DECEMBER 2007

Survey of the People's Liberation War

Colonel Fabijan Trgo

I.

In implementing his plans of conquest, Hitler attempted to gain control over the south-eastern part of Europe with the help of the profascist regimes in the Balkans, and thereby to protect the southern flank of his forces as they went into battle against the Soviet Union. In November 1940, the Tri-partite Pact was joined by Hungary under Horthy, and Rumania under Antonescu, and in March 1941, also by the fascist monarchy of Bulgaria. The German forces then marched into Hungary and Rumania with the permission of their respective governments.

Yugoslavia thus found itself surrounded by the troops of countries belonging to the Tri-partite Pact. On March 25, the Yugoslav Government under Cvetkovic and Macek signed a protocol joining the Tri-partite Pact, an act the ruling regime undertook in order to transform Yugoslavia into an Axis satellite and to make it part of Hitler's war machine.

The peoples of Yugoslavia were unanimous in condemning this act of treason and in opposing the inclusion of their country in the fascist "new order". News about Yugoslavia's joining the Tri-partite Pact was followed by country-wide mass demonstrations on March 25 and 26 led by the Communists, the show of disapproval reaching its climax on the streets of Belgrade on March 27. On that day, the Cvetkovic-Macek Government fell under the impact of the anti-fascist and patriotic mood of the people. Although the new Government, headed by General Simovic, did not meet the people's demands, and the cabinet that came into power was not a truly people's government, March 27 was, nevertheless, a victory for the peoples of Yugoslavia as it upset Hitler's plans of conquest.

Hitler reacted with a decision to destroy Yugoslavia "with a ruthlessness knowing no mercy". At a consultation held on March 27 with senior commanders of the German armed forces and the Foreign Minister, he announced that he had "resolved to undertake all measures to destroy Yugoslavia from the military point of view and to smash it as a state without waiting for any possible declaration of loyalty by the new government", and that "he would deal an unsparing blow to Yugoslavia and a lightning-like military defeat".

Hitler promised parts of Yugoslavia to Horthy-ruled Hungary and Czarist Bulgaria to win them over to the idea of waging war against Yugoslavia. At the same time, he was banking on the separatist aspirations of the traitors whom he and Mussolini had been inciting for quite some time by promises of various kinds and political maneuvers.

On April 6, 1941, without declaring war, the fascist countries launched a surprise attack on Yugoslavia with 51 divisions (24 were German, 22 Italian and 5 Hungarian) and support from approximately 1,500 airplanes.

As the fascist troops invaded the country, German aircraft (roughly 500 bombers escorted by 250 fighters) launched a craven attack on the nation's capital in the morning of April 6, leaving tens of thousands of dead in the smouldering ruins.

The Government and the Supreme Command of the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia were left without leadership, a circumstance which accelerated the collapse of the country and left anarchy in its wake.

The Yugoslav Army, poorly armed and trained, was not prepared to wage war, burdened as it was by all the contradictions that had corroded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The larger part of the commanding cadre had surrendered to a mood of capitulation while one section was composed of fifth-columnists. The German Army therefore met with no strong organized resistance from the Yugoslav Army although individual examples of resistance reflected the readiness of Yugoslav citizens and patriotic officers to defend their country.

The Communist Party of Yugoslavia was the only political factor in the country to launch a determined struggle for the country's defence. It fostered patriotic sentiments among the people, pointed out the consequence of loss of national independence, and invested maximum efforts in continuing resistance to the aggressor regardless of the treasonous attitude of Yugoslavia's ruling circles. Representatives of the Communist Party visited unit HQs with the request that weapons be given to workers and anti-fascists. But the Government and military leaders did not want arms to be turned over to the people and to Communists. Under the circumstances, the defeat and collapse of the former Yugoslav Army was inevitable. On April 15, the king, Cabinet and Supreme Command fled abroad, after authorizing their plenipotentiaries to sign an act of unconditional surrender, which was duly done on April 17, 1941, at the HQ of the German 2nd Army in Belgrade. Over 300,000 members of the former Yugoslav Army were taken to prisoner-of-war camps, the forces of occupation having captured its armaments and other military equipment.

The short-lived April war, although terminating in the defeat of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, had important international repercussions. Hitler's Command was forced to postpone the attack on the USSR by 38 days?¹

Following the April defeat, Yugoslavia was divided up among the fascist aggressors: Slovenia was split up among Germany, Italy, and Hungary; Serbia and Banat were taken by Germany, while Serbia's frontier districts were turned over to Bulgaria under King Boris; a large part of Dalmatia, the Croatian Littoral, Montenegro, Kosovo and Metohija were either occupied or annexed by Italy; Backa and Medjumurje were taken by Horthy's Hungary: Macedonia was shared by fascist Italy and Czarist Bulgaria.

The occupiers intended denationalizing these areas by various measures including the wholesale resettlement of the population, internment in concentration camps and physical extermination.

The occupation authorities, exploiting seperatist aspirations and supported by various Yugoslav bourgeois politicians, created traitorous organizations. In Slovenia, on the day Yugoslavia was attacked, Governor Natlacen formed the "People's Council", the purpose of which was to set up a Slovenian state within the framework of Hitler's Germany. On April 10, fascist agents in Zagreb set up the so-called Independent State of Croatia run by the Ustashi, at the head of which the occupiers placed the criminal Ante Pavelic. On May 1, the occupiers formed a caretaker government in Belgrade, headed by the traitor Milan Acimovjc.

Their country occupied and dismembered, the peoples of Yugoslavia faced their hardest trials.

Notes

1.  Proces des grands criminels, XXXIV, 170, p. 702

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II.(Edited reduction J.Braddell)

From the very beginning of the occupation, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, although outlawed, began making preparations for an armed war of liberation.¹ At a session held on April 10, 1941, in Zagreb, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia took a decision to continue offering resistance to the aggressors and, in case of the complete breakdown of the army and state (which was apparently imminent, judging from developments), to start organizational and political preparations to wage war. At the same session, a Military Committee was formed, with Josip Broz Tito at the head, to direct the military preparations. In a Proclamation of April 15, 1941, the Central Committee stressed that the Communists and working class of Yugoslavia should "be in the front ranks of the struggle against the invaders"; explained the social and political significance of that struggle in which "a new world would be born" and a free fraternal community created on the basis of the genuine independence of all the peoples of Yugoslavia.

The consultation of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, held at the beginning of May 1941, in Zagreb was of exceptional importance in paving the way for the uprising. The principal task of the Party in that period was laid down: to organize the peoples of Yugoslavia to wage war for "national and social liberation". The broadest masses of the people, irrespective of political, national, religious or other differences, had to be gathered together into a united front of struggle against the occupiers and domestic traitors. The political line adopted by the Communist Party at this consultation resulted from the assessment it had made of the objective political mood of the people after the occupation. The profound national consciousness, and the explicitly anti-fascist mood (as reflected in the events of March 27) — made the people ready to resist and to fight.
....................

On June 27, 1941, the General HQ of the People's Liberation and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia was formed. Josip Broz Tito, Secretary-General of the Communist Party and Head of the Military Committee, was named Commander-in-Chief.

At the session held on July, 1941, in Belgrade, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party's Central Committee passed the historic decision to start the uprising without delay. The Partisan method of warfare was adopted as the basic form of combatting the enemy; it was considered the most suitable way to operate in view of the occupation and the unfavourable balance of forces.Partisan actions were launched in virtually all parts of Yugoslavia. The fighting rapidly acquired the character of a mass people's uprising.

The invaders and quislings suffered heavy losses in men and war material. On liberated territory (in Serbia, Montenegro, Western Bosnia) occupation and quisling administration was liquidated and organs of people's government were set up, the latter organizing an even more telling resistance in their respective areas with the result that forty towns were liberated. On occupied territory, the Partisans destroyed mines and other industrial installations to prevent the invaders from utilizing them.As the fighting spread and intensified, the Partisan Detachments emerged into military units which were several hundred strong, and in some areas, several thousand strong.Even in the occupied towns, the Party organized actions against the invaders who were never for a moment able to feel secure. Hand grenades and revolver bullets caught up with the enemy soldiers and traitors wherever they went. Particularly significant were actions of this sort in Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Split, Mostar, Sarajevo, Kragujevac, Zemun, Niš, Cetinje and other localities.

September 26, 1941, a consultation was held at Stolice (Western Serbia) under the chairmanship of Josip Broz Tito; participating were members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the General HQ of the People's Liberation Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia and representatives of regional leaderships. The following decisions were adopted at this meeting: to establish a single type of Partisan detachment (with companies and battalions) throughout Yugoslavia; to rename the General HQ of the People's Liberation Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia — the Supreme HQ of the People's Liberation Detachments of Yugoslavia: to form general HQs in those regions and districts where there were none as yet; to have large-scale and reinforced Partisan forces undertake broader operations; to liberate new areas and expand the existing free territory; to elect People's Liberation Committees which were to mobilize all forces for the war; to persevere in forging political unity among the people and towards that end to continue negotiations with Draža Mihailovic.

With these conceptions as a basis, Party and military leaderships in all parts of the country directed their efforts toward promoting the People's Liberation Struggle. After the consultation at Stolice, liberated Užice became the seat of the Supreme HQ and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. It was in Užice that the Central Committee started issuing the newspaper "Borba" (meaning "Struggle"). It was there, too, that the Partisan munitions factory turned out 16,500 rifles and 2,500,000 rounds of ammunition, a fact of major significance for arming the Partisans in Serbia and Eastern Bosnia.

On September 16, 1941, Hitler issued instructions for measures to put down the uprising in Yugoslavia.

Pursuant to this directive, on that same day, the German Chief of Staff, Fieldmarshal Keitel, gave orders to the effect that the uprising in Yugoslavia was to be crushed "in the shortest possible time" and that "exceptional cruelty" was warranted in view of the fact that "human life frequently means nothing in these countries… the rule should be 50—100 Communists executed in retaliation for the life of each German soldier".

The German invaders directed the main force of their attack at the insurgents in Serbia. After reinforcing their troops by bringing in the 342nd Division from France, the 11 3rd Division from the Eastern Front and some units from Greece (equivalent to about one division), they launched a big offensive in Western Serbia and Šumadija in September. Five German divisions and numerous quisling units participated in that operation, which lasted, with interruptions, until December 1941. The principal Partisan forces, fighting all the while, were compelled to withdraw to Sandžak.

By February 1942, the forces of occupation and quislings had undertaken a number of offensive operations in all parts of Yugoslavia. However, all their efforts to "pacify the occupied regions" proved futile. It goes without saying that the fighting men of the People's Liberation Army suffered temporary setbacks in combat; retreats and losses of free territory were not unknown. But the spirit of offensive never flagged in that Army.

The governments of the anti-Hitler coalition countries had recognized the Yugoslav Government-in-exile as a legitimate and allied government and maintained diplomatic relations with it. This Government was, however, most active in its attempts to crush the armed insurrection indirectly by a variety of political maneuvers and directly through operations undertaken by the Chetniks under Mihailovic. On the other hand, it kept the world public deceived by portraying the Partisan struggle against the occupying forces as the work of Mihailovic's Chetniks.

The idea of the Communist Party's Central Committee that the armed struggle should gradually emerge into a nation-wide war thus became reality. A large number of Partisan detachments, numbering approximately 80,000 fighting men, had been formed in Yugoslavia by the end of 1941. Extensive areas had been liberated in Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro. By 1941, Yugoslavia had become another theatre of operations in subjugated Europe. The peoples of Yugoslavia, headed by the Communist Party, forced the Axis powers to fight a war in Yugoslavia that was to continue until final victory.

In fighting the Partisan units in Yugoslavia, the Germans and Italians were forced to use considerable forces badly needed on other fronts. By the end of 1941, there were pinned down in Yugoslavia 6 German, 16 Italian, 5 Bulgarian, about 2 Hungarian and 8 quisling divisions — all in all, over half a million enemy officers and men.

III Reduced, edited J.Braddell

The Communist Party of Yugoslavia strove, on the platform of liberation and revolution, to unify the people along the broadest possible lines, the unity thus forged being reflected in the People's Liberation Front. The policy of fratricidal war, pursued by the forces of occupation and quislings, was countered by the Communist Party's policy of brotherhood among all the peoples of Yugoslavia in the struggle against the common enemy.

"The banner of national liberation war against the forces of occupation, raised by the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1941, was also the banner of war for national freedom and for the equality of each nationality within Yugoslavia. It is the same banner that the Communist Party has borne aloft, unsullied, since the formation of Yugoslavia, as it fought uncompromisingly so that each one of our nationalities could enjoy national freedom and equality..." (Tito: Article in "Proletarian", Dec. 1942; Speeches and Articles Book I. p. 132).

During the winter and spring of 1942, the existing focal points of insurrection were reinforced and new ones created in the western sections of Yugoslavia — in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a considerable part of Croatia and in Slovenia. There the fighting never ceased as more numerous and better-organized Partisan detachments were formed.The armed struggle was stepped up in Serbia and Macedonia, where new Partisan Detachments were formed. The steady spreading of the liberation war compelled the invaders, apart from daily clashes with the Partisans throughout the country, to undertake several major offensives against the largest forces of insurrection in Yugoslavia. Representatives of the German Supreme Command and the Italian-Ustashi-Home Guard General HQ met in Opatija on March 2 and 3 for the purpose of working out a joint operational plan. Hitler and Mussolini themselves approved the plans.

The most important of these operations was the joint offensive by German, Italian, Ustashi and Chetnik forces against the single segment of free territory covering Eastern Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro and Sandžak.Refusing to be forced into fighting along a front, the chief Partisan forces concentrated at the triangle formed by the boundaries of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Montenegro. There a group comprising five Partisan shock and proletarian brigades was formed which was soon to take the offensive to Yugoslavia's western regions.

The occupation and quisling troops launched a number of offensive operations in other parts of Yugoslavia as well. One of the major ones centered on Mount Kozara in Bosnia in June and July 1942. This is one of the most highly dramatic events in the entire Liberation War, if judged by the intensity of the fighting, the losses on both sides and the suffering of the innocent population.In July, five Italian divisions launched military operations in Slovenia which lasted until late autumn.

The liberation of Bihac on November 4, 1942, made it possible to merge the liberated territories of Western Bosnia and Croatia. This operation was one of the major successes of the Partisan units in that offensive, the attack on the fortified town having brought together the biggest concentration of Partisan units (eight brigades) up to that time.

Its geographical position made the central liberated territory (about 50,000 sq. km) a favourable starting point for operations against neighbouring districts. The Central Committee of the Yugoslav Communist Party and the Supreme HQ then moved to Bihac from which they could bring more influence to bear on the development of the liberation war and revolution in the entire country and particularly in the western regions.

As the new, mobile operational units — the brigades — grew, the problem arose as to how to command and dovetail the numerous, parallel and increasingly intricate military operations. In November 1942, the Supreme HQ decided to create the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, organized into divisions and corps. The liberation forces were thereby given a new organizational structure which rendered it possible for them to deliver even harder blows to the enemy.

By the end of 1942, nine divisions and two corps of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia had been set up to carry out operational tasks.¹ ................

Gradually, the truth about the struggle of the Yugoslav people made its way into the world; the position of the treasonous Government-in-exile weakened, with world democratic opinion turning its sympathies towards the People's Liberation Movement as it chalked up one victory after another in its war on the fascist forces of occupation and their lackeys.

Although its sights had been set on far-reaching military and political goals from the very beginning, the People's Liberation Movement did not initially have an elected political representative body of its own..................

The Anti-fascist Council of People's Liberation of Yugoslavia officially constituted itself and was proclaimed the highest political organ of the People's Liberation Movement, that is, the supreme political representative of the peoples of Yugoslavia in their struggle against the forces of occupation and domestic traitors. AVNOJ therefore functioned as the first revolutionary assembly, although it was not formally an organ of government.

AVNOJ immediately initiated the creation of regional anti-fascist councils of national liberation, which went a long way toward solving the national question.

In the Battle of the Volga, the Red Army defeated the German fascist army so thoroughly that the operation represented a turning point in the war, with strategic initiative thenceforth in the hands of the Soviet forces. The news of the ringing victory caused great rejoicing among the fighting men of the People's Liberation Army.

The Anglo-American troops in Africa were also scoring signal successes which had a favourable effect on the Yugoslav theatre, particularly after the transfer of operations to Italy.

These developments increased the importance of the Yugoslav theatre, with both Allies and enemies being forced to reckon with it to an increasing extent.

Foreseeing the possibility of an Anglo-American landing in the Balkans, Hitler feared that the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia would jeopardize the German defence operations in the South-East. He therefore decided to wipe out "Tito's state" (as the Germans called the extensive central liberated area) and the main force of its army.

As early as October 1942, Hitler had considered the measures to be taken to crush the main force of the People's Liberation Army. In December the same year, at a General HQ consultation attended by chiefs of general staffs and foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, it was decided to launch operations designed to destroy the People's Liberation Army and win back the liberated areas. The offensive started on January 20, 1943, with the invaders massing against the Liberation Army four German, three Italian and two quisling divisions — roughly 80,000 men in all. For two months, the I Bosnian and the I Croatian Corps of the People's Liberation Army (totaling 20,000 men) were engaged in fierce defensive fighting. Owing to their dogged resistance, the enemy was prevented from making serious inroads on the People's Liberation Army: he therefore vented his fury on the civilian population in unprecedented reprisals and acts of terror. While the fighting was in progress in Croatia and Bosnia, a group of five divisions of the People's Liberation Army, directed by Tito himself, started an offensive in the direction of Herzegovina, Montenegro, Sandžak and Southern Serbia......................

By the middle of May, it had smashed the main Chetnik forces under Mihailovic and the considerable Italian forces fighting with the latter, liberating a large segment of Herzegovina, Montenegro, Eastern Bosnia and Sandžak. The winter offensive undertaken by the occupation and quisling troops therefore fell short of its goal.

While this group of divisions was on the offensive in Herzegovina and Montenegro, the remaining units of the People's Liberation Army were winning battles in other parts of the country, particularly in Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia. Following a general directive issued by the Supreme HQ, these operations had as their purpose the easing of enemy pressure on those forces of the People's Liberation Army that were under the direct command of the Supreme HQ. As his winter operations did not yield the desired result, the invader started a fresh offensive in the middle of May in Montenegro and Herzegovina, directed against the group of divisions under the direct command of Tito. This offensive which is known as the Battle of Sutjeska or the Fifth Offensive was launched with roughly 120,000 enemy troops in the field. The numerically superior invasion force surrounded the units of the People's Liberation Army — about 19,000 fighting men, and the fiercest engagement of the People's Liberation War ensued. On rough mountain terrain, plagued by shortages of food, ammunition and other material, exhausted by previous combat which had lasted several months, and burdened by the 4,000 wounded they were carrying with them, the People's Liberation Army units fought day and night for a full month to break through the encirclement. One of the wounded in the hard fighting was Tito.

Again thanks to their uncrushable morale, the People's Liberation units, after fierce fighting and forced marches, finally succeeded in breaking through the ring. The group of divisions had lost a third of its men but it had foiled the German plans and caused the occupying forces heavy losses in manpower and weapons. In the middle of June, it advanced through Eastern Bosnia, and in July, operating in conjunction with other units, liberated even more extensive territory.

When that battle was over, in the summer of 1943, the People's Liberation Army emerged as a significant armed force, with 57 brigades in 18 divisions, 4 corps and 70 Partisan detachments. Its operations inside Hitler's "European Fortress" attracted the attention of the world.

A momentous occasion in terms of the further course of the People's Liberation War was the capitulation in September 1943 of fascist Italy . The People's Liberation Army then smashed and disarmed 10 Italian divisions, capturing immense amounts of weapons and other war material.

In the autumn of 1943, the People's Liberation Struggle continued to spread, especially in Dalmatia and the Croatian Littoral. About 80,000 new fighting men joined the ranks of the People's Liberation Army. The Navy of the People's Liberation forces of Yugoslavia, formed in 1942, had grown considerably by that time and come into the possession of many ships. Contact could thus be established with the Allied troops in Italy via the liberated islands. At the beginning of October, a People's Liberation Army base was established in Ban, Italy, through which the Allies sent material assistance.

The units of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia liberated extensive territory in Croatia and in Western and Central Bosnia. There was also an upsurge in the liberation movement in Serbia; in the autumn of 1943, three brigades were formed: the I Šumadija, and the I and II South Morava brigades. The I and II Macedonian brigades were formed in Macedonia where the scope of military operations broadened considerably.

At that time the People's Liberation Movement also increased its influence on members of the Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak and other nationalities living in Yugoslavia. Special units consisting of Albanians, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, and Italians were formed.............

At long last, the People's Liberation Army took the initiative in the Yugoslav theatre and forced Hitler to raise the number of his divisions in this country. All in all, there were 650,000 occupation and quisling soldiers in Yugoslavia. As the Red Army was forcing the Dnieper and the troops of Britain and American were setting foot on the soil of Southern Italy, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia was a factor to be reckoned with in the overall strategic plan for the destruction of the fascist forces in Europe.

The liberation war in Yugoslavia had a positive influence on liberation movements in Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Italy............

The Yugoslav Government-in-exile which had, through its Defence Minister Draža Mihailovic been waging war on the People's Liberation Movement, was compromised to the hilt not only inside the country but throughout the world.

.The Second Session of AVNOJ adopted a Declaration according to which AVNOJ constituted itself as the supreme legislative and executive body of Yugoslavia; the Yugoslav Government-in-exile in London was shorn of all rights and its activities outside the country were placed under the supervision of AVNOJ; Yugoslavia was to develop as a democratic, federated state of equal nationalities.........setting up the new Yugoslavia on a federal basis, which would guarantee full-fledged equality to the fraternal nationalities and rights to the national minorities; expressing recognition and gratitude to the People's Liberation Army; introducing the rank of Marshal of Yugoslavia; confirming the decisions, regulations and declarations adopted by the Executive Committee of AVNOJ and the Supreme HQ of the People's Liberation Army.

The National Committee of Liberation of Yugoslavia was duly set up by the newly-elected representative body of AVNOJ. Josip Broz Tito, who was named Marshal of Yugoslavia, was also appointed President of the National Committee and Defence Commissioner. The decisions of the Slovenian People's Liberation Committee and the Regional Anti-fascist Council of People's Liberation of Croatia, relative to the attachment to Yugoslavia of the Slovenian Littoral, Istria, Rijeka and other areas that Italy had annexed after the First World War, were confirmed.

However: The defeat of German troops at the Eastern and other fronts on the one hand, and the strengthening of the People's Liberation Movement in Yugoslavia on the other, marked a turning point in the Yugoslav theatre of operations, as well. Regardless of the fact that there were in the autumn of 1943 over 600,000 enemy soldiers and officers in Yugoslavia, the balance of forces had altered basically (in comparison with the earlier years of the war and taking into consideration the growth of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia). The German fascist troops of occupation were forced to fight to try and capture the many important positions held by the People's Liberation Army. At the end of 1943, they undertook a number of successive operations aimed at gaining hold of the Adriatic coastal belt and retaining it, at recapturing the important lines of communication linking the coast with the interior, at smashing the People's Liberation Army concentrations in these districts, particularly in Eastern Bosnia and Sandžak, where they posed a threat to the German positions in Serbia.Another three divisions were brought into Yugoslavia to reinforce the troops charged with this task: the 371st Infantry Division from Italy, the 1st Alpine Division from Greece, and the 392nd Division from Austria.Thirteen German and one Bulgarian division, several independent brigades and a number of quisling units kept up a succession of fierce attacks and defensive operations from the autumn of 1943 to February 1944......................

As it did not have available sufficient forces for large-scale offensive operations in Yugoslavia, it decided to mount an airborne attack to destroy the leadership of the People's Liberation Movement, headed by Josip Broz Tito, the Supreme HQ, the National Committee and the CPY's Central Committee, all of whom were located in the town of Drvar at the time. In secret, it trained special units for the operation.

On May 25, 1944, the German occupiers carried out their paratroop assault on Drvar, synchronized with an attack by motorized units converging on the town from several directions. The German paratroopers were soon put out of commission by vigorous counter-action by cadets at the Officer's School, the Escort Battalion of the Supreme HQ, delegates to the Second Congress of the United Anti-fascist Youth Federation of Yugoslavia, the citizens of Drvar, particularly the young people, and units of the People's Liberation Army that had been quickly brought up. Fighting their way out of the trap, Tito and other members of the Supreme HQ left Drvar for Kupres. The final attempt by the German Supreme Command to deal a decisive blow to the People's Liberation Movement had been foiled.

After the winter operations, 1943-1944, a large segment of Yugoslav territory was under the control of the People's Liberation Army. Signal successes had been achieved in the eastern regions of Yugoslavia. Southern Serbia and Eastern Macedonia were linked up. Five new People's Liberation Army divisions and two Bulgarian Partisan brigades were formed in Southern Serbia in the first half of 1944. ......................

The question of the international recognition of the new Yugoslavia became more and more pressing as the war neared its end. In order to win recognition in the complicated international situation of the time, the National Committee, abiding by the decisions of the Second Session of AVNOJ, decided to initiate talks with the reconstituted Government-in-exile under Dr. ŠubašiC.

Talks between Marshal Tito and ŠubašiC were held on the island of Vis in June, 1944. An agreement was reached in accordance with which the Yugoslav Government-in- -exile in London was to be composed of persons who had not been discredited in the struggle against the People's Liberation Movement. Its principal responsibility was to obtain assistance abroad for the People's Liberation Army and concern itself with the question of food supply for the population. ŠubašiC's Government undertook the obligation, which it later fulfilled, of issuing a declaration tendering recognition to the People's Liberation Army under Marshal Tito's command, condemning all collaborators with the occupiers and appealing to the entire nation to unite and rally around the Liberation Army.................................

Marshal Tito's talks with Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Maples in August 1944 were also of immense significance in terms of international recognition for Yugoslavia. Agreement in principle was reached on joint operations between the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the Allied forces, with arrangements being made to supply the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, to care for its wounded, to form air force units, to hand over the ships of the former Yugoslav Navy to the People's Liberation Army and so on.

Defeats along all fronts made Germany's position hopeless in the summer of 1944. The Red Army was advancing inexorably toward Germany, its left flank moving toward Rumania and Bulgaria. Faced with active resistance movements, the satellite governments in those countries were not long in capitulating. In June, the British and American troops invaded Normandy and opened up the Second Front in Europe. The People's Liberation Army, which already numbered roughly forty divisions with over 350,000 fighting men, launched operations for the final freeing of the country......................

Assessing the international military and political situation as indicating the rapid collapse of Hitler's Germany, the Supreme HQ directed the principal operations of the People's Liberation Army toward Serbia. An advance into Serbia would prevent the German "E" Army Group from withdrawing in the Vardar-Morava direction, while contact between the People's Liberation and Red Armies would link the front in the Yugoslav theatre of operations with the Soviet front in Eastern Europe. The Chetnik and Nedicite forces also had to be smashed, as reactionary circles in the West were still counting on them in their post-war schemes for Yugoslavia. Serbia therefore acquired exceptional significance in terms of the development and triumphant conclusion of the People's Liberation War.

In the summer of 1944, a strong Liberation Army force (the I and XII Corps and an Operational Group consisting of 3 divisions) gathered in Eastern Bosnia and Montenegro with the view to advancing into Serbia. A General HQ of the People's Liberation Army of Serbia was established and all liberation units in Serbia (5 divisions plus Partisan Detachments) were placed under its command. By the end of September 1944, this powerful concentration of the Liberation Army had captured the central part of Serbia and was poised to fight for the liberation of Belgrade. During the penetration of this main force of the People's Liberation Army into Central Serbia, successful operations were conducted by the newly-formed XIII Corps around Niš and the XIV in Eastern Serbia.

For purposes of expediting operations, the First Army Group consisting of nine divisions was created of the units which had advanced into Serbia. It was assigned the task of freeing the still unliberated parts of Western Serbia, Šumadija and Belgrade. Tito flew to Moscow where he negotiated an agreement with the Soviet Government to have the Red Army participate in the liberation of portions of Serbia and Vojvodina, to send our units armaments and to place under the civilian administration of the Yugoslav-National Committee of Liberation the areas where the Red Army operated in Yugoslavia.

After many days of ferocious fighting shoulder to shoulder, units of the People's Liberation and the Red Armies freed Belgrade on October 20, 1944. The Germans lost 25,000 men killed or captured. Several thousand citizens of Belgrade also took part in the fighting to free their city, and thousands of new men joined the Liberation Army.

Belgrade became the political and military hub of the new Yugoslavia. It was there that the Central Committee, the Supreme HQ and the National Committee passed far-reaching decisions in terms of the country's political and economic consolidation and the pooling of efforts for the final liberation of the whole of Yugoslavia. As regards foreign policy, the National Committee continued efforts to solve a series of problems which were significant for the consolidation of the new Yugoslavia's international position.Pursuant to the provisions of the foregoing agreement, on March 7, 1945, Marshal Tito formed the Provisional Government of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. ŠubašiC joined that Government as Foreign Minister, and four more ministers from his earlier cabinet were also included. Most of the portfolios (22) were entrusted to former members of the National Committee. The three great Allied Powers immediately recognized the Provisional Government, followed later by the rest of the Allies and neutral countries. The struggle for Yugoslavia's international recognition was thereby crowned with success while the war was still in progress.................

Operations for the final liberation of the country were launched by the IV Army. On March 20, 1945, this Army went into the offensive; after heavy fighting, it liberated Lika, Gorski Kotar and the Croatian Littoral by the end of April. Somewhat later, the I and III Army started attacking. Having broken through the Srem Front and overpowered enemy resistance, they continued their thrust westward, toward Slovenia. At this time, the TI Army was conducting offensive operations to expel the enemy from Bosnia.

Despite the stubborn resistance put up by the German units which hoped to prevent the entry of the Yugoslav Army into Istria and halt its advance toward Trieste, the IV Army liberated Trieste on May 1, while the IX Corps of the Yugoslav Army moved into the towns of Gorica and Tržic (Gorizia and Monfalcone) on May 1. On May 8, the I and II Armies freed Zagreb.

The resistance of the German fascist Army in Yugoslavia dragged on until May 15 even though the act of unconditional surrender by Hitler's Germany was signed on May 8. It thus happened that while the whole world was celebrating victory in Europe on May 9, the Yugoslav Army fought on for one more week against the German fascist and quisling units. The Hitlerite units under the command of General Lehr, which had tried to withdraw westward, were forced to capitulate on Yugoslav soil.

Thus did the peoples of Yugoslavia bring to a triumphant close their four-year war of liberation and revolution and effect a historic turning point in the annals of their country. Their sufferings had been agonizing and their sacrifices enormous: every ninth Yugoslav had lost his life fighting the fascist invaders and local traitors. The country had been devastated, entire villages and towns ravaged; over 25 percent of the population was left without a roof over their heads. The economy was at a standstill, 84 percent of the means of transportation had been destroyed, roads and railway tracks torn up. Can there be any greater testimony to the heroism of the Yugoslav peoples and their contribution to the victory over the fascist powers than the figures telling of their tremendous human and material sacrifices.

Marxists Internet Archive (2006).