In the 30s of the 20th century Slovenia just like the rest of Europe was overcast by the dark totalitarian Fascist, Nacist and Communist ideologies. At the outbreak of World War II. in 1941, which in Slovenia extended into a national liberation as well as civil war, Slovenes also had to experience the European and worldwide bloodshed. The Slovenian territory was divided between Italy, Germany and Hungary. The war brought a lot of suffering, civil casualties, blackmailing and destruction to the Slovenian nation. In 1945 finally the whole Slovenian territory was liberated, and a new Yugoslavia was formed, a federation of republics under the leadership of the marshal Josip Broz–Tito. Slovenia within the Tito Yugoslavia started off with a rather good foundation, being economically and culturally the strongest of the six republics. From the very beginnings it exchanged glances with the Western world owing to its good position near Italy and Austria, where novelties came from and the Slovenian export was directed to. The typical Slovenian entrepreneurial spirit and proverbial diligence put Slovenia to the top of all the social democracy countries. Slovenian quality became a well-known concept also in the West, not only within Yugoslavia. After Tito died in 1980 the Yugoslavia that he was so proud of also started deteriorating. The economic, political and social crises meant the end of the growth of the federal republics, finally leading to the collapse of Yugoslavia in a little more than a decade due to increasing differences.
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