Tito’s territorial ambitious played a role in the split but there were additional factors. Overall, the split between the Soviet Union’s decision to sever relations with Yugoslavia stemmed from Josif Broz Tito’s unwillingness to submit to the authority of Moscow. Not only did Yugoslavia’s independence threaten Stalin’s control over Eastern Europe, but it risked drawing the Soviet Union into a conflict with the Western Allies.

Unlike the Communist governments which ruled the countries of Eastern Europe for the majority of the Cold War, Tito had come to power in Yugoslavia with only minimal assistance from the Soviet Union. Tito came into power as the result of a civil war fought during World War II, when the Soviets could not provide assistance. Therefore, Tito felt that his regime was a more authentic type of Communism than most of Eastern Europe since his government had been formed via revolt, instead of phony elections engineered by Moscow. This made Tito very eager to offer support to other Communist uprisings in Europe following World War II.

This risked conflict with the West as it violated agreements Stalin had made with the US and UK at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. Stalin understood that the Soviet Union would not win a war against the Western allies since the Soviet Union was still recovering from the economic/political/social devastation caused by World War II and was not yet nuclear prolific. Even though Tito was acting independently, Stalin feared that the West would think that the Soviet Union was using Yugoslavia as a proxy to violate postwar agreements. For this reason, Tito’s actions threatened Stalin’s attempts to avoid conflict with the Western allies.

For example, at the behest of Stalin, Tito continued to provide assistance to the Greek Communists who were engaged in a bloody civil war against a government supported by the West. As a Communist, Tito wanted to help foster the world revolution, and thereby wanted to offer support for his fellow revolutionaries in Greece. Stalin had promised to not interfere with Greece, but Tito’s support for the Greek Communists made it seem that the Soviet Union was attempting to bypass its commitment to not get involved in the Greek Civil War. This, along with Yugoslavia’s demands for territory in the Trieste region of Italy enraged Stalin, who did not want to risk armed conflict with the West over Tito’s expansionist ambitions. Tito laid claims on Trieste due to the ethnic population that lived in this area, but this region had been designated part of Italy and Stalin did not want Tito created conflict with the West. In an effort designed to prevent Tito from occupying Trieste, which was protected by the Americans, Stalin even ensured that area was governed by the United Nations. Tito and Stalin did not share the same view of Yugoslavia’s role within world Communism. While Stalin intended Yugoslavia to be part of the overall Communist movement, he did not want to share power with Tito.

Stalin came to the conclusion that Tito’s disobedience was a threat to Moscow’s control of Eastern Europe. Therefore, Stalin concluded that he in order to keep the rest of Eastern Europe under Moscow’s control, he would need to sever ties with Tito. Therefore in June of 1948, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia was dismissed as a member of the Cominform, and Moscow began to drastically reduce the financial and material support that it provided for Tito’s regime. With the Cominform’s decision, Yugoslavia became an independent Communist nation.

Sources:

• Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945,
• Stevan K. Pavlowitch, Tito: Yugoslavia’s Great Dictator: A Reassessment
• Lorraine M. Lees, Keeping Tito Afloat: The United States, Yugoslavia, and the Cold War