1945-1980 since 1991






Slovenia 1980-1991



Josip Broz Tito died in 1980. He had stood for a communist system, economically somewhat liberalized, and for suppressing conflict among the many ethnicities within Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia, on paper, was a federation, which in reality had been ruled by a dictator. With the dictator gone, Yugoslavia adopted a federal constitution and underwent a process of democratization, new faces vying with ex-communists for power. Slovenia, one of the smallest republics within Yugoslavia and in a marginal position within the federation, did not produce politicians who sought a career within Yugoslavia. The sentiment within Slovenia, which with 1/13th of the population produced 1/3 of the ntion's exports, early on was set on independence.
The first free elections held in 1990 brought independence advocates into office; a referendum that year overwhelmingly opted for independence, which was declared in 1991.

The Yugoslav economy, compared with those of other People's Republics in Eastern Central Europe, was somewhat more liberal. Yugoslavia hat accepted Marshall Plan Aid; the country permitted its citizens to seek employment abroad, in Western as well as Eastern Europe. Small-size enterprizes in private ownership were permitted. Yugoslavs who had worked in the FRG for a number of years, when returning with their savings, were able to start small businesses. Slovenia, with its proximity to Austria and Italy, with a population which had a work ethic similar to that of the Austrians, but with lower wages and production costs, did provide an excellent environment for such investments, although communist bureaucracy and legislation provided obstacles.
State-owned companies had been granted the right to manage themselves; one of the most successful, Gorenje produced refrigerators, washing machines - lower in quality than her German competitors, but also much lower in price.





EXTERNAL
LINKS 		History of Ljubljana, from Ljubljana
Timeline, from BBC News
Article Slovenia, from Wikipedia
History of Gorenje, from Gorenje
DOCUMENTS Historical Population Statistics : Slovenia, from Population Statistics
REFERENCE Article : Yugoslavia : Slovenia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1984-1985 p. 1617 (data of 1983-1984) [G]
Article : Yugoslavia : Slovenia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1985-1986 p. 1613 (data of 1984-1985) [G]
Article : Yugoslavia : Slovenia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1987-1988 p. 1614 (data of 1986-1987) [G]
Article : Yugoslavia : Slovenia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1988-1989 p. 1617 (data of 1987-1988) [G]
Article : Yugoslavia : Slovenia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1989-1990 p. 1613 (data of 1988-1989) [G]
Article : Yugoslavia : Slovenia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1990-1991 p. 1615 (data of 1989-1990) [G]
Article : Yugoslavia : Slovenia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1991-1992 p. 1611 (data of 1990-1991) [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on October 13th 2006

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