Labor Militancy vs. Ethnic Conflict in Yugoslavia.

• Author: Stratman, Dave

Millions of Americans are shocked, confused, or disgusted by the US-led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The bombing doesn't seem to make any sense. Military analysts have stated repeatedly that bombing alone will have little effect on Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic's ability to carry out the "ethnic cleansing" of Kosovo. Indeed, the NATO bombing has led to a massive increase in the number of ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosovo--just as predicted. In addition, far from weakening Milosevic, the bombing campaign has immeasurably strengthened his hand, so that a democracy movement which two years ago seemed close to overthrowing Milosevic has now been drowned in a sea of Serbian national unity against the US and NATO. The US bombing has given Milosevic something he could never have achieved by himself: an external enemy against which all Serbs can unite.

What's going on here? Why would the US and NATO undertake a bombing campaign which has achieved the opposite of its stated goals?

The Hidden History of the War

The most important facts for understanding the present situation have been carefully concealed by politicians and the media.

Since the mid-1980s, Yugoslavia has been the scene of a powerful working class movement which threatens to overthrow the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed ex-Communist government.[1] (Kosovo is an "autonomous region" and Serbia the largest of the six republics which formerly constituted Yugoslavia.) Since 1987, Slobodan Milosevic has been the IMF's strongman in Belgrade, trying to enforce IMF-imposed wage cuts and capitalist restructuring against massive worker resistance, and organizing ethnic atrocities and civil war in a desperate bid to forestall revolution.

In the face of widespread worker discontent about the lack of democracy and a 7-day student takeover of the University of Belgrade in June, 1968 (under the slogan, "Down with the Red Bourgeoisie"), Yugoslavia borrowed heavily in the 1970s and built up a huge debt to the IMF, which in 1985 topped $20 billion.[2] Payback began in 1980. From 1980-84 the standard of living in Yugoslavia fell nearly 40%.[3] In 1984 strikes centered in the Yugoslav republic of Macedonia broke out and spread to other republics.

Strikes and demonstrations continued to grow. In July, 1988 thousands of striking Croat and Serb workers "in a revolutionary mood" fought their way through police cordons and stormed Parliament. They called for "united action by the entire Yugoslav working class."[4] In October, 30,000 workers bearing red flags and banners proclaiming, "Long Live the Working Class!" and "Down with the Fascist Regime" occupied the iron works in Titograd and forced the resignation of Montenegrin Communist officials, while in Belgrade 5,000 Serb workers fought their way into Parliament to demand the resignation of the government.[5] Strikes and hyperinflation swept the country. In December, 1989 there was 2000%[6] Over 650,000 workers from several republics went on strike together.[7]

In 1990 the Yugoslav government under Ante Markovic administered "shock therapy" to the economy, imposing more stringent capitalist restructuring designed by economist Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University (who was also responsible for designing capitalist restructuring in Poland and Russia). The reforms at first seemed to be succeeding, but by the spring of 1991 they had collapsed in the face of massive worker resistance.[8] Clearly some stronger medicine was needed to bring Yugoslav, especially Serbian, workers to heel.

Divide and Rule

The working class movement brought together Yugoslavs of every ethnic background. The movement was at least implicitly revolutionary, and it terrified the international elite, for if successful it might easily spread beyond Yugoslavia and spell the end of the smoothly-managed transition from Communist to capitalist forms of elite rule in Eastern Europe. As the elite are aware, successful revolution and true democracy anywhere could well lead to revolution everywhere.

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