Geopolitics and Markets Review – 20th May 2024

Cold War In The Balkans

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Cold War In The Balkans

3. Bye, Bye Communism

4. The End of Yugoslavia

5. Concluding Remarks

6. Other News

---

Bitesize Edition

• Emerging from World War Two liberated by the Soviets, it was questioned how the region would look in the aftermath of this. Starting the period as aligned with the Soviets and communism, this lasted longer for some nations than others.

• Yugoslavia and the Soviets fell out rather quickly and tensions fluctuated between the two over the decades. A big change to the stability in the Balkans occurred after the death of Josip Broz Tito, leader of Yugoslavia, in 1980.

• After his death, the hopes of the six republics within Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro) started to diverge. Economically, the situation was tough. In 1987, Milosevic emerged as leader in Serbia, and things very quickly began to change. This contributed to the end of this iteration of Yugoslavia and the rise of independence referendums for the six republics. Did this process occur peacefully or did it result in wars, as it so often does? Find out more below.

---

Introduction

When the Soviets liberated the Balkans during World War Two, what remained after was a vacuum. It took some years for relative stability to emerge. Today, I’ll explore the transitions that occurred in the Balkans after WW2 and the journey through the Cold War.

---

Cold War In The Balkans

The period of Axis Power control in the Balkans during World War Two did influence the area in the initial years after the conflict subsided. The Soviets were the ones who liberated the area, and so many nations were more closely aligned with the Soviets than the Western nations that fled when the Axis Powers took the Balkans.

A key theme of the Cold War was the fight between communism and democracy, with the Soviet-communist system spreading through the Balkans. This included the Greek Civil War, in which a communist uprising occurred against the government of the Kingdom of Greece. It is dubbed as the first proxy war of the Cold War era, with the Communist Party of Greece and its military branch, the Democratic Army of Greece, supported by Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania, and to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union. The conflict saw the defeat of communism in Greece, with the United Kingdom and the United States supporting the Greek government forces. NATO membership came in 1949.

Interestingly, the Turks also joined NATO in 1949, fearful of Soviet influence in the Black Sea, and wishing to rival this. Today, some question if the Turks' role in NATO is still aligned with the rest of the alliance. As I’ve also discussed, those powers who remain unaligned often emerge in an advantageous position once periods of high geopolitical tension are over. I believe the Turks are adopting such a policy. As a bridge between Europe and Asia and a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the role of Turkey in the world order, and its geographical location makes it a key player in global geopolitics.

Anyway, back to the Balkans post-WW2.