First Enemy Offensive
| First Enemy Offensive | ||||||||
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| Part of the Yugoslav Front of World War II | ||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||
| September 27: |
September 27: |
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| November 1 on: |
November 1 on: |
November 1 on: |
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| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
 Franz Böhme |
 Draža Mihailović |
 Josip Broz Tito |
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| Strength | ||||||||
| 342 and 113 division, and parts of divisions 704., 714., 717. and 718. | Around 3,000 men in the area (a portion of which did not enter the fighting)[1] | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The First Enemy Offensive (Serbo-Croatian: Prva neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva), codenamed Operation Uzice, was the first major military confrontation on the Yugoslav Front of World War II. It was an offensive by German and collaborationist troops against the "Užice Republic", the first of a large number of self-sustained "free territories" founded by the Partisan resistance forces. Engaged in the initial defense of the territory the Partisans were aided by Chetnik formations, with resistance movement fighting largely on its own. In the offensive's course, after weeks of bickering between the two resistance forces, the Chetniks launched a massive attack on the Partisan headquarters in the town of Užice itself. The attack failed, with the aftermath leaving the Chetnik forces greatly diminished.[1] The main operation took place near the today's Bosnian/Serbian border between September 27 and late November 1941.[2]
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[edit] Background
[edit] Formation and early rebellion
First Yugoslav Partisan unit (and first anti-fascist military unit in occupied Europe) was established in Brezovica forest, near Sisak, Croatia on June 22, 1941, the day Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.[3] Various military formations more or less linked to the general liberation movement were involved in armed confrontations with Axis forces which erupted in various areas of Yugoslavia in the ensuing weeks. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia formally decided to launch an armed uprising on 4 July 1941, a date which was later marked as Fighter's Day - a public holiday in the SFR Yugoslavia.
[edit] Užice Uprising
On July 7, 1941, while Chetnik forces were still inactive, Josip Broz Tito and the Partisans staged a large-scale uprising in the region between Šabac and Užice, in the Krupanj area of northwest Serbia[4] One Žikica Jovanović Španac shot the first bullet of the campaign on 7 July 1941 - marking the start of armed resistance in occupied Yugoslavia.[1] The uprising was successful and secured a defensible, self-sustained, independent region, the first of many "free territories" to be established by the Partisans during the course of the war, and was commonly called the "Užice Republic". Almost immediately, the Germans made a concerted effort to find out whether the Chetniks ("nationalists") supported the uprising, as they felt that only with nationalist support could it acquire a mass character. On August 14 the Headquarters of the Military Commander in Serbia reported to the OKW that the Partisan forces thus far enjoy no support from the nationalists. Despite this, the German military forces in the region were deemed insufficient to quell the uprising, which by August 27 had become "more acute" and was rapidly spreading. Because of this, and since no reinforcements could be expected, the German authorities decided to rely on enlarging Serbian auxiliary forces in order for the "Serbs themselves to crush the communist activity".[1]
By September 1941, after seeing the considerable success of the uprising, and observing its wide, and growing, support among the populace, the Chetniks realized that if they did not join the fight, they would likely forfeit their standing as the leaders of Serbian resistance.[1] On September 12, German intelligence reported that Chetnik units are taking up positions alongside the Partisans. Reporting on the events to the government-in-exile, Yugoslav politician Dr. Miloš Sekulić stated that the Chetnik resistance has a "defensive character", while the Partisans managed to unite elements of the Yugoslav people inclined toward active resistance.[1]
In mid-September 1941, Josip Broz Tito and the Partisan General Staff moved from Belgrade to the Užice Republic where the Partisans had by now formed 25 new military detachments.[5] A few days later on September 19, Tito met with Draža Mihailović in order to negotiate an alliance between Partisans and Chetniks, but they failed to reach an agreement. Tito was in favor of a joint full-scale offensive, while Mihailović considered a general uprising to be premature and dangerous, as he deemed it would trigger reprisals. Chetnik support for the rebellion was partial: of some 5,000-10,000 available men, the Chetniks fielded about 3,000 in the area, while an unknown proportion of these did not enter the fighting.[1]
[edit] German reaction
In the meantime, on 16 September 1941 Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel issued an order applying to all Europe to kill 50 hostages for every wounded German soldier and 100 for each killed.[6] German commander Franz Böhme ordered Keitel's directive to be carried out in Serbia in the most drastic manner and that with no exception one hundred hostages would be executed for every German killed.[7] Invested by Hitler with total authority and told to "restore order for the longer term in the entire area by the most radical means", Böhme made it clear from the beginning that he intended if necessary to wage war against the whole Serbian population by considering all civilians as enemies.[8] He was also instructed to apply the order directive concerning the taking of hostages no just to attacks concerning German military personnel, but also ethnic Germans, Bulgarian military personnel, individuals in the service of the occupation authority, and eventually to members of the Serbian administration. Each act of insurgency was to be considered of "communist" origin. The German military declared Serbia a war zone and villages began to be torched.[9] Ten German soldiers having been killed in a joint Partisan-Chetnik attack on Kraljevo, 1700 hostages were shot on 20 October. Several other thousand hostages were executed during the next weeks in reprisal against the insurgents' attacks.
[edit] Offensive
[edit] Initial operations
To clear this territory of Partisans, Germans employed 342 and 113 division and parts of divisions 704., 714., 717. and 718. They were assisted by Dimitrije Ljotić's Serbian Volunteer Corps and Kosta Pećanac's personal Chetnik faction. As German forces entered the territory held by the Partisans, they faced significant resistance, especially on Rudnik Mountain and in Kraljevo. As retribution for a lost man, Germans executed 7,000 people in Kragujevac between September 21 and September 23.[5] On September 29, the offensive officially started when the 342nd German infantry division attacked Partisans on the road between Šabac and Loznica. Concurrently, an offensive known as Operation Višegrad was launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then annexed as part of the Independent State of Croatia, as the Army of the Independent State of Croatia set to destroy the Partisan and Chetnik holdouts in and around Rogatica and Višegrad. Attacks by NDH troops went on for several weeks, without any side making substantial gains.[10]
[edit] Chetnik attack
By the beginning of October, several small towns in Serbia were in the hands of Partisan or Chetnik groups. While distrustful of each other, Partisans and Chetniks started taking joint actions and besieging larger towns. Their respective commands were set in Užice and Požega, 15 km apart.[11] During October, all hopes of a continued cooperation were drained away in sporadic bickering and outright violations of agreements. During these weeks it also became obvious[1] that, while the Partisan command had no doubts about continuing the struggle, the Chetniks were wavering and looking for a way of giving up the fight against the Germans and directing all their power against the Partisans. A process of polarization took place, taking several weeks and producing shifts in loyalties. The Chetnik detachments of Rev. Vlada Zećević and Lieutenant Ratko Martinović switched to the Partisans during this time.
Tito and Mihailović met again on October 27, 1941 in the town of Brajići near Ravna Gora in a final attempt to achieve an understanding, but found consensus only on secondary issues.[12] However, Chetnik commander Colonel Draža Mihailović this time did not arrive at the meeting in good faith. The Chetnik command had already dispatched to Belgrade Colonel Branislav Pantić and Captain Nenad Mitrović, two of Mihailović's aides, where they contacted German intelligence officer Captain Josef Matl on October 28. They informed the Abwehr that they have been empowered by Colonel Mihailović to establish contact with Prime Minister Milan Nedić and the appropriate Wehrmacht command posts to inform them that the Colonel was willing to "place himself and his men at their disposal for fighting communism". The two representatives further gave the Germans their commander's guarantee for the "definitive clearing of communist bands in Serbian territory" and requested aid from the occupation forces in the form of "about 5,000 rifles, 350 machine guns, and 20 heavy machine guns".[1]
After more than a month of disagreements and minor collisions, the events culminated on November 1 in a massed Chetnik attack in and around the town of Užice where the Partisans had their headquarters. Apparently underestimating the Partisans' numbers, the Chetnik forces were quickly beaten back. D. T. Hudson, British liaison officer in Yugoslavia, then advised the Allied command in Cairo to stop supplying the Chetniks so the British arms would not be used for civil warfare. The Chetniks, who had already received one shipment of weapons sent by parachute, then waited in vain for a second one, even though the British later resumed helping them.[13] Both Tito and Mihailović, however, were still willing to reach a truce, although both were pressed by some of their officers to attack the other as soon as possible; ceasefires alternated with ultimatums, as bloody reprisals between the two resistance movements affected both sides' morals and alienated civilians.[14] At one point, Mihailović's forces, after mounting a surprise attack on the Partisans, found themselves surrounded. The Partisans allowed them to go free, which political observers have attributed to military foresight, as the Chetniks would continue to attack German forces.[15]
[edit] Aftermath
Mihailović eventually realized that his force was unable to protect civilians against German reprisals.[14] The attitude of some of his officers had accelerated the breakup with the Partisans. Faced with indiscipline and a lack of ammunition, he soon found his troops decimated by the conflict with both Germans and Partisans.[16] A meeting was subsequently arranged as an initiative by German Captain Josef Matl and Chetnik Colonel Branislav
Following the defeat, Mihailović was left with greatly reduced troops. German Captain Josef Matl and Chetnik Colonel Branislav Pantić (one of two Chetnik delegates to the occupation authorities in Belgrade) arranged a meeting between Mihailović and German military intelligence (Abwehr) representatives. The meeting took place in the village of Divci on November 11, while the exact circumstances of the meeting remain controversial. There are indications that Mihailović offered to cease activities in the towns and along the major communication lines, but ultimately no agreement was reached at the time due to German demands for the complete surrender of the Chetniks.[17] After the negotiations, an attempt was made by the Germans to arrest Mihailović.[16] Mihailović's negotiations with the enemy were carefully kept secret from both the Partisans, the Yugoslav government-in-exile, and from the British and their representative Captain T.J. Hudson.
German forces and their allies advanced from the north and east towards Užice, and by the 2nd half of November the Partisan forces were in full retreat. On November 25, the final phase of the German offensive against both rebel groups began. Tito and Mihailović had one last phone conversation : Tito announced that he would defend his positions, while Mihailović said that he would disperse. Ultimately, on November 29, the Partisans, including their headquarters which were stationed there, left Užice.[14]
On 10 December, a bounty was put on Mihailović's head, while he himself narrowly escaped capture.[18] Faced with the impact of the German offensive, Mihailović decided to temporarily disband most of his forces and keep only a small staff. The remnants of his Chetniks retreated to the hills of Ravna Gora, but were under German attack throughout December.[19]
Both Tito and Mihailović had suffered a heavy setback. Tito had been surprised by the scale of the uprising, and had found himself managing unexperienced peasant fighters, who were reluctant to move away from their towns, or to accept authority and indoctrination. Mihailović had also been unable to impose discipline on his officers, and had not received sufficient help from the British.[16]
After leaving Užice, the Partisans headed for Sandžak, into Italian-occupied territory. Some detachments failed to retreat on time and were dispersed or destroyed. After the main Partisan forces left for Sandžak, only parts of 5 Partisan detachments were present in Serbia.[5]
[edit] See also
- Yugoslav Partisans
- Yugoslav Front
- Seven anti-Partisan offensives
- Resistance during World War II
- Anti-partisan operations in World War II
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Tomasevich, Jozo; War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: The Chetniks, Volume 1; Stanford University Press, 1975 ISBN 978-0-8047-0857-9 [1]
- ^ Battles & Campaigns during World War 2 in Yugoslavia
- ^ Pavličević, Dragutin (2000). Povijest Hrvatske. Naklada Pavičić. pp. 441–442.
- ^ Johnson, C. A. (1962) Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power: The Emergence of Revolutionary China 1937-1945. pp. 159-169 (California : Stanford University Press).
- ^ a b c General Encyclopedia of the Yugoslavian Lexicographical Institute, volume 6 (Zagreb, 1980), article Prva Neprijateljska Ofenziva.
- ^ Cohen, Philip J. Serbia's secret war: propaganda and the deceit of history, Texas A&M University Press, 1996
- ^ Walter R. Roberts, Tito, Mihailović and the Allies 1941-1945, Rutgers University Press, pp. 31-32
- ^ Hannes Heer,Heer Naumann,Klaus Naumann, War Of Extermination: The German Military In World War II, Berghahn Books, 2004, P. 43-45
- ^ Stevan K. Pawlowitch, Hitler's new disorder : the Second World War in Yugoslavia, Columbia University Press, 2008, p. 60
- ^ Anti-Partisan Operations in Croatia: Operation "Višegrad" (1941-09-30)
- ^ Stevan K. Pawlowitch, p. 61-62
- ^ Stevan K. Pawlowitch, p. 62
- ^ Walter R. Roberts, pp. 34-35
- ^ a b c Stevan K. Pawlowitch, p. 63
- ^ Eds. (1995) Tito's Victory: Theory into reality (Washington DC : National Defense University)
- ^ a b c Stevan K. Pawlowitch, p. 65
- ^ Branko Miljuš, La Révolution yougoslave, L'Âge d'homme, 1982, p. 119
- ^ Stevan K. Pawlowitch, p. 65-66
- ^ Walter R. Roberts, pp. 37-38
[edit] External links
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