Page 227 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2026 Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes.../Composers’ Societies Past and Present...

Yugoslav-Soviet Union relations from the 1950s to 1970s …
ning everything from the economy to party organization, with cultural
policy serving state propaganda. Although these two countries were the
closest allies in foreign policy, Yugoslavia’s independent stance in foreign
affairs led to the conflict in June 1948, marked by the Cominform resolu-
11
tion. After this period, relations between the two countries were charac-
terized by alternating phases of stability and instability, which is also re-
flected in the context of cultural policy and diplomacy. 12
In these relations, cultural exchange played a significant role as a ‘soft’
13
form of political interchange. To be more specific, the concept of cultur-
al diplomacy:
gained enhanced value where traditional diplomacy and military force
are limited. Namely, cultural exchange can serve as an instrument of
reconciliation between former adversaries, especially after a period of
intense international tension, and culture represents a field for the rap-
prochement of states. An example of this is the improvement of rela-
tions between East and West following Stalin’s death, which began pre-
cisely with renewed cultural exchange. 14

Thus, following the conflict of 1948 and Stalin’s death in 1953, cultur-
al policy was or was supposed to provide a platform for establishing rela-
tions both with the East and with the West. This way of positioning the
SFRY included pacifism and a neutral position in the geopolitical constel-
lation, which would lead Yugoslavia towards the establishment of the Non-
Aligned Movement. Speaking of political aspirations toward the East, for-
15
mal reconciliation between the two countries took place with the signing
of the Belgrade and Moscow Declarations in 1955. After relations deterio-
rated again over the next two years, the early 1960s saw a renewed normal-
ization of ties. The following years were marked by a more liberal form
16
11 Andrija Jovanović, “Jugoslovenski stav prema spornim pitanjima kulturne sarad-
nje sa Sovjetskim Savezom u periodu normalizacije diplomatskih odnosa,” Histo-
ria Moderna: Bosnia & Herzegovina 2, no. 2 (2021): 13, https://doi.org/10.62215/2744
-2365.2021.2.2.11.
12 For exact examples, statistics and events that shaped cultural cooperation of Yu-
goslavia, namely their cultural foreign policy from “historical NO” to Stalin up
to 1960s, see: Branka Doknić, Kulturna politika Jugoslavije, 1946–1963 (Beograd:
Službeni glasnik, 2013).
13 “Introduction,” in Cultural Diplomacy, eds. Kristen Bound, Rachel Briggs, John
Holden, and Samuel Jones (London: Demos, 2007), 15–6.
14 Jovanović, “Jugoslovenski stav prema spornim pitanjima kulturne saradnje,” 13.
15 See further in: Vasiljević, “View to Cold War Through the Pericentric Lenses.”
16 Jovanović, “Jugoslovenski stav prema spornim pitanjima kulturne saradnje,” 13–4.

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