How Was Life in Yugoslavia?

How was life in Yugoslavia?
How was life in Croatia during Yugoslavia compared to today when Croatia is an independent Republic of Croatia?
Was it better then or is it better now?

These are some of the questions that people keep talking about to this day, and my mom Nela Chop will help me answer them through sharing her experience of living half of her life in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ) and the other half in the Republic of Croatia.

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Thanks for watching, pozdrav iz Hrvatske!

Keywords: Yugoslavia, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatian language, Serbocroatian language, Differences between Croatian and Serbian language, Are Croatian and Serbian the same, How was life in Yugoslavia

[Jaumebertran]

Bok, Sanda! Muchas gracias! Un vídeo muy interesante. Yugoslavia fue un régimen socialista atípico por la ruptura con la URSS de Stalin en 1948. Esto le permitió a Tito jugar un papel de puente entre el bloque occidental capitalista liderado por USA y el soviético del pacto de Varsovia (especialmente tras la reanudación de las relaciones diplomáticas con Moscú con Khrusov) y también en la esfera internacional liderando el bloque de los países no alineados. El socialismo yugoslavo, creo que su gran ideólogo fue Kardelj, fue también original y diferente del soviético. (Paro ya porque me podría pasar horas escribiendo sobre historia...). Esto que explico es teoría que puede sacarse de cualquier manual de historia pero el testimonio de tu mamá es muy interesante porque habla de sus vivencias y da su visión personal de la vida en Yugoslavia y en la actual Croacia. Muchas gracias por este interesantísimo video y saludos a ti y a tu mami!

[neverlate]

I visited Yugoslavia in the early 1980's the people were so friendly, and seemed happy. the country was so beautiful . Before I went I had expected to see a poor nation with oppression. It really amazed me how modern and beautiful it was in that time.

[jamescameron]

My family had escaped during the war, everything was just as your mom had said. Rich or Poor didn't matter we were all in the same boat together, I'm Yugoslavian stil at heart. whether you be Serbian, Croatian or anything else you all are my brothers and sisters

[ninhful]

I lived in East Germany in early 1980s. I enjoyed watching Yugoslavian films at that time.

[markomarkovic]

Great video Sanda! Yugoslavia was a great place, and had a really great potential. Your mom mentioned free housing, and it worked because part of the salary went into a common housing, which the company used for the purchase of apartments, which were later allocated the employees. That worked until the '90's, my dad got his apartment in 1987. There was another benefit that the employees of the Yugoslav companies had - paid vacation. Almost all Yugoslav companies owned resorts on the coast and in the mountains, so holidays were extremely cheap for every Yugoslavian family. Yugoslavian tourism was well developed, and according to World Tourism Organization, in 1989 Yugoslavia was among the 10 most developed countries in the world. Tourism is considered an invisible export, and Yugoslavia has been generating a large income from tourism. We also had strong domestic production, and almost everything was produced, and there was no need to import. Yugoslav socialism was at the level of the Scandinavian social protection system, which is considered the best in the world. The Yugoslav model was called self-management, there were so-called workers' councils, on which all important decisions were made, and workers elected directors, they decided on investments, etc... It was a different time, people loved their country and had a strong sense of solidarity. Almost the entire country was built (roads, railways, bridges, buildings) through the so-called youth workers' actions - young people throughout Yugoslavia VOLUNTARILY went around the country and participated in the reconstruction and development. There was a low crime rate due to the secret police sending criminals abroad. They would mostly become secret service associates, received passports and official IDs, and in exchange for freedom, they did dirty work for the Yugoslav service and dealt with the so-called "internal enemies of the state." Unfortunately, it all backfired, because all of these criminals have become the dogs of war and leaders of paramilitary formations in the '90s. If you're interested in how and why the tragedy occurred in Yugoslavia, I suggest you check out some interview with Croatian investigative journalist Domagoj Margetić, who discovered the trail of money and how leaders of Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks enormously enriched themselves while people were killed in a senseless war . He claims he has evidence that a minimum of $ 150 billion has been looted from the former Yugoslavia. Sorry for the lengthy comment, but this is a very extensive topic. God bless your mom and you and greetings for beautiful Rijeka from Belgrade!

[AlexCab_]

I would love to have lived or at least emulate the Yugoslavia system. I'd like to have a job and healthcare and education and know my children won't have to struggle with rent, mortgages, unemployment and tuition.

[lalala]

My parents were born in Yugoslavia and whenever they talk abt their amazing lifes when Tito was our leader it feels like a beautiful fairytale

[christ.]

Love yugoslavia from greece❤️✌🏼if only balkans were in peace we could achieve many things

[NkoDmtryPoletv]

I heard many great stories about the former Yugoslavia from my parents when we were still the Soviet Union.. I want to visit the former yugoslavian countries cause I know that these 6 nations weren't just ruch in history but also in culture and in places... ♥ 🇷🇺

[abraxadabra]

In Italian there is a saying:

" When you leave the old for the new you know where you've been but not where you're going to"

[LD-wmjm]

When Yugoslavia died, one of the brightest beacons of socialist optimism was gone forever.

[guoyixu]

love and respect from China. Born in 1990s, my generation has no cutural links to Yugoslavia, but people of my parents' or grandparents' age have deep connection culturally with Yugoslavia, because I was told by them that everyone in China in the 1950-1970 period watched Yugoslavian movies, and were amazed at how good the living standard were at Yugoslavia.


Although China and USSR were in military alliance during 1950s, the two countries didn't get along well after that and had a few military confrontations. Overall, China didn't want to participate in the Cold War but to develop as an independent nation, and the socialist path adopted by China now is in no way close to USSR. Just to be clear that socialist is not evil, and not all socialist countries are the same. Socialist countries can also prosper and bring the vast majority of people high quality of life and be open-minded.

[timeousrequiem]

If Yugoslavia still existed I would live there!

Sounds like an awesome place :з

[filipstefanovski]

Well I am from Macedonia and I can understand every yugoslavian language accept for slovenian

[Bumaroupjotrobru]

So the trade off was, more poverty in exchange of some rich people being able to accumulate capital? Seems like capitalism just made everything worse :/

[droppsterx]

Amazing video, it's sad how we fought each other at the end and how it fell apart.greetings from Serbia.

[fernandomilicich]

I think Yugoslavia it was the best country in the east Europe

[alphadraconian]

Unfortunately things changed it used to be a wonderful amazing beautiful place where everyone and everything was wonderful and everyone was happy and life was wonderful l miss it so much . I have fond memories of the Amazing country of old Yugoslavia ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[shawnafitzsimmons]

The love between you and your mom is so evident. Thank you for this historical context and especially the differentiation between the nuances of socialism, including the different ways it manifests. I know this video is 3 years old but I wish your mom the best of health. My nona is from Pula and I have been learning so much from your videos so I can speak to her in her native language since she has no one else to do that with. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge!

[Kriosaivak]

I'm an American, and even I have to say that I wish I could go to Yugoslavia today. :(