JUGOSLOVENSKA DRŽAVA I ISELJENICI: Propagandni rad među jugoslovenskim iseljenicima u SAD od 1945-1948
Yugoslavia and the Emigration

Summary/Abstract: Faced with economic difficulties after the Second World War, the Yugoslav authorities became aware of potential benefits the country could have in the process of reconstruction from the Yugoslav emigrants in the USA. In order to achieve the set priorities (the return of the emigrants as skilled labour force, sustained material aid), the Yugoslav Government launched a propaganda campaign among the Yugoslav emigrants. The main goal was to create a positive image of the new Yugoslavia and the Communist regime in it. These activities were conducted through institutions and individuals in Yugoslavia and among the emigrants in the USA. Writings, photos, films and personal letters were utilized as propaganda tools. They were dealing with the wartime, but also with subsequent events, depicting the whole development of Yugoslavia. Yugoslav economic backwardness, counter-propaganda in the USA and deteriorating relations between the two countries were some of the reasons for unsatisfactory results of the Yugoslav propaganda. Diverging approaches of the Yugoslav officials to the propaganda activities also aggravated the difficulties of the Yugoslav action in the USA. The Yugoslav split with Stalin had numerous consequences on the Yugoslav action in America. Flagging support among the left-wing organizations in the USA, continuous counter-propaganda, but also the new approach to the emigration as potential element of breaking the isolation of Yugoslavia, were some of the changes that would determine the future course of the Yugoslav action in the United States.

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