The new Yugoslav government headed up by Josip Broz Tito proclaimed Yugoslavia a state of people's democracy, similar to the regimes set up by the Soviet Union in Eastern and South-east Europe. In foreign politics, Yugoslavia tied itself strongly to the Soviet Union with which it concluded a significant friendship treaty. In 1946, Stalin had the idea of forming a new, inter-party body to deal with co-ordination, co-operation and, above all, the exchange of information and views between individual communist parties - later known as Cominform. This organ was used after 1948 to exert political and economic pressure on Yugoslavia, especially the communist government led by Tito. The international conflict between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, disguised as an ideological conflict between two communist parties, had far-reaching consequences for the strategic situation in Europe, although failing to foreshadow the confrontation of the two blocs in Central Europe. The conflict was much more important for Yugoslavia. The anticipation of Soviet intervention triggered many administrative and doctrinal changes, not only in civilian but also in military life. Through these changes the Yugoslav Army sought to respond to the strategic shifts in the country's military and political situation. The most important outcome of the crisis was Yugoslavia's political independence and its slightly greater openness to the West.
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