Bölüm anahatları

  • source= Raif Dizdarevic, From the Death of Tito to the Death of Yugoslavia, 2009; (translation into English by Saba Risaluddin).

    Chapter One—Marshal Tito’s Illness and Death

    November 25 is the date on which Bosnia and Herzegovina celebrates its statehood; the date on which in 1943, in the Bosnian town of Mrkonjic-Grad, the Partisans’ parliament (the National Anti-Fascist Council of the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) proclaimed the Republic to be a state, part of the Yugoslav federation of republics. It was because of this national holiday, too, that he wanted to bestow a particular significance on the celebrations of the statehood of this multinational republic within the Yugoslav federation: to send a special message to the Yugoslav public as a whole by way of warning to the more or less covert nationalist tendencies that were beginning to emerge. He spoke very emotionally of the achievements of the Partisans’ war, of the building of the common state after 1945, and of the need to be particularly sensitive to inter-ethnic harmony. “We must jealously preserve the achievements of our revolution, particularly the international relations we built up during the Partisans’ struggle”, said Tito. Evidently wishing his words to serve as a broader and more explicit message for Yugoslavia as a whole, he spoke of the need to oppose every manifestation of nationalism and clero-nationalism, of his concern for the younger generation and, above all, of the country’s economic development as the key to the future of Yugoslavia. As was his way, he insisted on greater accountability and on sanctions for those who did not perform their duties as agreed. He had the same harsh words for various opposition groups and individuals sowing dissension in the country, and spoke of the international situation and of Yugoslavia’s active role in the international affairs of the day.

    *Raif Dizdarevic was born in 1926 in Fojnica. He was in the Yugoslav diplomatic service for many years. He was the only Bosniac during the entire history of Yugoslavia (1918-1991) to be “Speaker of the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia, a post he held from 1982-83. Afterwards, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs (1984-88) and President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1988-89). He was also awarded the ZAVNOBIH  award. (p.s. ZAVNOBIH meant the National Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was formed on 25 November 1943 under the control  of the Partisans and AVNOJ).