— Ch. 1 · Early Life And Communist Rise —
Slobodan Milošević.
~7 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Slobodan Milošević was born on the 20th of August 1941 in Požarevac, four months after Axis forces invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. His father Svetozar Milošević was a Serbian Orthodox theologian who died by suicide in 1962. His mother Stanislava was a school teacher and active Communist Party member who also took her own life in 1972. He studied law at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law where he joined the League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia. During his university years he befriended Ivan Stambolić whose uncle Petar Stambolić had been president of the Serbian Executive Council. This connection proved crucial for his career as they climbed through the League of Communists hierarchy together. After graduating in 1964 he became an economic advisor to Belgrade mayor Branko Pešić. In 1968 he secured a job at Tehnogas company while Stambolić worked there too. By 1973 he became chairman of that same company. By 1978 Stambolić's sponsorship enabled him to become head of Beobanka one of Yugoslavia's largest banks. This position allowed frequent trips to Paris and New York. On the 16th of April 1984 he was elected president of the Belgrade League of Communists City Committee. On the 21st of February 1986 the Socialist Alliance of Working People unanimously supported him as presidential candidate for the SKJ's Serbian branch Central Committee. He was elected by majority vote at the 10th Congress of the Serbian League of Communists on the 28th of May 1986.
Anti-Bureaucratic Revolution
Starting in 1988 the anti-bureaucratic revolution led to the resignation of governments in Vojvodina and Montenegro. From July 1988 to March 1989 demonstrations supportive of Milošević took place across these regions. These protests ousted provincial and republican governments leaving new administrations indebted to him. In Vojvodina an estimated 100,000 demonstrators rallied outside Communist Party headquarters in Novi Sad on the 6th of October 1988. The majority were workers from Bačka Palanka forty kilometres west of Novi Sad. They demanded the resignation of provincial leadership that opposed constitutional amendments. The provincial leadership resigned and a new leadership loyal to Milošević was elected. On the 10th of January 1989 similar events occurred in Montenegro where 50,000 gathered in Titograd. Demonstrators carried portraits of Milošević shouting his name while demanding economic reforms. Montenegro's state presidency tendered collective resignation along with Montenegrin delegates in the Yugoslav Politburo. Nenad Bućin opponent of Milošević was elected representative on Yugoslavia's collective presidency. Momir Bulatović a Milošević ally became Montenegrin President. Constitutional amendments began in 1982 when the Central Committee adopted conclusions centralizing Serbia's control over Kosovo and Vojvodina. An amended Serbian constitution was submitted for approval in 1989. The Vojvodina Assembly approved it on the 10th of March followed by Kosovo on the 23rd and Serbia on the 28th. In the Kosovo Assembly 175 voted in favor out of 190 present members. Ethnic Albanians largely boycotted the government after unrest killed 29 people and injured dozens more.