“Conversations With Stalin” is a quick read. I got through it in about a day. I gleaned a few bits that sharpened what I think I know about communism. Maybe you knew them already. I’m inclined to trust Djilas so what follows adheres to his view. My interest in Yugoslavia goes back to my Master’s thesis, in 1984, on the Yugoslav labor-managed firm model.
I remember being informed, indignantly, "back in the day" that Yugoslavia was NOT liberated by the Red Army -- a conversation that pointed intriguingly to Tito.
On our way from Greece to Venice in 1972, we hitchhiked and trained through Yugoslavia. The ethnic divisions were beyond me at the time, but one thing was evident: among the Serbs at least, in Belgrade, the middle class and upper middle class wanted nothing to do with socialism and they loved America. We had friends there. We went to a screening of Gimme Shelter, and it was obvious that Serbian teens were mesmerized by US culture and rock n roll.
I read Djilas back on college. I was in a fairly sophisticated anarcho-communist group. After teading i moved closerto Marcism and much
Much further from Stalinism. Not the same thing, as u know. Im enjoying ur substack btw
I remember being informed, indignantly, "back in the day" that Yugoslavia was NOT liberated by the Red Army -- a conversation that pointed intriguingly to Tito.
On our way from Greece to Venice in 1972, we hitchhiked and trained through Yugoslavia. The ethnic divisions were beyond me at the time, but one thing was evident: among the Serbs at least, in Belgrade, the middle class and upper middle class wanted nothing to do with socialism and they loved America. We had friends there. We went to a screening of Gimme Shelter, and it was obvious that Serbian teens were mesmerized by US culture and rock n roll.
IIRC, Djilas said that Stalin did become a monster, but only after the war.