Josip Broz Tito

Tito's Yugoslavia was expelled from the Cominform after he refused to submit to Stalin's control. This break made Yugoslavia the first communist state to defy the Soviet Union, leading to an independent path of 'self-managing socialism' and non-alignment.

Tito co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement with Nehru, Nasser, Sukarno, and Nkrumah at the Belgrade Conference. The movement provided a third way for developing countries during the Cold War, avoiding alignment with either the US or Soviet blocs.

Tito enacted a new constitution that devolved significant powers to Yugoslavia's six republics and two autonomous provinces. While intended to manage ethnic tensions, it weakened the federal government and laid the groundwork for the country's later disintegration.

Tito died in Ljubljana after a long illness. His death removed the central unifying figure of Yugoslavia, leading to a rotating presidency system that proved ineffective. Ethnic tensions soon escalated, culminating in the Yugoslav Wars a decade later.