When it comes to Yugoslavia, one cannot fail to mention its leader, Tito. I still remember the visit of Yugoslav Tito to China in 1977, which was the first leader of an important country received by China after the death of the president and prime minister, and he was warmly welcomed by the Chinese leaders at the airport.
Here I would like to briefly review the relations between Yugoslavia and China, as well as the relations between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, which have experienced ups and downs.
As soon as New China was founded in 1949, Yugoslavia sent a congratulatory telegram to New China, taking the lead in recognizing the founding of New China, but the two countries did not immediately establish diplomatic relations, and the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Yugoslavia was delayed until 1955. Yugoslavia cannot be blamed entirely for this delay, mainly because at that time China and the Soviet Union belonged to the socialist camp, the boss of the socialist camp was the Soviet Union, Stalin was the indisputable leader of the socialist camp, and Yugoslavia was also an important member of the socialist camp in the past, but Yugoslavia was the first country to start disobeying the command of the Soviet big brother, and as a result, relations between South and the Soviet Union plummeted.
Yugoslavia's insistence on its independence is largely related to the historical grievances between the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. As you know, in 1917, the October Revolution broke out, when the Red Army led by Lenin formed a red international column of foreign prisoners of war, and Tito, the later leader of Yugoslavia, was one of them. In 1920, Tito returned to Croatia from **, where he carried out revolutionary activities. In April 1941, the German fascists attacked Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav king fled to Britain to set up an exile**, only the guerrillas led by Tito stayed at home and stubbornly resisted the German army of more than 100,000.
Due to the disparity in strength and the large number of guerrillas, Tito asked the Soviet Union for assistance, hoping that the Soviet Union would provide medicine and ** to the Yugoslav partisans. However, since the Soviet Union recognized the exile of Yugoslavia at the time**, and Stalin did not believe that the guerrillas led by Tito could finally achieve victory, the Soviet Union rejected Tito's request. This action greatly hurt Tito and other Yugoslav Communists, so Tito was very determined to take the road of Yugoslav independence from the beginning.
Later, there was the Trieste question, which made the Yugoslav Communist Party very dissatisfied. Although the guerrillas under Tito's leadership did not receive assistance from the Soviet Union, they continued to grow rapidly, and by 1944 they had a force of several hundred thousand. In September 1944, Stalin met with Tito, saw Tito's strength, and promised to start supporting the Yugoslav partisans. The Soviet Red Army, led by Stalin, helped Tito liberate Belgrade, but withdrew after liberating the capital, while Tito himself continued to lead the Yugoslav partisans to completely liberate all of Yugoslavia.
Trieste.
There was a disputed area between Yugoslavia and Italy, called Trieste, which was occupied by Titoist forces and incorporated into Yugoslavia. But at this time, the United States began to intervene, and it demanded that like other occupied areas, be divided into two zones occupied by the United States and the Soviet Union, respectively, Area A to be occupied by Britain and the United States, and Area B to be handed over to the Soviet Union, specifically occupied by Tito's Yugoslav forces. However, Zone A is a large number of industrial areas and towns in Trieste, while Zone B is mostly rural, and Tito did not agree, but in order to reach an agreement with the United States as soon as possible, Stalin did not consult Tito and sacrificed the interests of Yugoslavia, so he signed the agreement agreement.
In addition, there is also a disagreement about whether to support the Greek Communist Party forces that were in the ascendant at that time, in 1944 the armed struggle led by the Greek Communist Party controlled most of Greece, the German army has retreated, the Greek exiles who have just returned to China are weak, and Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Albania in the north have established socialist countries, the situation can be described as very good, the People's Liberation Army of the Greek Communist Party liberated the whole country and formed **, and the Greek Communist Party hoped to get military assistance from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.
But as you know, before World War II, the Balkans were Britain's sphere of influence, which is why after the outbreak of the war, when the Allies discussed opening up a second battlefield from the world, British leader Winston Churchill firmly advocated choosing the battlefield in the Balkans. However, the United States insisted that France should be chosen for the second battlefield, which was later the Normandy landings, which hurt Churchill very much.
By 1944, when the Soviets were the first to enter the Balkans, Churchill could no longer sit still. He personally went to Moscow, where he met with Stalin and talked about the division of spheres of influence in the Balkans. Churchill said: The Soviet army has marched into Romania and Bulgaria, and Britain also has its own interests there, I make a suggestion: ** has a 90% advantage in Romania, Britain also has 90% say in Greece, Yugoslavia is one and a half, what do you think? Stalin agreed that this was the reason for the post-war Percentage Pact, which clearly divided the spheres of influence of East and West in Eastern Europe.
The news of this percentage agreement later reached Tito, who was furious and said, "What 50 percent, I want is 100 percent." This reminds me of the later *** praise of Tito, as hard as iron. Of course, according to this ratio, Stalin made it clear that the Soviet Union did not support the Greek Communist Party and its armed forces, and did not allow Yugoslavia to support the Greek Communist Party, which gave Yugoslavia the feeling that it was betrayed and controlled by the Soviet Union.
The loss of the support of the Soviet Union doomed the Greek Communist Party to defeat, and Tito also fell out with Stalin. And the Greek Communist Party also made a wrong decision at that time, not on the side of Yugoslavia, which supported them, but on the side of Stalin, who abandoned them. Enraged, Tito closed the border with Greece and cut off support for the Greek Communist Party. After the loss of Yugoslav blood transfusions, the Greek communist armed forces soon collapsed.
In 1948, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was winning victories on the battlefield in China, which was a great encouragement to the socialist camp at that time. In this context, why was the USSR so indifferent to the Greek Communist Party? Is there any reason other than the "Percentage Pact" between Stalin and Churchill in Britain just mentioned, which divided spheres of influence?
Later, another Yugoslav leader, Gelas, recalled in his memoirs a conversation with Stalin on February 10, 1948, when he was the secretary and propaganda minister of the Yugoslav Communist Party. He asked Kader, deputy chairman of the Yugoslav Council of Ministers: "Do you believe that the Greek uprising will succeed?" Kader replied: "If foreign interference is not intensified, if they do not make major political and military mistakes......."Stalin became impatient, he ignored Kadel's words and said: "If, if!" There is simply no possibility of success. Do you think Britain and the United States will allow their shipping lifelines to be cut off in the Mediterranean? It's nonsense! The Greek uprising must be put away as soon as possible. ”
At this time, there was a reference to the recent achievements of the Chinese Communist Party, and Stalin insisted on his opinion: "Yes, the Chinese comrades have achieved achievements. However, the situation in Greece is completely different. Greece's geographical location is an important shipping route for Western countries. The United States is directly involved in this region, and the United States is now the ...... most powerful country in the worldIn short, despite the opposition of the Yugoslav Communist Party, Stalin chose to abandon the Greek Communist Party, and with the acquiescence of the United States and Britain, the Soviet Union's sphere of influence was set close to that of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe, which also upheld the Yalta system agreed upon by the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union.
Stalin, whatever you may say about him, was a leader with a strong sense of geopolitics, and he sought to avoid direct conflict with the United States, Britain and other countries in the weak Mediterranean, with the aim of maximizing the national interests of the Soviet Union.
Stalin was very annoyed by Tito, who did not listen to him, and he was also worried that the disobedient Yugoslavia would set a bad example for the other socialist countries of Eastern Europe, and he decided to expel Yugoslavia from the socialist camp, and in June 1948 Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union officially parted ways.
Therefore, despite the congratulatory telegram sent by the Yugoslav Communist Party to the CCP in October 1949, the new China at that time considered the relationship with Stalin in the Soviet Union, and the new China did not know the real situation of the Yugoslav Communist Party so well, so the new China and Yugoslavia did not establish diplomatic relations in 1949, but did not establish diplomatic relations until 1955.