winston Churchill was particularly captivated by the often mislaid myth of the military capability of Tito's Partisans. Danko Popović emphasized that for half of the century, movies and books published in Yugoslavia were used to nurture the myth of Tito and distort the image of Chetniks.

Socialistic Yugoslavia

A part of the Myth of Tito was related to his political product - SFR Yugoslavia, a country mythologized as a land of equal nations and nationalities, an economic paradise of working people and a true oasis of a beautiful life. In the post-war period, referred to as the period of quick socialistic development when the biggest political mistakes were made, any criticism was swiftly refuted because of the Myth of Tito as a faultless genius.

In this atmosphere of faultlessness, many catastrophic political moves were drawn which slowly but inevitably pushed the country and its Communist leaders into total catastrophe and disintegration. The mythologized Tito and dreamland Yugoslavia never existed.

In 1948, the Myth of Tito's "historical No!" to Stalin and Soviet Union was given the same weight as the myth about the struggle of Tito's Communist forces against occupiers and "domestic traitors". Almond also pointed out that probably the only more deeply rooted Myth of Tito in the West was the Myth of Tito as the great "Yugoslav nationalist".

After Tito died, his position of president of Yugoslavia was succeeded by a collective leadership which grasped the Myth of Tito as the root of their legitimacy, being very cautious toward anybody who questioned the Myth of Tito as a faultless leader who built "socialism". On the 35th anniversary of Tito's death, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published a text in which it emphasized that the Myth of Tito survived the end of the Cold War and the bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia reminding its readers that at Tito's funeral, world leaders showed their respect to one of the greatest mass murderers of the 20th century.

Deconstruction

The myth of Tito inevitably perished to become a caricature of the unfounded political regime and its ruler who slid to his biological end together with his "paradise country". On 4 May 1990, Politika, which was at the time considered as the daily of Serbia's establishment, emphasized in its leading article that the Myth of Tito was dead in all of its purposes. According to Najbar-Agićić, after the destruction of Yugoslavia, the process of de-Titoization was one of the main aspects in the teaching of history. Many objective scholars in the region of Yugoslavia are engaged in serious revisionism of this myth, while ironically some of these Communist myths continued to be taken for granted in the West.

Still, at the beginning of the 21st century, decades after Tito's death, there is no consensus about Tito, while a substantial number of people continued to nurture the Myth of Tito as a faultless leader whose actions are above any criticism. Tito has become a typical myth and survived well into the 21st century as some kind of pop idol or lucrative brand.

Some authors believe that some historians continued with attempts to preserve the Myth of Tito being strongly supported by the population of Serbia during World War II, which is not grounded in historical and political facts, with the final aim to preserve monopoly over the anti-fascist struggle they forcibly acquired.

Studies dedicated to the Myth of Tito

The Myth of Tito received significant coverage and was the main topic of many scientific studies and works. In 1980, Aleksa Đilas published work titled "The Myth of Tito - Patriot or Despot?". In 2006, Alempijević and Hjemdahl published a book titled "O Titu kao o Mitu" (English: Myth of Tito). In 2006, Nemeš published a work titled "Povijesni mitovi o Josipu Brozu Titu kao sredstvo manipulacije narodima na prostoru bivše SFRJ" (English: Historical myths of Josip Broz Tito as tool for manipulation with nations of former SFR Yugoslavia). In 2008, Peruško published work titled "Mit o Titu u postjugoslavenskoj Hrvatskoj" (English: The Myth of Tito in the context of Post-Yugoslav Croatia). In 2014, the Museum of Yugoslavia organized an exhibition Creating The Myth of Tito in which the author of the exhibition emphasized the mythical ways and techniques of the selection of different elements from Tito's biography to create the Myth of Tito.

Sources

• Alempijević, Nevena Škrbić; Hjemdahl, Kirsti Mathiesen (2006). O Titu kao mitu: proslava Dana mladosti u Kumrovcu. FF Press. ISBN 978-953-175-218-3. Search this book on
• Pavlowitch, Stevan K. (1992). Tito: Yugoslavia's Great Dictator : a Reassessment. C. Hurst. ISBN 978-1-85065-150-5. Search this book on
• Almond, Mark (1994). Europe's Backyard War: The War in the Balkans. Pearson Education New Zealand Limited. Search this book on
• Jović, Dejan (1 January 2004). "Communist Yugoslavia and Its "Others"". In John Lampe, Mark Mazower. Ideologies and National Identities: The Case of Twentieth-Century Southeastern Europe. Central European University Press. ISBN 978-963-9241-82-4. Retrieved 26 July 2020. Search this book on
• Rezun, Miron (1995). Europe and War in the Balkans: Toward a New Yugoslav Identity. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-95238-9. Search this book on
• Popović, Danko (1994). Неспокоји. ИП "Београд". Search this book on
• Velikonja, Mitja (20 April 2017). Titostalgia - A Study of Nostalgia for Josip Broz. Lambert. ISBN 978-3-659-80309-3. Search this book on

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