31-08-2022, 04:42 PM
MISCONCEPTIONS ON WWII IN YUGOSLAVIA: ALL YUGOSLAVS RESISTED
The notion I have formed, while speaking to various history buffs and gamers, is that there is something of a narrative formed on WWII in Yugoslavia, based on several talking points. The problem I see with this, is that these talking points closely resemble the narrative I am familiar from my youth in Communist Yugoslavia, made for political purposes, and enshrined in Communist Yugoslav movies. The problem with this narrative is that it is bunk.
Let me start by the first cornerstone in this narrative, which is that the Yugoslav Peoples (under the inspired leadership of the Communist Party, of course), resisted the Evil Axis, and its Treacherous Local Collaborators (meaning anyone who was not a communist sympathizer). Ergo, the WWII in Yugoslavia was formally called the National Liberation War of the Peoples of Yugoslavia.
Ok, so far, so good. And it is quite true that the resistance forces (two, actually) featured some participation of every Yugoslav ethnicity. So, for instance, if this participation was roughly proportional, the Germans, occupying the north part of Yugoslavia, would evenly spread their forces, to control all Yugoslavs in their occupation zone.
It would be the sensible thing to do. Am I right, or am I right?
Well…
…I ALSO THINK THAT FOUR DIVISIONS OF THE 15TH WAVE, WHICH ARE UNDER HIGH COMMAND 65, OF WHICH THREE ARE IN AREA OF SERBIA, AND ONE IN CROATIA [NB: ACTUALLY IN TODAY’S BOSNIA, WHICH WAS ANNEXED AT THE TIME TO THE NAZI-ALLIED CROATIAN STATE] LACK SUFFICIENT STRENGTH IN NUMBERS, WEAPONS, EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING TO QUICKLY AND DECISIVELY SUPPRESS THE INSURRECTION.
(Feldmarschall List, 8 September 1941, Collection of Documents of the National Liberation War, Tome XII-2, page 1006, quoted from Miloslav Samardžić The Serbs against the Wehrmacht, page 25)
I guess that the Germans knew something I did not. Why else would they concentrate all their forces in territories populated by Serbs? Why would they implement a reprisal policy of 100 for 1 in (Inner) Serbia?
A quick glance at the maps of the insurrection in 1941, and the Serbian ethnic territory shows that the Germans were far from naïve. It seems that the uprising in 1941 predominantly flared up on territories populated by Serbs.
Not to go too much into details, as the map shows, Yugoslavia was quite ethnically divided, which is the probably the reason it comprehensively failed the stress test in 1941 (and 1991). Some ethnic groups actually welcomed the Germans, because they did not like being in “Serb-Dominated” Yugoslavia. On the contrary, Serbs, and Slovenes, were quite anti-German (something on that subject can be found in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNTIjfpR53s), while those other ethnicities were favored by the Germans.
Long story short, the trope of “Yugoslav Resistance” becomes somewhat grounded in reality only in very late 1943, after it was clear that Germany was losing – so as to make it irrelevant. Until then, the resistance forces were mostly made up of ethnic Serbs (and I would add some notable Slovenes). Some people link this to being anti-fash, but I do not think this has to do with ideology – Serbs just hate occupiers, that’s all. And there is also the Thing No One Shall Mention.
The notion I have formed, while speaking to various history buffs and gamers, is that there is something of a narrative formed on WWII in Yugoslavia, based on several talking points. The problem I see with this, is that these talking points closely resemble the narrative I am familiar from my youth in Communist Yugoslavia, made for political purposes, and enshrined in Communist Yugoslav movies. The problem with this narrative is that it is bunk.
Let me start by the first cornerstone in this narrative, which is that the Yugoslav Peoples (under the inspired leadership of the Communist Party, of course), resisted the Evil Axis, and its Treacherous Local Collaborators (meaning anyone who was not a communist sympathizer). Ergo, the WWII in Yugoslavia was formally called the National Liberation War of the Peoples of Yugoslavia.
Ok, so far, so good. And it is quite true that the resistance forces (two, actually) featured some participation of every Yugoslav ethnicity. So, for instance, if this participation was roughly proportional, the Germans, occupying the north part of Yugoslavia, would evenly spread their forces, to control all Yugoslavs in their occupation zone.
It would be the sensible thing to do. Am I right, or am I right?
Well…
…I ALSO THINK THAT FOUR DIVISIONS OF THE 15TH WAVE, WHICH ARE UNDER HIGH COMMAND 65, OF WHICH THREE ARE IN AREA OF SERBIA, AND ONE IN CROATIA [NB: ACTUALLY IN TODAY’S BOSNIA, WHICH WAS ANNEXED AT THE TIME TO THE NAZI-ALLIED CROATIAN STATE] LACK SUFFICIENT STRENGTH IN NUMBERS, WEAPONS, EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING TO QUICKLY AND DECISIVELY SUPPRESS THE INSURRECTION.
(Feldmarschall List, 8 September 1941, Collection of Documents of the National Liberation War, Tome XII-2, page 1006, quoted from Miloslav Samardžić The Serbs against the Wehrmacht, page 25)
I guess that the Germans knew something I did not. Why else would they concentrate all their forces in territories populated by Serbs? Why would they implement a reprisal policy of 100 for 1 in (Inner) Serbia?
A quick glance at the maps of the insurrection in 1941, and the Serbian ethnic territory shows that the Germans were far from naïve. It seems that the uprising in 1941 predominantly flared up on territories populated by Serbs.
Not to go too much into details, as the map shows, Yugoslavia was quite ethnically divided, which is the probably the reason it comprehensively failed the stress test in 1941 (and 1991). Some ethnic groups actually welcomed the Germans, because they did not like being in “Serb-Dominated” Yugoslavia. On the contrary, Serbs, and Slovenes, were quite anti-German (something on that subject can be found in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNTIjfpR53s), while those other ethnicities were favored by the Germans.
Long story short, the trope of “Yugoslav Resistance” becomes somewhat grounded in reality only in very late 1943, after it was clear that Germany was losing – so as to make it irrelevant. Until then, the resistance forces were mostly made up of ethnic Serbs (and I would add some notable Slovenes). Some people link this to being anti-fash, but I do not think this has to do with ideology – Serbs just hate occupiers, that’s all. And there is also the Thing No One Shall Mention.