Even before World War II began, tensions in the Balkan states – particularly in the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria – were high. Host to a variety of different languages,
religions, and ethnicities, the Balkans had been in turmoil for decades. And as
the Second World War kicked off, the divides within the region only grew more pronounced.
When World War II began, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia declared neutrality. However,
pressure from the Germans would soon force their hands. Because Bulgaria relied on Germany
for nearly 65% of its trade, the Bulgarians sought favor with the Nazis and hoped to regain
territories lost in the Second Balkan War. They didn’t want to explicitly choose a side, though.
For similar reasons, Yugoslavia also tried to remain neutral, but internal conflicts
between ethnic groups destabilized the Kingdom. In particular, the pro-fascist
Ustaše wanted to align themselves with the Axis as an independent Croatian state,
while the Serbians sought to join the Allies.
The Balkan campaign officially began with Italy’s invasion of Greece through Albania
in October 1940. But the Hellenic Army put up a strong resistance,
and by November, they had stalled the invasion near the Albanian border.
Because Italy failed to advance into Greece, Germany pressured Bulgaria into signing the
Tripartite Pact on the first of March 1941. This meant the Germans could send troops through
Bulgaria to aid the Italians. Yugoslavia’s Regent Prince Paul soon followed, giving
into German pressure and reluctantly signing the Tripartite Pact on the 25th of March 1941.
Unfortunately for the Regent Price, this made him very unpopular, and the Serbian-nationalist
Royal Yugoslav Army Air Force staged a coup d’état just days later, replacing him with King Peter II.
Hitler was not a fan of this leadership shakeup. Ten days after King Peter II
ascended to the throne, the Axis invaded Yugoslavia. And by the 17th of April,
Yugoslavia signed an armistice, forcing the young king and his
ministers to flee to Britain, where they set up a government in exile.
Greece fell shortly after. And by June 1941, the Axis controlled the Balkans.
After their unconditional surrender,
the occupied Balkan states were divided amongst the conquering powers.
Bulgaria, despite not actively participating in the invasion, occupied Thrace, Macedonia,
and Pomoravlje. In , the majority welcomed the Bulgarians with open arms,
as many of them were ethnically Bulgarian and had faced persecution under Yugoslav-Serbian rule.
Germans and Italians controlled other parts of the Balkans and helped establish the new puppet
state – the Independent State of Croatia – in April 1941. The prime minister and
leader of the ultra-nationalist Ustaše, Ante Palević, immediately began the systematic
genocide of Serbian, Roma, and Jewish people, along with fascist dissenters.-
Quickly, resistances sprung up in Greece, Albania,
and Yugoslavia. However, because of ethnic and ideological differences, there were two
distinct Yugoslavian resistance groups: the Royalist Chetniks and the communist Partisans.
The Chetniks, led by former Serbian General Draža Mihailović,
were initially made up of Royal Yugoslav Army troops who’d fled to the mountains of Serbia
after the surrender. With the support of the Western Allies and King Peter II,
the Chetniks were better equipped than the Partisans in the beginning.
Conversely, the communist Partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito, were poorly organized and badly armed.
However, they enjoyed some support from Spanish Civil War veterans and the Soviet Union. Unlike
the Chetniks, who based their resistance on the foundation of protecting the Serbian identity,
the Partisans did not run along ethnic lines, instead fighting for communist ideological values.
In early resistance efforts, the two groups tried to cooperate, but this alliance would
not last because of strife caused by ethnic and ideological differences.
A rift formed between the two resistance groups in the autumn of 1941, after Axis
forces retook control of the Užice territory that the Partisans had liberated. The Chetniks
largely blamed the Partisans for the loss of Serbian territory within this area,
and despite negotiations, the Chetniks turned openly hostile toward the Partisans.
In November 1941, the Chetniks began secretly getting supplies from the
Italian forces. Additionally, the to combat the Partisans,
who they saw as a common enemy. This impeded resistance efforts and aided the Axis,
who launched offensives against both the groups throughout the war.
The first of these offensives, Operation Southeast Croatia, took place in the winter and spring of
1942. The Germans, supported by the Italians and the Croatian Home Guard, killed 531 Partisans and
captured nearly 1,400 more. Tito and the Partisan leaders evaded capture, however.
During the operation, the Chetniks did not resist the Germans and granted them
passage to the Partisans. Because of this the Central Communist Party declared the
Chetniks traitors and ordered the Partisans to cease any remaining cooperation with them.
The second offensive, Operation Trio, took place in April and May 1942 in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. While the Axis troops fought against both the Chetniks and the Partisans,
the two resistance groups also clashed with each other during this operation,
which led to the Axis retaking most of the liberated land.
Despite losing previously gained territory, the Partisans continued to see increased support
for their cause throughout the region. Their cause wasn’t ideological in nature,
but because of the brutality of the Axis forces that routinely
tore through villages raping women and killing anyone suspected of resistance.
The Partisans mainly employed guerilla warfare, slowly gaining ground and support,
including some aid from the Allies. In the liberated areas,
the Communists set up People’s Committees to act as civilian governments.
In late 1942, German high command grew concerned about a possible Allied invasion of the Balkans,
which would turn the tides in the resistance’s favor. In January 1943, Hitler ordered another
offensive, code named Fall Weiss – [not to be confused with the Fall Weiss of 1939, the Invasion
of Poland – to crush the Partisans permanently.
During Fall Weiss, 90,000 Italian and German troops, as well as 15,000 Chetnik collaborators,
launched an attack into Partisan-held territory in Bosnia, facing approximately 20,000 Partisan
troops. The Chetniks joined the Axis as part of their “March on Bosnia,” an attempt not
only to take down the Partisans but also to begin an “ethnic cleanse” of Bosnian Muslims.
While over 11,000 Partisans were killed, the remaining Partisans
narrowly escaped over the Neretva River by blowing up the bridges in their wake.
In May 1942, another offensive – Fall Schwarz – was launched. Despite the Chetniks fighting
alongside the Axis during Fall Weiss, Hitler worried they would side with the
Allies if they invaded, and ordered them to be captured and disarmed.
During this operation, 127,000 Axis troops battled Partisan forces in Bosnia and Montenegro,
encircling the Partisan headquarters between the 4th and 9th of June. Despite the odds,
and while injured, Tito escaped once again. The Germans retaliated by
slaughtering left-behind Partisans, and civilians in nearby villages.
This was a turning point for the Partisans. The Allies and King Peter II, who had previously
backed the Chetniks, now firmly favored the Partisans. Prime Minister Winston
Churchill even ordered Brigadier General Fitzroy Maclean to join the group as an Allied liaison.
Two months later, on the 8th of September,
the Italians surrendered to the Allies. Of the 17 Italian divisions remaining in the Balkans,
three full divisions immediately took up arms with the Partisans – two in Montenegro and one
in Albania. By the end of 1943, the number of Partisans in the Balkans had grown to 330,000.
In the spring of 1944, the Germans launched one final offensive,
aiming to eliminate Tito personally. This offensive was the most well planned and
included additional air raids on the Bosnian town of Drvar, the Partisans’ home base.
As a result, the Allies deployed the Balkan Air Force (made up of Royal Air Force and
South African Air Force units) in support of Tito, and the German operation ultimately
failed. With increased air support in the Balkan region, the Independent
State of Croatia Air Force and the Luftwaffe struggled to carry out further offensives.
In June 1944, the Partisans signed an agreement with the government
in exile to form a new government that would include the communist Partisans,
the Royalists Chetniks, and all ethnic groups in Yugoslavia. While some Chetniks
defected to the Partisans, others – including Mihailović – refused.
The tides continued to turn in Tito’s favor.
Throughout August and September 1944, Romania and Bulgaria surrendered and
joined the Allies strengthening the region against Axis powers. In September, the Red
Army and the Bulgarian Army entered Yugoslavia to prevent the Germans from withdrawing to Greece.
By October, the Partisans controlled most of eastern Yugoslavia,
including Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro.
In the winter of 1944 and 1945, the Partisans launched the Syrmian offensive to further expel
Axis and Ustaše forces from Bosnia and Croatia. The remaining Chetniks, still led by Mihailović,
launched one last attack on the Axis forces, hoping to gain favor with the Allies. Fighting the
Ustaše and the Croatian Home Guard, they failed to gain any ground, and their numbers dwindled.
On the 8th of May 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally. But the war wasn’t over in
the Balkans. Small skirmishes continued between the Partisans and the remaining Axis forces,
culminating in the Battles of Poljana and Odžac,
the latter ending 17 days after the German surrender.
In November, the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was established, united under the
banner of communism despite ethnic and religious differences. In July of 1946,
Mihailović and several other high Chetnik officials were tried and executed for treason.
Ethnic divides and tension between groups in the Balkans led to chaotic
resistance and untold destruction during the Second World War.
Croatia, as a puppet state, committed a genocide second only to Hitler’s, while the
Chetniks and the Partisans fought a quasi civil war while also attempting to resist the Axis.
Despite all the internal turmoil that arose during the war, the Partisans were the most
effective anti-German resistance group in all of Europe. However,
this came at a cost of at least a million dead and millions more displaced.
But what do you think? Would a united Balkans front have
stood up better against the Axis? If the Chetniks and Partisans had cooperated,
would tides have turned sooner? Let us know in the comments.