German special forces against Yugoslav partisans.

PEOPLE'S LIBERATION WAR IN YUGOSLAVIA 1941-1945 - the armed struggle of the patriotic forces of Yugoslavia for a national and social organization railway against the ok-ku-pan-tov and their local associates during the Second World War.

The troops of Germany, Italy and Hungary with the assistance of Bulgaria on 04/06/1941 suddenly attacked Yugoslavia ( see Bal-kan campaign of 1941), slo-mi-li with-against-le-nie of the ko-ro-lev-army and on April 18 when to ka-pi-tu-la-tion. King Peter II Ka-ra-ge-or-gie-vich, pra-vi-tel-st-vo and the highest co-man-do-va-nie emig-ri-ro-va-li for gra -no-tsu. The territory of the country would be ok-ku-pi-ro-va-na and once-de-le-na between the teaching-st-ni-ka-mi ag-res- these (on the territory of Khor-va-tia the so-called. Not-for-vi-si-my state of Khor-va-tia was created, headed by A. Pa -whatever). The representatives of the right-wing parties of Yugoslavia have embarked on the path of collaboration with the ok-ku-pan-ta-mi. Or-ga-ni-za-tion of the Croatian na-tsio-na-listov (see Us-ta-shi) and the great-Serbian movement (see Chet-ni- ki) created their own military formations, which were transferred to the subordination of the occupation authorities.

For the leadership of the armed nationalist struggle, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPYU; see Union of Communists) -stov of Yugoslavia) created the Military Committee, which was in charge of the action of local military committees. On June 27, the Main Headquarters (since September 1941, the Supreme Headquarters) of the Partisan detachments of Yugoslavia, headed by I. Tito, was created. By this time, on the territory of Yugoslavia there were: 4 German, 12 Italian, 2 Bulgarian divisions and 5 divisions the former Yugoslav army, 12 Hungarian and Bulgarian brigades, a number of individual units and sub-divisions - a total of about 400 thousand people.

In July 1941, combat operations of the par-ti-zan detachments began. Os-in-bo-z-den-nye from ok-ku-pan-tov districts have become ba-za-mi par-ti-zan-sko-go-movement. The most significant was the island territory in Western Serbia, which received the name “Užic- kaya re-pub-li-ka.” In the autumn of 1941, ok-ku-pan-you are about to take a shi-ro-some step against the par-ti-zan. Active combat operations continued until December 1941. The main group-pi-rov-ka par-ti-zan would-be-well-de-on the island-ta-vi-vi-os-in-the-bo-den-terri-to-ria and with fight, go to Sand-jac.

By the end of 1941, there were about 80 thousand people in the par-ti-zan detachments. At the same time, the number of occupation troops and local formations working with them is up to -la up to 620 thousand people. During the winter of 1941/1942 and the spring of 1942 there were fierce battles with the ok-ku-pan-ta-mi and their throughout Yugoslavia. Part-ti-zan-skie parts and associations, from-stu-drink-shie from Ser-bia, formed together with San-d-Jak-ski- mi, black-no-gor-ski-mi, her-tse-go-vin-ski-mi and eastern-no-bos-niy-ski-mi par-ti-zan for-mi-ro-va- creation of a single free territory with a center in the city of Fo-cha. In the re-zul-ta-te na-stu-p-le-niya ok-ku-pan-tov, the main forces are par-ti-zan, from-escaping frontal collisions-but-ve- ny, we went to the area at the junction of the borders of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Chernogoria.

In November 1942, the Supreme Headquarters decided to create the People's Army of Yugoslavia (NOAU) , consisting of bri-gads, divisions and corps-pu-sov. By the end of 1942, the NOAU had 38 brigades, consolidated into 9 divisions, consisting of 2 corps, and there were also 36 pairs -ti-zan detachments and a number of smaller units with a total number of 150 thousand people. For the uk-re-p-le-tion of the government, its international recognition, a unified political body of the country was created - An -ti-fa-shi-st-che-che na-rod-no-go os-vo-bo-zh-de-nia of Yugoslavia (AVNOYU). In 1943, NOAU co-raised the plans of the German co-man-do-va-niya to destroy its main forces: in February - March on the Ne-ret-va River, in May - July -not to the Su-te-ska River. Italy in September 1943 ka-pi-tu-li-ro-va-la. The NOAI troops raz-gro-mi-li and ra-zo-ru-zhi-li 10 Italian divisions. Were there large areas of the country: b. parts of Dal-ma-tion, Khor-vat-sko-go Pri-morya, Bos-nia, Cher-no-go-ria, a significant part of Slovenia and other areas.

By the fall of 1943, the NOAU already counted 9 corps (27 divisions), several separate brigades, 105 par-ti-zan squads -dov and 20 separate par-ti-zan-skih ba-tal-o-novs - in total about 300 thousand people. The Soviet, Czechoslovak, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Italian par-ti-zan-skie ba-tal-o-ns and bri-ga-dy fought together with the NOAU. By this time, near the territory of Yugoslavia, it was os-in-bo-de-but from ok-ku- pan-tov. 11/29/1943 AVNOYA pro-vo-gla-she-but the highest legislative and executive representative of the people of the South -Slavia, the National Committee for the Os-bo-zh-de-of Yugoslavia was created as a temporary people's government and announcement Len fe-de-ra-tiv principle of building a country, guaranteeing the equal rights of its people. The Yugoslav emigrant government has all rights; Peter II was forbidden to return to the country.

At the Te-ge-ran-conference of 1943, the ru-co-vo-di-te-li of the USSR, the USA and the Great-co-bri-ta-nii re-shi-li pre- Do-ta-vit NOAYu with the help of vo-ru-zhe-ni-em and ma-te-ri-al-ny-mi medium-st-va-mi. On February 23, 1944, a Soviet military mission arrived in Yugoslavia (ru-ko-vo-di-tel - Major General N.V. Kor-neev), one one of the tasks was to assist the NOAI in obtaining weapons and combat equipment from the USSR. Since March, military cargo has arrived by air. With the entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslavia, military assets were transferred to the NOAU not-in-the-middle-st-ven-but with front-line warehouses. In total, over the years of the war, NOAU received 115.3 thousand wine-to-wok and ka-ra-bi-nov from the USSR, 38 thousand av-to-ma-tov, over 15 thousand pu-le-met-tov, 5.8 thousand guns and mi-no-met-tov, 69 tanks and 491 aircraft; from the Anglo-American allies - 137.8 thousand vin-to-vok, 15.8 thousand pu-le-me-tov, 41.4 thousand av-to-ma-tov , about 3 thousand guns, 107 tanks and 61 aircraft. In the spring and summer of 1944, the main forces of the NOAU fought stubborn battles to break into Serbia in order to establish it.

In September 1944, Soviet troops on a broad front reached the borders of Yugoslavia and received the opportunity to get closer interact with NOAU, which at that time had 15 corps (50 divisions), 2 operations -tive groups (each consisting of 2 brigades), 16 separate infantry brigades and 130 par-ti-zan squads. These forces included about 400 thousand fighters. The Soviet Government and the National Committee for the Os- sification of Yugoslavia made a decision on joint actions -vi-yah of the Red Army and NOAI for the purpose of establishing the eastern regions of the country and its capital - Bel-grad.

At the end of September - October 1944, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front of the Red Army, NOAU and part of the forces of the Bulgarian People's Army carried out the Belgrade operation of 1944 , as a result, the eastern regions of Yugoslavia and Belgrad were the main ones. By order of the Supreme Headquarters, in January - March 1945, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th armies were formed, -these pro-long-lived islands of Yugoslavia, and the NOAU has a new name - the Yugoslav Army. It includes 59 divisions with a total number of 800 thousand people. In March 1945, the Temporary Regional Government of the De-mo-kra-ticheskoy Fe-de-ra-tiv-noy was formed Yugoslavia (DFY), the head of the government and the Minister of People's Defense of which I. Tito became.

The temporary government of the DFYU was known to the Ve-li-ko-bri-ta-nia (March 14), the USSR (March 24) and the USA (April 2). In Moscow, between the USSR and the DFY, on 04/11/1945, a treaty of friendship was signed, with mutual help and subsequently en-nom co-labor-nothing-st-ve. By May 15, Yugoslavia was completely ossified. In the fight against fascism, the people of Yugoslavia suffered great losses; In total, taking into account the persons deported into fascist captivity, they totaled over 1.7 million people, i.e. over 10 % of the country's population. The fighting of the NOAU and the par-ti-zan detachments - 305 thousand people killed and 425 thousand wounded. About 3 thousand Soviet citizens fought in the ranks of the NOAI.

Background

During the early stages of World War II, Berlin viewed Yugoslavia as an "unreliable neutral" and believed that it should either be firmly tied to the Tripartite Pact or destroyed. In November 1940, intensive negotiations between Yugoslav leaders and representatives of the Axis powers began. For its accession to the Tripartite Pact, Yugoslavia demanded the port of Thessaloniki (despite the fact that the fighting Greece formally remained an ally of Yugoslavia), but Italy opposed this. To bring some sense to Belgrade, Mussolini ordered the bombing of Yugoslav territory. The raid of Italian bombers on the city of Bitol in Macedonia somewhat reduced the claims of Yugoslav politicians.

In parallel with German efforts, Anglo-American diplomacy was active in Belgrade. Winston Churchill sent a personal letter to Yugoslav Prime Minister Dragisa Cvetkovic, warning that Yugoslavia's accession to the Triple Alliance would make the country's disintegration inevitable. From the beginning of 1941, the British embassy in Belgrade became the headquarters of the anti-German opposition in Yugoslavia.

On March 1, 1941, Bulgaria joined the Tripartite Pact, and German troops entered its territory. Yugoslavia found itself surrounded by Axis member countries. On March 19, a meeting of the Crown Council took place in Belgrade. Prince Regent Paul and almost all the country's leading politicians spoke in favor of Yugoslavia joining the Triple Alliance. On 25 March, the Yugoslav delegation signed a protocol in Vienna on Yugoslavia's accession to the Tripartite Pact.

At the news of the signing of the Vienna Protocol, Yugoslavia was swept by mass demonstrations under the slogan “Better war than a pact!” On the night of March 26–27, a group of senior Yugoslav army officers with close ties to London carried out a military coup. The new government was headed by General Dušan Simović. The press of Great Britain, the USA and neutral countries regarded the coup in Belgrade as “spit in the face of Hitler.” The Yugoslav coup was assessed in the same way in Berlin. On March 27, Hitler issued “Directive No. 025,” in which he stated that “the military putsch in Yugoslavia changed the political situation in the Balkans.” The declaration ordered the Wehrmacht command to consider Yugoslavia as an enemy, regardless of possible manifestations of loyalty, and to begin preparations for the invasion.

Invasion

At dawn on April 6, 1941, German aircraft invaded Yugoslav airspace. Belgrade was subjected to especially fierce bombing - this was Hitler’s response to “spit in the face.” On the same day, German, Italian, Bulgarian and Hungarian troops invaded Yugoslav territory. By the end of April 10, on the fourth day of the war, the Yugoslav army ceased to exist as an organized force. On the morning of April 13, the Germans entered Belgrade. On April 15, the Yugoslav government left the country. On April 17, an act of complete and unconditional surrender of the Yugoslav army was signed in Belgrade.

Already in the first days of Hitler's aggression, the collapse of the Yugoslav state began. On April 10, in Zagreb, the Ustasha proclaimed the Independent State of Croatia (it included Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina). Italian troops occupied Montenegro and the southern part of Slovenia. The northern part of Slovenia went to Germany, the eastern part to Hungary. Hungary also received Vojvodina, Bulgaria - Macedonia, and Albania - Kosovo. The puppet Government of National Salvation of Milan Nedić was created in German-occupied Serbia, and a kingdom under Italian protectorate was created in Italian-occupied Montenegro.

Yugoslav resistance

After the occupation and collapse of Yugoslavia, there were only two real forces that advocated the restoration of the unity of the country: the royal government, which fled the country, and the Communist Party, which, despite the terror of the occupation authorities, retained its organizational structure throughout its territory.

The exile government of Yugoslavia, led by General Dusan Simović, based in Cairo, was also supported by the United States. It did not have its own armed forces or its own network of underground organizations, and all its activities in organizing resistance at first came down to broadcasts on English radio, in which the people of Yugoslavia were asked to wait until better times.

Since April, a small group of Serbian officers led by Colonel Dragoljub Mihailović was operating in Serbia, in the Ravna Gora area. After the surrender of the army, this group did not lay down its arms and, having gone to the mountains, began organizing partisan detachments on the territory of Serbia. By tradition, Serbian partisans called themselves "Chetniks". Mikhailovich established contact with the exile government, but avoided any military action against the occupiers. Mihailovich's Chetniks stood in Great Serbian positions; he himself liked to repeat: “My enemies are Croats, Muslims and communists.”

Since the end of May, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia began the formation of partisan groups in Serbia. Initially, their numbers were small, but in May 1941, the Croatian Ustasha began mass extermination of the Serbian population, and thousands of Serbs fled to the mountains to escape the massacre, as a result of which the first partisan detachments appeared.

The only Yugoslav territory where resistance to the occupiers immediately acquired the character of an organized movement was Slovenia. Already on April 27, an underground meeting of all leading political and social movements in Slovenia, including the Communist Party, took place in Ljubljana, at which it was decided to create a single anti-Nazi organization - the Liberation Front of Slovenia.

Partisan movement and civil war

The beginning of the partisan struggle

The attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR on June 22, 1941 created a new military-political situation in the Balkans. On June 27, 1941, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia decided to create the Main Headquarters of the Partisan Movement led by Tito. In July, a plan was developed to expand partisan operations in Serbia, which primarily provided for an increase in the number of partisan groups and a transition to active operations. However, already on July 7, a mass uprising against the occupiers began in Western Serbia and then in Montenegro. In Montenegro alone, the number of rebels reached 32 thousand people. On July 22, the armed partisan struggle began in Slovenia, on July 27 - in Croatia, where at first partisan detachments of Serbs fleeing the genocide operated. In October 1941, partisans began operating in Macedonia.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, in response to the actions of the Ustasha partisans, they began a new massacre of Serbs. These atrocities aroused outrage even among the command of the Italian occupation forces, which was forced to send troops into Herzegovina to protect the Serbian population. This step calmed passions for a while, and partisan actions in Herzegovina practically ceased.

By October 1941, about 70 thousand partisans were operating on the territory of Yugoslavia. A vast liberated zone (“Užice Republic”) was formed in Western Serbia, where the Main Headquarters of the partisan movement was relocated and where the formation of new government bodies, the People’s Liberation Committees, began.

Civil war and interaction with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition

The emergence of a new real force in occupied Yugoslavia - a partisan movement led by communists - created a new situation in the country. In the eyes of Great Britain, the Chetnik movement in Serbia was an organic continuation of the anti-Hitler and pro-British policy that the Simovic government was trying to pursue, so the Chetniks were viewed in London as natural allies. As for Tito’s partisans, the communist ideas of their leaders and the obvious pro-Moscow orientation did not cause any delight among the British, so official London constantly put pressure on Moscow through diplomatic channels, trying to convince Stalin that only Mikhailovich could be considered the true leader of the Yugoslav resistance and that it should be considered as a partner in the anti-Hitler coalition. Moscow was demanded to influence the partisan leadership so that the Chetniks and partisans would “put aside their differences and form a united front.” British Ambassador to Moscow Stafford Cripps, addressing the USSR People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov, expressed the wish: "The Soviet government may be inclined to persuade the communist elements in Yugoslavia to place themselves militarily at the disposal of Mikhailovich, as the national leader."

In October, a representative of the British military command in the Middle East, Captain Hudson, arrived at the headquarters of Mikhailovich, whom the emigrant royal government appointed Minister of War. He brought with him a message in which the British urgently recommended not to allow the Yugoslav resistance “to turn into a communist uprising in favor of Soviet Russia.”

Joint photograph of Mihailović's Chetniks and German soldiers in a Yugoslav village

However, Mikhailovich consistently acted in this direction. At the beginning of September 1941, with the knowledge of the Nazi command, he entered into an agreement with the pro-fascist Belgrade government of Nedic on a joint fight against Tito’s partisans. On November 13, Mikhailovich personally met with representatives of the German command and discussed issues of the joint struggle of the Chetniks and fascists against the partisans. In an order dated December 20, 1941, Mihailović formulated the tasks facing him as follows: “To create a Greater Yugoslavia and within it a Greater Serbia, ethnically pure within the borders of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina... To cleanse the state territory of all national minorities and alien elements... Clear Bosnia from the Muslim and Croat population." Instead of fighting the occupiers, Mihailović’s Chetniks were engaged in the massacre of Bosnian Muslims, carrying out ethnic cleansing.

The attitude of the Soviet Union towards the Yugoslav resistance movement was initially wait-and-see. Moscow finally decided on the “Yugoslav question” only at the beginning of 1942, when the USSR Ambassador in London, Maisky, stated: “The Soviet government is not inclined to participate together with His Majesty’s Government in an attempt to curb the activities of the partisans.”

1942

April 1942. Tito inspects the 1st Proletarian Brigade

In December 1941, the formation of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia began from partisan detachments. On December 21, 1941, the first military unit of the NOAU was created - the 1st Proletarian Brigade, the backbone of which was made up of Serbian and Montenegrin workers. In March 1942, the 2nd Proletarian Brigade was created, in June 1942 - the 3rd, 4th and 5th. By the end of 1942, the NOAU had 2 army corps, 8 divisions, 31 brigades and 36 partisan detachments - a total of more than 150 thousand people.

In the summer of 1942, a massive offensive by the Germans, Italians and Serbian Chetniks forced the main forces of the partisans to fight into Western Bosnia. From that moment on, the mood among the Croats began to change in favor of the partisans: by November 1942, more than 18 thousand partisans were already operating in Croatia. The partisan movement in Slovenia developed in some isolation from other parts of the country due to geographical reasons, and has its own history of ups and downs. In October 1942, guerrilla warfare began in Kosovo.

By the end of 1942, partisans controlled 20% of the territory of Yugoslavia. In parallel with the expansion of the armed struggle, the Supreme Headquarters of the partisan movement created a network of local authorities in the liberated territories. On November 26, 1942, a meeting of the Constituent Assembly opened in the city of Bihac, in which representatives of all anti-fascist groups operating in Yugoslavia took part. The assembly elected the highest all-Yugoslav political body - the Anti-Fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Yugoslavia. The executive committee of AVNOJ was headed by the famous politician Ivan Ribar.

1943

The first half of 1943 became the period of the most difficult trials for the Yugoslav partisans. Fierce battles on the Neretva River (February-March) and on the Sutjeska River (May) marked the beginning of a turning point in the partisan war. Despite the heavy losses suffered by the NOLA units, the invaders, even at the cost of maximum effort, failed to defeat the main forces of the NOLA. The main focus of the partisan movement moved to Eastern Bosnia.

The growing influence of the NOLA and the falling popularity of the Chetniks caused increasing concern in London. The British government put constant pressure on Moscow, seeking its recognition of Mihailovich's Chetniks as one of the constituent forces of the Yugoslav resistance. Knowing about Mikhailovich’s connections with the Italian-German command and the real balance of power in Yugoslavia, the Soviet government refused to recognize the Chetniks as a “resistance force”, making a clear choice in favor of Tito’s partisans. In May 1943, the British government, in the face of real facts, was forced to admit that the partisans were the leading force in the anti-fascist struggle in Yugoslavia. At the end of May, a British military mission arrived at Tito's headquarters. At the same time, the British continued to support the Chetniks, helping to incite a civil war, but this did not help the latter: under the attacks of the partisans, by the fall of 1943, the Chetniks’ zone of influence was reduced to several regions of Serbia.

On September 8, 1943, Italy capitulated. 15 Italian divisions that fought against the partisans withdrew from the war, and their weapons and equipment fell into the hands of the NOAI. This made it possible to increase the ranks of the partisans by 80 thousand fighters. The formation of regional authorities began in the liberated territories. In June 1943, the Regional Anti-Fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Croatia was created, in October - the Slovenian People's Liberation Committee, in November - the Regional Anti-fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. On November 29-30, the second session of AVNOJ took place in the Bosnian city of Jajce, which made a number of important decisions regarding the post-war structure of Yugoslavia. AVNOJ forbade King Peter II to return to the country and deprived the emigrant royal government of its legal authority. The National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia became the supreme body in Yugoslavia for the duration of the war.

Although the decisions of the second session of AVNOJ put an end to Great Britain’s plans for Yugoslavia, London did not consider the situation hopeless. At the Tehran Conference, where, in particular, the Yugoslav issue was discussed, the British raised the issue of landing Anglo-American troops in the Balkans as part of the opening of a “second front” in Europe. Trying to ignore the fact of the creation of the supreme authority of the new Yugoslavia, in December 1943, at the prompting of London, the royal emigrant government of Yugoslavia turned to the government of the USSR with a proposal to conclude a Soviet-Yugoslav treaty of friendship, mutual assistance and post-war cooperation. The USSR rejected this proposal, refusing to recognize the royal government's right to represent anyone other than itself.

January-September 1944

British and American officers who were in Yugoslavia as part of military missions informed London and Washington about the growing popularity of Tito's partisans, about the sharp decline in the influence of the Chetniks, and about Mikhailovich's cooperation with the Germans. In January 1944, Churchill was forced to send a letter to Tito: “The British government will not further provide any military assistance to Mikhailovich and will only provide assistance to you...”. However, although in the autumn of 1943, British planes actually began to regularly deliver weapons and equipment to the partisans, and in February 1944, British officers were recalled from Mikhailovich’s headquarters, Great Britain and the United States continued to provide assistance to the Chetniks until the end of the war. In the spring of 1944, Anglo-American aviation carried out massive bombings of Yugoslav cities several times (in particular, on the eve of Orthodox Easter, allied aviation bombed Belgrade for four days, and a few days later subjected Zagreb to air raids).

On February 23, 1944, a Soviet military mission led by Lieutenant General N.V. Korneev arrived in Yugoslavia, and in April a Yugoslav military mission led by Lieutenant General NOAU V. Terzich arrived in Moscow to coordinate military cooperation. To supply the NOLA, a base was established in Romania near the Yugoslav border. To help the anti-fascist forces of Yugoslavia, the Soviet command created a special air group in the spring of 1944. On the territory of the USSR, a separate volunteer Yugoslav infantry brigade was formed from among Yugoslav volunteers, which subsequently took part in the battles for the liberation of Yugoslavia.

In August 1944, a US military mission led by Colonel McDowell was sent to Mikhailovich, who told Mikhailovich: “Germany has lost the war. Your fight with the Germans does not interest us. Your task is to stay among the people. I have come to help you with this." By this time, there were about 30 thousand people in the ranks of the Chetniks, and 350 thousand in the ranks of the partisans. The plan of the Western powers was to unite the exile government with the People's Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia, the Chetniks with the partisans, return King Peter II to the country, and then cut off the partisans from power and ultimately eliminate them as a political force. This was done in post-war Greece, but the plan failed in Yugoslavia.

In September 1944, the Soviet army entered Bulgaria. The Fatherland Front government came to power in Bulgaria and joined the anti-Hitler coalition. On September 21, Josip Broz Tito flew to Moscow, where he met with Stalin. During negotiations in Moscow, an agreement was reached that Soviet troops would enter the territory of Yugoslavia to carry out a limited task - units of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, together with units of the NOAU, were to liberate Belgrade and Eastern Serbia. After this, Soviet troops had to leave Yugoslavia.

Liberation of Yugoslavia

Trieste events

On May 2, 1945, units of the NOAU occupied Trieste, which in 1920, under the Treaty of Rappal, went to Italy. The English and Americans demanded that the Yugoslavs immediately clear the Italian territories. The Yugoslavs refused. The Trieste crisis threatened to turn into a military clash between the NOAU and the Anglo-American troops. On May 22, the USSR issued a statement in support of Yugoslavia. As a result, the crisis was resolved peacefully: the Yugoslav troops retreated beyond the so-called. "Morgan Line", and the further fate of Trieste was determined after the war.

Results

The People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia was the fourth largest of the armies of the anti-Hitler coalition (after the armies of the USSR, USA and Great Britain). Until 1944, she, in fact, single-handedly held the “second front” in Europe, at various times pinning down from 12 to 15 German divisions, not counting the Italian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Croatian formations and armed nationalist formations. In World War II, Yugoslavia lost 1.7 million people, that is, every tenth inhabitant of pre-war Yugoslavia died. NOAU lost 305 thousand people in battles.

On November 29, 1945, the Constituent Assembly opened in Belgrade, which adopted a declaration proclaiming the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.

Links

People's Liberation War of 1941-1945. Establishment of people's democratic power in Yugoslavia. The People's Liberation War of the peoples of Yugoslavia of 1941-1945, which unfolded under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was a bright page in the history of the struggle against fascism. It was closely intertwined with the revolutionary struggle against the Yugoslav bourgeoisie, which associated itself with politics collaborationism, was a struggle for national and social liberation, the creation of a new socialist Yugoslavia. Already on April 10, 1941, by decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, the Military Committee was formed, headed by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia I. Broz Tito. Military committees that formed combat anti-fascist groups began to operate in all regions of Yugoslavia. On June 22, 1941, on the day of the treacherous attack of fascist Germany on the USSR, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia addressed the people of Yugoslavia with an appeal in which it called on them to rise up to fight against the fascist invaders. On June 27, 1941, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia created the Main Headquarters (in September 1941, renamed the Supreme Headquarters) of the people's liberation partisan detachments of Yugoslavia, led by Josip Broz Tito. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia initiated the creation (in 1941) of the United People's Liberation Front, whose task was to fight against the occupiers and for the unity and brotherhood of the peoples of Yugoslavia. On July 4, 1941, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia decided to start a nationwide armed uprising (July 4 is celebrated in the SFRY as a state holiday - Fighter's Day). In July 1941, armed struggle engulfed , in October - Vardar Macedonia. People's liberation committees began to emerge in the territories of Yugoslavia liberated from the fascist occupiers. The beginning of a widespread partisan struggle caused a regrouping among the Yugoslav bourgeoisie, the overwhelming majority of whom found themselves in the camp of collaborators and collaborated with the occupiers in various forms. Part of the Serbian bourgeoisie united around the “Serbian government” created by the German occupiers in August 1941 in Belgrade led by General M. Nedic. Another part of it was oriented towards the emigrant royal government. On her initiative, D. Mikhailovich began organizing armed detachments (chetniks). Since the autumn of 1941, the Chetniks began to cooperate with the Quisling units of Nedic and with the occupiers, and waged an armed struggle against the partisans. The emigre government recognized the Chetniks as “its armed forces in the homeland” and in January 1942 appointed Mihailović as Minister of War, effectively siding with the occupiers in the fight against the partisan movement in Yugoslavia.

The development of the people's liberation struggle and the political situation in Yugoslavia were influenced by the general successes of the anti-Hitler coalition in the fight against the fascist bloc, especially the victories of the Soviet Army in the winter campaign of 1942-1943. In Yugoslavia, the number of partisan detachments rapidly grew (by the end of 1941 - about 80 thousand people, by the end of 1942 - 150 thousand people), and their combat capabilities. Back on December 22, 1941, the first regular military unit was formed - the 1st Proletarian Brigade, which marked the birth of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOLA). On November 26-27, 1942, the 1st session of the all-Yugoslav political body, the Anti-Fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ), took place in the city of Bihac. Its 2nd session (November 29-30, 1943, the city of Jajce), at which AVNOJ was constituted as the supreme legislative and representative body of Yugoslavia, was a major milestone in the struggle of the Yugoslav peoples for the creation of a multinational socialist state. Created by AVNOJ as the provisional government of the new Yugoslavia, the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia (NKLJ), headed by Josip Broz Tito, became the first highest executive body of people's power. On December 14, 1943, the Soviet government issued a statement welcoming the decisions of the 2nd session of the AVNOJ and the formation of the NCOC). The statement also announced the decision to send a Soviet military mission to Yugoslavia (arrived in Yugoslavia in February 1944). The Soviet government condemned the activities of Mikhailovich's Chetniks and showed that it did not consider the Yugoslav emigrant government to be the plenipotentiary representative of the peoples of Yugoslavia. At all stages of the development of the liberation movement of Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union provided it with moral, political and diplomatic support, as well as material and military assistance. The latter has especially intensified since 1944, when the Soviet Army approached the Balkans. In the fall of 1944, Soviet troops reached the borders of Yugoslavia. In the course of joint actions by Soviet troops and units of the NOAU, a number of regions of the country were liberated from German troops, as well as Belgrade on October 20, 1944 (see Belgrade operation of 1944). At the end of 1944 - beginning of 1945, the NOAU received significant assistance from the Soviet Union with heavy weapons, ammunition, and food.

The USSR contributed to the adoption by the Tehran Conference of 1943 of a decision to provide military and material assistance to the NOAU from outside Great Britain And USA. The successes of the people's liberation struggle in Yugoslavia and its consistent support by the Soviet Union forced the ruling circles of Great Britain and the United States to abandon their unconditional support for the Chetniks and the emigrant royal government in London. As a result of the agreement signed on June 16, 1944 by the chairman of the NKOJ I. Broz Tito and the royal prime minister I. Subasic, the émigré royal government was forced to condemn the Chetniks. The Tito-Subasic Agreement of November 1, 1944 provided for the creation of a unified Yugoslav government (instead of the NKOJ and the exile government). The Crimean Conference of 1945 recommended speeding up the formation of a unified government of Yugoslavia based on this agreement. On March 7, 1945, the Provisional Government of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was created, headed by Josip Broz Tito. As the territory of Yugoslavia was liberated from the fascist occupiers, all power in the liberated areas was concentrated in the hands of the working people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The people's committees turned into organs of people's democratic power in the finally liberated territory of Yugoslavia; a new state apparatus was created.

On April 11, 1945, the Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Post-War Cooperation between the USSR and Yugoslavia was signed in Moscow, and on April 13, a trade agreement was signed. In March 1945, the NOLA was renamed the Yugoslav Army (later the Yugoslav People's Army). By May 15, the Yugoslav army (about 800 thousand people) completed the liberation of Yugoslavia from fascist troops and their accomplices.

The peoples of Yugoslavia, through their heroic struggle against the Nazi invaders and their accomplices, made a significant contribution to the common cause of defeating fascism. During the war, the peoples of Yugoslavia suffered heavy losses - 1,700 thousand people died (over 10% of the country's population), including 305 thousand people on the battlefields. Enormous damage was caused to the economy: 2/5 of industry was destroyed or damaged (including 1/2 of enterprises and about 1/3 of power plants were completely disabled); In transport, over 1/2 of the railway lines and most of the rolling stock were destroyed, about 60% of water transport was lost, and about 70% of the roads were damaged. In the countryside, the invaders destroyed 289 thousand agricultural farms, over 1/2 of the livestock; destroyed and damaged over 40% of plows and plows, 2/3 of tractors, and about 70% of threshers. 3.5 million people in Yugoslavia were left homeless. Many schools, hospitals, scientific institutions and cultural centers of Yugoslavia were destroyed and destroyed.

V. K. Volkov

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 16. ZHANG WE-TIAN - YASHTUKH. 1976.

Faced with stubborn resistance from the partisans in Yugoslavia, the Germans decided to fight them in an original way - by creating special units that would be as similar as possible to Tito's partisans. In Wehrmacht terminology, such detachments were called “Gang Destruction Groups” (Bandenvernichtungstruppe), their task was to attack partisan headquarters and hospitals, destroy small partisan detachments, and collect intelligence information.

The fighters of these special groups wore partisan uniforms and caps with a five-pointed star. In order to play the role of partisans as well as possible, they studied partisan songs and customs, traditions of the local population, etc.

​ The first such groups in Yugoslavia were created in August 1943, the idea of ​​​​their creation was put forward by the intelligence officer of the 114th Jaeger Division, Captain Konopacki, who formulated that “a decisive fight against partisans on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia (NHD) is a problem that is still no one at the German headquarters on the Yugoslav front decided effectively.” The captain's project was sent to the headquarters of the 15th Mountain Corps.

The proposal was supported by the authorities, and soon two groups of 40 people were formed on the basis of the 369th (Devil) and 373rd (Tiger) infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht, composed mainly of Croatian volunteers. In the second half of 1943, the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division “Prinz Eugen” formed its own group of Vojvodina Volksdeutsch Germans.

All German special forces operating on the territory of Pavilečevo Croatia underwent a month's training at a school in Trapisti (now the eastern region of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, next to the Vrbas River). According to German documents, two courses were completed; in the first year there were five groups, and in the second - four; each group included 40 people.

The first course began training in August 1943 and was completed by groups from the 369th and 373rd Divisions, two groups from the 114th Jäger Division and one group from the 1st Regiment of the Brandenburg Division.

The second course began training on September 21, 1943, and was completed by groups from the 369th, 373rd and 114th Jaeger Divisions and a group from the 4th Regiment of the Brandenburg Division, which was fighting against the partisans in Sandzak at that time.

In the first half of 1944, the school moved from Trapisti to the village of Donje Rakone, where two more courses were trained, each with two groups (two from the 171st Reserve Division and two from the 42nd Jäger Division).

Thus, 13 groups of cadets, about 600 people in total, completed the counter-guerrilla warfare training course. Additionally, another group underwent training at the headquarters of the German 264th division, where the division intelligence officer, Captain Fortner, formed the “Conrad” detachment from the Chetnik priest Momcilo Djujic (the detachment was headed by the German lieutenant Conrad).

Training program

The training program included: training in the use of firearms (combat firing was carried out every third day, the amount of ammunition was not limited), tactical training with training in special operations at night (including removing sentries with edged weapons or by strangulation), methods of collecting intelligence information, reading topographical maps maps, orientation day and night using a compass, study of partisan symbols, rank systems and appeals to the military personnel of the People's Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia (NOAU).

For use for training purposes, all Wehrmacht units operating on Croatian territory were ordered to send partisan uniforms, insignia and symbols from killed or captured military and political commanders of the NOAU to Trapista.

The cadets also studied the customs of wearing clothes in the region that will be allocated to the group for further actions, and learned local and partisan songs. Methods of providing first aid were studied, and time was also devoted to appropriate ideological training for future fighters of counter-guerrilla detachments.

Organization of squads

The organization of the anti-partisan detachment was typical. The “Group” (the German name for such detachments) consisted of a commander (in whose honor it usually received the name - “Schmitt”, “Jacobs”, “Conrad”, etc.), two couriers and three foremen, to whom 10 soldiers were subordinate . Combat security was entrusted to six soldiers - three scouts, two kitchen guards and a cook.

Each group had a machine gun - usually an MG-42 - two tromblons, one sniper rifle, six submachine guns; the remaining fighters were armed with carbines. The group also received three binoculars and three compasses. Additionally, each fighter had six grenades, a revolver and a kama dagger, which was worn in the top of the right boot.

The fighters were dressed in German, Ustashe, Domobran (regular army NDH), English or Italian uniforms (depending on the “preferences” of local partisan detachments). Strict German reporting preserved a meticulous listing of additional items of clothing issued to each group: 29 caps with a star, 33 pairs of opankas (Balkan folk shoes), 33 pairs of peasant stockings, 9 sets of civilian clothing, 5 civilian hats.

After training, each group was sent to a specific area where it was to operate. Typically, each of the special detachments was sent to partisan territories for 15 days, and then returned to the base located next to the division headquarters. On vacation, the group’s fighters, for the sake of secrecy, were categorically ordered not to communicate with soldiers of the German troops and fighters of local collaborationist units.

Unit tasks

In addition to attacks on headquarters, rear services and individual detachments of the NOAU, military personnel of special groups were engaged in collecting intelligence information; During training, fighters were taught how to create intelligence networks and communication methods.

The main emphasis in collecting information was on data on the command staff of NOAU units, weapons, and security of partisan headquarters and institutions. Agents were mainly recruited among artisans, traders, minor officials, etc.

Group transfer

After completing the training, the transfer to the sector assigned to the group was usually carried out at night - the group commander chose a place for the camp, scouts in partisan or civilian clothing carried out reconnaissance of the area. To local residents, they usually introduced themselves as partisans who had lagged behind the detachment, and asked to be shown how to get to the nearest partisan headquarters or a place where they would be told how to find their detachment. After collecting information in a roundabout way, the scouts returned to the camp.

Based on the results of the information collected, the commander chose a place for the attack and designated a gathering place: in flat areas 5 km from the attack target, in mountainous areas - 3 km.

A typical attack was the encirclement of the partisan headquarters at night, the elimination of sentries with melee weapons and a powerful fire strike, lasting no more than 3–5 minutes. At a signal from the commander, the detachment split into small groups and retreated from the target of attack in different directions to make pursuit more difficult. It was forbidden to engage in battle with large partisan detachments; in this case, it was necessary to break away from the enemy as quickly as possible. In order to maintain secrecy, the fighters of the special detachments were not supposed to fall into the hands of the partisans alive, as Yugoslav historians claim; in such a case, the fighters were given poison.

Successes of special teams

The first group of the German 373rd Division at the end of August 1943 began operations against the partisans in Lika (a historical region in central Croatia).

Particular successes were achieved in the first half of 1944. On January 26, 1944, the partisan headquarters in the village of Shkalich was destroyed, killing 15 partisans, the deputy commandant of the area and 10 civilians. The attack was carried out during the day, the Germans (and local volunteers as part of the detachment) openly entered the village in partisan uniforms and accompanied by partisan songs. They introduced themselves to the local command as fighters of the 2nd brigade of the 13th Primorsko-Goransky division, asked to give them a rest and to cook on their own. dinner. While several members of the detachment were lighting a fire, the rest surrounded the buildings housing the local partisans and, taking full advantage of the effect of surprise, destroyed the NOLA soldiers. Having carried out the operation, the special squad peacefully continued its journey to Drezhnitsa. On the way, they overtook partisans from the 2nd battalion of the 2nd brigade of the NOAU. Having bandaged several of their soldiers, the Nazis declared them wounded and asked the oncoming partisans how they could get to the division hospital “to hand over the wounded and be ready to fight the enemy again.”

Considering that the special detachment fighters were in partisan uniform, unshaven and tired, none of the partisans had any suspicions.

​ The attack on the hospital for the seriously wounded of the 11th corps of the NOAU in the village of Krechane was similarly successful. A local agent (female) reported that the hospital's security was weak - there were only 26 recovering soldiers, and the battalion responsible for guarding the hospital had been transferred to carry out the task elsewhere. A German group from Donje Lapets was involved in supporting the operation, and local collaborators slaughtered the hospital. The few guards were asleep at the time of the attack.

On October 14, 1943, Military Partisan Hospital No. 16 in the village of Staynitsa was destroyed, and the guards fled during the attack.

On the territory of northern Dalmatia, the Schmitt detachment from the 114th division and the Konrad detachment, operating under the leadership of the reconnaissance of the 264th division, operated.

“Konrad” carried out a number of operations in the area of ​​​​the villages of Zablace, Murter, Betina, part of the detachment led by Lieutenant Konrad himself acted against the partisans in the Zadra area, one of the most successful operations of this part of the detachment was the destruction of the People's Liberation Committee of the Preko region on the island of Uglen near Zadar. (The Schmitt detachment had no military successes).

Detachment "Schmitt" from the 114th Division carried out a number of unsuccessful operations in the Drniš area.

Failed operations

Intelligence from the 5th Bosnian corps of the NOLA and illegal communists from Banja Luka managed to infiltrate the school in Trapiste and obtain information about the goals, training and tactics of German counter-partisan groups.

“Our organization CPYU (Communist Party of Yugoslavia - author’s note) was able to send Sakib Maglaich, a member of the CPYU, to these German courses, who collected information about the cadets and their placement in certain rebel regions. We transferred all the information collected to the District Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia,” recall Dusanka Kovacevic and Zaga Umicevic in the book “Illegal People’s Liberation Movement in Banja Luka. Banja Luka in modern history 1878–1945".

In September 1943, a German group attempted to attack the headquarters of the 3rd Krajinskaya Shock Brigade. The attack took place during the day, during lunch. The security platoon rose to the occasion, managing to enter the battle in time, repel the attack and inflict significant losses on the enemy.

In the fall of 1944, a group from the 369th Division moved out from Mostar with the goal of destroying the partisan headquarters in the village of Zagneshcha. The partisan battalion "Marko Mihich" received information about the enemy's plans in time and organized an ambush in which almost the entire special group was destroyed. This defeat is confirmed by a request from the command of the 15th Mountain Corps to the commander of the 369th division.

Fighting counter-guerrilla groups

In mid-1943 (most likely under the influence of intelligence information), special security units were created to protect the headquarters and institutions of the People's Liberation Movement of Yugoslavia from “sudden attacks by enemy special units.”

By order of the General Staff in Croatia, a battalion was created against the fifth column - the PPK battalion, first consisting of strike groups of 9 fighters, and then of three companies with a total number of 220 people, armed with machine guns and machine guns.

Similar units (usually taking on the functions of fighting collaborationist units and detachments, operating similarly to German counter-partisan detachments) were created in other regions of Yugoslavia: in Slovenia - units of the VOS (intelligence and security services), in Montenegro - special battalions, in Herzegovina - Shock battalion, in Slavonia and Srem - anti-Chetnic battalions and companies, rural companies in Macedonia, rear companies in Sandjak, etc.

All these units patrolled suspicious areas, organized ambushes and disrupted the actions of special Wehrmacht groups.

Thus, reports from one of the special groups of the 373rd division testify to the successful actions of the partisans. In them, the group commander, Lieutenant Karlo Harazin (Croat), complains that the partisans instantly receive information about the appearance of counter-partisan detachments and asks the division headquarters for permission to “withdraw as soon as possible, otherwise we will be destroyed at Kozara.”

Conclusion

Thus, in this article we tried to reveal to readers one of the small episodes of the extremely complex, largely civil war-like picture of the Second World War in the Balkans. In conclusion, we would like to note that even a detailed historiography of the counter-guerrilla struggle of the German army leaves room for questions that still await answers from researchers. For example, in Yugoslav historical literature there are references to the fact that counter-partisan detachments of the Wehrmacht, posing as partisans, organized reprisals against civilians in order to reduce support for the NOLA, but we have not yet been able to find documentary evidence of punitive raids of such groups.

State of Yugoslavia in 1945-1991.

At the final stage, the territory of Yugoslavia was completely liberated only on May 15, 1945. Largely as a result of assistance from the USSR, it was the partisans led by who were able to come to power in post-war Belgrade. In November 1945, elections were held to the constituent assembly, which was supposed to finally decide the issue of the future political structure of the country. According to the official election results, about 90% of the votes were given to the Popular Front of Yugoslavia, which was under the influence of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The opposition tried to protest, but before the elections it was deprived of any opportunity to campaign. By decision of the Assembly on November 29, 1945, the monarchy was finally abolished and the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FPRY), consisting of six republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia), was proclaimed.

The economy of Yugoslavia suffered very seriously during the Second World War, valuable resources and food were exported from the country, so the FPRY government was faced with an extremely ambitious task. The mobilization of all resources was required: in 1945, a law was passed on the confiscation of the property of collaborators, the nationalization of large (1946), and then medium and small enterprises (1948) was carried out. In 1947, the People's Assembly adopted the 1st plan for the five-year development of the national economy, prepared by A. Hebrang, which provided for the industrialization of the country, strengthening of defense potential, and a significant expansion of the public sector of the economy. The FPRY in its domestic and foreign policy was guided by the USSR and its allies, counting on active assistance from its Soviet comrades. At the same time, the labor of youth brigades was widely used, thanks to which railways and bridges were repaired, new railway lines were built (this is how the 242 km long Shamac-Sarajevo road was built). During the first five-year plan, about 200 large industrial facilities were built. The help of Soviet specialists was widely sought. At the same time, the agrarian reform of 1945-1948 was carried out, during which large land properties were confiscated from the Germans, collaborators, and the church, and maximums were established for the amount of land per owner. At the same time, labor zadrugs were created following the model of Soviet collective farms.

Soviet-Yugoslav conflict of 1948 and its consequences

In 1948, the Soviet-Yugoslav conflict occurred, which led to the exclusion of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia from the Cominform (June 29, 1948) and the severance of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the FPRY (October 25, 1949). Even in Tito’s closest circle, there were arrested supporters of the Soviet system, such as S. Žujović and A. Hebrang, and “Information Bureau members” - Yugoslavs who supported the Soviet Cominform resolution - were persecuted. The concentration camp “Naked Island” was created in the FPRY, through which about 16 thousand people passed.

In conditions of complete isolation and the severance of all relations with the USSR and its allies, a partial rapprochement with the West took place: in 1950, in conditions of an extremely difficult food situation in the country, the United States provided free grain assistance to Yugoslavia. Discontent was brewing among the peasants, and the situation was complicated by drought. Under these conditions in the early 1950s. The government began to curtail its course towards collectivization.

Self-governing socialism

Moreover, a new model of economic and political development was approved, the so-called. self-governing (Titov, Yugoslav) socialism. In 1952, the party changed its name from the Communist Party of Yugoslavia to the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (UCYU). In January 1953, a constitutional law was adopted, proclaiming the head of state of the president (in 1953-1980, the post was held by Josip Broz Tito). In the early 60s. Yugoslavia became, along with India and Egypt, a real leader of the international Non-Aligned Movement and advocated an independent foreign policy course that was equidistant from the two superpowers. The independent course of political and economic development was consolidated by the adoption of the constitution in 1963, now the state received a new name - the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). The rights of republics and territories were significantly expanded, gaining greater independence in matters of cultural, social and economic development. In 1966, the Brion Congress was held, after which A. Rankovic, the powerful head of the Yugoslav intelligence services, was removed from all positions and sent into retirement. To solve the problem of unemployment, it was decided to open the borders to both domestic citizens and foreigners (January 1, 1967). At the same time, the SFRY was haunted by national problems: in 1968, Albanian demonstrations with nationalist slogans took place in Kosovo; in 1971, Croatia was overwhelmed by socio-political unrest (the so-called Croatian Spring) with demands for greater rights for Croats. As a result, many party leaders in Croatia and Serbia were removed from power.

The new constitution of the SFRY, adopted in 1974, significantly expanded the powers of the union republics; in fact, the autonomous regions of Serbia - Vojvodina and Kosovo - were elevated to the rank of republics, which had far-reaching consequences. According to the constitution, the Assembly of the SFRY elected the Presidium of the SFRY consisting of 8 people (one representative from 6 republics and 2 from autonomous regions), whose lifelong chairman was Broz Tito.

After Tito

After the death of Josip Broz Tito on May 4, 1980, the SFRY was hit by economic difficulties associated both with current indicators (a jump in energy prices) and with deeper processes (almost complete independence of the republics in economic matters, a difficult situation with external debt, credit obligations, orientation towards CMEA). Already in 1981, large-scale Albanian unrest broke out in Kosovo with demands for republican status, which came as a complete surprise to the federal leadership. The Presidium of the SFRY was forced to introduce a state of emergency and tried to solve social, economic and demographic problems. The Kosovo factor in many ways became a catalyst for the process of collapse of the SFRY and demonstrated the full strength of the national contradictions that existed in the country. In Serbia, sentiment began to intensify for a revision of the 1974 Constitution to solve the problems plaguing the country. In 1988-1989 in the autonomous regions of Serbia and Montenegro, supporters of S. Milosevic came to power. On March 28, 1989, amendments to the Serbian constitution were adopted, reducing the powers of the autonomous provinces, which caused protest demonstrations by Kosovo Albanians and discontent from other republics of the SFRY, who feared increased centralization of the country. The federal leadership tried to cope with political and economic difficulties (thanks to the reforms of A. Markovic, they managed to achieve stability in the national currency), but in January 1990, representatives of the communists of Slovenia and Croatia left the 14th congress of the UCJ and it became the last in the history of the party. Then came the collapse of the unified state: on July 2, 1990, the declaration of full sovereignty was adopted by the Assembly of Slovenia, on January 25, 1991 - by the Assembly of Macedonia, on June 25, 1991 - by the Assembly of Croatia, on October 14, 1991 - by the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.