The Yugoslav republics began turning against one another in the 1970s and 1980s. Josip Tito ruled Yugoslavia with an iron fist and crushed any nationalist movements that wanted to see the country break up. His government forced the six republics to stay part of Yugoslavia. When he died in 1980, the new leaders were less strict and let nationalist feelings to grow in the republics of Yugoslavia. The breakup was caused by many things like nationalism, economic difficulty and ethnic problems. The Socialist state was dissolved in 1992 during the Yugoslav wars. Serbia and Montenegro stayed together as FR Yugoslavia.