The Postwar Period 167
In June 1946, the Soviet government issued a press release announcing its
plans to supply the Yugoslavs with arms, munitions, and other essentials via a
long-term loan. In addition, the two countries reached an agreement on trade
and substantial financial aid for Yugoslav industry.^96 Tito did not hide that he
was wholly aligned with the Soviet bloc. When he met his gen erals, who had
been trained at Moscow’s military academies, he declared, “If the Red Army
needs us to lead its march toward the English Channel, we’ll be there tomor-
row!”^97 On his return to Belgrade, he sent the following “modest” gifts of
gratitude to the ladies of the Boss’s entourage: for his daughter, Svetlana, a
platinum watch with diamonds; to Molotov’s wife, a gold watch with dia-
monds, and a gold bangle for his daughter; for the wife of Anastas Mikoyan,
the minister of foreign trade, a gold watch by Patek Philippe; for the wife of
Soviet Politburo member Zhdanov, another gold watch; for Beria’s wife, a gold
watch by Eterna.^98
This friendly atmosphere did not last long: it was soon disrupted by Yugoslav
dis content about the solution to the Trieste question, as decided by the Allies.
When their foreign ministers agreed to the creation of the Free Territory of
Trieste, Tito was outraged, and his fury was expressed in the aforementioned
retaliation against American encroachment on Yugoslav airspace. The resulting
attack was the worst military incident between the two blocs since the end
of the Second World War. Molotov was appalled. “Don’t you realize they have
the atomic bomb?” he asked Kardelj, chief of the Yugoslav delegation in Paris.
“Big deal,” answered his secretary. “They have the atomic bomb, but we have
the Partisan one.”^99
It is impossible to understand the 1948 split between Belgrade and Moscow
without taking into account this overconfidence. As Koča Popović said: “Dur-
ing the war, Tito got so used to being autonomous—with his position, cha-
risma and power—that he couldn’t even consider being Stalin’s subordinate
again.”^100 His relations with Moscow were a mix of love and suspicion, until it
became obvious that Stalin wanted to subjugate Yugoslavia: for example, with
the creation of common economic companies. The first of these was dedicated
to mining, which the Soviets spun as a kind of collaboration, “respectful of
Yugoslavia’s prestige.” In the end, just two transport companies were created:
Justa, for air, and Juspad, for river transport.^101 Tito and his comrades at times
attempted to oppose Stalin, and at other times bowed to the Kremlin’s requests
in order to maintain goodwill, but they always tried to stay in control. In 1947,
on signing an agreement in which Moscow promised to invest $200 million in
Yugoslavia, they were convinced their strategy had paid off.^102 Soon, however,
they began to suspect that the Soviet Union was attempting to slow down the
country’s industrial development, exploiting it as a supplier of food and raw