Day of Youth and Relay of Youth were part of Yugoslavian tradition since 1945. After the death of Josip Broz – Tito in May 1980, Yugoslavia entered a new era: one without Tito. This era marked an economic, political and ideological crisis for the country, and the cancellation of two long standing traditions in 1987: the relay and closing ceremony in Belgrade’s stadium. This thesis looks at how the Relay of Youth and Day of Youth were carried out in the 1980–1987 time span, and how the attitudes towards them changed to such a degree that it led to their end. To illustrate this, the thesis begins with an overview of the conditions in Yugoslavia at that time and looks at newspapers which offer information about how the relay and celebration of May 25th were conducted, while also offering some of the first critical responses towards them and demands for their change. As tensions in the country began to escalate, so did the people’s dissatisfaction with the two traditions. The thesis then describes how a poster, created in Slovenia and meant to propagate the events, caused an affair that encouraged the people responsible for the events to cancel them after forty-two years.
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