it is representative of Yugoslavia's differentiation from the Soviet Bloc. The final .... propaganda that led to the deterioration of the city following Tito's death. ... and billboards, were accessible through digital media, as well as statements from.
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BUILDING NEW BELGRADE FOR TITO’S YUGOSLAVIA Natasa Stefanovic © Academia.edu: natasastefanovic.academia.edu Instagram: @natasastefanovichistory
Abstract: This thesis looks at the construction of New Belgrade as an urban history narrative for the history of Yugoslavia. This is a study of the history of place and space, in conjunction with the history of Tito's Yugoslavia. Beginning with the foundation for the new city, during the interwar period, the first chapter establishes an understanding of the purpose of the place during the Kingdom era. It then looks at the effect of the Second World War, and the establishment of the communist/socialist era under Josip Broz Tito. The following chapter looks at the Tito era from the split from the Cominform. It is an analysis of the creation of New Belgrade under Tito, and how it is representative of Yugoslavia’s differentiation from the Soviet Bloc. The final chapter examines New Belgrade following the Tito era, the impact of the collapse of Yugoslavia, NATO intervention and the rebuilding of New Belgrade in the 21st century. Key Words: Yugoslavia, urban history, New Belgrade, socialism, Titoism, postsocialist cities, residential architecture.
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BUILDING NEW BELGRADE FOR TITO’S YUGOSLAVIA NATASA STEFANOVIC
2017 MONASH UNIVERSITY This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree, School of Philosophy, Historical and International Studies, Monash University, October 2017
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CONTENTS (Note: Page numbers in preview will vary)
List of Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms
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Introduction
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Chapter 1: Place Establishment: New Belgrade’s Beginnings 10 1.1: Before Tito: Preparing the Foundation for New Belgrade 10 1.2: Occupied Territory: Yugoslavia and New Belgrade Emerging from the Second World War 16 1.3: Tito’s Project: New Belgrade as a Socialist Venture 21 Chapter 2: Uniquely Yugoslav: New Belgrade as the First ‘Titoist’ city 30 2.1: “Belgrade to Resemble Moscow”: Yugoslav-Soviet Relations’ Impact on Building Tito’s New Belgrade 31 2.2: Political Positions: A Socialist City Built with Western Assistance 37 2.3: Creating and Obtaining the Yugoslav Dream: New Belgrade Housing and Titoist Consumerism 41 Chapter 3: The New Belgrade Tito Left Behind: New Belgrade and the Downfall of Yugoslavia 48 3.1: New Belgrade During Crisis: The Post-Tito Years and the Capital City 48 3.2: Destroying Titoism and damage of New Belgrade: New Belgrade and the Yugoslav War 53 3.3: Rebuilding for the Post-Socialist City: Post-War New Belgrade 56 Conclusion
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Bibliography
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BUILDING NEW BELGRADE FOR TITO’S YUGOSLAVIA
ABBREVIATIONS CIAM
Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (International Congresses of Modern Architecture)
CK
Centralni Komitet Savez Komunista Jugoslavije (Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia)
FNRJ (FNRY)
Federativna Narodna Republika Jugoslavija (Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia)
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
SFRJ (SFRY)
Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
TERMINOLOGY Bratstvo i Jedinstvo
Brotherhood and Unity
Kafana
Traditional Balkan bistro serving coffee and alcohol
Novi Beograd
New Belgrade
Stari Grad
Old Belgrade
Blokovi
Residential Communities of High-rise Apartment Blocks in New Belgrade
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BUILDING NEW BELGRADE FOR TITO’S YUGOSLAVIA
BUILDING NEW BELGRADE FOR TITO’S YUGOSLAVIA INTRODUCTION “...The working people and youth of all peoples of Yugoslavia are to raise New Belgrade, extend the beloved capital of the state of equal nations on this side of the Sava, to build a bigger and more beautiful city from which the Yugoslav Communist Party headed by Comrade Tito led the uprising. Let the new construction create another timeless token of the success of the liberation struggle of our people which lead to socialism, Marshal Tito, and the country built by peoples themselves”1
New Belgrade emerged from the Second World War as a socialist project for Marshal Josip Broz Tito to represent Yugoslavia through a physical place; the capital city. As the head-of-state, Tito led the construction of New Belgrade, but how did the Yugoslav capital come to represent Tito’s Yugoslavia? Building New Belgrade for Tito’s Yugoslavia is a thesis about the project of building the capital city for the socialist Yugoslavia, which would be representative of the socialist state. From the uprising of Tito’s communists in the Second World War to the eventual collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), I look at how the history of Tito’s Yugoslavia is physically narrated through the construction and deterioration of New Belgrade. My thesis looks at how the first Titoist city came about in order to embody the ‘myth’ of Yugoslavia and its unique socialism, how it succeeded in representing that and how signs of failure began to appear, as the state collapsed. Using place as a historical narrative can create understanding of how its people and those in charge of the spatial planning shaped the place, as well as how that place created a specific lifestyle for those residing in it. New Belgrade as a narrative for Yugoslav history can provide deeper insight into the states’ economic, political and social stability, as it can represent the lifestyle of its inhabitants. Yugoslav historiography commonly focuses on the creation and collapse of the SFRY. This direction of Yugoslav History looks at the initial transition of the political system from a monarchy to a socialist/communist state, including the post-war transition to six individual capitalist republics. These histories also analyse the collectivism of the people of Yugoslavia under the concept of ‘Brotherhood and Unity’, creating one identity group: Yugoslavs2. Yugoslav historians look at the successes and failures of Tito as a leader, beginning by analysing Yugoslavia’s role in the Second World War and the significance of the liberation of Belgrade by Tito’s communists. Sajmište, in New Belgrade, is the only element of New Belgrade present in these histories, particularly due to its role as a concentration camp during the
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Čedomir Minderović, "Spomen-Ploča Postavljeno 11. April 1948 Novi Beograd " [Memorial Plaque Erected April 11, 1948, New Belgrade] (Novi Beograd 1948) 2 Vanja Hamzić, "Ethnicity and International Law: Histories, Politics and Practices," Melbourne Journal of International Law 17, no. 2 (2016) © Natasa Stefanovic 2017
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Second World War and role in the liberation of Belgrade3. Memorials at this location had only been created following the Yugoslav War4, leaving it open to question what Tito had done with that particular space during the socialist era. Many Yugoslav historians will compare the socialist state to that of the Soviet Union in order to identify the uniqueness of Tito’s Yugoslavia. An important idea in Yugoslav historiography is the concept of “Yugoslavness”, where there was a difference in lifestyle in Yugoslavia as opposed to other socialist/communist states, with particular comparisons made to the Soviet Union5. Yugoslav-Soviet relations are a particularly ‘hot-topic’ among Yugoslav historians as it creates an understanding of where Yugoslavia mirrored other socialist states, as well as where it had been unique. Most historians have agreed that New Belgrade was created following the Second World War. Even though Tito’s Yugoslavia began at that point, it is still necessary to be aware of plans for the space prior to Tito’s leadership, creating an understanding of how New Belgrade was a purely Titoist city. Few historians have looked at what the intention was for New Belgrade during the interwar period. These historians that have only look at the Kovalyevsky plans of 1923, creating an understanding of the physical plans for the left bank of the Sava River before Tito6. However as these are only plans, by looking at the contract between the Belgrade Commune and Danish investors, as well as newspaper articles from the interwar period, a deeper understanding of the failures of construction in the space will be evident through my thesis. The identification of the reasons behind the failures to grow the city, and perceptions of the press will allow us to see what Tito had to work with in order to create his ideal Yugoslav city. Milica Topalović’s account of the history of New Belgrade is built around the “myth” of Yugoslavia, and how New Belgrade was supposed to be constructed to represent that myth7. My thesis argues that the “myth” of Yugoslavism and Titoism can be understood through the chronological development and story of New Belgrade, yet the reality can only be visible following the death of Tito and the beginning of the deterioration of the SFRY. I will differ from Topalovic through economic analysis, Yugoslavia’s position as a non-aligned state, and looking at New Belgrade prior to as well as following the Tito era. Recent studies into Yugoslav and New Belgrade history appear to show more economic and architectural paths. Analyses of consumerism under Tito have 3
Tea SindbÆk, "The Fall and Rise of a National Hero: Interpretatons of Draža Mihailović and the Chetniks in Yugoslavia and Serbia since 1945," Journal of Contemporary European Studies 17, no. 1 (2009) 4 Nikolina Bobić, "New Belgrade after 1999: Spatial Violence as Desocialisation, De-Romanisation, and De-Historisation," Architectural Theory Review 19, no. 3 (2014) 5 Breda Luthar and Maruša Pušnik, Remembering Utopia: The Culture of Everyday Life in Socialist Yugoslavia (Washington DC: New Academia Publishing, 2010) 6 Marco Abram, "20th of October – Narratives of Identities in the Celebrations for Belgrade's Liberation Day (1945-1961)," History of Communism in Europe no. 3 (2012) 7 Milica Topalović, "Brick and Gold: The Urbanism and Architecture of Informal Belgrade," in Belgrade: Formal - Informal: A Research on Urban Transformation, ed. Roger Diener (Basel: ETH Studio Basel, 2012) © Natasa Stefanovic 2017
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developed Yugoslav History, by allowing for an understanding that Yugoslavia had a unique form of socialism; Titoism. These studies analyse Tito’s policies and the way in which consumerism was promoted during what was considered the ‘Yugoslav Golden Age’. Patrick Hyder Patterson uses the term the ‘Yugoslav Dream’; this terminology is useful in understanding the promotion of consumerism8. In contrast to Patterson9 and other economic historians accounts of the history of Yugoslavia and New Belgrade, architectural historians such as Vladimir Kulic and Nikolina Bobić look at the planning and physical construction of the city. The post-WW2 period, the Tito-Stalin split and the late socialist period define Kulić’s account of New Belgrade symbolically representing Tito’s Yugoslavia, from and architectural perspective10. Kulić’s work looks at New Belgrade from the 1948 constructions, and the political messages of buildings, such as the Presidential Palace11. Rather than looking at architectural elements, adding to Kulić’s research by combining economic history with his account will allow for a deeper understanding of how the physical place and spaces within are symbolic of the historical narrative of the Tito’s leadership. By looking at the words, ‘Yugoslav Dream’ quite literally, my thesis narrates the history of New Belgrade as a story of waking this illusion, and the argument is made that the Yugoslav Dream was not a reality, rather falsely promoted through consumer propaganda that led to the deterioration of the city following Tito’s death. Therefore, Tito’s death is used as a metaphor for the waking to reality of the economic crisis undermined. The central argument of Brigitte Le Normand’s book, Designing Tito’s Capital, is that New Belgrade was an exclusively Yugoslav socialist city based on the possibilities for individuality among its citizens12. Le Normand makes this argument by looking at consumerism, building on Patterson’s research, and how Yugoslavia differed from other socialist states by allowing consumerism and individuality13. By using Le Corbusier’s socialist planning ideologies, Le Normand centralises her argument around New Belgrade’s successes and failures as a modernist city 14 . However, my argument does not seek to look at how New Belgrade was successful or how it failed in terms of modernity. Rather, I look to find how New Belgrade was built for this particular Yugoslavia, Tito’s Yugoslavia and where it deteriorated alongside the states’ failure. Even though I will be drawing on Le Normand’s research, I also seek to uncover how New Belgrade was used as a political tool for the Tito regime. My research will also incorporate architectural and economic history, as it is important to combine aspect of both disciplines in order to understand the urban history of Yugoslavia. Historians of socialist cities look at how the places created during those periods were used as propaganda tools and how they had to be representative of the political 8
Patrick Hyder Patterson, Bought and Sold: Living and Losing the Good Life in Socialist Yugoslavia (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2011) 9 Ibid. 10 Vladimir Kulić, "National, Supranational, International: New Belgrade and the Symbolic Construction of a Socialist Capital," Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity 41, no. 1 (2013) 11 Ibid. 12 Brigitte Le Normand, Designing Tito’s Capital (Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2014) 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. © Natasa Stefanovic 2017
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structure15. Like Marzahn in East Berlin, New Belgrade had appeared to be a project with the same intention. These histories written about Marzahn will be useful in understanding socialist urban planning and housing systems in New Belgrade. By making a brief comparison between New Belgrade and Marzahn we can understand how the city displayed Yugoslavia’s socialism. Post-socialist cities have been looked at in terms of how the city functions following the collapse of socialism within the states. Tsenkova’s research into Tirana and Riga is compared to New Belgrade based on how New Belgrade differs from these cities particularly due to the effects of war and the NATO bombings16. Tsenkova’s approach is economic, and useful in identifying how New Belgrade differs from other former socialist cities17. In my thesis, I will be building on Tsenkova’s findings and adding the failures from the Tito era, particularly the results of the consumerist golden age that led to economic collapse18. I will also apply Foucault’s theory of a series of things creating relations of space and people, 19 followed by adding elements of Prokopljević’s studies of pop cultural representations of New Belgrade to understand lifestyles in New Belgrade following the Tito era20. Where my research differs here from New Belgrade histories is the way in which I will look at how the post-socialist New Belgrade reflects the failures of the Titoist regime, following the collapse of the SFRY. Sourcing primary material for the study of New Belgrade proved difficult with the availability of sources outside of Serbia being scarce. For this reason, a diverse collection of primary sources has been used in this thesis, due to the Internet being a prime mode of collecting material. Digital access was an important factor in researching the history of New Belgrade, particularly because of the physical distance that had placed barriers on my research breadth. Digital archives were accessible, including from the pre-Tito era 21 . Contracts such as those signed by foreign investors22, and newspaper articles describing the situation on the left bank of the Sava dating to the interwar period23, tell the story of plans for New Belgrade during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. This allowed me to identify unsuccessful projects that Tito used to create his own. Also digitally available, Tito era material such as plaques and billboards, were accessible through digital media, as well as statements from political figures including Tito, providing further understanding of the Yugoslav 15
Annemarie Sammartino, "Mass Housing, Late Modernism, and the Forging of Community in New York City and East Berlin, 1965–1989," The American Historical Review 121, no. 2 (2016) 16 Sasha Tsenkova, "Planning Trajectories in Post-Socialist Cities: Patterns of Divergence and Change," Urban Research & Practice 7, no. 3 (2014) 17 Ibid. 18 Ibid. 19 Michel Foucault, Des Espace Autres [Of Other Spaces], trans. Jay Miskowiec (1967) 20 Jelena Prokopljević, "Do Not Throw Concrete Blocks! Social and Public Housing in New Belgrade and Their Representations in Popular Culture," Fusion Journal, no. 6 (2015) 21 Vekovi Beograda: Ix-Xx Vek, [Belgrade Through the Centuries: IX-XX] (Belgrade: Istorijski Arhiv Beograda, 2013). 22 Belgrade Commune and Kompsax, "Belgrade-Zemun Contract," (Belgrade, Serbia 1938). 23 "Дивље Насеље Нови Београд: На Левој Обали Саве Легализовано Је Пресипом Државног Савета," [Wild Settlement New Belgrade: Sava State Council Legalises Earthing on the Left Bank of the Sava] Beogradski Život, September 9, 1940 © Natasa Stefanovic 2017
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project for New Belgrade. For one who is not present in the current city of New Belgrade, images, maps and statistics can provide insight into the present day city, creating an understanding as to how New Belgrade is representative of the Tito era, as well as the downfall of Yugoslavia. The collection of primary sources for this thesis will be used to identify the uniqueness of Yugoslav socialism under Tito, as well as understand how New Belgrade was developed and for what purpose. These primary sources will be useful to identify propaganda for the ‘Yugoslav Dream’. As a socialist state, strict regulation of what was distributed to the public means that state controlled media was propaganda material24. Selected primary sources in this thesis may be divided into the different depictions of New Belgrade, to identify the failures of the Yugoslav/New Belgrade Project, as well as the ‘waking’ from the ‘Yugoslav Dream’. Theories of the history of place and space will be used in my thesis to create a better analysis of the construction and planning for capital city of Yugoslavia. Various theoretic perspectives will be used for analysis of place, varying from Marxist theorists to psychological interpretations of place and space. Henri Lefebvre’s theory of space as a political narrative will be useful in creating the narrative of the Tito government through the use of New Belgrade as a metaphoric symbol of Tito’s Yugoslavia. In addition to this, Simmel’s theories of space being psychological can provide insight as to how the memory of Yugoslavia is fixed within New Belgrade. My first chapter explores how New Belgrade was erected by the Tito government as a representation of the communists’ successes in the Second World War. Beginning with an analysis of the spatial planning prior to the Tito era, my first chapter is an understanding of the formation of the space, which then goes on to incorporate the formation of the socialist/communist state of Yugoslavia following the Second World War. The post-war section of this chapter looks at the direct effects on Belgrade, the succession of Yugoslavia from the Cominform, and how the capital city of New Belgrade became Tito’s project to represent Yugoslavia globally. The second chapter is an understanding of the uniqueness of Yugoslavia and how New Belgrade played a role in the representation of Yugoslavia on a global scale. This chapter seeks to understand how New Belgrade was an exclusively Titoist city, and how Yugoslavia’s non-alignment impacted the construction of the city. I will be looking at how consumerism was promoted in the Titoist state and how New Belgrade grew in popularity during the ‘Yugoslav Golden Age’. In the final chapter I will create a link between the death of Tito and the disintegration of Yugoslavia, through the failures of New Belgrade. The economic collapse, which ultimately led to the Yugoslav wars, the NATO bombing of the Ušće Tower in New Belgrade, and post-war New Belgrade as the capital of the Republic of Serbia, will be case studies within this chapter in order to make this link of how New Belgrade failed alongside socialist Yugoslavia. 24
Sergej Flere and Rudi Klanjsek, "Was Tito’s Yugoslavia Totalitarian?", Communist and Post-Communist Studies, no. 47 (2014). © Natasa Stefanovic 2017
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