If you are writing a thesis or conducting serious research, purchase the official ebook to support the preservation of dissident literature. If you are a curious citizen, seek out the PDF through your local library’s interlibrary loan system. The truth, as Djilas learned, is worth the effort.
Milovan Đilas Original Publication: 1957 (Written 1956) Genre: Political Science / Sociology / Memoir
However, Djilas's personal break with communism was as dramatic as his rise. Increasingly disturbed by what he saw as the betrayal of revolutionary ideals, he began criticizing the Communist system, advocating for democratization. This led to his expulsion from the Central Committee in 1954. His vocal support for the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which he hailed as "the beginning of the end of Communism," led to his arrest and the beginning of a long period of imprisonment by the very state he helped create. It was during this imprisonment that he smuggled out the manuscript for the book that would cement his global legacy. Milovan Djilas Nova Klasa.pdf
: The book was translated into over 40 languages and became an international bestseller. For many in the West, it was seen as the ultimate insider's account of Soviet-style tyranny and was dubbed an "Anti-Communist Manifesto".
Following the war, Đilas rose to become one of the four main leaders of socialist Yugoslavia, serving as Vice President and head of the Federal Assembly. He was widely considered Tito’s heir apparent. However, Đilas became increasingly disillusioned with the corruption, lack of freedom, and bureaucratic rigidity of the regime he helped create. By 1954, his critical essays led to his expulsion from the Central Committee, and he was later imprisoned. It was during his time as a dissident that he smuggled the manuscript of The New Class to the West. 2. Core Thesis: What is "The New Class"? If you are writing a thesis or conducting
To understand the text, one must understand the author. Djilas was no ordinary dissident. Born in Montenegro in 1911, he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia as a young firebrand. He fought alongside Tito as a partisan during World War II, enduring torture and leading guerilla campaigns. By 1953, he was the President of the Federal People's Assembly of Yugoslavia—effectively the second most powerful man in the country.
He spent nearly a decade in prison—not for murder or theft, but for describing reality . The regime’s vicious response inadvertently proved his point: a true ruling class does not debate critics; it incarcerates them. His vocal support for the Hungarian Revolution of
The New Class helped legitimize dissident critiques across the Eastern bloc and influenced Cold War intellectual debates. It fed Western liberal and conservative thinking about communism while also inspiring noncommunist left critiques that sought democratic socialism. Djilas’s writings contributed directly to his political downfall and imprisonment, which underscored his claims about intolerance to internal critique.
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The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System Author: Milovan Djilas Year of Publication: 1957