24 The Young Broz
of anti-Fascist forces, in the hope that the Soviet Union would be preserved
from the “reactionary” danger. In this perspective, Yugoslavia was also necessary
for the defense of the proletariat’s fatherland. No longer considered a link in
the cordon sanitaire that the imperialists created to contain Bolshevism, Yugo-
slavia was thought of as a possible bulwark of the Soviet Union, together with
other Central European and Balkan states, united against Hitler. Although the
idea that the Karadjordjević Dynasty should be destroyed was still being dis-
cussed at the Fourth CPY Conference in December 1934, the Yugoslav com-
munists immediately adopted the new political line. Their CC stated that
while in principle it was in favor of national self-determination and the right
of different South Slav nations to secede, “in view of the contemporary inter-
national situation” Yugoslavia should be kept alive. Any other policy would help
“Fascism” with its war-mongering plans. The Politburo stressed this radical
change in a circular letter sent to all the principal CPY organizations without
causing any adverse reactions.^92 Nevertheless, many “comrades” continued to
have reservations regarding Yugoslavia because of its centralistic structure
based on Serb dominance. They would have preferred a federation or confed-
eration of Southern Slav or Balkan Soviet republics.^93
During the Seventh Congress, Walter was implicated in an unpleasant inci-
dent. In mid-August, the question arose as to who the new CPY representative
in the Executive Committee of Comintern was to be. A group of delegates who
arrived unexpectedly from Yugoslavia proposed Josip Broz for this prestigious
post, even though he was a junior member of the CC. There was a heated dis-
cussion at the party summit, ending with the unanimous decision to back him.
It was, however, only a maneuver, for Gorkić and his followers immediately
protested to Dmitrii Manuilskii, Stalin’s man at the Comintern, asserting that
the election of Broz would strengthen “sectarianism” in the party. An angry
Manuilskii, Gorkić’s close friend, decided not to accept the decision of the
Yugoslav delegation: “Since you have not chosen Gorkić, the only one trusted
by the Comintern, we will not allow you to have a representative, but only a
candidate, and this candidate will be Gorkić. Take it as a warning.”^94 In com-
munist nomenclature, a “candidate” was a member of a political body without
full powers. This was one of the first signs of conflict between Broz and Gorkić,
and of Moscow’s low measure of esteem for the CPY. “I noticed at that time,”
Tito said later, “that something was wrong. Something was not working as it
should. Dimitrov asked me at a certain point: ‘Tell me, Walter, do you have
party organizations?’ I answered that we have them. Our party was judged in
the same manner as the leadership in Vienna. And in Vienna they have shame-
fully quarreled among themselves.”^95