Outcast Europe: The Balkans, 1789-1989

Chapter 4

Tyranny From Without and Within: The Balkans 1949–1973

The Cold War and the Balkans

The Cold War separated Greece from the rest of the Balkan states which, in turn, found themselves cut off from remaining western influences. Henceforth, Soviet norms and values shaped the political, economic and social structures of the satellite regimes in Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania.

Yugoslavia, despite its political orientation towards the West in the 1950s, always retained many features of the Soviet-style command economy and did not cease to be an authoritarian regime. This command economy, based largely on heavy industry, was more prevalent in areas of Yugoslavia without previous industrial traditions or a commercial middle-class of any significance. ...