On September 28, 1948, diplomatic relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia were officially severed. At the same time, the idea of ​​creating a single Balkan state, which had been dreamed of for many hundreds of years, but which remains unattainable to this day, was finally buried. It is not for nothing that the Balkan Peninsula is often called the "powder keg of Europe" in the media. Moreover, once in history, the explosion of this "barrel" in the form of a shot fired by a Serbian radical at the heir to the Austrian throne in Sarajevo provoked the first World War in history. At the same time, there was no shortage of regional wars on the long-suffering peninsula in either previous or subsequent eras. In fact, "periods of enlightenment" only happened there when the region found itself under the strict control of a "third force" - under which, as they say, "you can't fool around." Be it the Roman Empire, Byzantium, Austria-Hungary - or the Ottoman Empire. However, in relation to the latter, the inhabitants of the Balkans were not so rarely united - according to the principle of "who are we going to be friends against?" But as soon as the weakening of one or another external "hegemon" led to "the growth of national self-awareness" - the question of "who of the locals is the most hegemonic" immediately began to be clarified on the peninsula. In fact, at the peak of such civil strife, another new "hegemon" usually came to rule over the fighting "Slavic brothers". Like, for example, the same Ottoman Turks - in the 14-15 centuries, annexing the Balkans even earlier than the successful siege of Constantinople in 1453. Another attempt to create something more or less united on the peninsula was undertaken soon after the end of World War II. In the sources on this topic, one can observe noticeable discrepancies in terms of Moscow's attitude to this issue. The first of the polar points of view: "Stalin was furious when he learned about the initiative of Josip Tito and Georgi Dimitrov, who were going to form a federation of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria without the knowledge of the USSR." The second - Joseph Vissarionovich himself was not averse to creating such a federation. And even several, within the borders of Eastern Europe as a whole - Poland-Czechoslovakia, Hungary-Romania, Albania-Yugoslavia-Bulgaria. There is also an opinion about the readiness to create even a kind of "super-Eastern European federation" - on the basis of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary! Except that they have not yet seen the GDR - since until his death Joseph Vissarionovich made attempts to "pressure" the former allies of the anti-Hitler coalition to agree to the restoration of a united Germany. But only - necessarily neutral and peaceful, on the model of neighboring Austria, which became just that after the withdrawal of Soviet and sunset troops from there in October 1954. It seems that the supporters of the version about "Moscow's discontent with the idea of ​​​​a Balkan Federation" are somewhat confusing the very reasons for "Stalin's discontent." At the same time, they even present the conclusion of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria on August 1, 1947 as some kind of "partisan warfare that caught Stalin off guard." The latter assertion looks simply ridiculous, given the close ties between the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Communist Parties of the USSR's allied countries in Eastern Europe. For example, in the same Yugoslavia, it is well known that the "hottest" information about the content of the meeting of the local government and the Politburo ended up in the Soviet embassy. Thanks to the help of Finance Minister Sreten Crni Zujovic - and several other high-ranking Yugoslav politicians who are clearly sympathetic to Moscow. There is nothing to say about Bulgaria. Not only were Georgiy Mikhailovich Dimitrov and Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin sincere friends since the 1930s, but even without that, in the highest (and not only) echelons of Bulgarian power, there were more than enough friends of our country. Support me on Boosty: https://boosty.to/ivanzaitsevskii My VK: https://vk.com/publiczaitsevskogo My Telegram: https://t.me/IvanZaitsevskii #Yugoslavia #Tito #History #IvanZaitsevsky #BalkanFederation #Bulgaria #Albania #USSR #Dimitrov #Balkans #BalkanPeninsula #Serbia #SFRY