COURAGE

gyűjtemények hálózata

This article by Djilas was published in The New York Times on October 30, 1970, after traveling to Great Britain and United States in the second part of 1968. He noted that the most frequent questions directed at him in meetings in those countries was: ‘What will happen [to Yugoslavia] after Tito?’ His major response to the atmosphere of the “Croatian Spring movement” that occurred in Yugoslavia in those years was that the national question among the Yugoslav nations was increasingly coming to the fore of their political interests, and that Marxism-Leninism was gradually losing its strength and influence. He opposed the disintegration of Yugoslavia until the end of his life, and pleaded for “democratic transformation” and to preserve Yugoslav federalism at any cost. Such stances could not be publicly aired in Yugoslavia after Tito's death.

Rise and Fall, a book by the Communist dissident Milovan Đilas, originally published under the title Vlast (Power) in the Serbian language in London in 1983 and in Croatia under the title Vlast i Pobuna (Power and Rebellion) in 2009, is one in the series of Đilas’ memoirs covering the years from the end of World War II until his release from prison in 1966.

In addition to the other books Đilas published in English about the Yugoslav socialist regime and the nature of its rule, the book Rise and Fall contributes to the understanding of the complexity of relations inside the Yugoslav party leadership and its methods of dealing with political enemies, and illustrates the personal transformation of a fierce communist into a democrat and liberal, demonstrating his personal courage, thereby contributing to the culture of dissent under the socialist regime.

The manuscript itself was written in 1956, while this most famous book by Djilas was published in 1957 in the United States, and later it had dozens of editions in many languages. Djilas presented his theoretical explanation of the concept of the “new class,” which was born just after the revolution in the newly established communist societies. He considered the emergence of the “new class” as a social reality that is deeply rooted in ideological theories about the establishment of social egalitarianism. This was a new communist elite created by the Yugoslav revolution  at the top of society in order to collectively manage all social resources. The main conclusion of Djilas is that this “new class” had, paradoxically, been transformed into the exploitative class against which it had itself fought during the social revolution. Thus, Djilas's reflections on “the revolution betrayed” by the communist avant-garde was similar what Trotsky had already observed. By doing so, he seriously shook the legitimacy of the ideological foundations of Tito's Yugoslavia and the countries of the Eastern communist bloc, as the first dissident who was labelled the main enemy of communism. However, although Djilas condemned totalitarian communism and single-party dictatorship, he had maintained his socialist beliefs until the end of his life, believing that socialism could be achieved through reform in a democratic order.

The New Class, a book by the Yugoslav Communist dissident Milovan Đilas, is one of the most important political documents of its time, and according to the London Times Literary Supplement poll, one of the 100 most influential books of the latter half of the 20^th century. Historian Mira Bogdanović believes that one of the reasons for its great influence is the assistance Djilas received from the CIA in writing, translating and distributing the book, all in the context of Cold War politics (Bogdanović, 2013).

The book was first printed in English in the United States in 1957, and it was translated into dozens of languages. It is a study in which Đilas analysed the socialist order and ideology, and systematically demystified the socialist system in Yugoslavia. The greatest significance of the book, the demystification of socialism, is due precisely to the fact that it was written by the former fourth man of socialist Yugoslavia and one of its key ideologues. The book was legally printed in Yugoslavia for the first time in the Serbian language in Belgrade in 1990.

In the context of the culture of dissent, the book provided insight into the nature and practices of the socialist society in Yugoslavia, thus influencing Croatian intellectuals in Chicago, their attitude toward Yugoslavia and their advocacy for an independent Croatia. 

The most important among the books of Đinđić’s collection is his analysis of the political and constitutional system of Yugoslavia and its key shortcomings in “Yugoslavia as an Incomplete State”. The book was published in 1988 out of a series of essays Đinđić had published in “Literary News” [Književne novine] between 1986 and 1988. Using theoretical analysis, Đinđić criticized the ruling ideological paradigm of the time and “affirmed for the first time, on a theoretically relevant basis, liberal thought on the level of the individual, society and politics.” (N. Dmitrijević, Kontinuitet nedovršene državnosti (Foreword) in: Đinđić, 1998, IX).

Đinđić wrote on Yugoslavia: “Not even the more sober-minded observers will be able to escape the impression that the most fundamental matters are, indeed, contested here. The impression that Yugoslavia is, as a matter of fact, an unfinished state. So to say, it is an open option, which withstands any final definition... In the vacuum spreading with the communist term (or, more precisely, non-term) of statehood, a variety of herbs grew, which turned the lack of premises for life in its own premise for life.“ Đinđić also analysed key problems in Yugoslavia, anticipating its dissolution, the victory of nationalism, and warned about the far-reaching consequences. This book is considered among the most important works in political theory during the 1980s in Serbia.