1945

 Socialist Yugoslavia was declared by Marshall Tito in 1945. The

 communists were able to deal with national aspirations by creating a

 federation of six nominally equal republics - Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia,

 Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. In Serbia the two

 provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina were given autonomous status.

 Communist rule restored stability and good relations with the west ensured

 a steady stream of loans. Later, however, national and ethnic tensions

 increased due to unequal development and a growing burden of debt.

 When Tito died in 1980 many expected the federation to break up but

 Yugoslavia was to survive for another ten years.