specify his critique of classical liberalism even more. After Stalin’s death, Tito and the new Congress of the Communist Party in the USSR began to make amends. The two countries opened up trade between one another, and the aggressive rhetoric from both sides died down. In 1956, Tito made a speech to the twentieth Congress, saying, “The visit of your leaders, Comrades Khrushchev, Bulganin, and Mikoyan, to our country last year, in 1955, and the announcement of the so-called Belgrade Declaration, not only ushered in a new period in the development of relations between our two countries and our relations with the other countries of people's democracy, but it also had a powerful, positive influence on the development of international relations”(8). In the end, what was true at the beginning of this process is true at the conclusion of it. The fact that the USSR was the most powerful socialist state influenced Tito’s own ideological path in one way or another, leading to Yugoslavia’s ultimately tumultuous existence. PAGE 12 VOL. 1, NO. 1 ZEITGEIST USSR. In the few years following the split, Tito made it clear that Yugoslavia was not in favor of either the capitalist US or the Stalinist USSR, saying in an interview, “Yugoslavia does not belong to any bloc. If not attacked, she will not participate in any war. She will only go to war if attacked ... Aggression is not our method of spreading the revolutionary movement in the world”(7). Tito went to great lengths to express Yugoslavia’s neutrality, especially as it seemed more and more inevitable that the two superpowers would soon be mired in conflict. However, this position of neutrality was much more US-friendly than Yugoslavia’s position was when it was a part of the Eastern Bloc. this newfound friendliness between the two nations - for Yugoslavia the promise of trade, and for the US lowering Stalin’s power - had consequences on Tito’s ideology. As his relationship with the US lessened in negativity, Tito’s words began to resemble some main tenets of classical liberalism. During the process of the split, Tito was challenged many different times by both western media and other socialists on his methods. In response to questioning if the Yugoslav system could survive external pressure, he declared, “It can hold out. Why not? The best methods by which we can help the international working class consists of this: that we struggle to construct socialism in Yugoslavia with the fastest possible tempo and for the raising of the living standards, in one word, for the creation of socialism. This would be the best example for other countries”(7). The idea of never-ending progress is core to the idea of classical liberalism. Especially in the Industrial Revolution, standard of living was one of the main ways that scholars measured human “progress.” To see Tito exemplify this same ideal is to observe the ways in which his country has affected his own ideology. Continued contact and military assistance with the West allowed Tito to change and
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