How did Josip Broz Tito's nationalism create conflict with the Soviet Union in 1948?

The conflict between Josip Broz Tito and the Soviet Union in 1948 arose primarily because Tito’s independent brand of nationalism challenged Joseph Stalin’s demand for absolute ideological and political conformity within the communist bloc.12

Having led his own Partisan forces to expel the Nazis from Yugoslavia with minimal Soviet assistance, Tito possessed significant domestic legitimacy and was not personally beholden to Stalin. Tensions escalated as Tito pursued an independent foreign policy, including risky initiatives in Greece and Albania that ignored Stalin’s calls for caution, and proposed a Balkan confederation that Moscow vetoed.31

When Tito refused to subordinate Yugoslav interests to Soviet directives and purged officials loyal to Moscow, Stalin responded by expelling the Communist Party of Yugoslavia from the Cominform in 1948. This rift forced Yugoslavia to choose its own path to socialism, leading the country to seek economic ties with the West and defy Soviet hegemony despite facing an intense economic and military blockade.1324