The 3rd Army of the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

was a Partisan army that operated in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

during the last months of the Second World War. The Army was created on 1 January 1945, when Chief Commander Marshal

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

converted the guerilla National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia in a more regular ''Yugoslav Army''.

History

As commander was named General lieutenant

Kosta Nađ Konstantin "Kosta" Nađ ( hu, Nagy Kosztá; 13 May 1911 – 19 November 1986) was a Yugoslav Partisan Army general that fought during World War II. Biography Born on 13 May 1911 in Petrovaradin, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, he fought as a volu ...

, as Political Commissioner Branko Petričević, and as Chief of staff, Vukašin Subotić.
The Army was formed from the units of the General Staff Vojvodina and the 12th Corps (

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

, 36th and 51st Vojvodina divisions). Later the 12th Slavonian, 17th Eastern Bosnian, 32nd Zagorje, 33rd Croatian and 40th Slavonian divisions were added. Vojska.net
/ref> Until April 1945, the 3rd Army held positions on the

Syrmian Front The Syrmian Front ( sh, Srijemski front/Sremski front) was an Axis line of defense during World War II. It was established as part of the Eastern Front in late October 1944 in Syrmia and east Slavonia, northwest of Belgrade. After the Yugosla ...

from Drava to Vukovar and fought on the

Virovitica Virovitica () is a Croatian city near the Hungarian border. It is situated near the Drava river and belongs to the historic region of Slavonia. Virovitica has a population of 14,688, with 21,291 people in the municipality (census 2011). It is als ...

bridgehead, on the left bank of the Drava River, in the vicinity of Slavonski Požega, near

Daruvar Daruvar ( cz, Daruvar, german: Daruwar, hu, Daruvár, sr, Дарувар, la, Aquae Balissae) is a spa town and municipality in Slavonia, northeastern Croatia with a population of 8,567. The area including the surrounding villages (Dar. Vino ...

and on other places.
In the final offensive for the liberation of Yugoslavia in April-May 1945, it liberated a large part of Slavonia, Croatia,

Hrvatsko Zagorje Hrvatsko Zagorje (; Croatian Zagorje; ''zagorje'' is Croatian for "backland" or "behind the hills") is a cultural region in northern Croatia, traditionally separated from the country's capital Zagreb by the Medvednica Mountain. It comprises ...

and Slovenia. By the end of the war, it was operating in the northeastern part of Slovenia (

Ptuj Ptuj (; german: Pettau, ; la, Poetovium/Poetovio) is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman ...

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

). Its units, together with forces from the 4th Army, surrounded a 30,000 strong mixed Axis column containing Germans, Ustashi, Home Guard and Montenegrin Chetniks, and forced it to capitulate after fierce fighting in the

Battle of Poljana The Battle of Poljana (Monday May 14 – Tuesday May 15, 1945) was a battle of World War II in Yugoslavia. It started outside of Poljana, near the village of Prevalje in Yugoslavia (now Slovenia), and was the culmination of a series of engageme ...

on May 14-15, a week after the armistice.

References

Sources

* This is a translation of the article in the

Slovenian Wikipedia The Slovene Wikipedia ( sl, Slovenska Wikipedija) is the Slovene-language edition of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It has been active since 26 February 2002. On 15 August 2010, it reached 100,000 articles. As of , it has about ...

, '' 3. armada (NOVJ).'' {{Yugoslav Partisans military units 3rd Army Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1945 disestablishments in Yugoslavia Partisans Military units and formations of the Yugoslav Partisans