Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,[note 1][11] or the National Liberation Army,[note 2] officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia,[note 3][12] was the communist-led anti-fascist resistance to the Axis powers (chiefly Nazi Germany) in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. Led by Josip Broz Tito,[13] the Partisans are considered to be Europe's most effective anti-Axis resistance movement during World War II.[14][15][16][17]
National Liberation Army and
Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia
Josip Broz Tito
Edvard Kardelj
Ivan Ribar
Vladimir Nazor
Blažo Jovanović
Rade Končar
Ivo Lola Ribar
Arso Jovanović
Andrija Hebrang
Svetozar Vukmanović
Kosta Nađ
Peko Dapčević
Koča Popović
Petar Drapšin
Mihajlo Apostolski
Nikola Ljubičić
Fadil Hoxha
Mitar Bakić
Lazar Koliševski
Ramiz Sadiku
Boro Vukmirović
Fadil Hoxha
Ivan Gošnjak
Aleksandar Ranković
Milovan Đilas
Moša Pijade
Sava Kovačević
Boris Kidrič
Franc Rozman
Rodoljub Čolaković
Vicko Krstulović
Emin Duraku
Osman Karabegović
Hasan Brkić
Slavko Rodić
Vladimir Perić
Ratomir Dugonjić
Vlado Janić Capo
Ivan Milutinović
Vladimir Dedijer
1941–1945
Mobile, attached to the Main Operational Group
Axis-occupied Yugoslavia
Romania (refugee purposes)[1]
Italy (regions of Istria, islands of Cres and Lošinj, Fiume, Zara, parts of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, especially Trieste)
Hungary (1945; Operation Spring Awakening, Nagykanizsa–Körmend offensive)
Germany (parts of Carinthia in May 1945 only)
80,000–800,000 (see below)
- Soviet Union
- United Kingdom
- United States
Former Axis powers:
Other Allied support:
- Yugoslav government-in-exile (1944–45, de jure)
- Germany
- Italy
- Montenegro (1941–43)
- Albania (1941–43)
- Hungary
- Bulgaria (1941–44)
- Independent State of Croatia (1941–45)
Other Axis collaborators:
Other opponents:
- Yugoslav government-in-exile (1941–44)
Primarily a guerilla force at its inception, the Partisans developed into a large fighting force engaging in conventional warfare later in the war, numbering around 650,000 in late 1944 and organized in four field armies and 52 divisions. The main stated objectives of the Partisans were the liberation of Yugoslav lands from occupying forces and the creation of a federal, multi-ethnic socialist state in Yugoslavia.
The Partisans were organized on the initiative of Tito following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, and began an active guerrilla campaign against occupying forces after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June. A large-scale uprising was launched in July, later joined by Draža Mihailović's Chetniks, which led to the creation of the short-lived Republic of Užice. The Axis mounted a series of offensives in response but failed to completely destroy the highly mobile Partisans and their leadership. By late 1943 the Allies had shifted their support from Mihailović to Tito as the extent of Chetnik collaboration became evident, and the Partisans received official recognition at the Tehran Conference. In Autumn 1944, the Partisans and the Soviet Red Army liberated Belgrade following the Belgrade Offensive. By the end of the war, the Partisans had gained control of the entire country as well as Trieste and Carinthia. After the war, the Partisans were reorganized into the regular armed force of the newly established Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.
The movement was consistently referred to as the "Partisans" throughout the war. However, due to frequent changes in size and structural reorganizations, the Partisans throughout their history held four full official names (translated here from Serbo-Croatian to English):
The movement was originally named National Liberation Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia (Narodnooslobodilački partizanski odredi Jugoslavije, NOPOJ) and held that name from June 1941 to January 1942. Because of this, their short name became simply the "Partisans" (capitalized), and stuck henceforward (the adjective "Yugoslav" is used sometimes in exclusively non-Yugoslav sources to distinguish them from other partisan movements).
Between January 1942 and November 1942, the movement's full official name was briefly National Liberation Partisan and Volunteer Army of Yugoslavia (Narodnooslobodilačka partizanska i dobrovoljačka vojska Jugoslavije, NOP i DVJ). The changes were meant to reflect the movement's character as a "volunteer army".
In November 1942 the movement was renamed into the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia (Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odredi Jugoslavije, NOV i POJ), a name which it held until the end of the war. This last official name is the full name most associated with the Partisans, and reflects the fact that the proletarian brigades and other mobile units were organized into the National Liberation Army (Narodnooslobodilačka vojska). The name change also reflects the fact that the latter superseded in importance the partisan detachments themselves.
Shortly before the end of the war, in March 1945, all resistance forces were reorganized into the regular armed force of Yugoslavia and renamed Yugoslav Army. It would keep this name until 1951, when it was renamed the Yugoslav People's Army.
Equipment[edit]
The first small arms for the Partisans were acquired from the defeated Royal Yugoslav Army, like the M24 Mauser rifle. Throughout the war the Partisans used any weapons they could find, mostly weapons captured from the Germans, Italians, Army of the NDH, Ustaše and the Chetniks, such as the Karabiner 98k rifle, MP 40 submachine gun, MG 34 machine gun, Carcano rifle and carbine, and Beretta submachine gun. The other way that the Partisans acquired weapons was from supplies given to them by the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, including the PPSh-41 and the Sten MKII submachine guns respectively. Additionally, Partisan workshops created their own weapons modelled on factory-made weapons already in use, including the so-called "Partisan rifle" and the anti-tank "Partisan mortar".