PROBOJ MEĐUNARODNE IZOLACIJE I EKONOMSKI ARANŽMAN JUGOSLAVIJE SA ZAPADOM 1952. GODINE
ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA AND THE WEST IN 1952 AND BREAKING THROUGH INTERNATIONAL ISOLATION

Summary/Abstract: The beginning of commercial relations between Yugoslavia and the West in the early fifties was a precedent, significant but difficult to conceive at a time in which the world was polarized into blocs and governed by the logic of cold war. It seemed absurd that a communist country should develop relations solely with countries having opposite ideological and political leanings, while strengthening its defenses against countries belonging to the Soviet bloc. This only showed that, as ever, all is possible in politics. The motive for overcoming political animosity and antagonism lay in mutual interests. Yugoslav authorities achieved their double purpose of preventing the intervention of east-European countries on Yugoslav territory and of healing the country’s ailing economy. The Western powers, on the other hand, managed to, at least partly, draw a potential member away from the pro-Soviet bloc, shaking its unity. Yugoslavia’s commercial relations with the West presented a chance to exercise its new strategy in foreign policy aimed at breaking through international isolation and consolidating the position of the regime. These commercial relations, which reached their peak in 1952, were never an actual cooperation between equal partners, they were instead one-sided, irreclaimable aid given by the Western powers and motivated almost solely by military and political interests. However, it was also a way of influencing Yugoslav economy somewhat towards adapting to Western economic requirements, which would later be an important reference for obtaining credits from the West and introducing more realistic economic programs in Yugoslavia.

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