The Relay of Youth (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

and

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...

: ''Štafeta mladosti'' (

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

: ''Штафета младости''),

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

: ''Штафета на младоста'',

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

: ''Stafeta e Rinise'') was a symbolic

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of Race track, racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in runni ...

held in

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

every year. The relay carried a baton with a birthday pledge to

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

ostensibly from all young people of Yugoslavia.Maja Mikula.
Virtual Landscapes of Memory
. ''Information, Communication and Society''. 6(2003):169-186. (needs subscription) Relay Baton and the Day of Youth
NSKSTATE.COM. The race usually started in Tito's birth town

Kumrovec Kumrovec () is a village in the northern part Croatia, part of Krapina-Zagorje County. It sits on the Sutla River, along the Croatian-Slovenian border. The Kumrovec municipality has 1,413 residents (2021), but the village itself has only 267 peopl ...

and went through all major towns and cities of the country. It ended in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

JNA Stadium The Partizan Stadium ( Serbian: Стадион Партизанa / ''Stadion Partizana'') is a football and track-and-field stadium in Autokomanda, Belgrade, Serbia. The home ground of FK Partizan, it was formerly known as JNA Stadium (Stadion ...

on May 25, Tito's official birthday and

Day of Youth National Youth Day is a holiday dedicated to the youths of a country. It is observed by 18 countries, on many dates throughout the year. The United Nations agreed on the date of 12 August in 1999 in South Africa. National Youth Day International ...

, a

national holiday National holiday may refer to: * National day, a day when a nation celebrates a very important event in its history, such as its establishment *Public holiday, a holiday established by law, usually a day off for at least a portion of the workforce, ...

. The relay first took place in 1945 and was formalized as a national holiday in 1957. It went on after Tito's death in 1980 and was last held in 1988. In 1987, the winning poster design for the relay caused a national scandal, as it was revealed to have been based on a

Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...

poster.Poster Scandal - Youth Day
NSKSTATE.COM. The authors, the design division of

Neue Slowenische Kunst Neue Slowenische Kunst (; NSK; German: "New Slovenian Art") is a political art collective that formed in Slovenia in 1984, when the Socialist Republic of Slovenia was part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. NSK's name was chosen to r ...

, submitted the design in order to protest Tito's

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

, of which the relay was a major part. Along with the rising crisis of the Yugoslav state, this scandal is deemed to have significantly contributed to the decision to discontinue the Relay.

References

External links

* {{Josip Broz Tito Relay processions Recurring sporting events established in 1945 Recurring events disestablished in 1988 Propaganda in Yugoslavia Annual events in Yugoslavia 1945 establishments in Yugoslavia 1988 disestablishments in Yugoslavia Youth in Yugoslavia Youth events