Outcast Europe: The Balkans, 1789-1989

Chapter 5

Nationalism Without Reform: The Balkan Communist States, 1974–1989

During the Cold War each of the Balkan states adopted different paths in their international relations, which did not encourage co-operation between them. Bulgaria remained a Soviet ally, Romania acquired semi-independence from Moscow, Albania was consistently anti-Soviet after 1961 while forging an alliance with China that collapsed in acrimony in the mid-1970s, Yugoslavia emerged as a pillar of the non-aligned movement, while Greece and Turkey were pillars of NATO.

Despite these external divergences, it is important not to exaggerate the policy differences between the Balkan communist states, especially in the economic realm. All of them, to a greater or lesser extent ...