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The Communist Party (CPY) led by Tito organized the struggle against the occupying armies and their Yugoslav supporters, especially the Croatian Ustaša. Tito attempted to consolidate forces that opposed the Axis and forming the National Liberation Movement. An exception here was the Chetniks. An initial alliance quickly broke down. Thus the guerilla war becane a three way struggle pitting the NAZIs/Fascists and their local collaborators, the Partisans, and the Chetniks. The Partisans organized around the Communist Party initially had a problem in that the Soviet Union as a result of the NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact was allied with the NAZI invaders. This problem was resolved when the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union (June 22). The Yugoslavs wre at first shocked and overwealmed by the staggering force of the NAZI invasion. Within weeks, however, resistance groups began organising.
The first Partisan unit to organize was the Sisak Partisan Detachment (June 22). It is no accident that this was the day the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union. Sisak is a town in Croatia. Groups associated with the CPY also organized in Serbia, although coordinated actiion was diffucult. The groups began launching small-scale attacks on German and Italian targets (July). The CPY decided to launch an armed struggle (July 4). This date became celebrated as Fighter's Day in post-War Yugoslavia. The first major action was led by Kopaonik in Trepča (July 30). The guerillas then moved to Kopaonik and, joining with other anti-Fascists from the Ibar valley and neighboring moutain villages, launched the liberation effort. They met in Stanulović, an isolated mountain village, to found the Kopaonik Partisan Unit Headquarters (August 1941). The area was named the Miners Republic, but only lasted 42 days before the NAZIs launched an offensive to establish control. The survivors joined forces with Tito's Peoples Liberation Army. The Partisans conducted a guerrilla campaign that eventually reached levels the Wehrmact never anticipated. lulled intocomplasceny by their quick success when they invaded Yugoslavia. The Partisans success was in large part dur to their ability in achiebing increased levels of popular support. The Partisans manage to actually liberate areas of the country. They established People's committees to serve as civilian governments and even managed to begin small-scale arms industries.
Germany's famed statesman, the Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, had insisted that the Balkans was "not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier." Hitler had hoped to avoid commiting the Wehrmacht to the Balkans and made considerable progress toward that goal. Mussolini undid Hitler's carefully laid plans by invading neutral Greece through its Albania bases (October 28, 1940). Mussolini's 1940 invasion of Greece complicated Hitler's time table for Barbarossa. The invasion was not coordinated with Hitler in advance. (The Axis partners never coordinated their operations like the Allies.) Mussolini announced it when Hitler arrived on a visit. "Führer, we are on the march." The Italian troops were beaten back and the Greek troops overtook over one third of Albania. Greece had a Fascist Government that could have possibly brought into the Axis or at least would have remained neutral. Instead Mussolini turned the Greeks into a British ally. The British sent about 50,000 troops to help Greece, which they had to deplete from Egypt. This was important bercause critical to the German invasion was access to the Romanian oil fields. Germany had been relying on Soviet oil deliveries to supplement its synthetic oil production. The Soviet deliveries would end of course when Germany invaded leaving the Germans dependant on Romanian oil until the Soviet Caucauses could be seized. Greek successes against the Ilalians had created an Allied belingerant that could provide air fields to attack the Romanian oil fields. Hutler thus saw a German intervention to seize Greece and secure Germany's southern flank would be necessary. As a result, German forces in Romania were reeinforced and efforts were made to bring Yugoslavia into the NAZI orbit so that the Panzers could move through that country to attack Greece. Hitler had forced Yugoslavia to join the other AXIS Balkan partners, but the Government was overthrown necessitaing a full sacle German invasion. Hitler had to come to the rescue Mussolini. The Germans invaded Greece and Yugoslavia simultaneously on April 6, 1941. Belgrade was subjected to Luftwaffe terror bombing for rejecting an alliance with the NAZIs. The Germans swept through Yugoslavia and Greece and took Crete with a daring, but costly parachute assault. (Hitler never again allowed a parachute assault.) Greece was defeated on April 27, 1941. Despite the success of the German invasion, it proved to have been a strategic dissaster. The Balkans diversion delayed Operation Barbarossa by at least 6 weeks. If Hitler had started his invasion to of the Soviet Union May it seems highly likely that they would have seized Moscow if not have defeated the Red Army. As it was the Wehrmacht was stopped on the outskirts of Moscow in December, 1941.
The Communist Prty was founded as an opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World war I (1919). Socialist parties decided to form one united party. This included a broad spectrum from Social Denocrats to Bolshevicks. (The Russian had captured Austro-Hungaians soldiers conccripted in Bosnia, Crioaia, and Slovenias. during the War and these POWs were exposed to Bolshevik ideology.) The Party achieved some electoral success. The Party split between the Communists and Socialists not set on violent revolution (1920). The Royal government banned the Connunists (late-1920). The Communist Party of Yugoslavia was thus an underground party two decades before the German arrived. The banning prevented open activities and the bility to participae in elections. The Royal Governmrnt at times actvely supressed the Party. Josip Broz Tito became the Part leader just before World war II (1937).
Josip Broz (Tito) was born in in Croatia (1892). He came from a working-class family. As a young man he became a mechanic. At the time of World War I he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army (1914). He was captured by the Russians dung fighting on the Eatern Front. While aOW Broz was influenced by the Bolshevicks and participated in the Russian Revolution (1917). Broz returned to Yugoslavia and became active in politics. The Communists achieved some success in early elections. The Royalist Government outlawed the communists (1920). Broz was arrested for Communist political activity (1928). He received a 5-year prison sentence. After he was released, he left Yugoslavia tonlive in the Soviet Union. This was the same time Stalin was beginning to consolidate his hold on the Soviet Union. Bronz began working for the Comintern (1934). While working for the Coimintern he became knoewn as Tito. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the Comintern supported the Repubkic and gradually gained substantial influence. The Comintern organized the Dimitrov Battalion. Named after Georgi Dimitrov. The battalion was composed of Greeks and other Balkan people. Tito emerged as one oif the senior commanders. With the fall of the Republic, Tito returned to the Soviet Union (1939). After the Germn invasion of Yugoslavia, Tito made his way there to help build a partisan resistance movement. Adolf Hitler ordered Otto Skorzeny to kill Tito but he failed (February 1944)
The Yugoslavs were at first shocked and overwealmed by the staggering force of the NAZI invasion. Within weeks, however, resistance groups began organising. The Communist Party (CPY) led by Tito organized the struggle against the occupying armies and their Yugoslav supporters, especially the Croatian Ustaša. Tito attempted to consolidate forces that opposed the Axis and formed the National Liberation Movement. The Chetniks or royalist resistance was also organizing.
Royalist groups formed the Chetniks to resist the Germns. An initial alliance between the Partisand and Chetniks quickly broke down. Thus the guerilla war becane a three way struggle pitting the NAZIs/Fascists and their local collaborators, the Partisans, and the Chetniks. The Chetniks wavered in their resistance to the Germans when the Germans began horendous reprisals on civilians. Mihailovic was never in total command of the novemnent. Some local Chetnik commanders nehotiated truces eith the Italians and Germans to fight the Partisans.
The Germany invaded Yugoslavia 2months before the Germans lsaunched Operation Barbarossa--the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Partisans organized around the Communist Party initially had a problem in that the Soviet Union as a result of the NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact was allied with the NAZI invaders. And Stalin was very anxious not to provide any provocations that would incite Hitler. This pronlem was resolved when the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union (June 22). The staggering German success with Basrbarossa, however, meant that the Partisans could not expect any assistance from the Soviets.
The first Partisan unit to organize was the Sisak Partisan Detachment (June 22). It is no accident that this was the day the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union. Sisak is a town in Croatia. Groups associated with the CPY also organized in Serbia, although coordinated actiion was diffucult. The groups began launching small-scale attacks on German and Italian targets (July). The CPY decided to launch an armed struggle (July 4). This date became celebrated as Fighter's Day in post-War Yugoslavia. The first major action was led by Kopaonik in Trepča (July 30). The guerillas then moved to Kopaonik and, joining with other anti-Fascists from the Ibar valley and neighboring moutain villages, launched the liberation effort. They met in Stanulović, an isolated mountain village, to found the Kopaonik Partisan Unit Headquarters (August 1941). The area was named the Miners Republic, but only lasted 42 days before the NAZIs launched an offensive to establish control. The survivors joined forces with Tito's Peoples Liberation Army.
The Partisans conducted a guerrilla campaign that eventually reached levels the Wehrmact never anticipated. The Germans were lulled into complasceny by their quick success when they invaded Yugoslavia. The first Partisan units were small, inadequately armed and lacking necessary suporting infrastructure. The Italian surrender to the Allies (September 1943) forced the Germans to occupy the Itlian Zone. They did so, but their forces were streached thin. Tito was able to establish a government in Bosnia (November 1943).
Initially the Allies provided military aid to the Chetniks led by Royalist commander Drazha Mihailovic. When the Allies learned of Chetniks collaborate with the Germans and Italians, they decided to switch support to the Partisans. This was a decesion reached at the Teheran Conference. We notice Partians beeing treated medically and trained on Malta.
The Partisans success was in large part due to their ability to achieve increased levels of popular support. The Partisans manage to actually liberate areas of the country. They established People's committees to serve as civilian governments and even managed to begin small-scale arms industries. The Partisans success is generally attributed to important advantages over the Chetniks and other resistance groups. Some Yugoslavs had fought in the Spanish Civil War, many of whom were Communists. The experiences gained there gave them practical military experiece that even members of the Yugoslav Arny did not have. As Partisand units expanded and gained in military potential, the Communist roots proved to be an advantage. While the Communist Party had been small, there were supporters throughout the country. The Communists focused on political ideology and not ethnicity. Other resistance groups had an ethnic orientation. The Chetniks were primarily a Serbian group. Thus the Partisans, unlike the other groups, could anticipate at least some support throughout the country. This was important as the War went on and Partisan units began to move out of their local areas of support. It also permitted them to recruit new members from the new areas.
After the Germans withdrew from the Balkans, the Partisans rapidly seized control of Yugoslavia. Tito consolidated his power and established a one-party rule in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Yugoslvia was initially The most agressive of te Eastern European Communist governments. It was not, however, a Soviet satellite. It was not the Red Army that had liberasted Yugoslavia, After only 3 years, Tito broke with StalinTito oposed the idea that other Communist leaders must follow policies directed by the Soviet Union. This of course led to coinflicts with Stalin. Stalin a cused Tito of nationalism and rightest deviation. These were the charges that were leveled against the individuals targeted in the Purges of the 1930s. Stalin had Tito expelled from the Cominform (1948). He did not, however, invade Yugoslavia. It is not entirely clear hy. The fact that vhe was locked in a struggle for Belin with the Allies may have been a factor. Tito proceeded to purge the Party of Stalimist loyalists. Te Party was renamed the League of Communists. It adopted policies of relative decetraklization, including workers' self-management and independent communism, which became known as Titoism. There was, however rigid political control and supressionnof nationalist movements.
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