O.W.I. Official Reuben Markham’s Opposition to U.S. Support for Tito over Mihailovich and His 1944 Resignation

• In Event: History and Politics in the Balkans: From Yugoslavia’s Regime-Change to the Early Cold War

Abstract

Reuben Markham’s role as the Balkan Deputy Director for the Office of War Information (OWI) reveals the complex and often contentious relationship between the U.S. government and Yugoslav resistance movements during WWII. Markham’s strong opposition to U.S. support for Tito, over Mihailovich’s Chetniks, reflected broader debates within the American foreign policy establishment about the future of Yugoslavia. His protests—though ultimately ignored—reflect the moral and political dilemmas faced by wartime diplomats and the tensions between ideological purity and pragmatic geopolitical strategy. Using Markham’s papers and other archival material, this presentation will describe his efforts to reverse U.S. support of Tito along with the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff official response to his assertions. Following its decision, Markham resigned and defended his position publicly through his journalism and books.

Author

• Stuart Van Dyke, Independent Scholar