The end of World War II found the people of Yugoslavia living in chaos and destitution. For five years, the country had been divided and occupied by enemy powers. The war had claimed more than 1.5 million Yugoslav lives, over 10 percent of the prewar population. About a million of those people had been killed by other Yugoslavs. The country's major cities, industries, and communication systems had been destroyed. Great numbers of men, women, and children faced starvation.
Into the chaos stepped Josip Tito, war hero and victorious leader. Tito was an imposing man, as Sir John Slessor, Air Force Chief of Staff for Allied forces in the Middle East, described.
I was immediately impressed with him and have since had good reason to return to the opinion I then formed of him, that he was much more than a guerrilla leader—an outstanding personality and potentially.....
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