Editing Croatian Spring (section)

===Peak of the reformist forces===
[[File:Aleksandar Ranković (1).jpg|thumb|left|upright|The fall of [[Aleksandar Ranković]] ushered in a period of reformist dominance in Yugoslavia|alt=Photograph of Aleksandar Ranković facing the camera]]
By early 1966, it was clear that the reforms had not produced the desired results. The SKJ blamed the Serbian leadership for resistance to the reforms.{{sfn|Rusinow|2007|p=137}} In early 1966, Kardelj persuaded Tito to remove Ranković from the SKJ Central Committee and dismiss him as vice president of Yugoslavia. Ranković was accused of plotting to seize power, disregarding the decisions of the [[8th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia|eighth congress of the SKJ]] (December 1964), abuse of the [[State Security Administration (Yugoslavia)|State Security Administration]] directly or through allies,{{sfn|Ramet|2006|pp=218–219}} and illegally [[wire-tapping]] the SKJ leadership, including Tito himself.{{sfn|Rusinow|2007|p=138}} Tito saw Ranković's removal as an opportunity to implement greater decentralisation.{{sfn|Banac|1992|p=1087}} In devolving power to constituent units of the federation, Tito assumed the role of sole arbiter in inter-republican disputes.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|p=251}}

In 1967 and 1968, the Yugoslav constitution was amended once again, further reducing federal authority in favour of the constituent republics.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|p=247}} The peak of the reformist coalition occurred at the [[9th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia|9th congress of the SKJ]] in March 1969, during which decentralisation of all aspects of the country was proposed. A [[World Bank]] loan for the construction of motorways caused a major rift in the reformist coalition after the federal government decided to shelve plans to develop a highway section in Slovenia and build one highway section in Croatia and one in Macedonia instead. For the first time, a constituent republic (Slovenia) protested a decision of the federal government, but Slovene demands were rejected. The situation became heated, prompting the Slovene authorities to publicly state that they had no plan to secede. In the aftermath of the affair, the Slovenian authorities withdrew their support for the reformist coalition. Regardless, the SKH and the SKM pressured the SKJ to adopt the principle of unanimity in decision-making, obtaining veto power for the republican branches of the SKJ in April 1970.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|pp=222–225}}

[[1968 student demonstrations in Yugoslavia|Student demonstrations erupted in Belgrade in June 1968]] against authoritarian aspects of the Yugoslav regime, market reforms, and their impact on Yugoslav society. The students were inspired by the worldwide [[protests of 1968]],{{sfn|Fichter|2016|pp=110–112}} and criticism of the reforms leveled by the [[Marxist humanist]] [[Praxis School]].{{sfn|Trencsényi|Kopeček|Lisjak Gabrijelčič|Falina|2018|p=428}} They opposed decentralisation and criticised nationalism in Yugoslavia through the ''Praxis'' journal.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|p=249}} In November 1968, [[Petar Stambolić]] and other SKS leaders whose political views were a blend of communist [[dogmatism]] and [[Serbian nationalism]],{{sfn|Miller|2007|pp=188–189}} were removed on Tito's initiative.{{sfn|Lampe|2000|p=309}} Tito specifically blamed Stambolić for not stopping the student demonstrations in a timely fashion.{{sfn|Miller|2007|pp=188–189}} The replacements were [[Marko Nikezić]], as the [[President of the League of Communists of Serbia|president]], and [[Latinka Perović]] as the secretary of the SKS, respectively. Nikezić and Perović supported [[market economy|market-based reforms]] and a policy of non-interference in other republics' affairs except where officials from those republics denounced Serbian nationalism outside of Serbia.{{sfn|Ramet|2006|pp=243–244}}