Some time ago, in the 20th century, the state of Yugoslavia existed in Europe. It chose socialism as its path of development. Despite the fact that the president of Yugoslavia was a Croat by nationality, Serbs, Macedonians, and Montenegrins regret him. Everything was different here, not like in other countries, following the path, in the end of which communism was to be established. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, its inhabitants had a so-called. titostalgia, which has not gone away to this day. Such a phenomenon is named after the leader of Yugoslavia, who was not afraid to provoke Stalin's displeasure, which brought anger not only on his head, but on the whole country.
However, despite this, the inflexible Croat remained the head of state, ruling the country for 35 years out of the 88 years of his life. The children and wives of Broz Tito and, of course, he himself has repeatedly become the subject of interest for the media.
Who was this man who created a strong socialist country in the eternally seething Balkans, which soon collapsed after his death?
Early years
From the very beginningbiography of Joseph Broz Tito is not simple. He was born on May 7, 1892 in the village of Kumrovets, which is located north of the capital of Croatia, Zagreb. The family was large, and Joseph was the seventh child. In addition, the family can be called international, like the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, part of which was the birthplace of the future leader. His father, Franjo Broz, was a Croat, and his mother, Maria Jaroszek, was Slovene, both of whom were Catholics by religion. Later, the leader of Yugoslavia, Broz Tito, changed his date of birth to May 25, 1983. Why he did this is unknown. There is only an assumption that the number is associated with the German operation "Rosselshprung" ("Knight's move"), the result of which was to be the elimination of the leader of the Yugoslav communists.
Despite the fact that the family was poor, education is still the future president, since in Austria-Hungary at that time primary education was considered compulsory. He studied well at school, as evidenced by the preserved entries in the certificate.
After elementary school, the boy immediately had to work, and in 1907 his father even tried to send him to work in America, but due to lack of funds, he had to abandon this attempt and look for another place to earn money. Broz Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia in the future, is apprenticed as a locksmith, where his brother Stepan later joined. Tito's teacher was the Czech Nikolai Karas, who introduced his ward to the teachings of the socialists. Joseph Broz Tito was imbued with the ideas of socialism and already in 1910, having moved to Zagreb, he became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Slavonia.
Youth
Startingsince 1911, Joseph has changed many jobs. He worked in Zagreb at a bicycle factory, in Mannheim at the Benz automobile factory, in Vienna at the Gridl factories, in Wiener Neustadt at the Daimler factories. During this time, in addition to professional skills, he also developed in other directions: he learned to dance, fencing, studied Czech and German. But in 1913, such a favorable time for Tito's self-development ended, he reached the age of 21 and, according to the laws of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, must go to military service. The service had to be carried out first in Vienna, in the imperial regiment, but on the basis of a report on the transfer of the future marshal, they were transferred to Zagreb.
Nothing surprising in the fact that a Croatian by nationality, Josif Broz Tito, asked to serve among fellow countrymen. There he showed himself on the positive side and was sent to study at the school of junior officers. The fencing skills acquired before the army were very useful: having improved them in the army, he began to be considered one of the best swordsmen of the regiment.
In Tito's biography there is an episode in which a member of the royal family became a participant. In part, competitions were held, as a result of which Joseph was awarded a silver medal. The award was made personally by Archduke Joseph Ferdinand. It is difficult to convey all the emotions that overwhelmed at that moment Broz Tito, the future president of Yugoslavia.
Here I am, a worker, the son of a landless peasant whose only capital is his hands and profession, and I accept congratulations from the Archduke, Tito recalled. “I, an ordinary soldier who was shaken by a member of the imperial family!
Iosif Broz did not have time to take a vacation due to the award - a shot was fired in Sarajevo, which killed not only the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, but also pierced millions of human destinies, destroying empires and creating republics.
World War I
The military unit where Iosif Broz served was on the Serbian front until the end of the first year of the war, but already in January 1915 was transferred to the Russian front.
March 25, as a result of a severe wound in the battle of Mitkeu, the young man was captured. The wound was very severe, he spent almost 13 months in a hospital in Sviyazhsk, not far from Kazan. His condition was so severe that the doctors did not hope that he would survive. But the Croat turned out to be persistent, the body overcame everything and, as soon as his strength allowed, Joseph Broz Tito began to study Russian. Soon after his recovery, he was transferred to Alatyr, and by the beginning of 1917 to Kungur, where he was caught by the news of the February Revolution.
Being in the midst of workers who are actively studying the works of Lenin who returned from emigration, Broz decides to go to Petrograd. He hid in a freight train, among the cargo, and a few days later he was in the capital, in time for the most intense events of July - demonstrations against the Provisional Government. Becoming a spectator of such an event, Broz Tito was inspired and determined to go home and organize a revolution. This is what he said:
I was inspired by the strength and organization of these demonstrations and saw what a force the working class represents…. Many workers were killed. Then mass arrests began… I hid under the bridges across the Neva for several days, and then I decided to flee to my homeland. I said to myself: I'm going to Yugoslavia to make a revolution, I'm going home.
Tito and the Revolution
The performances of the Bolsheviks were suppressed, Lenin fled to Finland and took refuge in a hut in Razliv. There were spontaneous arrests in the streets. Trying to get to his homeland, the future leader of the country, Broz Tito, gets to Finland, which was then part of Russia, where the police overtook him and transported him to the Peter and Paul Fortress. From there, having learned that he is an Austrian prisoner of war, the Croat is returned to Siberia, to Kungur. But in Yekaterinburg, Joseph Broz Tito arbitrarily changes direction and flees to Omsk, where the Bolsheviks were in power. There he turned to the authorities with a request for Russian citizenship and for joining the RSDLP (b) party. After the offensive of the White Czechs, Omsk fell and again they had to flee. This time to a Kyrgyz aul, where he went to work for a we althy Kyrgyz.
Meanwhile, in November 1918, the First World War ended. There were no Russian, Austro-Hungarian and German empires. In their place, new states appeared. For example, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. All these events prompted Joseph Broz Tito to seek contact with the Yugoslav Bolsheviks and in January 1920, after so many years, he returned to his homeland.
First wife
Even before these events, in 1918, 25-year-old Broz Tito married Pelageya (Polina) Belousova. First wifeThe revolutionary was younger than him, according to some sources, at the time of 1918 she was not a full 15 years old. When Kolchak came to power in Omsk, the new government did not want to recognize a civil marriage and they had to get married in a church after 2 years. At what for the first time Joseph registered a marriage not under his last name, calling himself Joseph Brozovich.
Arriving at home, Joseph got a job at a mill, together with Polina they were expecting their first child, who died shortly after birth. The same sad fate befell the second child. Later, a 2- and 3-year-old girl and a boy died. Only Zharko's son, born in 1924, survived.
Polina Broz also joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1927, having experienced all the delights of underground work. Despite the fact that she did not receive much help from her husband, the wife of Joseph Broz Tito did not reproach him, realizing what danger he was exposed to and how difficult the life of a party leader was. In 1928, almost simultaneously with her husband, Polina was arrested, but very soon released, because an experienced revolutionary, as best he could, defended his wife and was able to convince the police that she was not involved in the activities of the party. Together with the child, Polina settled with friends who were sympathetic to her situation and supported her to the best of their ability. Their help was by the way, she spent almost all her small salary on her son and husband. Soon, Polina, along with her son, was transported by the Yugoslav communists to Soviet Russia through secret channels.
Political life
In Zagreb on November 6, 1928, a trial began "overcase of the bombers", it was on him that the future president of Yugoslavia passed as one of the five accused. After receiving five years in prison as a result of his imprisonment, Broz Tito continued to improve his linguistic skills in prison and began to study Esperanto and English, and in addition, political science. Built plans to escape. But he was not lucky, he had to serve the entire term. Moreover, after leaving prison at the end of the term, he was immediately arrested for escaping in 1927.
A few months later, Broz Tito finally left the gates of his prison and was able to return to active party activities. Already on December 29, 1934, Joseph was sent to Moscow. In February 1935, advancing with the help of forged documents that fill the biography of Broz Tito, the future leader of Yugoslavia reached the capital of the Soviet Union.
What he did for several years in Moscow is not known for certain. It was previously believed that Joseph was a member of the Yugoslav Communist Party under the Comintern, but this is not so. Information was leaked that Broz Tito was collaborating with Soviet intelligence, helping them gather information about communist leaders abroad. It was a very dangerous time, when immediately after the assassination of Kirov went full of repression against the old Bolsheviks, the leaders of the party, who were arrested on charges of murder. Among the victims of repression were Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Trotsky. They lacked the resources to fight Stalin, whose authority was gaining strength every day.
But Joseph used this time not only for party work. In 1936, he divorced his wife, putting forward asreasons for the alleged betrayal and poor care of his son. Polina did not confirm any of the accusations, but agreed with the divorce. But the role of Broz Tito in her fate did not end there, since it was her past relationship with him that cost her two arrests, she was rehabilitated only in 1957, however, she was never returned the right to live in Moscow.
World War II
In October 1936, in one of the Moscow registry offices, Broz Tito married a second time. He married Lucia Bauer under the name of Friedrich W alther. Previously, Lucie was married to one of the German communists.
Three days later, the young husband went to the next task of the party and they did not meet again. In connection with the coup, the power of General Franco was established, and Tito was sent to Yugoslavia in order to mobilize those who wanted to go to war with the fascist regime.
Together with Milovan Djilas, Edvard Kardelj and Aleksandar Rankovic, Josif is the new backbone of the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. As a result of his fruitful work in 1938, Moscow approved him as the head of the new leadership of the Yugoslav Communist Party.
On April 5, 1941, a pact of friendship and non-aggression was signed between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. On April 6, 1941, that is, the next day, the Nazi troops attacked Yugoslavia. The Balkan country is again drawn into the European conflict.
June 27, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Politburo, it was decided to create a headquarters forleadership of the partisan movement. Detachments were created throughout the country, headed by the chief secretary of the Central Committee of the CPY, Joseph Broz Tito. Thanks to such an organization and the selfless activities of the partisans, the German troops were never able to take control of the entire territory of Yugoslavia. They controlled power only in large cities. The People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia at the end of 1943 controlled a large territory of the state.
During the war, Broz Tito proved to be not only a competent leader, but also a brave selfless partisan. Under his command, the detachments more than once left the encirclement, inflicted heavy losses on German formations, as a result. In 1943, it was proposed to award Joseph Broz Tito the title of Marshal of Yugoslavia. Throughout the existence of the entire state of Yugoslavia, he remained the only marshal in the history of this country.
The successful fight against the invaders is also evidenced by such a fact in the biography of Isif Broz Tito as a mention in Hitler's favorite newspaper - "Velknischer Beobachter". The Nazis accused him of all mortal sins, however, they posted an old photo, still from the Zagreb police archives. A reward of 100,000 marks was also announced.
In October 1942, Broz Tito carried out an operation that was extremely dangerous for his reputation as a communist. He turned to the German command with a proposal to exchange prisoners. Among these prisoners was his third wife, Greta Haas, who had already been arrested a few months ago, but, thanks to the name and surname, which was similar to the German one, the Nazis did not understandwho she really was. Very soon, after learning about Joseph's adultery, Greta left the detachment.
During the war, the future President Broz Tito showed himself from different sides, sometimes unpleasant for the leading intermediaries from Moscow, but he never disappointed his partisans, who, by personal example, were convinced that the commander would not leave them, hiding behind his high rank General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPY. There were many examples of this, and, moreover, in the history of the Second World War there is no other commander of such a rank later than Broz Tito.
The biography of a politician is replete with examples of responsibility not only to people, but also to animals. For example, having lost his dog, he grieved for a long time, and when he learned that the quartermaster of the partisan detachment ordered the cow to be slaughtered, which had traveled many kilometers with the detachment, in anger, demoted him in rank.
Recognition
After the defeat of Italy in the war, the Yugoslav government, which was in London, recognized Josip Broz Tito as supreme commander, the British also began to support the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. On April 5, 1945, the Supreme Commander of Yugoslavia signed an agreement on the temporary deployment of Soviet troops for the final expulsion of the Nazi invaders from the country. The victory brought Yugoslavia a new name. It became the Democratic Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with the prime minister and foreign minister in the person of Josef Broz Tito playing a key role.
The most friendly relations have been established between the USSR and the DFRY, which can be betweenfull-fledged partners, the more unexpected was the discord in 1948. Tito and Stalin did not agree on the need for a Balkan confederation. An anti-Yugoslav campaign began. The following year, the USSR canceled the Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Post-War Cooperation with Yugoslavia. In general, some kind of hysteria is taking place in the Soviet state, the result of which was the rapprochement between the DFRY and the Western bloc.
The post-war period of the biography of Broz Tito
DFRY was the first country to follow the socialist path of development, where a president appeared. It happened in 1953. Josef Broz Tito, a Croat, became president. He held this position until his death in 1980. Of course, relations between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were restored under Khrushchev, who visited Broz Tito in 1955, but they have not returned to their previous level. The President of Yugoslavia was rather independent of the policy pursued by the USSR in relation to other countries, he successfully resisted the pressure of the USSR on the CPY. Under his leadership, socialism was built according to a special, Yugoslav model, the so-called DDD (decentralization, debureaucratization, democratization). And for the first time in history, the Communist Party announced that it was refusing to play a leading role and would influence politics only through its moral qualities.
Yugoslavia never ceased to amaze. Croatian by nationality, Broz Tito, a man who once completed only primary school and that's allhe obtained further knowledge himself, becomes one of the leaders in the Non-Aligned Movement. Thanks to the ongoing economic policy, the standard of living of the Yugoslavs was extremely high compared to other residents of Europe.
The personal life of the leader of the country was not made public. Therefore, if anyone paid attention, he considered it better to remain silent, but where did the first lady of the state, the wife of the president, Jovanka Tito, go? She was accused of plotting a coup and spying for the USSR. But there was no physical violence. Jovanka was simply put under house arrest in a house in Belgrade, from which she was able to leave only in 2000.
Last years of life
The he alth of the President of Yugoslavia failed more than once. In the 1970s, he was diagnosed with diabetes, he suffered a heart attack, liver problems began, and a blockage of blood vessels in his leg was discovered. Only the latter made him think seriously about his he alth and agree to hospitalization. Against the backdrop of growing anxiety in society about the alleged Soviet invasion of Belgrade, the country's leaders hid from the population the true state of affairs about Tito's he alth, not expecting how advanced the President's illness was.
In January 1980, doctors had to amputate his leg. The Yugoslavs were sincerely concerned about his he alth, an endless stream of letters from all over the country came to him with words of support. Adults and children wrote, everyone hoped that Broz Tito would soon return to duty.
But nothing helped. He alth, significantly undermined not only by past deprivations, but also by several daily smokedpacks of cigarettes, did not go on the mend. Pneumonia, jaundice, liver failure began. According to some reports, Broz Tito fell into a coma on February 14th. And on May 4, after a slight improvement, the state of he alth deteriorated.
Joseph Broz Tito has died. The country was in shock. This is especially illustrated by the episode that occurred during the match between the teams "Hajduk" and "Red Star". At the 43rd minute, the match was stopped and the death of the president was announced to those present. All 50 thousand people froze in shock, the players of both teams, together with the judges, hugged in the center of the field, cried, someone fell on the lawn, shaking from sobs. Both Serbs and Croats received the news of the leader's death with equal pain. The funeral of Joseph Broz Tito was attended by as many political leaders as were not even gathered at a UN meeting. Even Margaret Thatcher, who, as you know, did not particularly favor the Communists, was present, Brezhnev and Italian President Santenyi laid flowers, other leaders said goodbye as emotionally as the Yugoslavs. Yasser Arafat, pressing his hand to the coffin, sobbed, tears rolled down his face and iron Saddam Hussein. According to the Western press, "funeral détente" won in Belgrade. Documentaries about Brose Tito ("In the mountains of Yugoslavia", "Tito and me", "Liberation" and others) convey that mood of society well.
In the 1990s, the events in Yugoslavia made the whole world shudder. Once again a victim in political squabbles, this country has shownworld another Balkan crisis.
“I can’t help anyone who doesn’t know how good life was under Tito,” said Serbian actor Rade Sherbedzhia, an outstanding actor.
Of course, like any political leader, especially of such a magnitude, Tito still has a large army of opponents, but the fact that there are many supporters suggests that the President of Yugoslavia lived a life worthy of respect. The biography of the only president of Yugoslavia, which would give answers to all questions, has not yet been written. His memory remains many decades after his death: in the residence of Broz Tito in Croatia on the island of Brioni, a national museum has been set up, where those who wish can touch the life of the socialist president.
