National Question in the Second Yugoslavia - the Variance between Normative Regulation and Political Reality

The aim of this article is to show the variance between normative regulation(s) of national question in the second Yugoslavia (1945 - 1991) and the political reality. The second Yugoslavia was based on the results of the Second World War that affected internal political life of Yugoslavia very strongly. In the period between the wars Yugoslavia did not solve the national question - big, constitutive nations (Croats, Slovenes) were not satisfied with their position in the new state, overruled by Serbian political elities. The basics of the second, so-called AVNOJ-Yugoslavia were built on the idea of "brotherhood and unity" - Yugoslavia become a federation built by six republics and five, later six (Muslims) constitutive nations. The main idea of Tito, Kardelj and other political leaders was, that on the basis of Yugoslavian sui generis ideology (mixture of Marxism, Kropotkian anarchism, personal authoritarianism, etc.) new, Yugoslavian supra-nationality could be realised next to the national identities. Already in the 1950s it was declared that the national question was solved, but the political reality in the second half of 1960s showed that the political reality is much complicated. The political leadership tried to solve the problems with new constitution (1974) that adopted the principle of consensus. The Serbian leadership, but also Tito did not agree with the change - in his opinion the new constitution denied the principle of "brotherhood and unity", i.e. the principle of superiority of Yugoslavian supra-nationality (federation) above national identities (republics). In the 1980s Yugoslavia experienced strong economic crisis, but also the crisis of governance. The gap between supporters of democratisation (Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia) and supporters of authoritarian solutions (Serbia) grew rapidly. In the crisis the national questions was used as the main argument against the existence of the Second Yugoslavia in its contemporary form. Solutions were two - democratic confederation or centralised authoritarian state.