Yugoslav Youth Groups: Military Groups

Figure 1.--We note a group of teenage Yugoslave boys in military uniforms right after World War II and the Communist seizure of power in Yugoslavia. The photogrph was taken in 1947. We are not entirely sure just what this group was. The boys look about 15-16 years old. It may be a cadet group training future officers. Or it could be pre-military training for all Yugoslav boys. Cadet training before World War II in various countries was generall for a select few, mostly secondary school boys at a time when most children in Europe did not go beyond primary school. Communist countries pursued a more expansive program of youth military training. We just do not yet know enough about Yugoslav schools amd military training at this time. There is writing on the back, perhaps our Serbian readers can help dechipher it.

We note a group of teenage Yugoslave boys in military uniforms right after World War II and the Communist seizure of power in Yugoslavia. Despite Allied support for Marshal Tito and the partisans during World War II, Tito became perhaps the most vocal and aggressive critic of the West, shooting down Allied planes in the Adriatic and making demands on Italian territories. Tito turned the Adriatic into an early Cold War hot spot. Thousands of anti Communits were arrested an condemned to long prison terms in brutal concentration camps or sumarily executed by the secret police. We note a group portrait of teenagers in some kind of military youth progrm. The photograph was taken just before Tito's break with Stalin who had decided that Tito was not compliant enough with his orders. We are not entirely sure just what this group was. The boys look about 15-16 years old. It may be a cadet group training future officers. Or it could be pre-military training for all Yugoslav boys. Cadet training before World War II in various countries was generall for a select few, mostly secondary school boys at a time when most children in Europe did not go beyond primary school. Communist countries pursued a more expansive program of youth military training. We just do not yet know enough about Yugoslav schools amd military training at this time.