Communist Tour

Find out the most interesting stories about former Yugoslavia, World War II, Tito’s life, the „Youth relay baton“, the Non-Aligned movement, conflicts of the nineties, the NATO bombing of Serbia and Montenegro in 1999, and democratic changes at the beginning of the third millennium.

Visit the Museum of Yugoslavian History which is also a resting place of the lifetime president of Yugoslavia, and see remains of NATO attacks as well as other attractions related to that period.

The term “former Yugoslavia” is used for the territory that was up to 25 June 1991 known as The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). After the Allied victory in World War II, Yugoslavia was set up as a federation of six republics, with borders drawn along ethnic and historical lines: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Its president, Josip Broz Tito, was one of the fundamental founders of the “third world” or “group of 77” which acted as an alternative to the superpowers. Yugoslavia was a part of the Non-Aligned Movement and that status resulted in access to loans from both superpower blocs. Yugoslavia’s markets opened up sooner than the rest of Central and Eastern Europe.

After Tito`s death on 4 May 1980, the weakened system of the federal government was left unable to cope with rising economic and political challenges. The economic crisis led to rising ethnic nationalism and political dissidence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, efforts to transition into a confederation failed; the two wealthiest republics, Croatia and Slovenia, seceded and gained some international recognition in 1991.

On 24 March 1999, the first sirens sounded that announced the NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and the first bombs fell. On this tour, we will see remains of the building bombed by NATO, followed by the story about life in our country during the nineties, as well as democratic changes after 5 October 2000.