With as many countries, armies, militias, and so on involved in the warfare, it’s
hard to keep track of every division or fighting force.
For this reason, many often get overlooked or simply forgotten.
One such resistance in the war that may not get as much credit as its due, is the Yugoslav
Partisans…
The Yugoslav Partisans, officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of
Yugoslavia, was an anti-fascist, anti-Axis resistance force birthed from the Axis occupation
of Yugoslavia.
Generally considered the most effective resistance movement in the entire war, it was led by
Josip Broz Tito and was essentially the military branch of the Unitary National Liberation
Front under the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
The goal of these organizations was to fight the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia but also
to create one, multi-ethnic communist state to replace the monarchy.
So, with such hefty goals and a gargantuan opposition...how
were the Yugoslav Partisans so successful?...
As with most questions, the answer to this one is not exactly simple and is due to a
combination of factors.
In order to understand why the Yugoslav Partisans were so incredibly effective, let’s take
a look at some of the main contributing circumstances:
The first benefit to Tito’s movement was his multi-ethnic inclusivity.
Instead of appealing to one ethnic group as other resistance movements, such as the Chetniks,
had done, the Yugoslav Partisans aimed to include the whole of Yugoslavia.
Utilizing the philosophy of “brotherhood and unity”, Tito was able to successfully
rally support from all throughout the contemporary Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
The Partisans even went as far as to grant amnesty to anyone who left the Chetniks or
Axis to join their own movement - maintaining an atmosphere of unity for all.
This not only increased the numbers within the organization but also greatly increased
enthusiasm.
There was so much to gain or to lose depending on the outcome of the resistances’ efforts,
which created a strong sense of passion for saving the current kingdom and creating a
new future for the Yugoslavian state.
Additionally, communism was becoming increasingly popular throughout Yugoslavia, and since the
“new future” that Tito and his Partisans wanted was a communist one, this only served
as yet another motivation for the resistance…
Due to these factors, the Yugoslav Partisans were by no means a small resistance group.
Instead, it spread across every ethnic group within Yugoslavia and became a nationwide
movement that started to resemble an actual army more than anything else.
It’s estimated that before the start of 1945, the Yugoslav Partisans numbered a total
of 650,000 men with 4 field armies and 52 divisions.
While this still left them dangerously outnumbered by the Axis occupiers, it was nonetheless
more than a minute resistance movement and a contributing factor to their ultimate success…
Beyond the formation, organization, and related details of the Yugoslav Partisans, there were
additional benefits to their strategy and geography.
When the Germans first invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, they were of course focused on the
occupation but were also distracted by their other goals and war fronts.
This meant that as the occupation began, the Yugoslav resistance managed to come together
and begin their response without being completely wiped out by the German forces.
Knowing where their advantages and disadvantages stood, the Partisans initially adopted a guerrilla
warfare approach to dealing with the Germans.
This proved to be a wise decision not only due to the numerical disadvantage of the Partisans
but also because they were assisted by the often mountainous and hilly terrain.
While the Germans did make multiple attempts at suppressing the resistance, they didn’t
do enough, and as the success of the Yugoslav Partisans grew, so did their support and members…
By the latter half of the war, this additional support actually came from the Allies.
At the start, the Allies had chosen to support the Chetnik resistance, which wasn’t exactly
on friendly terms with the Partisans.
But, as the latter gained traction and began to impress the Allied leaders, the roles changed.
In April of 1941, Winston Churchill sent a message to the people of Yugoslavia which
ended with, “The British Empire is fighting with you, and behind us is the great democracy
of the U.S.A., with its vast and ever-increasing resources.
However hard the fight, our victory is assured.”
By this point, the Allies were providing both moral and material support to both the Chetniks
and Yugoslav Partisans, but due to the increasing preference for the Partisans, the Chetniks
slowly received less and less in comparison.
By 1943 and the Tehran Conference, the Partisans were recognized by the Allies as the legitimate
national liberation force in Yugoslavia.
In response, more military and material support was then given to the Partisans and their
fight against the Germans.
Furthermore, as the years went on, the Partisans’ numbers were steadily increasing still, and
it’s believed that in 1945, Tito had amassed around 800,000 supporters for his cause.
With a growing fighting force and support from the Allies, the Partisans now managed
to increase their resistance even further and continued to repel the Germans and retake
Yugoslavia bit by bit…
These factors - the effort for multi-ethnic appeal, growing communist support, sheer numbers,
wise tactics, and Allied help - all contributed to why the Yugoslav Partisans managed to be
so impressively successful.
Additionally, other details may have played a further role, such as the fact that the
Yugoslav Partisans were known to mobilize many women, not just men.
They also were not an official state military, and since they were part of a movement as
well, they often gained civilian support due to what they stood for.
Many civilians in the war zones additionally felt compelled to choose sides between the
Axis, the Chetniks, and the Partisans, which meant more opportunity for increased support.
This doesn’t even account for the fact that, as stated earlier, the Partisans were willing
to welcome former supporters of the Axis and Chetniks into their united movement.
More factors may include supposed methods used by Josip Tito, such as his willingness
to incite cruelty from the Germans.
Knowing that their vengeance for even a single killed German would be dramatic and heavy-handed,
Tito would supposedly trigger such a response by the Germans intentionally, that way the
Yugoslav people would see the injustice of the Axis and join the Partisan cause.
Tito also managed to capture mass amounts of Italian equipment when the latter surrendered
to the Allies, leaving their formerly occupied Yugoslav territories open.
While the remaining Axis forces quickly seized them, the equipment still made it to the Partisans
instead.
Another significant factor that came near the end of the war and therefore the resistance
was the Allied military action in Yugoslavia.
Since the Partisans were fighting on the same side as the winning team, they received a
major boost when the Soviet army entered Yugoslavia and began to push the Axis troops out.
Fighting alongside the USSR, the Partisans began to take more and more Yugoslav territory
back, and the Allies pushed the Germans further and further out of the region until their
ultimate surrender…
The aftermath of the war saw the establishment of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia
and the ultimate conclusion to the Yugoslav Partisan resistance.
The Partisans had been effective in both fighting back against the Axis as well as in their
goal to establish a Yugoslavian socialist state.
Their success in the second step came from the building popularity of the communist ideology
and the remarkable support that the Partisan cause had already gained throughout their
efforts to save Yugoslavia and all of its people, regardless of ethnicity.
By the end of the war, the Partisans had earned themselves a marvelous reputation and eventually
became the official army after the establishment of the socialist state.