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  • The Wikipedia article on the Ustaše is very revealing as to whether there was infighting or not. – yannis Apr 4 '13 at 22:42
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    @Drux Ah, there's your mistake, you are trying to apply logic to the Balkans. ;) – yannis Apr 5 '13 at 10:11



What followed was even worse -



















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  • While you provided profound historical background on WWII in Yugoslavia, I am not sure if you answered the question. – Огњен Шобајић Aug 5 '15 at 19:21
  • "Serbs took partial revenge for the humiliation of having to live under Ottoman rule for five hundred years" ? Can you provide some references? – Огњен Шобајић Aug 5 '15 at 19:26


Publisher's summary:




  • While your answer gives interesting insights, I am not sure if it answers the question at all. Did you mean to imply that Serbians were then pro-Allies rescuing the American pilots? – Огњен Шобајић Jan 28 '16 at 2:34




In short.

Croats - mostly pro-Axis

Muslims - mostly pro-Axis

Serbs - mostly pro-Allies except Chetniks


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    @Bregalad the USSR was never part of the Axis, it is anti-Soviet propaganda. – Anixx Aug 1 '15 at 13:22
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    @Bregalad Poland was more allied with Hitler to invade Czechslovakia – Anixx Aug 1 '15 at 13:28
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    @Bregalad USSR was by no means part of the Axis. There was Hitler-Stalin pact where they agreed not to attack each other until Hitler started the operation Barbarossa. – Огњен Шобајић Aug 5 '15 at 19:06
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    I am not sure if we agree here. Chetniks were the first anti-fascist movement in occupied Europe (April 1941). In the beginning they were so pro-allies and anti-fascists, but the problem was that they were also anti-communist so they couldn't agree with Partizans (communists military movement in Yugoslavia) how to fight the nazis when the two leaders Tito (Partizans) and Draza Mihajlovic (Chetniks) met even twice. They didn't agree in tactics. Later during the war, Chetniks collaborated with nazis and fought Partizans as they thought communism is a bigger threat than Nazism. – Огњен Шобајић Sep 13 '15 at 22:08

As others present, there three main movements of partisans during W2 in Yougslavia. While the Oustachis were not that much developed in numbers, the Tchetniks of Mihailovitch and the "partisans" (they called themselves partisans as it referred to anti fascist of Spain, Poland or USSR) of Tito.

The Tchetniks first fight the Italian garnisons, and some German ones, on their own. The partisans did the same, and the efficiency of the guerilla was very good. The Axis did not really control the mountains of Yougoslavia, however they did not try as it did not endanger their rears, far in Russia and North Africa.

From 1943, the situation has changed: the Tchetniks allied with the Axis forces and went out of the fight, while the Axis was launching an important offensive against the partisans. The situation became difficult, and Tito started to fall back in the center of Serbia, escaping the fields that his guerilleros shared with the tchetniks.

The situation was stabilized with minor but numerous fights between all the actors. At that time, the Allies, mainly represented by the English army, diplomacy and secret service, still trusted Mihailovitch, commander of the tchetniks and in favour of the king of Yougoslavia (in theory), rather than the communist Tito. Thus Tito had not that much help, in particular in terms of strategic intelligence and specific goods like medicine. But Mihailovitch lost a part of his forces that were no favourable to helping the Axis. Tito had to face a 4th offensive from the Axis that came close to destroy its forces in Serbia. He had to retreat, and on their way the Partisans faced the Tchetniks on February, 25th 1943 at the Neretva river. They crushed a force of 12 000 Tchetniks, mainly coming from Montenegro, and thus Mihailovitch lost the core of its forces and the Partisans escaped the Axis circle by mountain's paths. The 5th offensive of the Axis was even larger, but it came at a time when the Partisans had reorganized themselves and regained most of the land and hearts of Yougoslavia. If the Partisans suffered heavy losses during this offensive, it was because of tactical mistakes (they felt too strong).

To conclude, the fact that different nationalities of Yougoslavia were more pro allied or pro axis did play a role in the guerilla warfare.

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