The Partisans

A mass resistance movement in the Second World War in Yugoslavia was organised under the command of a Croat, Josip Broz Tito. The Communist Party organised Partisan squads in order to take advantage of the war state and conduct a revolution in a form of a civil coup. And it was a reason for the two groups to be at conflict. Besides fighting the invaders, Partisans fought the Yugoslav Chetniks, as well, as they represented the monarchy. The Partisan anti-Fascist resistance was particularly successful in Bosnia. Through their skilful military tactics, the Partisans managed to counter several enemy offensives.  From 1944 their struggle was recognised  by the Western Allies, with a forced consent of the Yugoslav king in exile. At the very end of the conflicts in Yugoslavia, the National Liberation Army was recognised by the Western Allies; supported by the Soviet Red Army, it was victorious, accomplishing its revolutionary goal. At the end of the war, Partisans were a direct tool of the Communists in introducing a dictatorship.

LANGUAGE

The word partisans comes from French, denoting members of an ideology, willing participants, followers, supporters.

ART

Partisan fight against the Germans and the Chetniks featured in numerous films of the post-war  Yugoslav cinematography. The famous ones are: The Neretva, the Sutjeska and Kozara.

A symbol of Partisan struggle was a five-pointed star worn on caps. After the war, this symbol was integrated into the Yugoslav flag.

OUTSTANDING FIGURES

Žikica Jovanović Španac, Spasenija Cana Babović, Savo Kovačević, Svetozar Vukmanović Tempo, Slobodan Penezić Krcun, Žarko Zrenjanin, Koča Popović.