The Role of the Military in Politics: Yugoslavia As A Case Study Milorad Manojlovic B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1995 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Political Science O Milorad Manojlovic SIMON FRASER UNIVERSJTY AUGUST 1997 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. National Library Bibliothbque nationale *I of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and. Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services servlces bibliographiques 395 Welhngton Street 395. rue Well~ngtm ' ottawaON K~AO~ Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada You? hk Vorre reterena, Our hle Norre reference The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde un'e licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada d~ reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, preter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur paper ou sur format electronique. The author retams ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propnete du copyr~ghtin hsthesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these 111 des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent &e imprirnes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. APPROVAL Name: Mlorad Manojlovic Degree: Master of Arts (Political Science) Title of Thesis: The Role of the Military in Politics: Yugoslavia as a Case Study Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Peggy Meyer Dr. Lenard J. Cohen Senior Supervisor Professor of PoliG4 Science Dr. Alexander Moens Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Andre Gerol ymatos Extemal Examiner Professor of History, Chair of Hellenic Studies Simon Fraser University Date Approved: L@T '2747 Abstract The thesis proposed here will focus primarily on the political role of the military sector in Yugoslavia during the period from 1945 to 199 1. Socialist Yugoslavia was a highly diverse multiethnic state which also had a unique regime that was 'non-aligned' and was undergoing the process of economic modernization. The country therefore provides an interesting setting in which to analyze the military's role in politics. Special attention will be devoted to the evolution of the Yugoslav military's primary "mission" and subordinate roles, and also to its particularly decisive role in Socialist Yugoslavia's disintegration. The first section of the thesis will place the study in comparative perspective through an examination of major social science approaches and theories regarding civil- military relations. The second and principal section of the thesis (chapters 2-5) will provide a detailed analysis of civil-military relations in Yugoslavia as a case study. The last section of the thesis will summarize the major findings of the study in light of the various approaches to the field of civil-military relations. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my family Acknowledgements This thesis was a product of a lot of hardwork. It would have been a lot more difficult without the support and encouragement of others. I would like to thank Professor Lenard J. Cohen who over the years has taught and helped me understand the country I was born in. I would also like to thank Professor Alexander Moens for being my second reader and Professor Andre Gerolymatos for being my external examiner. There are also other people who encouraged and supported me throughout this endeavour. I would like to thank my family, particularly my brother Roy, Davina, who was always there, and Pat. Table of Contents Thesis Approval Abstract Dedication Acknowledgements Table of Contents Chapter 1. The Study of Civil-Military Relations Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives Introduction Professionalism Praetorianism Military Intervention The Military and Modernization Military Regimes Military Development Civil-Military Relations in Communist Regimes: The Penetration Model Chapter Summary Chapter 2. The Political Role of the Military in Balkan Political Culture The Serbian Traditions Croatian Traditions Royal Yugoslavia Chapter Summary Chapter 3. The Role of the Military in the Titoist System The National Liberation Army Postwar Consolidation and the TitoIStalin Split Demobilization and Modernization The Yugoslav People's Army and Territorial Defence The JNA's Political Role The Military and the 1971 Croatian Crisis Chapter Summary Chapter 4. The Military's Role in Flux The Military's New Vision and the Decentralist Model Tito's Death, Succession and The Military Economic Troubles 1981 Kosovo Riots and Ongoing Albanian Unrest Army and Political Disunity The Milosevic Phenomenon and the Rise of Nationalist Elites Slovenia and the Military The Military and the Fourteenth Congress Chapter Summary Chapter 5. State Collapse and Military "Intervention" Depoliticization The JNA's New Mission The "Log Revolution" JNA and the Republican Armies Prelude to State Disintegration The JNA and the Wars of Yugoslav Secession War in Croatia War in Bosnia Chapter Summary Chapter 6. Conclusion Bibliography Chapter One: The Study of Civil-Military Relations Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives Introduction The military establishment in any society constitutes a distinct branch of the political system and public life. Defending the polity is typically the primary role of the armed forces. However the special features of the military sector, i.e. the possession of key instruments of force and the legal ability to use them, give the armed forces the potential to transcend their assigned or constitutional role within the political system. Claude E. Welch maintains that "though the armed forces have features common to bureaucracies everywhere--for example, hierarchies of position, sociological roles that are defined within these positions, criteria for advancement, different levels of responsibility for separate positions--they are unique in their centrality to the state and their relationship to violence."l How the armed forces interact with the civil leadership constitutes the focus of the field of civil-military relations.2 Civilmilitary relations underwent complex changes during the three-and a half decades of Tito's domination over Yugoslav political life (from 1945 until May 1980). The thesis will trace the Yugoslav military's political role in both the Titoist and post-Titoist periods. While the post-Tito leadership transition was relatively smooth and successful, the country soon descended into political paralysis, economic stagnation and rising ethnonational ferment. Before Tito died in 1980, a good deal of speculation within and outside the country revolved around the military's role in society. The thesis will discuss the military's "role orientation," and the particular role assumed by the military as the country's crisis deepened. Indeed as the country began to break up the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) found itself deeply immersed in the politics of disintegration. However, before embarking on a discussion of the role of the military in Yugoslavia this chapter will l~laudeE. Welch Jr. wmentFrom Politics in Africa and Latin America (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press,1987), 9-10. 2u.,10. place the study in comparative perspective through an examination of major social science approaches and theories regarding civil-military relations. The first chapter will consider the role of the military in politics with reference to three classic models of civil-military relations--professional, penetration and praet~rian.~ The first part will explore the Western professional model. Samuel Huntington's thesis will be addressed as well as some criticism's of this approach. The second part will examine the Praetorian model , which is characteristic of much of the Third World, a region where the military intervene in politics relatively frequently. This section will also address such issues as military intervention, the military and modernization, military regimes and military development. The last section will explore the Communist penetration model as well as various other approaches that have been developed to more adequately explain party-army relations in such system^.^ Professionalism The prime representative of the professionalism school is Samuel P. Huntington. In The Soldier and the State, Huntington maintains that the "existence of the officer corps as a professional body gives a unique cast to the modem problems of civil-military relations."5 Huntington contends that a professional officer corps did not exist in most countries before the early nineteenth century. But by the beginning of the twentieth century such bodies existed in most states.6 As a consequence of the emergence of a professional officer corps, " the problem in the modem state is ...the relation of the expert to the politician."7 Huntington's primary goal is to examine the most effective method of controlling the 3~ordevelopments within the field of civil-military relations up to the 1970s see George A. Kourvetaris and Betty A. Dobratz,eds., " The Present State and Development of Sociology of the Military," in George A. Kourvetaris and Betty A. Dobratz,eds., World Perspectives in the Sociolo~vof the Militarv mew Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books,1977), 22-25. 4~tshould be noted that in studies of civil-military relations