A biography of the charismatic and controversial Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito.
The near-mythological figure Josip Broz Tito was a complicated one. An oppressor, a dictator, a reformer, and a playboy, Tito was an inspirational partisan leader and scourge of the Germans during their occupation of Yugoslavia in the Second World War, a doctrinaire communist, and an ever-present thorn in Moscow’s side. He managed Yugoslavia’s internal tensions through personality, a force of will, and political oppression.
It was only after his death in 1980 that the true scale of his influence was understood. At that time, Yugoslavia’s institutions and politicians were revealed as rudderless, and the country created by Tito—a Croat turned Yugoslav—collapsed into a bloody and at times genocidal civil war. These ethnic conflicts were Tito’s nightmare, yet, as Neil Barnett shows in this short but engaging biography, they were in many ways the result of his own myopic egomania.
The near-mythological figure Josip Broz Tito was a complicated one. An oppressor, a dictator, a reformer, and a playboy, Tito was an inspirational partisan leader and scourge of the Germans during their occupation of Yugoslavia in the Second World War, a doctrinaire communist, and an ever-present thorn in Moscow’s side. He managed Yugoslavia’s internal tensions through personality, a force of will, and political oppression.
It was only after his death in 1980 that the true scale of his influence was understood. At that time, Yugoslavia’s institutions and politicians were revealed as rudderless, and the country created by Tito—a Croat turned Yugoslav—collapsed into a bloody and at times genocidal civil war. These ethnic conflicts were Tito’s nightmare, yet, as Neil Barnett shows in this short but engaging biography, they were in many ways the result of his own myopic egomania.
Reviews
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword by Prince Ferdinand von Bismarck vii
Introduction 1
Early influences 1815–32 5
‘The Crazy Junker’ 1832–47 13
Bismarck’s path to politics 1847–51 25
Diplomatic apprenticeship 1851–62 36
Prime minister in waiting 1862–3 48
‘I have beaten all of them, every single one!’ 1863–7 56
The Founder of the Reich 1866–71 70
Consolidation and preservation 1871–85 82
The long departure from power 1885–90 97
The last years 1890–8 108
Assessment 114
Notes 122
Chronology 139
Bibliography 143
Picture Sources 154
Index 155
Foreword by Prince Ferdinand von Bismarck vii
Introduction 1
Early influences 1815–32 5
‘The Crazy Junker’ 1832–47 13
Bismarck’s path to politics 1847–51 25
Diplomatic apprenticeship 1851–62 36
Prime minister in waiting 1862–3 48
‘I have beaten all of them, every single one!’ 1863–7 56
The Founder of the Reich 1866–71 70
Consolidation and preservation 1871–85 82
The long departure from power 1885–90 97
The last years 1890–8 108
Assessment 114
Notes 122
Chronology 139
Bibliography 143
Picture Sources 154
Index 155