Historical Review: 20th Century Yugoslavia, Continued

Yugoslavia maintained peace for a reasonable period of time, until World War II erupted. In early 1941, the German leader Adolf Hitler turned his focus to the Balkans. He attempted to persuade the Yugoslavian government to allow German troops to pass through their country towards Greece. In a derisory two weeks, the Yugoslav army had been flattened by the Germans. Despite this embarrassing loss, the Yugoslavians pursued an effective campaign of guerrilla warfare throughout the duration of the war. In 1944, large numbers of resistance fighters were called up to aid in the battle against German troops. On July 22, 1941, King Peter II in London called for such an uprising of the Yugoslavian people. In response to this declaration, General Draga Mihajlovitch, who at the time was a Serbian appointed as minister of war, organized the first battalions of troops in what became known as the Chetnik movement. The type of warfare incorporated most in Chetnik fighting was guerrilla warfare. This method of fighting proved to be extremely effective during the war, so much so, that the Germans attempted to retaliate by massacring the Serbian village of Kragujevac in October of 1941; 7,000 civilians were shot to death. Another resistance movement was formed in April of 1941 by the Secretary General; at the time, this was Josip Broz- nicknamed “Tito”. This communist inspired movement became known as the National Liberation Front, and it called for its national uprising on July 12, 1941. By the end of the war, this group had over 800,000 members. Direct confrontation between NLF forces and German troops rarely occurred, for most attacks by the NLF were in the form of sabotage, primarily of travel routes, and enemy convoys and communications.

Post World War II conditions in Yugoslavia proved to be much more suitable than those that were in place during the war. These somewhat seemingly decent conditions, however, were hampered by the fact that the Yugoslavian government had become communist directly following World War II. In September 1947, the Soviet government established the Communist Information Bureau, known as Cominform. This organization’s purpose was, basically, to oppose Marshall Plan aid. All that came about of this though, was tension between the communist and noncommunist political parties of Europe. In the spring of 1948, an agreement arose between Stalin and the leader of Yugoslavia, Marshall Tito. Tito proclaimed that although he was a dedicated communist, his country was going to follow an independent route. The reaction from this resulted in the expulsion of Yugoslavia from Cominform. This expulsion led to the growth of Yugoslavia’s independence from the Soviet Union.

Other posts on imperialism and/or Yugoslavia:

What is Imperialism
The Effects of Imperialism on Foreign Lands
British Imperialism: South Africa
Imperialism Simulation
Historical Review: 20th Century Yugoslavia
Historical Review: 20th Century Yugoslavia, Continued