Milovan Djilas
Milovan Djilas | |
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Milovan Đilas Милован Ђилас | |
Minister for Montenegro in the Government of Yugoslavia | |
In office 7 March 1945 – 17 April 1945 | |
Prime Minister | Josip Broz Tito |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Blažo Jovanović (as Prime Minister of Montenegro) |
Personal details | |
Born | FR Yugoslavia | 12 June 1911
Resting place | Podbišće, Montenegro |
Political party | League of Communists of Yugoslavia (1932–1954) |
Spouses | |
Children |
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Djilasism | |
Main interests | Political philosophy |
Notable ideas | New class |
Part of a series on |
Socialism in Yugoslavia |
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Milovan Djilas (English:
Early life and revolutionary activities
Milovan Djilas was born in
Djilas was educated in Podbišće,
After his release from prison in 1936,
World War II
Uprising in Montenegro
In April 1941,
Around 400 former Yugoslav Army officers returned to Montenegro, along with many non-commissioned officers, civil administrators and KPJ members.[13] During the invasion, the Yugoslav Zeta Division, composed mostly of Montenegrins,[14] had briefly counter-attacked into Albania, but had largely returned home with their weapons and equipment following the Yugoslav surrender.[13]
Djilas helped
On 4 July, the KPJ passed the resolution to begin the uprising. Djilas was sent to Montenegro to organize and raise the struggle against the Italian occupying force, which on 12 July 1941 proclaimed the fascist puppet entity
Borba
In early November 1941,
Djilas left for the communist-controlled town of Užice in Serbia, where he took up his work for Borba. Following the withdrawal of Supreme Commander Tito and other Party leaders to Bosnia, Djilas stayed in Nova Varoš in the Raška (on the border between Serbia and Montenegro). From there he retreated with the units under his command, in the middle of winter and in difficult conditions, to join the Supreme Staff. At this time, the Partisans did not have serious divisions between communists and non-communists.[citation needed]
Civil war and state-building
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2016) |
In March 1942, Djilas returned to Montenegro, where a civil war between Partisans and
In March 1944, he went as part of the military- and party-mission to the Soviet Union.[18] During this time he met with Georgi Dimitrov, Vyacheslav Molotov and Joseph Stalin, among others.[19]
Returning to Yugoslavia, he fought with the Partisans to liberate
Djilas was sent to Moscow to meet Stalin again in 1948 to try and bridge the gap between Moscow and Belgrade. He became one of the leading critics of attempts by Stalin to bring Yugoslavia under greater control by Moscow. Later that year, Yugoslavia broke with the Soviet Union and left the
Initially the Yugoslav communists, despite the break with Stalin, remained as hard line as before. But they began to pursue a policy of independent socialism that experimented with self-management of workers in state-run enterprises. Djilas was very much part of that, but he began to take things further. Having responsibility for propaganda, he created a platform for new ideas and he launched a new journal, Nova Misao ("New Thought"), in which he published a series of articles that were increasingly freethinking.[citation needed]
Dissident
Djilas was widely regarded as Tito's possible successor and in 1953 he was about to be chosen as
His advocacy of greater democratic input into decision-making led him eventually to argue against the one-party state itself, suggesting a relaxation of party discipline, and the retirement of the state officials he saw as profiteering from their position and blocking the road to further reform.[21] At that point, Tito and other leading Yugoslav communists saw Djilas's arguments as a threat to their leadership.[22] In January 1954. Djilas was expelled from the Central Committee of the party, of which he had been a member since 1937, and dismissed from all political functions for his criticism. He resigned from the League of Communists soon afterwards, in March 1954.[citation needed] On 25 December 1954, he gave an interview to The New York Times in which he characterized the situation in Yugoslavia as "totalitarian", adding that his country was ruled by "undemocratic forces" and "reactionary elements". He also appealed for the formation of "a new democratic Socialist party", and thus for a two-party system. For this "hostile propaganda" he was brought to trial and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence.[22]
On 19 November 1956, Djilas was arrested following his statement to
In prison, Djilas completed a massive scholarly biography of the great Montenegrin prince-poet-priest Njegoš as well as fictional novels (Montenegro) and short stories. In 1958, he published abroad the first volume of his memoirs, about his youth in Montenegro, entitled Land Without Justice, which he had finished in 1954, but was rejected by Yugoslav publishers.[citation needed] In this book, Djilas described the Šahovići massacre, a massacre of the Muslim population of the Yugoslav village of Šahovići (modern-day Tomaševo in Montenegro) and its neighboring area on 9–10 November 1924 by a mob of 2,000 Orthodox Christian men from Kolašin and Bijelo Polje who sought revenge for the earlier murder of Boško Bošković. The description was based on the testimony of his father Nikola, who participated in the massacre.[25]
Djilas was conditionally released on 20 January 1961, after completing four years and two months in prison.
Views on the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union
Djilas opposed the breakup of Yugoslavia and the descent into nationalist conflict in the 1980s and 1990s, but predicted in the 1980s that a breakup would happen. In 1981, he predicted that this would happen on ethnic and bureaucratic nationalist lines due to the loss of Tito:
"Our system was built only for Tito to manage. Now that Tito is gone and our economic situation becomes critical, there will be a natural tendency for greater centralization of power. But this centralization will not succeed because it will run up against the ethnic-political power bases in the republics. This is not classical nationalism but a more dangerous, bureaucratic nationalism built on economic self-interest. This is how the Yugoslav system will begin to collapse."[29]
He was critical of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević in the late 1980s and predicted that his actions would arouse separation of other republics, ethnic war, and the demise of Yugoslavia:
"Milošević still has possibilities.... The liberalization you see has a bad cause. It is the consequence of national competition between Serbia and the other republics. Eventually Yugoslavia might be like the British Commonwealth, a loose confederation of trading nations. But first, I am afraid, there will be national wars and rebellions. There is such strong hate here."[29]
"Milošević's authoritarianism in Serbia is provoking real separation. Remember what
Hegel said, that history repeats itself as tragedy and farce. What I mean to say is that when Yugoslavia disintegrates this time around, the outside world will not intervene as it did in 1914.... Yugoslavia is the laboratory of all Communism. Its disintegration will foretell the disintegration in the Soviet Union. We are further along than the Soviets."[29]
In 1987, Djilas was interviewed by the
Views on Montenegrin nationhood
Djilas was dubbed by
Cultural references
Djilas was a contributor for the 1992 Radio Television of Serbia documentary series entitled Yugoslavia in War 1941–1945. Djilas is mentioned in Saul Bellow's fiction Humboldt's Gift, where he writes about Joseph Stalin's "twelve-course all-night banquets" and the theme of boredom.[31]
Works
- The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1957.
- Land without Justice, 1958.
- Conversations with Stalin, London: Rupert Hart-Davis 1962.
- Montenegro, 1963.
- The Leper and Other Stories, 1964.
- Njegoš: Poet-Prince-Bishop, 1966.
- The Unperfect Society: Beyond the New Class, 1969.
- Lost Battles, 1970.
- Under the Colors, 1971.
- The Stone and the Violets, 1972.
- Memoir of a Revolutionary, 1973.
- Parts of a Lifetime, 1975.
- Wartime, 1977.
- Tito: The Story from Inside, 1980.
- Rise and Fall, 1985.
- Of Prisons and Ideas, 1986.
Selected essays
- "Disintegration of Leninist Totalitarianism", in 1984 Revisited: Tolitarianism in Our Century, New York, Harper and Row, 1983, ed. Irving Howe
- "The Crisis of Communism". Telos 80 (Summer 1989). New York: Telos Press
Translations
- Milton, John, Paradise Lost (from the original English to Serbo-Croatian), 1969[32]
See also
Literary subjects
Footnotes
- ^ The New Class, Greek Edition (Horizon), Athens, 1957, prologue (page ιστ)
- ^ Milovan Djilas, Yugoslav Critic of Communism, Dies at 83
- ^ Remembering Milovan Djilas
- ^ Boarov, Dimitrije (September 2, 1991). "INTERVJU – Milovan Djilas". Nedeljnik Vreme. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Magill 2013, p. 944.
- ^ a b Djilas 1990, p. 444.
- ^ a b Roszkowski & Kofman 2016, p. 1989.
- ^ Djilas 1990, p. 406.
- ^ "Milovan Djilas: "Crnogorac, Srbin i Jugosloven koji po značaju daleko prevazilazi jugoslovenske okvire"". BBC News na srpskom (in Serbian (Latin script)). July 17, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ Magill 2013, p. 447.
- ^ a b Roszkowski & Kofman 2016, p. 1990.
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, pp. 138–140.
- ^ a b Pavlowitch 2007, p. 73.
- ^ Fleming 2002, p. 131.
- ^ West 2012, p. 36.
- ^ Irvine 1993, p. 128: "Milovan Djilas, who had been removed from Montenego the previous fall for his "leftist errors,..."
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 152.
- ^ Djilas 1962, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Djilas 1962, pp. 33–58.
- ^ R. Lowenthal, 'Djilas and the Yugoslav Dilemma' Encounter 49 (1957) p. 45
- ^ R. Lowenthal, 'Djilas and the Yugoslav Dilemma' Encounter 49 (1957) p. 43-4
- ^ a b c Hall 2014, p. 94.
- ^ Milovan Djilas The Storm in East Europe
- ^ a b R. v Pyk ed., Encyclopedia of the Cold War (2013) p. 262
- ^ The South Slav Journal. Dositey Obradovich Circle. 1983. p. 8.
- ^ S2CID 143690513.
- ^ Pryce-Jones, David (October 1999). "Remembering Milovan Djilas: On the Yugoslav anti-Communist". The New Criterion. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- ^ Müller 2013, p. 161.
- ^ a b c "Kaplan, Robert. Balkan Ghosts". Ralphmag.org. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
- ^ "Djilas on Gorbachov", Encounter No. 23, Vol. 71. 1987. p. 4.
- ^ Bellow 1975, p. 201.
- ^ Janko Đonović (1971). Živan Milisavac (ed.). Jugoslovenski književni leksikon [Yugoslav Literary Lexicon] (in Serbo-Croatian). Novi Sad (SAP Vojvodina, SR Serbia): Matica srpska. p. 114.
References
- Bellow, Saul (1975). Humboldt's Gift. London: Secker and Warburg. OCLC 466776580.
- Djilas, Milovan (1962). Conversations with Stalin. Translated by Petrovich, Michael B. London: Rupert Hart-Davis. OCLC 895030638.
- ISBN 978-0-9619364-9-5.
- Hall, Richard C. (2014). War in the Balkans: An Encyclopedic History from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Breakup of Yugoslavia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-61069-031-7.
- Haug, Hilde Katrine (2012). Creating a Socialist Yugoslavia: Tito, Communist Leadership and the National Question. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85772-121-1.
- Irvine, Jill A. (1993). The Croat Question: Partisan Politics in the Formation of the Yugoslav Socialist State. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-8542-6.
- Magill, Frank N. (2013). The 20th Century A-GI: Dictionary of World Biography. Vol. 7. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-59334-5.
- Müller, Jan-Werner (2013). Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-19412-8.
- ISBN 978-1-85065-895-5.
- ISBN 978-0-253-34656-8.
- Roszkowski, Wojciech; Kofman, Jan (2016). Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Armonk, New York: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-47593-4.
- Shepherd, Ben H. (2013). European Resistance in the Second World War. Havertown, Pennsylvania: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-3162-9.
- Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2.
- ISBN 978-0-571-28110-7.
- Djilas, Milovan (1990). Revolucionarni rat. Književne novine. ISBN 9788639101060.
Further reading
- Meaney, Thomas, "Little Old Grandfather," The London Review of Books, May 19, 2016.
- Lalić, Boris, Milovan Djilas, Belgrade: Novosti, 2011.
- Reinhartz, Dennis, Milovan Djilas: A Revolutionary as a Writer, New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.
- Partsvaniya, Vakhtang, "Milovan Djilas: Alienation in Power" // Economic Journal. 2012. No 4. PP. 129–139.
External links
- Milovan Djilas writings at the Hoover Institution Archives
- Texts on the Djilas Case at marxists.org
- Milovan Djilas and Serbian political emigration at Istorijska biblioteka website (in Serbian)
- Nije bio ideološki pisac by Matija Bećković, NIN, 30 March 2006