Death and state funeral of Josip Broz Tito
The funeral of Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia and President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, was held on 8 May 1980, four days after his death on 4 May. His funeral drew many world statesmen, both of non-aligned and aligned countries. Based on the number of attending politicians and state delegations, it was the largest state funeral in history. The attendees included four kings, 31 presidents, six princes, 22 prime ministers, and 47 ministers of foreign affairs, from both sides of the Iron Curtain and beyond. In total , 128 countries out of the 154 UN members at the time were represented. Also present were delegates from seven multilateral organizations, six movements and 40 political parties. Tito had become increasingly ill throughout 1979. On 7 January and again on 11 January 1980, Tito was admitted to the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana, the capital city of SR Slovenia, with circulation problems in his legs. His left leg was amputated soon afterwards due to arterial blockages, and he died of gangrene at the Medical Centre Ljubljana on 4 May 1980 at 3:05 pm, three days short of his 88th birthday . The "Plavi voz" ("Blue train", official presidential train) brought his body to the Yugoslav capital Belgrade where it lay in state at the Federal Parliament building until the funeral. Illness. By 1979, Tito's health had declined rapidly, mainly due to an arterial embolism in his left leg. This was caused mainly by diabetes, which Tito had suffered from for many years. In that year, he participated in the Havana Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement and spent New Year's Eve in his residence in Karađorđevo. Throughout the televised event, Tito remained seated while exchanging greetings, causing concern to  the watching audience. During this time "Vila Srna" was built for his use near Morović in the event of his recovery. First problems with circulation of his left leg begun in the second half of December 1979. Tito refused to undergo any diagnostic procedure before the new year celebration. On January 3, 1980, Tito was admitted to the Ljubljana University Medical Centre for tests on blood vessels in his leg. Two days later, after the angiography, he was discharged to his residence in Brdo Castle near Kranj, with a recommendation for further intensive treatment. Angiography revealed that Tito's superficial  femoral artery and Achilles tendon artery were clogged. The medical council consisted of eight Yugoslav doctors, Michael DeBakey from the United States and Marat Knyazev from the Soviet Union. Following the advice of DeBakey and Knyazev, the medical team attempted an arterial bypass. The first surgery was done in the night of January 12. At first, the operation appeared to have been a success, but after few hours, it became clear that the operation was not successful. Due to severe damage to the arteries, which led to the interruption of blood flow and accelerated tissue devitalization of the left leg , Tito's left leg was amputated on January 20, to prevent the spread of gangrene. When Tito was told about the required amputation, he resisted it as long as possible. Finally, after meeting with his sons, Žarko and Mišo, he agreed to the amputation. After the amputation, Tito's health improved and he began rehabilitation. On 28 January, he was transferred from the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery to the Department of Cardiology. In the first days of February his health had improved enough to allow him to perform some of his regular duties. By the beginning of January 1980, however , it became clear that Tito's life was in grave danger and Yugoslav political leadership secretly began preparations for his funeral. Tito's wish was that he be buried in the House of Flowers on Dedinje hill, that overlooks Belgrade. Moma Martinovic, a director for Radio Television Belgrade, was summoned by Dragoljub Stavrev, a vice president in the federal government, to devise plans for broadcasting the funeral. In late February, Tito's health suddenly declined rapidly. He suffered from kidney failure and in March, his heart and lungs began to fail. In late April, he suffered a stroke, while he  was residing at the Brdo Castle near Kranj. He was then admitted to the Medical Center in Ljubljana, where he died. Death. Marshal Josip Broz Tito died in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Medical Centre, Ljubljana on May 4, 1980 at 3:05 pm, due to complications of gangrene, three days before his 88th birthday. He died on the seventh floor, in a small room on the southeast corner. A commemorative inscription in the main hall later read "Pot do osvoboditve človeka bo še dolga, a bila bi daljša da ni živel Tito" (""The fight for peoples liberation  will be a long one, but would have been longer if Tito never lived""). That inscription was later removed. Immediately upon learning of Tito's death, a full extraordinary session of both the Presidency of Yugoslavia and the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia was held in Belgrade starting at 6:00 pm, at which Tito's death was formally declared via a joint statement: After the declaration was read, Stevan Doronjski (President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia) said, "Eternal glory be to the memory of our great leader and father of the  revolution, President of Yugoslavia and General Secretary and President of the League, our comrade Josip Broz Tito"."" At the same meeting, by the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, as amended, it was decided that Lazar Koliševski, Vice President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia, would temporarily take the office of the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia, and that Cvijetin Mijatović, a former member of the Presidency of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, would take Koliševski's place as state vice president. Following the LCY Statute as amended, former chairman of Presidency of Central Committee of League of Communists of Yugoslavia Stevan Doronjski assumed  the post of President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of League of Communists of Yugoslavia. Immediately afterwards, the Federal Executive Council (government of Yugoslavia) decided to announce a week of national mourning across the country formally and cancelled all entertainment, cultural and sporting events. Many countries around the world have declared a period of national mourning. North Korea, Egypt, Algeria, Tanzania, Burma announced seven days of mourning; Pakistan, Cyprus, Ghana announced four days of mourning; Jordan, India, Iraq, Cuba, Guinea and Zambia announced three days of mourning; Angola announced two days of mourning; Sri Lanka declared one day  of mourning. Grief in the nation. The usual activities of Yugoslavian citizens were interrupted when TV screens went black for 30 seconds. After that, Miodrag Zdravković, newsreader of Radio Television Belgrade, read the following statement live with chroma key: The same announcement was read out on the TV stations of each constituent republic in their respective languages. On Sunday afternoons, Yugoslav Television often broadcast association football games of the Yugoslav First League. That day, there was a league match in Split between NK Hajduk Split and FK Crvena Zvezda. When the match was in its 41st minute, three men entered  the Poljud Stadium pitch, signaling the referee to stop the match. Ante Skataretiko, the president of Hajduk, took the microphone and announced Tito's death. What followed were sudden scenes of mass crying with some players such as Zlatko Vujović collapsing down to the ground and weeping. Players of both teams and referees aligned to stand in a moment of silence. Once the stadium announcer said "May he rest in peace", the entire stadium of 50,000 football fans spontaneously started to sing "Comrade Tito we swear to you, from your path we will never depart" (). The match was halted, and  replayed later in the month. Grief for the statesman's death was largely based on his place in the Yugoslav political scene. He had led the fight against Nazi German occupation in the Second World War and helped to create the second Yugoslavia. In addition he had again stood for Yugoslav independence by going against Joseph Stalin in 1948, securing for his country a self-determined path, unlike some Eastern Bloc states that were more dependent on Moscow. Dignitaries. The "Plavi voz" ("Blue train", official presidential train) brought an empty coffin to the capital Belgrade, due to the bad condition  of his deceased body. Tito's remains were instead transferred to Belgrade by a military helicopter. Tito's funeral drew many statesmen to Belgrade. Two notably absent statesmen were President of the United States Jimmy Carter and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel Castro. His death came just as the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had ended the American-Soviet détente. Yugoslavia, though a communist state, was non-aligned during the Cold War due to the Tito-Stalin split in 1948. After learning that Chinese Communist Party chairman Hua Guofeng would lead the Chinese delegation, the ailing  Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev decided to lead his nation's delegation. In order to avoid meeting Brezhnev whilst in the middle of his campaign for the 1980 United States presidential election, Carter opted to send his mother Lilian Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale as heads of the US delegation. After realizing that leaders of all Warsaw Pact nations would attend the funeral, Carter's decision was criticized by presidential candidate George H. W. Bush as a sign that the United States "inferentially slams Yugoslavs at time that country has pulled away from Soviet Union". Carter visited Yugoslavia later  in June 1980 and made a visit to Tito's grave. Helmut Schmidt, chancellor of West Germany, was highly active at the funeral, meeting with Brezhnev, East Germany's Erich Honecker, and Poland's Edward Gierek. British prime minister Margaret Thatcher sought to rally world leaders in order to harshly condemn the Soviet invasion. While she was in Belgrade, she held talks with Kenneth Kaunda, Schmidt, Francesco Cossiga, and Nicolae Ceaușescu. Brezhnev met with Kim Il-sung and Honecker. James Callaghan, leader of the British Labour Party, explained his presence in Belgrade as an attempt to warm relations between his  party and Yugoslav communists, which was severed more than a decade ago after dissident Milovan Đilas was welcomed by Jennie Lee, Minister for the Arts under Harold Wilson. Mondale avoided the Soviets, ignoring Brezhnev while passing close to him. Soviet and Chinese delegations also avoided each other. The pomp and scale of the funeral had been widely documented and the event was a source of pride for the country for years to come. On the fifteenth anniversary of his death in 1995, the Croatian newspaper noted that "turbulent times still do not allow for a truly historical assessment of his  stature and achievements, but the appraisal which the world showed those days in May 1980, confirms that small nations and small states may produce world giants." During the funeral, Yasser Arafat tapped on the shoulder of Margaret Thatcher, after which she swung and shook his hand. She stated that she could never forgive herself for shaking his hand. Tito was interred twice on May 8. The first interment was for cameras and dignitaries. The grave was shallow with only a replica of the sarcophagus. The second interment was held privately during the night. His coffin was removed, and the shallow  grave was deepened. The coffin was enclosed with a copper mask and interred again into a much deeper grave which was sealed with cement and topped with a 9-ton sarcophagus. Communist officials were afraid that someone might steal the corpse, as had happened to Charlie Chaplin. However, the 9 ton sarcophagus had to be put in place with a crane, which would make the funeral unattractive. In stark contrast to the pageantry of the funeral, Tito's tomb was constructed of marble with a simple inscription that states JOSIP BROZ - TITO 1892–1980. It did not incorporate a red star  or any emblem linked to communism. Historians stated that the burial location, which was the garden of the place he lived during the postwar years more popularly known as the House of Flowers, was selected according to Tito's wishes. The House of Flowers, together with the Museum of Yugoslavia, has since become a tourist destination and landmark of Belgrade visited by millions of people. Foreign delegations. Source: State delegations. Heads of state. State delegations of those countries were led by their respective heads of state: Heads of government or vice-heads of state. State delegations of those countries were  headed by their heads of government or vice-heads of state: Deputies or foreign ministers. Delegations of those countries were headed by their deputy heads of state, deputy heads of government or their foreign ministers: Other state delegations. State delegations of those countries were headed by government ministers, ambassadors or royal house members: