The Yugoslav partisans were the main anti-fascist resistance movement which fought against the occupation of Yugoslavia by Axis forces during World War II.
The uniting force of the anti-fascist partisans on the territory were the People's Liberation Army and Partisan detachments of Yugoslavia (NOV i POJ; Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odredi Jugoslavije) under the command of Yugoslav Communist Party and Josip Broz (who went by the nom de guerre of Tito).
The Partisans of the People's Liberation Army staged a wide-spread guerrilla campaign . As they followed the communist ideology, they organized people's committees to act as civilian governments in areas which they liberated .
The Partisans had the support of the Soviet Union. Since the Teheran Conference in 1943 they have been also recongnised as the legitimate national force by the Western Allies, who supplied aid by the use of RAF Balkan Air Force .
Although Red Army facilitated the liberation, the amount of organization among the NLA and the favorable position of Yugoslavia in Europe resulted in the country being one of the few Axis-occupied European countries to mostly liberate itself and not be encumbered by foreign army presence after the end of the war.
Smaller-scale partisan units such as the TIGR of the Slovenes from the Adriatic seaside regions (Primorje) were also eventually integrated in the NLA . The Chetniks, who also led a guerilla war on the Yugoslav territory, actually fought against the Partisans during most of the war.
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Last updated: 05-06-2005 15:03:41
