ABSTRACT
The Bosnian Muslims emerged from World War II in an ambivalent position. The Bosnian Muslims came to play an increasingly important role in the politics of Yugoslavia and even in the foreign policy aspirations of Josip Broz Tito. This chapter explores the developments and their influence on the Bosnian Muslims from the end of World War II until the late 1970s. It examines Tito's national policy, focusing on the change in Bosnian Muslim national identity and the significance it had for both domestic and foreign policy in Yugoslavia and for the Bosnian Muslims themselves. After analyzing the theoretical basis of Yugoslavia's national policy, the chapter considers its application and implications for the Bosnian Muslims. Yugoslav orthodoxy in national policy was mirrored by orthodoxy in other areas, such as the insistence on agricultural collectivization, which the Soviet Union had vigorously pursued.
