In the field of foreign policy Royal Yugoslavia initially focused on the Entente countries and sought to oppose the revision of the borders established under the Versailles system. In August 1920 it concluded a treaty with Czechoslovakia against the revisionist aspirations of Hungary. Similar treaties aimed at counteracting the plans of Hungary and Bulgaria were concluded with Romania. The Small Entente was formed on the basis of these treaties and in 1927 it was consolidated by the treaty between Yugoslavia and France and in February 1934 by the pact between Yugoslavia, Rumania, Greece and Turkey (Balkan Entente). At the same time Yugoslavia was trying to oppose Italy’s plans in the Balkans.

After the assassination of King Alexander (October 1934) the authorities of the country began a gradual revision of its foreign policy. In 1937 the M. Stojadinovic Government (1935-1938) signed a Treaty of Non-Intervention and Non-Aggression with Italy and a Treaty of “Perpetual Friendship” with Bulgaria. The Cabinet of D. Cvetkovic (1938-1941) established diplomatic relations with the USSR (1940). In March 1941 an agreement was signed on the accession of Yugoslavia to the German-Italian-Japanese bloc. The latter step led to the resignation of the government, the new cabinet in April 1941 concluded a treaty of friendship and non-aggression with the USSR, but Yugoslavia was immediately occupied by German troops.

In 1945 Yugoslavia joined the United Nations. The post-war leadership of the country, headed by Tito, initially maintained close ties with the USSR. In April 1945 the Soviet-Yugoslavian Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Cooperation was concluded, the country refused to participate in the “Marshall Plan”. However, in 1948 the relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia were broken, and in subsequent years contacts with the U.S., Britain and France were strengthened, a number of trade agreements with Western countries that had granted loans were concluded. In 1951 was reached an agreement on the provision of U.S. military aid to Yugoslavia, in 1953-1954 were signed military-political agreements with Turkey and Greece.

In 1955 the Soviet-Yugoslav relations were restored, and then contacts with allied states of the USSR were established. In the following decades Yugoslavia sought to conduct a foreign policy based on the principles of peaceful coexistence, peaceful resolution of conflicts, non-interference and non-alignment with military-political blocs. It supported international agreements on disarmament, was one of the initiators of the Movement of Non-Aligned States in 1961 and played a leading role in it. From 1964 the country participated in the work of some bodies of CMEA, but at the same time it developed economic relations with Western countries and countries of the so-called “third world”. Yugoslavia condemned the introduction of American troops into Indochina, the introduction of the armed forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization into Czechoslovakia in 1968 and also the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan (1979).

A skillful politician, President Tito skillfully took advantage of economic ties with the USSR and the CMEA and the West’s desire to win it to his side through various concessions, which ensured accelerated development of the national economy in the 1970s and early 1980s.