Republic of Užice

This article is about the short-lived territory in western Serbia. For the 1974 film, see The Republic of Užice.

Republic of Užice Ужичка република Užička Republika
Liberated territory of Yugoslavia
← 1941 →
Flag
Anthem No official anthem specified¹
The Republic of Užice within occupied Serbia. The borders are that of the WWII Axis partition of Yugoslavia, including collaborationist states.
Capital	Užice
Language(s)	Serbo-Croatian (de facto Užičan dialect)
Government	Socialist republic
Chairman²	Dragojlo Dudić
General Secretary³	Josip Broz Tito
Legislature	Main People's Council of Serbia
Historical era	World War II
- Partisans in Užice	July 28, 1941
- Battle of Drežnik	August 18, 1941 1941
- German ultimatum	September 10, 1941
- Liberation of Užice	September 24, 1941
- Battle of Kadinjača	November 29, 1941
- Conquered	December 1, 1941 1941
Currency	Yugoslav dinar[citation needed]
¹ Hey, Slavs and other Partisan songs were unofficially used ²Chairman of the Main Peoples Council of Serbia ³General Secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Also Commander in Chief of the Partisans.

The Republic of Užice (often written with quotes "Republic of Užice"; Serbian: Ужичка република, Užička Republika) was a short-lived liberated Yugoslav territory and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organized as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 in occupied Yugoslavia, more specifically the western part of occupied Serbia. The Republic was established by the Partisan resistance movement and its administrative center was in the town of Užice.

History

Map of the Republic of Užice

The Republic of Užice comprised a large portion of western Serbia and had a population of more than 300,000 people. It was located between the line Valjevo-Bajina Bašta in the north, the river Drina in the west, the river Zapadna Morava in the east, and the Raška region in the south.

The government was made of "people's councils" (odbori), and the Communists opened schools and published a newspaper, Borba (meaning "Fight"). They even managed to run a postal system and around 145 km of railway and operated an ammunition factory from the vaults beneath the bank in Užice.

In November 1941, in the First anti-Partisan offensive, the German troops occupied this territory again, while the majority of Partisan forces escaped towards Bosnia, Sandžak and Montenegro, re-grouping at Foča in Bosnia.

Trivia

Monument to fallen partisans in battle on Kadinjača hill

The 1974 historical movie The Republic of Užice covers the events surrounding the existence of the Republic of Užice.

See also

• Republic of Bihać
• Former countries in Europe after 1815
• Serbia under German occupation
• Yugoslav Partisans

References

General references

• Venceslav Glišić, Užička republika, Beograd, 1986.
• Јован Радовановић, 67 дана Ужичке републике, Београд, 1972. (прво издање 1961.)
• Boško N. Kostić, Za istoriju naših dana, Lille, France, 1949.

External links

• Modern Serbia - Revolution and the antifascist struggle (Encyclopædia Britannica)
• Opština Užice
• Western Serbia