Yugoslav Army in World War II. Guerrilla warfare in Yugoslavia during WWII

Speaking about the history of the Second World War in Yugoslavia, many reduce the events that took place to the following simplified scheme - after being defeated by Germany, Yugoslavia ceased to exist, while the Croats formed a puppet state that became an ally of Germany, and the Serbs unleashed a fierce partisan struggle against the occupiers.

I will try to separate in this statement the grain from the chaff, and the sheep from the goats.

On April 6, 1941, Germany attacked Yugoslavia. Already on April 13, the Germans were in Belgrade, on April 17, the Yugoslav army surrendered. Largest state southern Europe suffered a crushing defeat in ten days. One of the main reasons for this outcome was the catastrophic decomposition of the Yugoslav army. Up to 40% of the servicemen of the active army deserted, mobilization was disrupted due to the absence of conscripts.

Even before the official surrender of Yugoslavia (April 10, after the occupation of Zagreb), Croatian nationalists led Ante Pavelic announced the creation of an independent Croatia. On May 1, 1941, the Germans created a "Serbian Government of National Salvation" in Belgrade under the leadership of Milan Achimovic, in August he was replaced by a former Yugoslav general and minister of war Milan Nedic... And although formally Croatia was independent, and the Serbian government was subordinate to the German administration, both were controlled directly from Berlin. The territory of Slovenia was divided between Italy and Germany, and significant territories of the former Yugoslavia were ceded to the German allies - Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania, Italy.

Ante Pavelic

The ideology and goals of the puppet governments of Serbia and Croatia were outrageously similar - the creation of mono-national states throughout the territory inhabited by Serbs and Croats (even if these nations are a minority in this territory). The parties did not limit themselves in choosing the means of implementing their program. The most moderate proposal was an ethnic transfer and exchange of territories, but in reality everything quickly turned into the most brutal genocide of Croats against Serbs and vice versa. At Berlin's direction, both the Serbian and Croatian governments began persecuting Jews and Roma. To Nedich's credit, it should be noted that, unlike the Croats, he refused to create Serbian detachments to fight on the Soviet front. It is noteworthy that despite the terrible atrocities committed by the nationalists, Croatia and Serbia maintained some semblance of diplomatic relations.

Dimitri Letic

The governments of Pavelic and Nedich immediately acquired their own armed forces. For the Croats, these were the formations of the "Ustasha", for the Serbs - the Serbian state guard - the so-called. Serbian Nazi's "nediches" and "zborovtsy" Dimitri Letych... Soon two more epic figures appeared on the stage: Draja Mikhailovic and Josip Broz Tito.

Drazha Mikhailovich

Dragolyub (Drazha) Mikhailovich- Colonel of the Yugoslav army. He did not recognize the surrender on April 17 and called on his supporters to continue the war using partisan methods. The basis of Mikhailovich's detachments were troikas of fighters, who united in half companies - the so-called. "Couple". This is where the Chetniks came from. Mikhailovich was a staunch monarchist and called for the restoration of pre-war Yugoslavia under the rule of the Serbian dynasty of Karageorgievich. However, Mikhailovich was in no hurry to engage in direct clashes with the Germans. He preferred to accumulate strength, waiting for an opportune moment for a general uprising. The Germans interpreted this position as an invitation to negotiate. Drazha readily responded to the corresponding proposal, but set an obviously impossible condition for the Germans - the immediate withdrawal of the German army from the entire territory of Yugoslavia. This was the end of the negotiations. But Mikhailovich quickly found a common language with Nedich.

Josip Broz Tito

Josip Broz, nicknamed Tito was a communist and had long-standing ties with Moscow through the Comintern. After the German attack on the USSR, Tito stepped up his activities to create the communist underground. At first, the detachments of Tito and Mikhailovich undertook joint armed actions against the Germans, but soon their paths parted. Mikhailovich believed that the primary enemy was the Croatian "Ustash", and the armed struggle against the Germans was this moment useless and even harmful. Added to the strategic, ideological, and national differences was the personal animosity of the two ambitious leaders. In November 41st between the Chetniks and the partisans began fighting... By the end of the year, the combined forces of Mikhailovich and the pro-German Serbian administration inflicted the most sensitive losses on Tito's partisans, and they were forced to leave Serbia and retreat to the mountains of Bosnia.

By the way, about Bosnia and its inhabitants. Both Serbs and Croats considered Bosnia to be their ancestral territory with only one difference: the Serbs claimed that the Bosnians were Serbs who were converted to Islam, and the Croats that the Bosnians were Croats who were converted to Islam. At the same time, both of them enthusiastically began terror against the Muslim Bosnians. Particularly famous are the large-scale ethnic cleansings carried out by the Chetniks in June 1941 and February 1942. However, the Bosniaks also did not sit idly by, their terror was directed mainly against the Serbs. In January 1943, a group of Muslim leaders sent a letter to Hitler asking him to protect the Bosniacs from Serbo-Croatian (and for some reason Jewish) tyranny (according to the authors of the letter, at the end of 1942, 150 thousand Bosniaks were victims of purges), separate Bosnia into a separate education with its own armed forces under the German protectorate. Instead, the formation of the SS Muslim Division "Khandshar" began in Bosnia. Many Bosniaks joined this division, believing that it would be able to protect them from attacks by nationalists, but instead the Handshar was redeployed to France. A riot broke out in the division, several German officers were killed. "Handshar" was again transferred to Bosnia, where its fighters partly fled, replenishing the local self-defense units and the ranks of Tito's partisans, as the largest military formation that opposed the Serbian and Croatian formations. The Germans replenished the remains of the "Handshar" with whoever they hit and threw them against ... Tito's troops. The situation of the brutal civil war on the territory of the former Yugoslavia more than suited the German command. In the territories of Kosovo and Macedonia, which were taken over by the Italians and included in the puppet state "Great Albania", Muslim Albanians from the SS "Skandenberg" division methodically massacred the non-Muslim population, primarily the Serbs.

Ustash holds the head of a Serbian Chetnik in his hands.

In this situation, when everyone fought against everyone and practically no one against the Germans, the Allies initially relied on Mikhailovich's Chetniks. At the end of 41st, beginning of 42nd year, the Yugoslav government in exile appointed Draja as minister of war and conferred the rank of divisional general. In May, Draja became an army general. Mikhailovich was also perceived as an ally in the struggle in the USSR. However, by the end of 1942, the situation began to change. The policy of waiting, which Mikhailovich took up, began to greatly disturb the leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition. In response to calls to intensify the struggle against the Germans, Mikhailovich wrote irritably to Moscow:

"The truth is that the Serbian people are very well aware of the interests of its great Russian brothers. From the point of view of their interests, it was clear that, having started the war, Russia called on the enslaved peoples to an armed uprising against the occupiers in order to shackle their forces and drain them. But on the other hand, is it not clear that the enslaved peoples, having accepted this appeal and proceeding from their present and future national interests, retained their right to decide on the moment of the beginning of the armed struggle against the occupiers. there are no examples of one people sacrificing everything, including suicide, for the sake of the interests of some other people or for the sake of some common human interests that would not simultaneously coincide with the interests of this people. "

As a result, from the beginning of 1943, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition changed their policy on the Yugoslav issue and recognized Tito as their only ally in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. By that time, Tito's detachments already numbered about 250 thousand people. In response, Mikhailovich, apparently completely losing his sense of reality, wrote to Moscow:

"Small Slavic peoples, branches of a Slavic tree, should be as proud, so grateful to Mother Russia for the pain that she alone could endure in the name of the birth of a new world, and a Slav who is not able to feel this is not a Slav, but geek .... Our Russian brothers, of course, must understand the reasons for our defeat in 1941. Along with the betrayal of our brothers, as evidenced by the Croatian traitor himself, the courage of our people was crushed by the betrayal of those to whom Moscow is so supportive today .. The shamelessness of the terrible [crimes] committed by the communists under the leadership of Tito would have been impossible to believe if irrefutable documents did not exist ...

Better than anyone else, the Russian brothers know that at the time of any revolution, different foreigners always swim in troubled waters. These suspicious foreigners began with treason to their homeland, which became the reason for the undeserved defeat of our people, in whose understanding there is no crime worse than taking up arms against their homeland ... Their activities inevitably had to lead to civil war... The country has become an arena of fierce struggle and violence. The best and noblest ones became victims ...

Why did the Slavic Committee in Moscow so easily and quickly lost its way and took the side of a handful of foreigners against such a close and loyal people ... And besides, do our Russian brothers consider it normal for the people closest to him to be led by foreigners? Was it the same with the great Russian people? It seems to us that no. The great Russian revolution was led by the Russian Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. This revolution knew who and, possibly, where it was leading it. "

By foreigners Drazha understood, first of all, the Croat Tito and one of his closest associates, the Jew Moshe Piyade. However, one can easily imagine how the Georgian and the communist Stalin could assess these words.

Representatives of the allied military missions were now constantly at Tito's headquarters, the allies generously supplied the partisans with supplies, weapons and ammunition. So after the capitulation of Italy in 43rd Tito, a significant part of the Italian arsenals, including artillery, was transferred. Tito's army grew by leaps and bounds, in its ranks representatives of all nationalities of Yugoslavia fought - Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Jews, Russians and even Italians. And if among the soldiers the majority were Serbs, then among the officers a very significant part were Croats. By the way, the future president of independent Croatia (1991), Dr. Franjo Tudjman, was one of Tito's youngest colonels.

By the end of 1943, Tito already controlled a third of the territory of the former Yugoslavia and diverted significant forces of the Germans to himself. This was exactly what the Allies were aiming for. Former fighters of the nationalist formations, especially the Chetniks, and members of the Croatian police "domobran" en masse joined Tito's army. The British military representative at Tito's headquarters describes a meeting with one of these partisans as follows:

“Father Vlado was a Serbian Orthodox priest who first joined Mikhailovich and commanded the Chetnikov platoon. Soon he left the Chetniks and went over to the partisans.
He did this, he said, because he "had not received enough battles with the enemy."
With the partisans, he felt completely satisfied. On the one hand, fight as much as your heart desires, on the other hand, in his free time from battles, he performed his "spiritual duties" among numerous religious partisans.
It was a colorful personality: a large red beard, a priest's cross around his neck, a long cassock, belted cross-to-cross with machine-gun belts. There are three pistols and grenades in my belt. "

When the Red Army entered the territory of Yugoslavia, the detachments of the Serbian nationalists Nedic, Letic and Mikhailovich's Chetniks retreated into hard-to-reach areas without resistance. On October 20, 1944, the capital of Yugoslavia, Belgrade, was liberated as a result of joint actions of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian front, the Bulgarian Army and the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia under the command of Tito. After that, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front were transferred to Hungary, and by that time already numbering about 850 thousand people, Tito's army independently liberated the main territory of Yugoslavia, literally crushing the forces of the Chetniks, Ustasha, Zborovites, Nedichevites and other nationalists of all stripes, and also the Germans and Hungarians who did not have time to escape. The idea of ​​Serbian nationalists to unite with the troops of the Russian Volunteer Corps, Vlasov's army and von Panwitz's Cossacks for a joint fight against Tito's partisans remained unrealized.

Dimitri Letyć died on April 23, 1945, Milan Nedic was arrested and committed suicide in 1946, in the same year Drazha Mikhailovic was shot in Belgrade by a fast court sentence "for cooperation with the occupiers", Ante Pavelic fled to Spain, where he died in 59th after the assassination attempt on him.

yugoslavia war world germany

The ripening process of World War II lasted for about twenty years. It is based on such facts as the uneven economic and political development of the capitalist countries, the aggressive nature of imperialism. The second World War... / Ed. G.K. Zhukov. M., 1984.C.8

One of the first countries to come under heavy pressure from Germany was Yugoslavia, whose internal difficulties and economic dependence were used against it.

German diplomacy sought to create in the Balkans a pro-German bloc of states comprising Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria.

During the summer of 1939, German diplomacy secured Yugoslavia's withdrawal from the Balkan Pact and the League of Nations. Joining the Anti-Comintern Pact and thus - the bloc of fascist states. History of Yugoslavia. T.2. M., 1963.S. 169

From the first days of the war, the Yugoslav government declared the neutrality of its country, trying to keep a good relationship both with the countries of the "axis" (Rome-Berlin-Tokyo), and with the Western states that were at war with Germany and Italy.

After the defeat of France in May 1940, the political sympathies of the Yugoslav political circles changed significantly. Experiencing political pressure from Germany and Italy, striving to achieve Yugoslavia's accession to the "pact of three powers", Yugoslavia found itself in a dead-end situation after Italy's attack on Greece. On the other hand, the representative of US President Franklin Roosevelt, who arrived in Belgrade, at a meeting with Prince Regent Paul, said that Yugoslavia could lose American aid and support if it joins the Triple Pact. This led to an even greater polarization of the foreign policy views of the political circles of Yugoslavia.

After Bulgaria joined the Axis powers in March 1941, Yugoslavia was surrounded on all sides by the troops of Hitler and his allies. Direct threats from Germany and Italy forced the Cvetkovic-Maczek government to make concessions and join the Triple Pact. On March 25, 1941, in Vienna, the Yugoslav delegation signed the corresponding protocol.

Mass demonstrations of protest were a kind of response to the pro-fascist course of the government. They took place in a number of national regions in the cities of Ljubljana, Split, Podgorica, Skopje. Demonstrations and rallies in Belgrade were especially massive.33 Soviet historical encyclopedia... T.16. M., 1976.S. 722

Anti-fascist actions prompted vigorous action by part of the senior officers and the army, oriented towards England and the United States. On March 27, 1941, the military staged a coup d'etat, overthrowing Prince Regent Pavel and the government of Cvetkovic - Machek. The heir apparent Peter was proclaimed king. The new government was headed by Dusan Simovic, the commander of the Yugoslav air force. The events of March 27, 1941 were crucial for the further history of Yugoslavia.

The government of D. Simovich, created on the same day, included representatives of the same parties that were part of the previous government. A few days later, he agreed to enter the government of V. Machek, as Deputy Prime Minister.

The March coup predetermined the fate of Yugoslavia. Hitler, having received information about the events in Belgrade, doubted its authenticity, but then urgently called for a meeting of military and political advisers to Germany and its allies. At the meeting, a decision was made on the occupation and partition of Yugoslavia.

The actions of the government of D. Simovich were contradictory and inconsistent. It announced its loyalty to the tripartite pact to Germany and Italy. At the same time, it announced an amnesty to all prisoners under political issues and closed the concentration camps created to contain opponents of the ruling circles in them in the 30s.

In June 1940, diplomatic relations were established between the USSR and Yugoslavia. After the coup d'état on March 27, 1941, the new Yugoslav government of D. Simovich sent a delegation to Moscow, which on April 5, 1941 signed a treaty of friendship and non-aggression with the USSR, an extract from the text of which is given below.

Article 1. Both Contracting Parties mutually undertake to refrain from any attack against each other and to respect the independence, sovereign rights and territorial integrity of the USSR and Yugoslavia.

Article 2. In the event that one of the Contracting Parties is attacked by a third state, the other Contracting Party undertakes to comply with the policy of friendly relations with it. From the treaty of friendship and non-aggression between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on April 5, 1941 // Bolshevik. 1941. No. 6.

And on April 6, 1941, the invasion of Yugoslavia by the troops of the Triple Pact states began. Back in the summer of 1918, the Entente countries fought for the preservation of the Habsburg monarchy after the war, believing that this state would be the guarantor of stability in the countries of the Danube region. The massive revolutionary uprisings that swept through Austria-Hungary forced the political circles of Serbia's western allies to change their position. In support of the creation of a unified Yugoslav state, France spoke out, fearing the strengthening of Italy, which was hatching plans to get as much of Dalmatia as possible.

After the creation of the Kingdom of the CXC and the Paris Peace Conference, a number of European states, as well as the United States, established diplomatic relations with the new state. The definition of the state borders of the Kingdom of the CXS took place at the end of 1919-beginning of 1920 on the basis of the Saint-Germain, Neisky, Trianon and Rappal treaties with Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Italy. Yugoslavia maintained good-neighborly relations with Romania and Greece. After resolving a number of controversial border issues, equal relations with Austria were established. At that time, relations with Albania, which in the 1920s became the center of attraction for the interests of the Kingdom of the CXS and Italy, can be called hostile at that time. The relationship between the Bulgarian and Yugoslav states was complex, sometimes unpredictable. Smooth relationships gave way to periods of tension. In 1937, the Bulgarian-Yugoslavian treaty of "eternal friendship" was signed. But throughout the interwar period, the stumbling block in the relations of these countries was Macedonia, the dispute over which dragged on since the second Balkan war in 1913.

The issue of the disputed territories in Vojvodina darkened the entire interwar period of Yugoslav-Hungarian relations. Vojvodina was distinguished by a very motley population. In addition to Serbs, several hundred thousand Hungarians, Germans and Romanians lived in it, not to mention a large number of Czechs, Slovaks, Rusyns and other national minorities.

But the most tense in the 1920s and 1930s were relations with Italy. Already in 1918, its military circles developed a plan for the disintegration of the Yugoslav state. According to the London Treaty of 1915, Italy seized a number of territories on the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic, where up to 500 thousand Yugoslavians lived. In 1923, Italy captured the port city of Rijeka, which was declared an independent territory. The issues of the borders of Italy and Yugoslavia were finally determined only in 1924 by the treaty in Rome.

In the early 1930s, France and England initiated the creation of a new union of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula. The so-called Balkan Pact was signed in February 1934 in Athens by representatives of Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece and Turkey. The pact was directed against the increasing influence of Italy in the Balkans.

Since the mid-1930s, serious changes have taken place in the foreign policy orientation of Yugoslavia. The Stojadinovich government proclaims the thesis of the neutrality of Yugoslavia and its non-intervention in the event of an aggravation of the conflict between France and Germany.

Ties between the member countries of the Little Entente are weakening. In August 1938 in Yugoslavia took place last meeting its representatives. During the days of the Munich Agreement, the ruling circles of Yugoslavia and Romania did not provide any support to Czechoslovakia.

The policy of the so-called neutrality of the ruling circles of Yugoslavia contributed, in fact, to a significant increase in German influence on the country's economy. Germany becomes the first foreign trade partner. The government of M. Stojadinovich took the Austrian Anschluss in a peculiar way, stating that this finally eliminates the danger of the re-establishment of the Habsburg empire and is an internal German problem. With the Anschluss of Austria, Hitlerite Germany became a state directly bordering on Yugoslavia.

The defeat of France, the occupation of a number of European countries by Germany, the accession of Hungary and Romania to the Triple Pact led to the accession of Yugoslavia to this pact on March 25, 1941.

State of Yugoslavia in 1945-1991

At the final stage, the territory of Yugoslavia was completely liberated only on May 15, 1945. Largely as a result of assistance from the USSR, it was the partisans led by them who were able to come to power in post-war Belgrade. In November 1945, elections were held to the constituent assembly, which was supposed to finally decide the question of the future political structure of the country. According to official results elections, about 90% of the votes were given to the Popular Front of Yugoslavia, which was under the influence of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The opposition tried to protest, but before the elections was deprived of any possibility of campaigning. By the decision of the Assembly on November 29, 1945, the monarchy was finally liquidated and the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FPRY) was proclaimed, consisting of six republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia).

The economy of Yugoslavia suffered very seriously during the Second World War, valuable resources and food were exported from the country, so the government of the FPRY faced an extremely ambitious task. The mobilization of all resources was required: in 1945, a law was passed on the confiscation of the property of collaborators, the nationalization of large (1946), and then medium and small enterprises (1948) was carried out. In 1947, the People's Assembly adopted the 1st five-year development plan National economy, prepared by A. Hebrang, providing for the industrialization of the country, strengthening the defense potential, a significant expansion of the public sector of the economy. FNRY in its inner and foreign policy focused on the USSR and its allies, counting on active assistance from Soviet comrades. At the same time, the labor of youth brigades was widely used, thanks to which the railways and bridges, new railway lines were built (this is how the Shamats-Sarajevo road was built with a length of 242 km). During the first five-year plan, about 200 large industrial facilities were built. The assistance of Soviet specialists was widely involved. At the same time, the agrarian reform of 1945-1948 was carried out, during which large land property was confiscated from the Germans, collaborators, the church, maximums were set for the amount of land from one owner. At the same time, labor groups were created on the model of Soviet collective farms.

The Soviet-Yugoslav conflict of 1948 and its consequences

In 1948, the Soviet-Yugoslav conflict took place, which led to the exclusion of the CPY from the Cominform (June 29, 1948) and the severance of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the FPRY (October 25, 1949). Even in Tito's inner circle, there were arrested supporters Soviet system, such as S. Zhujovic and A. Hebrang, were persecuted by the "Information Bureau members" - the Yugoslavs who supported the Soviet resolution of the Cominform. In FPRY the concentration camp "Naked Island" was created, through which about 16 thousand people passed.

In the conditions of complete isolation and the severance of all relations with the USSR and its allies, a partial rapprochement with the West took place: in 1950, amid an extremely difficult food situation in the country, the United States provided Yugoslavia with free grain aid. Discontent was ripening among the peasants, the situation was complicated by the drought. Under these conditions, in the early 1950s. the government began to curtail the course towards collectivization.

Self-governing socialism

Moreover, a new model of economic and political development was approved, the so-called. self-government (Titov, Yugoslavian) socialism. In 1952, the party changed its name from the CPY to the Union of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKY). In January 1953, a constitutional law was adopted, proclaiming the president as the head of state (in 1953-1980, the post was held by Josip Broz Tito). In the early 60s. Yugoslavia, along with India and Egypt, became the real leader of the international Non-Aligned Movement and advocated pursuing an independent and equidistant course in foreign policy from the two superpowers. Independent course of political and economic development was consolidated by the adoption of the constitution in 1963, now the state received a new name - Socialist federal Republic Yugoslavia (SFRY). The rights of the republics and territories, which received greater independence in matters of cultural, social and economic development, were significantly expanded. In 1966, the Briony Congress was held, after which A. Rankovic, the powerful head of the special services of Yugoslavia, was removed from all posts and sent to retire. To solve the problem of unemployment, it was decided to open the borders for both its own citizens and foreigners (January 1, 1967). At the same time, the SFRY did not abandon national problems: in 1968, demonstrations of Albanians with nationalist slogans were held in Kosovo, in 1971, social and political unrest (the so-called Croatian Spring) swept over Croatia with demands for the granting of more rights to Croats. As a result, many party leaders in Croatia and Serbia were removed from power.

The new constitution of the SFRY adopted in 1974 significantly expanded the powers of the union republics, in fact, the autonomous territories of Serbia - Vojvodina and Kosovo - were raised to the rank of republics, which had far-reaching consequences. According to the Constitution, the Assembly of the SFRY elected the Presidium of the SFRY, consisting of 8 people (one representative from 6 republics and 2 from the autonomous regions), of which Broz Tito was appointed chairman for life.

After Tito

After the death of Josip Broz Tito on May 4, 1980, the SFRY faced economic difficulties associated with both current indicators (a jump in energy prices) and deeper processes (almost complete independence of the republics in economic matters, a difficult situation with external debt, credit obligations, orientation towards CMEA). Already in 1981, large-scale Albanian riots swept through Kosovo with demands for the status of a republic, which were completely unexpected for the federal leadership. The SFRY Presidium was forced to declare a state of emergency and tried to solve social, economic and demographic problems. The Kosovo factor largely became a catalyst for the disintegration of the SFRY and demonstrated the full force of the national contradictions that existed in the country. In Serbia, sentiment began to grow to revise the 1974 Constitution to address the problems that swept the country. In 1988-1989. in the autonomous regions in Serbia and Montenegro, supporters of S. Milosevic came to power. On March 28, 1989, amendments to the Serbian constitution were adopted, which curtailed the powers of the autonomous regions, which caused demonstrations of protest by the Kosovar Albanians and discontent from the other republics of the SFRY, who feared the strengthening of the centralization of the country. The federal leadership tried to cope with political and economic difficulties (thanks to the reforms of A. Markovic, the stability of the national currency was achieved), but in January 1990 representatives of the communists of Slovenia and Croatia left the 14th Congress of the UCC and it became the last in the history of the party. This was followed by the collapse of the united state: on July 2, 1990, the Assembly of Slovenia adopted a declaration of full sovereignty, on January 25, 1991 - the Assembly of Macedonia, on June 25, 1991 - the Assembly of Croatia, on October 14, 1991 - the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

THE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION WAR IN YUGOSLAVIA 1941-1945 - the armed struggle of the patriotic forces of Yugoslavia for the national and social w-de-nie against ok-ku-pant-tov and their local po-sob-nikov during the Second World War.

Voy-ska of Germany, Italy and Hungary, with the co-operation of Bol-gary on 04/06/1941, outside-zap-but-na-pa-li to South-Slavia ( see the Bal-kan-skaya cam-pa-niya of 1941), with a layer-mi-co-anti-lee of the ko-ro-lev-army and on April 18, when-nu-di-li her to ka-pi-tu-la-tion. Co-role Peter II Ka-ra-ge-or-gie-vich, great-wit-tel-st-in and higher-neck co-man-do-va-emig-ri-ro-va-li for gra -ni-tsu. Ter-ri-to-ria of the country was-la ok-ku-pi-ro-va-na and raz-de-le-na me-w-du ucha-st-ni-ka-mi ag-res- these (on the territory of the Khor-va-tii there was a creation-da-but the so-called Not-for-vi-si-my state of Khor-va-tia, headed by A. Pa -ve-if-what). The representatives of the right-wing parties of South Slavia have embarked on the path of cooperation with ok-ku-pan-ta-mi. Or-ga-ni-zation of Croatian na-tsio-na-sheets (see Us-ta-shi) and ve-li-ko-Serbian movement (see Chet-ni- ki) created their own vo-in-skie forms-mi-ro-va-nia, which-rye went into the subordination of the ok-cu-pation powers.

For the leadership of the armed national-os-in-fighting fight, the Communist Party of South Slavia (CPY; see So-yuz of the commune -stov of Yugo-Slavia) created the Military Committee, on the right-wing of the action of the local military commanders. On June 27, the General Headquarters (since September 1941, the Supreme Headquarters) of the party-zan units of South-Slavia, headed by I. Ti-to, was created. By this time, in the territory of South Slavia, there were 4 German, 12 Italian, 2 Bulgarian di-vision and 5 di-vision the former Yugoslavian army, 12 Hungarian and Bulgarian brigades, a number of separate parts and sub-divisions - about 400 thousand people in total.

In July 1941, the combat actions of the party-ti-zan units began. Os-in-bo-f-dyon-nye from ok-ku-pan-tov of the raions-ony hundred-but-were-ba-za-mi par-ti-zan-sko-go-go. The most significant was the os-in-bo-z-dyon-naya territory in Western Ser-Biia, in the best way the name “Uzhits- kaya res-pub-li-ka ". Ose-new 1941 ok-ku-pan-you pre-pri-nya-whether shi-ro-something to-stu-plenie against par-ti-zan. Active combat actions lasted until December 1941. The main group-pi-ditch par-ti-zan would-la you-well-de-na-ta-vit o-o-o-o-o-o-o-dy-ny ter-ri-to-ry and with fight-mi go to Sand-Jacques.

By the end of 1941, there were about 80 thousand people in the par-ti-zan-sky units. At the same time, the number of ok-ku-pat troops and co-workers with no local form-mi-ro-va-nii do-ho-di -la up to 620 thousand people. During the winter of 1941/1942 and in the spring of 1942, there were fierce battles with ok-ku-pan-ta-mi and their hurry-no-ka-mi on throughout Southeast Slavia. Par-ti-zan-skie parts and co-unity-ne-nia, from-stu-drank from Ser-Bia, ob-ra-zo-va-li together with san-d-jac-ski mi, black-no-gor-ski-mi, her-tse-go-vin-ski-mi and vos-to-no-bos-ni-ski-mi par-ti-zan form-mi-ro-va- niy-mi a single free territory with a center in the city of Fo-cha. In re-zul-ta-te na-stu-p-le-nia ok-ku-pan-tov, the main forces of the par-ti-zan, from-avoiding the front-tal-collision-no-ve- niy, went to the paradise-on at the junction of the borders of Bos-nia, Her-tse-go-vin-ny and Cher-no-go-ry.

In November 1942, the Supreme Headquarters made a decision on the creation of the Nationwide Army of South Slavia (NOAU) , consisting of bri-gad, di-vis and cor-poo-sov. By the end of 1942, there were 38 brigades in NOAU, reduced to 9 di-vies, consisting of 2 corps-pu-sa, and also there were 36 pairs -Ti-Zanian detachments and a number of smaller parts with a total number of 150 thousand people. For uk-re-p-le-niya ru-ko-vodstva, its inter-national recognition, a single poly-lytic organ of the country was created - An -ti-fa-shi-st-th-th-th-th-native-no-os-in-bo-j-de-nia of Yugo-Slavia (AVNOYU). In 1943, the NOAU cut the plan of the German ko-man-do-va-nia in the range of its main forces: in February - March on the river Ne-ret-va, in May - ju -not in the do-li-not of the Su-te-ska river. Italy in September 1943 ka-pi-tu-li-ro-va-la. Voy-ska NOAYU ra-gro-mi-li and ra-zo-ru-zhi-li 10 Italian di-vizii. Were-were-in-bo-z-de-us about-wide-nye districts of the country: b. h. Dal-ma-tions, Khor-vat-go Primorye, Bos-nia, Cher-no-go-ry, a significant part of Slo-ve-nii and other districts.

By the autumn of 1943, in NOAU, there were already 9 cor-pu-s (27 di-vizii), several separate brigades, 105 par-ti-zan-sky detachments -dov and 20 separate par-ti-zan-skikh ba-tal-o-nov - about 300 thousand people in total. In the staff of the NOAU, the Soviet, Che-Khoslovatsk, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Italian par-ti-zan ba-tal-o-nas and bri-ga-dy fought. By this time, about-lo-lo-wines of the ter-ri-to-riia of South-Slavia were-lo os-in-bo-w-de-but from ok-ku- pan-tov. 11/29/1943 AVNOY pro-voz-vo-sh-but-sh-sh-shy-shy-n-d-no-d-no-d-d-n-d-n-d-n-d and executive representative o-g-n-g-n-ro-dov Yugo -slavia, the National Committee of Os-in-bo-zh-de-nia of South-Slavia was created as a temporary people's government-tel-st-va and announced flax fe-de-ra-tiv-ny principle of building-tel-st-va of the country, ga-rant-ty-ru-shi-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-r-vie of its peoples. The Yugoslav emigrant-runt-rule-of-law-in-the-los of all rights; ko-ro-lu Peter II was forbidden to return to the country.

At the Te-ge-ran-sky conference of 1943, the ru-ko-vo-di-te-li of the USSR, the USA and Ve-li-ko-bri-ta-nii decided-shi-li pre- deliver the NOAU help with the war-ru-same-ni and ma-te-ri-al-ny-mi media-st-va-mi. On February 23, 1944, a Soviet military mission arrived in Yugoslavia (ru-ko-vo-di-tel - Major General N.V. Kor-ne-ev), one from the dachas, a swarm was-given-for-the-power of NOAU in a-beam of weapons and combat technology-ni-ki from the USSR. Since March, the military cargoes have been delivered by air. With a come-n-le-no-em Soviet troops to South-Slavia, the military imu-shch-in pe-re-da-va-los NOAU not-in-medium-st-ven-but from the front-to-out warehouses. All in all, during the years of the war, NOAU received 115.3 thousand wines from the USSR, 38 thousand wines-to-woks and kara-bi-nov, 38 thousand av-to-ma-tov, over 15 thousand pu-le-me-tov, 5.8 thousand weapons and min-no-me-tov, 69 tanks and 491 samo-years; from English-American so-yuz-nikov - 137.8 thousand wines-woks, 15.8 thousand pu-le-mets, 41.4 thousand av-to-ma-tov , about 3 thousand weapons, 107 tanks and 61 self-years. In the spring and summer of 1944, the main forces of the NOAU were stubborn battles along the breakthrough in Ser-Biya in order to its os-in-bo-z-de-nia.

In September 1944, the Soviet troops on a wide-ro-com front-those went to the borders of South-Slavia and if it was possible to get closer interact-mo-dey-st-to-vat with NOAU, for some time by this time I had 15 cor-poo-s (50 di-vizii), 2 operas -active groups (ka-zh-day consisted of 2 brigades), 16 separate infantry brigades and 130 par-ti-zan-skie detachments. In the composition of these forces, there were about 400 thousand fighters. The Soviet government and the National Committee of South Slavia made a decision on joint actions -via-yakh RKKA and NOAU for the purposes of the os-in-bo-z-de-nia of the eastern regions of the country and its capital - Bel-Gra-da.

At the end of September - October 1944, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front of the Red Army, NOAU and part of the forces of the Bulgarian People's Army pro-ve-whether the Bel-Grad operation of 1944 , in re-zul-ta-those co-swarm were os-in-bo-z-de-us the eastern regions of South-Slavia and Bel-grad. According to the arrival of the Ver-hov-no-go headquarters in January - March 1945, there were form-mi-ro-va-nas 1, 2, 3, 4th army, which -the second pro-long-lived-whether os-in-bo-z-de-yugo-slavia, and NOAU on-lu-chi-la new name - the Yugoslavian army. There are 59 di-vises with a total number of 800 thousand people in its staff. In March 1945, the form-mi-ro-va-no Temporary volume-e-di-nen-ny-tel-st-in De-mo-kra-ticheskiy Fe-de-ra-tiv-noy Yugoslavia (DFYU), the head of the governor-chief-tel-va and the minister of the people's defense of the swarm became I. Ti-to.

The temporary governor of the DFY recognized Ve-li-ko-bri-ta-niya (March 14), the USSR (March 24) and the USA (April 2). In Mo-sk-ve between the USSR and DFY on 04/11/1945 under-pi-san Do-go-thief about friendship, mutual in-power and after- en-nom co-work-no-che-st-ve. By May 15, Yugo-Slavia was full of os-in-bo-z-de-na. In the fight against the fa-shiz-mom of the ro-dy of South-Slavia, there are big ones; in all, taking into account the persons who were turned into fa-shi-st-sku, they made up over 1.7 million people, that is, over 10 % of the country's population. Combat on-ri NOAU and party-ti-zan-skie units - 305 thousand people killed and 425 thousand soldiers. In the rows of NOAU, about 3 thousand Soviet citizens fought.

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The "April War" ended in disaster for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The army was defeated and forced to surrender, the population, who considered their army great and invincible on the basis of its victories at the beginning of the century, experienced a huge painful shock. The country was divided by the winners among themselves. Hungary received Vojvodina and Banat, Bulgaria - most of Macedonia and a fragment of Serbia. Italy took over most of Slovenia, the Adriatic coast of Croatia, Montenegro, fragments of Kosovo and Macedonia. On the ruins, a new power was created - the Independent State of Croatia, which, in addition to the actual territories of residence of the Croats, also included the whole of Bosnia and part of Serbia (Srem, the section between Sava and Danube). Germany received a fragment of Slovenia, a large fragment of Kosovo (near the Trepca mine), Banat and Serbia.

Although, according to international law, annexations are not considered valid until the conclusion of peace, the Italians incorporated Slovenia into their possessions as a province of Ljubljana, and the German and Hungarian administrations incorporated their acquisitions into existing territorial units. The new authorities did not deprive their subjects of attention. Soon after the occupation, Hitler visited Maribor (or, according to the new administration, Marburg), and in the summer of 1942 Mussolini visited Gorica, which he had already visited four years earlier, and then dispelled the illusions of the Slovenian inhabitants of Italy that they would be given some kind of autonomy. ... The German authorities tried to convince the Slovenes that they were part of the German nation, and for this to establish and support daily life... In their zone of occupation, for example, sports events (athletics, football, volleyball, swimming, tennis, motorsport) were held. An auto race in Maribor once attracted 6,000 spectators, but most of the competition was held in front of empty stands. Bread cards were issued exclusively in German, which was perceived as an insult, since during the First World War the Austrians issued food cards with inscriptions in two languages ​​- Slovenian and Austrian. Moreover, Hitler's administrators believed that not all Slovenes were worthy of life in the Reich. To ensure the “interests of the German nation”, a “resettlement program” was established. Intelligents, potentially unreliable persons, whose lists were compiled by ethnic Germans long before the war, and citizens who settled after 1918, as well as citizens from the border zone, gathered to resettle in the German zone; a total of 220-260 thousand people. It was supposed to infuse 60-100 thousand Germans. In the future, it was planned to resettle the Bessarabian Germans to Slovenia. In total, 14 thousand people moved into the occupied territory.

The actions of the regime did not cause any misunderstanding among local authority figures: on May 4, 1941, 40 influential businessmen, and 105 zhupans (heads of district administrations) headed by a ban (chief administrator) of the province

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royal times signed the loyal address of Mussolini and the king of Italy with a description of what incredible happiness and honor it is to be part of the kingdom of Italy (as the Italian side claims; Slovenian revisionists claim that the appeal was of a purely official, protocol nature, thanks for cultural autonomy). The new government includes 2,344 officials from the previous administration, plus about a thousand employees of the power ministries of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. However, not everyone shared the joy of the ban and his associates. On April 29, the first action against the occupiers took place: at the Volkmeier crossing in the Maribor region, young people, shouting anti-fascist slogans, set fire to the car of the occupation council. However, this was more of a hooligan trick than an organized resistance. Nevertheless, the latter was no longer the case: on April 27, 1941, the Slovenian Liberation Front, which included the Communist Party, was created to fight the occupiers; Christian socialists; representatives of the democratic intelligentsia; the left wing of the Sokol pan-Slavic organization. Each of these factions has delegated two representatives to the coordinating council. The program of the front was as follows: the expulsion of the occupiers, the unification of all Slovenian lands, the unity of all Yugoslav peoples, a democratic decision on the future structure of Yugoslavia after its liberation. The day of the armed uprising is traditionally considered June 22, 1941, although the first action in Slovenia took place on July 17. At first, the struggle against the occupiers did not take on clearly visible forms, but from the beginning of 1942 the situation changed. The bulk of the anti-fascist actions took place in the Italian zone of occupation. From February 1942, a curfew was imposed in the Italian zone, from 18:00. Already on February 7, demonstrating seriousness of intentions, an Italian patrol shot and killed two passers-by. Then 23.2. Ljubljana was cordoned off and divided into blocks, which were carefully searched and searched; During the checks and raids, 3,246 people were detained, and 200 of them were arrested. We will not enumerate all the atrocities of the occupiers here, we just note that from 1.3. the chief administrator of the Ljubljana province ordered "to take not a tooth by a tooth, but a head by a tooth ... to destroy the villages, whose inhabitants helped the partisans."

Further south, on the territory of Croatia and Bosnia, on April 10, 1941, the Independent State of Croatia began to function (the Russian version of the abbreviation NGH, and in the Serbian-Croatian NDKh - the abbreviation was deciphered by many as “mandated Djava Croatia”). The occupiers installed radical Croatian nationalists-Ustasha at the head of the state. The creation of the NGH was qualified from the very beginning as a violation of the Hague Convention on the Laws and Rules of War on Ground (this formulation was also reflected in the decision of the Nuremberg Tribunal). Nevertheless, the members of the Tripartite Pact, as well as Spain and Switzerland recognized the NHX immediately, the Vatican, a little later, received the Croatian envoy and removed the Yugoslavian representative of the government in exile, offering to maintain relations through branches of the papal curia abroad. The United States, and then all the countries of America, declared the creation of the NGH illegitimate and refused to recognize it. 14.6 NGH officially joined the Triple Alliance. Much has been written about him, so let's dwell on the very essence and little-known details. Now when they talk about NG Croatia, they add that it is

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not the Croatia that exists today, although, strictly speaking, with only a general overview and statistics, it is easy to make a mistake, since the flag and symbols are the same.

The king was supposed to lead the new state in accordance with the tradition prevailing in these places in the 11th century and lost in the next 900 years; the Italians, in the absence of other candidates, proposed the Duke of Spalato, distant relative the Italian king, who received the name Tomislav II, but never visited his kingdom. Actual power remained in the hands of the Ustasha. When studying documents and literature, one gets the feeling that the leaders of the NGH generally did not understand very well what functions the king should perform in their state. Oddities continue to be observed if we touch on the topic of the internal organization of the country. The administration, under an agreement with the Italians, was not free to build military facilities and fortifications on almost a third of its territory, and about 40% of its Italians had the right to freely move military formations and conduct military operations without prior approval. It should be admitted that the petrochemical complex cannot be considered a state in the full sense of the word, since it had neither territorial integrity, nor authority on its territory, nor institutions corresponding to the state status. At the head of the new entity were the leaders of the Ustasha movement, an émigré organization of Croatian ultranationalists. As in Slovenia, many administrators went over to the service of the new government, six generals of the pre-war Yugoslav army entered the Croatian one. One general contrived during his career to serve in the Austro-Hungarian, Royal Yugoslav, Croatian, partisan and Yugoslav (JNA) armies.

Royal Yugoslavia quite harshly suppressed all types of nationalism, except for Serbian, which was considered "truly Yugoslavian", but police arbitrariness and extrajudicial reprisals, which are still reproached to this day royalty, and remotely cannot compare with what the Ustashi arranged when they came to power. The lack of qualifying signs of statehood did not prevent the implementation of the tasks set by the leaders, and it soon turned out that its leaders had no definite program, except for the creation of an ethnically pure Croatia.

The task was carried out by methods that made even the German representative in Zagreb horrified, and the Italian army to assist those fleeing from the NGH (the passage from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik with the assistance of the Italians cost 10-50 thousand dinars, see the course at the end of the article). The country introduced a regulation similar to the German one on the marking of persons of certain nationalities. Jews wore a yellow armband and Chest sign with a letter? (“? Id”), and the Serbs are white and the sign with the letter “P” (“Pravoslavac”). The Ustasha genocide left a terrible memory of

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himself, even 55 years after the end of World War II, the possibility of its repetition forced people to take up arms.

The new authorities tried to maintain the appearance of the revival of the former Croatia and some kind of personality cult. In honor of legendary king Dimitar Zvonimir, the Crown Order of King Zvonimir and the Crown Medal of King Zvonimir were created, and the last defensive line of the NGH was named in his honor. Streets, medals and military formations were named after the head of the NGH Pavelic and his associates - for example, “Field Marshal Doglavnik Slavko Vitez Quaternik”, “Head of the Head Doctor Ante Pavelic”, Pavelic's posters with a clear desire to imitate the method of praising Hitler are known. Many SS units were formed on the territory of the NGH, but it should be noted that in modern Croatia, where, in general, there are very strong tendencies to whitewash the NGH, no one is trying to erect monuments to Pavelic or the SS, or to arrange Ustasha marches.

The population of Montenegro had major disagreements over the attitude towards the occupiers. In Montenegro there were "Belashs" who would like to preserve the pre-war position of Montenegro within Yugoslavia and were inclined to cooperate with the communists; and "zelenash", who stood for independent Montenegro and therefore collaborated with the occupiers. Among the latter were supporters of the Italian government and supporters of the return royal dynasty removed from the Montenegrin throne during the accession of Montenegro to Yugoslavia in 1918. The behavior of the Italian occupiers, examples of which we saw in the section on Slovenia, soon led to a significant weakening of the Zelenasha camp. The uprising in Montenegro began on 7/13/1941, gained strength in 2-3 days, and it cost the invaders 4 thousand killed Italians (according to the Yugoslavs). In addition to the seaside and cities, the whole of Montenegro was in the hands of the rebels. However, the uprising was suppressed, thanks to the lack of coordination among the rebels, the preponderance of the Italians in weapons and organization. Since the beginning of 1942 in Montenegro, in connection with the intensification of the communist underground, the nationalists considered it best to cooperate with the Italians. The Montenegrin branch of the organization of the Chetniks, Serbian anti-Nazi partisans, on its own initiative entered into agreements with the Italians on mutual non-aggression and actions against the partisans. There is even an official note in which the Chetniks, who participated with the Italians in operations against the partisans in Montenegro, demanded a daily allowance of 15 lira per person per day. The Chetniks of Montenegro received from the Italians 20 thousand barrels, 200 machine guns, 2000 assault rifles, 100 thousand grenades + ammunition at the rate of 500 shells per cannon, 2000 for a machine gun, 100 mines for a mortar, as well as 20 thousand sets of captured Yugoslav uniforms and 20 thousand pairs of military shoes. For comparison, by the end of the war, the partisans received from Western countries 100 tanks, 300 field artillery units, 2,000 mortars, 13,000 automatic rifles and machine guns, 130,000 small arms.

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The rebuff to the invaders in Serbia began from the very first day of their presence in the country. The inhabitants of Serbia provided all possible assistance to the military, some workers' battalions held out for another week after the surrender of the army. Immediately after the completion of the actual conquest, the invaders established a regime in Serbia that caused sincere rejection of the population with its even purely everyday manifestations. On the fifth day after the signing of the surrender, the invaders imposed a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am; in theory, it was supposed to be 10 days in prison for violating, but the patrols preferred to shoot to kill and there is not a single evidence that the patrolmen were punished for this at least once. Villagers were allowed to stay in cities only from 5:00 to 16:00. Gathering in groups on the streets and moving in groups was strictly prohibited. The sale of alcohol is also strictly prohibited, and it was specifically stipulated that the sale of alcohol by the drunk is also prohibited; card games, the sale of cigarettes on the streets, and the movement of children on the streets unaccompanied by their parents were banned. It was also ordered to move the clock forward one hour, to Berlin time, but the citizens still lived according to the old, "Serbian" time. The new government also maintained a semblance of cultural life - films such as “Pawlavnik Pavelic in Berlin” and “The Valiant Conquest of Crete” were shown in cinemas in Serbia. Considering that these minor problems were superimposed on the shock of the military defeat and the negative emotional background of the suppressed people, it is not surprising that the ideas of fighting the occupiers found a great response in the hearts of citizens. In addition to requisitions and other pleasures of the occupation, the invaders introduced a predatory exchange rate, as well as an "occupation stamp", which had no security at all, was printed without an account and used to make payments to the local population in order to create a form of legality for the requisitions. The problems were aggravated by the presence of about 200 thousand Serbs who fled from the NGKh or were expelled from it, and 10 thousand Slovenes deported to Serbia by the German authorities. In such conditions, the insurrectionary movement soon found a foothold for itself, especially in such an area as Serbia, where the people have a long tradition of uprisings against the occupiers. By the summer, the rebuff to the invaders began to grow stronger and wider, especially from mid-July, after the German attack on the USSR, in the eyes of ordinary citizens was considered the successor of Russia as the defender of the Slavs. Since it was the Serbs, among whom were the conspirators, who overthrew the government of Regent Paul in March 1941 and thereby denounced the documents on Yugoslavia's entry into the Triple Alliance, Hitler considered the main enemies of the Reich in the Balkans, the occupation authorities treated them with particular ferocity.

From the very beginning, the armed resistance to the occupiers in Serbia had two separate components: the Yugoslav army at home (Jugoslovenskа Vojskа u Otad? Bini, also known under the general name "Chetniks") and partisan movement... The first of these components existed under the auspices of the royal government in exile (in London), consisted of former military (many reserve officers and sub-officers were not drafted into the royal army before

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During the April war and therefore did not fall under the conditions of surrender) under the leadership of Colonel Dragolyub (Drazhe) Mikhailovich. They received this name in honor of the detachments of volunteers who at the beginning of the 20th century on the territory Ottoman Empire defended the local Serbian population. The battalions created under the royal army, intended for waging unconventional war, had a similar name. Personnel was recruited from the regular army on a voluntary basis, took a training course in which there were disciplines such as handling explosives, the basics of sabotage actions, using a knife, learning the language and mentality of the enemy, etc. The main formation was a couple (company), subdivided as needed into mobile groups of 1, 3, 5 chetniks. It was specifically stipulated that they were not subject to punishment for acts of violence; the foundations of training these battalions and served as the basis for curriculum detachments formed to fight the invaders.

The second component - partisans - was created under the auspices of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and was headed by the general secretary of the party, Josip Broz Tito. Although these movements were ideologically hostile to each other, at the beginning of the struggle against the occupiers, the issue of joint actions against a common enemy was discussed. However, ideological differences very quickly pushed potential allies into hostile positions. The partisans recognized the only form of resistance to be an immediate and widespread struggle against the occupiers, violence by any means, regardless of the possible damage, while the nationalists, frightened by mass executions and massacres on the occasion of each speech, believed that their task was to systematically prepare for a mass uprising at that moment. when the allies go on a general offensive and land in the Balkans. By the end of 1941, it came to an armed struggle between Chetniks and partisans, and in subsequent years the conflict developed into an internecine fratricidal war of extermination.

At first, the German command did not distinguish Tito's partisans from Mikhailovich's Chetniks; all of them were listed as “partisans” and much later ceased to distinguish them in diaries and documents by belonging and to call them “gangs”. Chetnik formations in the first period of their existence were arranged in brigades (400-500 people); each brigade had 2 "first line" companies and 1 reserve company. 3-8 brigades made up a corps subordinate to the territorial command, and this last personally to Mikhailovich, as the Minister of Defense and the plenipotentiary representative of the emigre government. The structure of partisans, approved by the meetings of Tito's headquarters, provided for a subdivision into dozens, which were assembled into platoons, and those into companies of 80-100 people, then a battalion consisting of 2-4 companies went, then a detachment connecting 3-4 battalions. The number of staff in the formations, for obvious reasons, could not be maintained, in a company of partisans there could be 20 people or 200, and the corps of Chetniks usually numbered 700-1000 people. In addition, at the disposal of the commanders of the resistance were those who

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The German command called "Hauspartizanen" ("domestic partisans"), who worked in their fields or in shops during the day, and at night they set up ambushes and raids, mined roads, etc. This type of struggle against the occupiers was less risky for the participants. The repressions of the Nazis, Bulgarians, Hungarians and Italians as a result of the partisans' activities pushed more and more people, seized by a natural desire for revenge and a completely human desire to respond with blow to blow, into the ranks of the communist underground. The successes and failures of this or that faction gave rise to migration from partisans to Chetniks (for example, January-February 1942 in Montenegro) and vice versa. It should be especially noted that the movement of the Chetniks in Serbia and outside it acquired the force different conditions completely different character. In Serbia, the Chetnik movement looked completely natural and enjoyed in the forms in which it existed there, the full support of the Yugoslav government in exile, and, accordingly, had a “Yugoslavian” character. Under the conditions of the Petrochemical Holding, due to the desperate situation of the Serbs, the Chetnik movement acquired a purely pro-Serb character, often openly chauvinistic.

Requisitions were used for supply: the village in the sphere of activity of one or another territorial command was asked to supply certain quantities of provisions, which were taken away at night; there were frequent clashes between partisans and Chetniks over who should feed from a particular village. In both camps, training was reduced to the basics of the operation of small arms, the laying of mines and the preparation of blasting operations; to set up ambushes, recruits were trained to make night marches (partisans always crossed rivers at night) and move unnoticed; the communists added ideological training. The Chetniks, who were primarily former military personnel, took a 2-week course; then, with the influx of untrained youth, both of them switched to 4-6 weeks. The practice was kept to a minimum due to lack of ammunition, and the intensity of the training in general largely depended on the needs of the local commander for soldiers. The newcomers were strictly instructed not to abandon either the killed or the wounded comrades; discipline was harsh, minor offenses punished by public censure, demotion, suspension from office, or from participation in operations; serious crimes, such as cowardice and betrayal - by shooting in front of the formation, and the sentence was to be carried out by the immediate superior of the guilty person. Before establishing strong ties with the allies, the rebels of both camps dressed in old uniforms, elements of German, Italian uniforms, civilian clothes similar to the paramilitary cut. The Allies, after the radio exchange was established, supplied both rebel groups with worn and old uniforms, and delivered special orders, if any, on airplanes, submarines and small boats. Communication with the Allies was maintained with the help of officers who were knowledgeable in cryptography and who were worth their weight in gold. Attempts to use local low-skilled personnel sometimes ended badly - as reported in the report of the German commandant, for 60 days of monitoring, the German radio intercept group established the location of the Chetniks, the names of the units, their strength, the names of the commanders and the order of battle. It is curious that despite the pronounced difference

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in approach and damage done, Mikhailovich and Tito were given the same reward.

The insurgents, especially the partisans, systematically disregarded the customs and laws of war. Medical trains, dispensaries, hospitals were constantly attacked like light targets; The wounded enemy was immediately finished off, medicines and dressings were confiscated, and often the medical personnel were taken with them. Both sides disfigured both the dead and living representatives of the opposite side. Due to the lack of uniforms, the custom of taking off and undressing corpses was widespread. The insurgents, especially the partisans, systematically disregarded the customs and laws of war. Medical trains, dispensaries, hospitals were constantly attacked like light targets; The wounded enemy was immediately finished off, medicines and dressings were confiscated, and often the medical personnel were taken with them. Both sides disfigured both the dead and living representatives of the opposite side. Due to the lack of uniforms, the custom of taking off and undressing corpses was widespread.

In the occupied zones, formations were created everywhere, into which not only Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) entered, but also all opponents of the possible establishment of communists in Yugoslavia. These detachments changed their names, formed, reorganized, disbanded throughout the country, they were given weapons, taken away weapons, appointed local commanders, then put the army, then transferred the formations themselves as auxiliary forces to the subordination of the regular army. Due to well-founded mistrust and all organizational troubles, the number of pro-Nazi volunteers, even where there were those who wanted to join their ranks, was always small, and the equipment left much to be desired. The procedure for joining the ranks of various kinds of collaborationist formations was very simplified, and there are a lot of circulars known to check candidates as meticulously as possible. However, quite often it turned out that even high-ranking officials of such organizations and military units wrote off weapons, ammunition and medicines in favor of partisans, Chetniks, etc., supplied them with strategic information and information about the number and location of the occupiers.

Nevertheless, such formations took part in hostilities, and sometimes not without success. In a family of 15 people, two were killed by the Germans, 1 by the MVAK (Slovenian collaborators in the service of the Italians), 2 were killed by “housebreakers” (Slovenian collaborators in the service of the Germans) and 10 partisans. The fate of members of another family: one was mobilized in the Wehrmacht, 4 were evicted (women and children), 4 in a labor camp (the same), 1 was shot as a hostage. About the fratricidal nature of this war

Yugoslavia in World War II

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says a terrible fact: in the same family, seven went to the partisans, 2 to “housekeepers” (the Slovenian formations of the Nazis); Moreover, it was from this family that the partisans shot one of their relatives - “housekeepers”, and the platoon of “housekeepers”, in which the second of the relatives who joined the collaborators, served, participated in the very operation in which two partisan relatives were killed.

The invaders got their first idea of ​​what awaited them in the summer and autumn of 1941 on the territory of Serbia and Montenegro. On August 31, the Chetniks carried out their first major action in Serbia, attacking and liberating the city of Loznica in western Serbia. Loznica thus became “the first free city in continental Europe”. Building on their success, the Chetniks continued to carry out attacks, and on September 6 Mikhailovich gave the order to proceed to mass actions against the Germans. By the end of September, almost the entire western and large part of Central Serbia, and several bridgeheads in its eastern part, fell into the hands of the Chetniks; the towns of Loznica, Banja Koviliacha, Cacak, Pozega, Uzice, Horni Milanovac were liberated from the enemy, and Sabac, Valjevo, Kraljevo, and Krusevac were besieged. On September 28, it was even necessary to create a concentration camp for German prisoners of war, in the village of Planinitsa, near Ravna Gora, which contained 80 people. The German army and collaborators captured two tanks used in the siege of Kraljevo. In September, the German commander in Serbia, General Boehme, received carte blanche to deal with any form of discontent.

Actions taken between late September and early December 1941 became known in military history under the general title "First Offensive". More than 80 thousand people were involved in the operation (against about 20 thousand rebels). In the course of the offensive, innumerable atrocities were recorded against the civilian population, especially in the cities of Kragujevac and Kraljevo, where the invaders even shot high school students and babies, in accordance with the cannibalistic rule, to shoot 100 people for a killed German, and 50 for a wounded. The performance in Serbia was suppressed, and the next year, the main events unfolded in Croatia and Bosnia.

By the end of 1941, there were about 80 thousand people in all formations opposed to the regime; since the outbreak of hostilities, more than 19,000 insurgents have died and over 30,000 have been injured.

In mid-January 1942, the so-called. Second offensive.

Yugoslavia in World War II

11.03.2010 10:10 -

Against the partisan headquarters located in the region and the main forces concentrated around it, two German divisions, reinforced by Italian and Croatian formations, took part. However, at the end of the operation on February 8, the German command considered the task unfulfilled. The main part of the partisan army, with the help of a series of successful maneuvers, got out of the encirclement.

IN In March, Italian and German armies deployed 14 divisions and brought in about 20,000 Croats in the Third Offensive, on the Bosnia-Serbian border in the area known as Zelengora. The aim of the offensive was the main forces of the partisans in the person of 2 brigades and 21 detachments. After stubborn battles, the partisans again managed to avoid complete defeat, albeit at the cost of significant losses (including equipment and equipment). It was during this offensive that the famous battle on Kozar took place, in which about 40 thousand occupiers and their employees and about 5,000 partisans took part. After that, the center of rebel activity moved to the western part of Bosnia. At the end of June 1942, the partisans simultaneously launched several attacks in the east and center of Bosnia, and then captured the cities of Prozor, Horni Vakf, Divno and Livno, and besieged Kupres and Bugojno. With the help of partisan formations on the territory of Croatia, which were replenished in large numbers by Serbs who suffered from the tyranny of the NGH, Yayce, Mrkonich Grad and Bihac were captured, as a result of which a liberated territory of about 50 thousand square meters was created. km (the size of Dagestan). In the middle of 1942 there were about 18 thousand partisans on this territory.

In Slovenia, in July-August, the Italians launched a powerful offensive on their own, and in the fall they repeated the process, this time in close cooperation with the Germans. Between 16.6. on 4/11/1942 by the Italians (in total, about 70 thousand people were involved in the operations; General management was carried out by General M. Robatti) and partly by the Germans (10 thousand people took part in total) 11 operations were carried out against the partisans, who, however, did not reach the goal. For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that, in general, the Italians carried out the actions, and despite the ratio of forces, in most cases 6 to 1 in their favor (the partisan formations opposing them numbered a little more than 2,000 people), they did not succeed.

IN In general, in 1942 there was progress in the development of partisan tactics, large free zones were created, and if at the end of 1941 the first partisan brigade was formed, then at the end of 1942 already the first division. In total, at the end of the year, there were up to 100 thousand people in the ranks of the opponents of the invaders. 1942 became last year lives for 25 thousand rebels and more than 30 thousand were injured. The strategic initiative gradually passed to the rebels, especially since the Axis countries were bogged down on the fronts of World War II. Despite the fact that in the country