PRESENT DAY CONDITIONS INSIDE YUGOSLAVIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R001800200007-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 20, 1999
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 17, 1948
• Content Type: REPORT

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Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R001800200007-7
CLASS IFICATIOPa -T/CONTROL U.s. OFFICIAL") ONLY
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT NO.
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY Yugoslavia
CONFIDENTIAL
SUBJECT Present Day Conditions Inside --
Yugoslavia
25X1A
DATE DISTR. 17 August 1918
NO. OF PAGES 2
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
40983
la The initial reaction of the Yugoslav public to the Cominform reproof of
r 4 FOV Tito was one of elation; the Coe mists were stunned by the announcement
but soon the leadership decided upon the line the Party would officially
F, a (~ follow. This pro-Tito line accounts for the support of ninety percent of
the Yugoslav Communist Party. The oppositionist ten percent is composed
mostly of students. Certain quarters believe that more support for the
Cominform inside Yugoslavia would have been forthcoming had the reproof
been combined with "an effective act".
2. The Yugoslav people support Tito in this rift between Yugoslavia and the
Oomdnform; the populace believe that despite the fact that there has been
no abatement in its ruthlessness, conditions would be worse under the Moscow
faction of the Communists. The regime, meanwhile, strives to appease Stalin.
cn the event of war between the Soviet Union and the "testa, Tito would fight
with the Russians; it is questionable, however, how useful the Yugoslavs
would be since in a conflict Tito's army "would break to pieces".
3. If the split with the Cominform (and Moscow) should widen and an internal
struggle develops between Yugoslav Commmi.st factions, the regime would
collapse. Even today, the Communists could be liquidated overnight through-
out the country except in Belgrade, Zagreb and "two or three" other cities
where their forces are concentrated. Already individual Communist leaders
in the provinces are showing a "certain amount of softness" and are making
contacts with non-Communists. There is no important movement to overthrow
the regime at present because the people have been misled too frequently in
the past and are carefully exudning the current of events before organizing
resistance.
4. Communist reforms have been carried out most drastically in Serbia, since
the Serbs are considered the important antagonists. In Bosnia the emphasis
is on Moslem leadership and even though a Serb is the president of the
Bosnian government, the territory is administered with a view to favor the
Moslems. A considerable number of refugees from Bosnia and Croatia who
escaped to Medic's Serbia refuse to return home because of their belief
that in the event of an uprising, they would again be persecuted by the
Croats and Moslems united against the Serbs.
5. The Serbs do not oppose the idea of a united Yugoslavia, but they wish the
Croats would be inch b fAtK1erationo The Croats, on the
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other hand, accuse Belgrade (the Serbs) of being responsible for the Coct-
munists. The Croats are, however, more enthusiastic for the re-establishment
of another Serbo-Croatian nation.
6. The popularity of King Peter still is adversely affected by the fact that he
married while his country was at war; still more serious is the King's
speech of 12 September 3,944 in which he appealed for the Chetniks to join
Tito's Partisans. Should the King come to Yugoslavia at the moment of up-
heaval, he would be received just as any other person connected with the
upheaval would be. It is questionable, however, if Peter would be in a
position to remain as King. The aversion to the monarchical form of govern-
raent on the part of the Yugoslav people has been strengthened by their
suffering, Peter's behavior during the war, and partially by Communist anti-
Royalist propaganda. Much of the sympathy for the Karageorgevic dynasty has
deteriorated in recent years; conversely, the Yugoslav public has been "com-
pletely cured of a once prominent Russophillsm".
7. SMisa Trifunovic has been released from prison; he seems fairly well. Milan
Orol has aged terribly since 1945. Radenko Stankovic and No Perovic (who
were representatives for the regency) and Milan Antic, Minister of the Royal
Court are imprisoned. Srdjan Budieavljevic is disliked by. the Yugoslav
public because of his cooperation with the Partisans during' the time he was
a member of the regency. V1ada Simic and Steva Jakovijevic;have lost their-
former reputations with the T oslav public.
8. The Coat Influence on school children is insignificant because the how
and local social environment make a deeper impression on the youth.
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Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R001800200007-7