Yugoslavia massively propped itself up economically by allowing its citizens to work in Western countries and effectively siphoned wealth home. Some 700.000 wor

Yugoslavia massively propped itself up economically by allowing its citizens to work in Western countries and effectively siphoned wealth home. Some 700.000 worked in West Germany alone[0]. It would have collapsed much earlier without piggybacking post-WWII Western economies... "By 1988 emigrant remittances to Yugoslavia totaled over $4.5 billion (USD), and by 1989 remittances were $6.2 billion (USD), which amounted to over 19% of the world's total. A large portion of those remittances came from Yugoslav professional and skilled workers employed by Yugoslav engineering and construction firms with contracts abroad, including large infrastructure projects in the Middle East, Africa and Europe."[1] [0] https://www.dw.com/en/yugoslav-guest-workers-torn-between-germany-and-home/a-3847033 https://www.dw.com/en/yugoslav-guest-workers-torn-between-ge... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslavia#Collapse_of_the_Yugoslav_economy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Socialist_Feder...