860H.00/8–1246
The Chargé in Yugoslavia (Shantz) to the Secretary of State
No. 471
[Received September 4.]
Sir: I have the honor to present below some information about the Yugoslav Communist Party, derived from our observations during more than a year in Belgrade, and from information given us by many well-informed non-Communists, such as Milan Grol and Dragoljub Jovanovich. We have been able to draw very little information from the Communists themselves, for they remain, as before the war, a closely-knit, tight-lipped, secret organization. They even resent being referred to by others as Communists, and never allude to themselves in public in that way.
[Page 916]A visitor to Belgrade would find the only public indications of the existence of the Communist Party to be the Madera Building, on the Boulevard of the Red Army, known as the headquarters of the Communist Party, and the newspaper Borba, which declares itself to be the organ of the Communist Party. Borba is circulated also in Croatia and Slovenia.
The only important Communist here who publicly refers to himself as a member of the Party is Milovan Djilas, who used the phrase in a recent speech, “We other Communists.” He went to Czechoslovakia to represent the Yugoslav Committee at a Communist conference. Tito himself speaks only of “our (i.e., the people’s) Communist Party.”
Nevertheless, the Communists, who hold all the important political posts and most of the power in this country, insist that no other groups be secret. Secret organizations other than Communist Party are treated as enemies of the State. Any other political party wishing to participate in the political life of the country must declare its leaders and its program for approval by the Government. Any candidate wishing to run for election in any electoral district must first be approved by fifty persons, who are obliged to appear in person before the local authorities to give their signatures on his behalf. There was a similar ruling before the war, but the signatories did not have to appear in person, and were not likely to be interrogated.
Leadership—The “Polit-Buro”—
In spite of the secrecy surrounding the Party, it is possible to determine with a fair degree of accuracy some facts concerning its leadership and organization. Theories have been advanced by some persons that Tito is not the real leader of the Yugoslav Communist Party, but a “front man”; that the real power lies in someone else—Rankovich,6 chief of the secret police, being frequently mentioned, as well as Kisiljev, head of the Russian Military Mission in Belgrade. We feel confident that we can discard these theories. Tito makes decisions which show that he usually has the final authority, even though he is bound by the will of the Party and the advice of other important figures.
[Page 917]We think the power in the Party—the “Polit-Buro”— can be divided, with a high degree of assurance, into the following pyramid:
- Tito—Head of the government, general secretary of the Party, national hero—Croat.
- Rankovich—Internal affairs, courageous, cruel, national hero—Serb.
- Kardelj7—External affairs, teacher, doctrinaire, theoretician—Slovene.
- Zhujovich8—Finance, and Serbian affairs, one of oldest members of the Party—Serb.
- Hebrang9—Planning Commission — calm, clever — Hungarian Jew.
- Djilas10—Party affairs, young and forceful — Montenegrin.
- Kidrich11—Industry and Economic Council, passionate and inexperienced—Slovene.
Just below this level, without power but with plenty of influence, we would place Mosha Pijade,12 the Scribe, chief of the “republic.” On the basis of what is decided by the leaders, he writes the laws. He is the porte-parole—the Goebbels; he doesn’t decide anything but he synthesizes and expresses all. He is a Jew, has spent an aggregate of 16 years in prison. During his imprisonment he read all he could of Marxism and Communism, teaching the other prisoners, as he once told us, “under the protection of King Alexander.”
The Chief of Staff of the Army, Lt. Gen. Kocha Popovich, also is believed to be one of the leaders, with considerable influence on Tito on military affairs. He is a doctrinaire Communist, who served with distinction in guerilla fighting in Spain and in the Yugoslav mountains.
The Executive or Central Committee—
All members of the “Polit-Buro”, including Pi jade and Popovich, are members of the executive or central committee. Tito is the general [Page 918] secretary or, in Communist terminology, the real leader. Djilas is probably the Party President.
All Presidents of Council for the Federal States are members of the Central Committee: i.e., Blagoje Neshkovich, in Serbia; Vladimir Bakarich, Croatia; Miho Marinko, Slovenia; Rodoljub Colakovich, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Blazho Jovanovich, Montenegro; and Lazar Kulishevski, Macedonia.
The Presidents of State Parliaments, of the Federal Parliament and Praesidium are not Communists, but are comparatively unimportant figures from other political parties.
The Communist Ministers in the Federal and State Governments probably are members of the executive committee. In the National Government, other than those already mentioned, these are Todor Vujasinovich, Minister of Transportation; Nikola Petrovich, Minister of Foreign Trade; Bane Andreev, Minister of Mines; Vuchko Krstulovich, Minister of Labor; and Dimitar Nestorov, Minister Without Portfolio.
In the government of Serbia, Tsana Babovich, Minister of Labor, is known to be a member of the central committee. She also is president of the women’s organization, F.A.Z., for Yugoslavia. During the war she organized the rescue of Rankovich from a Belgrade hospital, where he was being held by the Gestapo.
The principal Communists in Macedonia, where the Party is believed to be not very strong, are Bane Andreev, Dimitri Vlahov, Vice-Premier of the National Parliament, and Dimitar Nestorov.
Two others thought to be members of the central committee are Joshe Vilfan, ambassador-at-large, and Dr. Josip Hrnchevich, chief public prosecutor.
Pre-War Leaders—
Immediately before the war, the Yugoslav Communists, unlike the Bulgarian Communists, had no known leaders. Tito was known to virtually no one outside the Party. He first appeared in 1941, when some saw him at a conference, in March, called to decide what attitude the various parties would take to the government’s adherence to the tri-partite pact, Tito was there, brought by Zhujevich, but no one knew him or what his position was in the Party. Dragoljub Jovanovich saw him for the first time in early 1942.
In the ’20’s and ’30’s the leader of the Yugoslav Communists was known to be Dr. Sima Markovich. He was an idealist, who did not agree with Stalin on the question of the importance of nationality. He was called to Russia and died there under mysterious circumstances. It is thought that he was liquidated.
[Page 919]Lower Party Organization and Numerical Strength—
From lower echelons in the Party, members work their way up, much as in any other organization. The Communists hold the leading posts in each sub-division of the local government, down to the smallest village. Often there are only one or two Communists in an entire community, but they hold the power, in secret. The peasants usually know who they are.
In all Yugoslavia there are estimated to be from 100,000 to 150,000 Communists. Tito told Dragoljub Jovanovich in December 1944 that, unlike the Communist Parties in Italy and France, the Party in Yugoslavia was not and had no desire to be a “party of the masses”. Tito said it is a party of “cadres”; i.e., groups, largely military. It is thus a small minority ruling clique, as in Russia.
Much of its power is based on the secret police, the army and the fellow-travelers. As the ruling element in the government, it has a strong control over office-holders and workers. Many fellow-travelers are obliged to go along to hold their jobs. Since the government is everywhere in business and industry, it is virtually impossible for someone who is dissatisfied to give up his job and find one somewhere else. It is difficult and even dangerous to offend the government. As is well-known, the authorities keep a secret “karacteristika” (personal description) on everyone. The organization of people’s committees, street and house secretaries, commissars in the army, and all the well known paraphernalia of Communist dictatorship contribute to the power of the organization.
An example of a man obliged to go along with the Communist Party for fear of his past and to hold his job is Milosh Moskovljevich, Minister of Forests in the Serbian Government. He signed an anti-Communist statement under the Nedich regime13 —an act similar to that for which Lazar Markovich was sentenced to six years hard labor at the Mihailovich trial. (Moskovljevich has a daughter to marry off, and an enterprising wife.) Men such as Moskovljevich, without clear Communist records, are likely to be expelled from the Party unless they are particularly scrupulous in following the Party line.
Russian Interference in Yugoslav Affairs—
We have frequently heard that there are Russian “observers” in local ministries of the government, and that a high degree of control is exercised by these observers on the operations of the government. We doubt that in the main this is true. We think that the only ministries in which there may be direct Russian agents are those of Finance, Interior and National Defense. It is quite possible that there [Page 920] are Russian counsellors in other Ministries. Russian engineers are employed by the Ministry of Mines and other Ministries, and probably have much influence in them. It is known that the Russian secret police, NKVD, has a secret organization and headquarters in Belgrade. It is thought there are no important Russian officials connected with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, although there may be Russian specialists available to all Ministries. There are special Russian experts attached to the army, of course, and here General Kisiljev, chief of the Russian Military Mission, finds his real importance.
It is hoped that this brief sketch will add to an understanding of the Communist Party in Yugoslavia, which is the only party presently organized on a nation-wide basis. It has full control of the country, largely by virtue of the use of fear and secrecy, and bids fair to retain its control for a long time.
Respectfully yours,
- Aleksander Ranković, Yugoslav Minister of Interior in Government formed February 1, 1946.↩
- Edvard Kardelj, First Vice President and President of the Control Commission.↩
- Sreten Žujović Yugoslav Minister of France; Secretary General of the People’s Front of Yugoslavia.↩
- Andrija Hebrang, Yugoslav Minister of Industry, February to June, 1946, and President of the Planning Commission.↩
- Milovan Djilas, Minister without Portfolio in the Government formed February 1, 1946.↩
- Boris Kidrić, Minister of Industry from June 1946 and Chairman of the Economic Council.↩
- Moša Pijade, Chairman of the Agrarian Council and Vice President of the Yugoslav National Assembly.↩
- Gen. Milan Nedić was Minister President of the Serbian regime under German occupation, 1941–45.↩