The Bihać Republic (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: ''Bihaćka Republika'',

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...

: Бихаћка Република) was a short-lived republic that existed between November 1942 and January 1943 in a liberated area of

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

-occupied

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

. It was established by the Partisan resistance movement following the liberation of

Bihać Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovin ...

. Bihać became its administrative center and the first session of the Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) was held there on 26 November 1942.

Liberation of the territory

In the summer and fall of 1942 Partisan forces improved largely its organization and tactics. Organized in mobile brigades, Partisans were able to attack and overpower isolated Axis garrisons of battalion size and, in some cases, even stronger. Partisan units in western Bosnia and Croatia were largely reinforced with arrival of 6 brigades from eastern parts of Yugoslavia in summer 1942.

, the central town of the territory, was liberated on 4 November 1942 after a two-day battle of 8 Krajina and Croatian brigades against the 4th Ustaša Brigade and 12th Croatian Home Guard Regiment. Some towns were liberated earlier (

Vojnić Vojnić ( sr-Cyrl, Војнић) is a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. There are 4,764 inhabitants, 45% of whom are Serbs and 37% of whom are Croats. The municipality is part of Kordun. Vojnić is underdeveloped municipality which is st ...

, Vrginmost,

Korenica Korenica is a village in Lika, Croatia, located in the municipality of Plitvička Jezera, on the D1 road between Plitvice and Udbina. According to 2011 census it has 1,766 residents. It is the seat of the Plitvička Jezera Municipality. In ...

Drvar Drvar (, ) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 2013 census registered the municipality as having a population of 7,036. It is situated in western Bos ...

Glamoč Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the foothills of Stareti ...

Bosanski Petrovac Bosanski Petrovac ( sr-cyrl, Босански Петровац) is a town and municipality located in the Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the municipality has a p ...

), and others were liberated in continuation of the

Bihać operation Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovin ...

Bosanska Krupa Bosanska Krupa ( sr-cyrl, Босанска Крупа) is a municipality located in the Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 29,659 inhabitants. It is ...

on 5,

Cazin Cazin ( sr-cyrl, Цазин) is a city located in Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Bosanska Krajina region, near the borde ...

on 6, and

Slunj Slunj ( Hungarian ''Szluin'', old German ''Sluin'', Latin ''Slovin'', archaic Croatian ''Slovin grad'') is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and ...

on 14 November. Several towns were liberated during separate attacks:

Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wit ...

on 26 November,

Livno Livno ( sr-cyrl, Ливно, ) is a city and the administrative center of Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bistrica in the southeastern edge of the Livno Fiel ...

on 15 December,

Tomislavgrad Tomislavgrad (), also known by its former name Duvno (), is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It mainly covers an area of the historical and geographica ...

on 19 December 1942, and Teslić on 1 January 1943.

Udbina Udbina is a village and a municipality in historical Krbava, in the Lika region of Croatia. It is administratively a part of the Lika-Senj County. Geography Udbina is located in the large karst field called Krbava. It is approximately 45 kilomet ...

and

Bosansko Grahovo Bosansko Grahovo ( sr-cyr, Босанско Грахово) is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in western Bosnia and Herzegovina along ...

were evacuated by Ustaša and Italian units under Partisan pressure. Some towns were attacked unsuccessfully:

Bosanski Novi Novi Grad ( Serbian Cyrillic: ), formerly Bosanski Novi ( sr-cyrl, Босански Нови), is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Administratively, it is located in the Republika Srpska entity. Situated in the far northwest ...

and Dvor na Uni on 26–28 November, and Sanski Most on 10–22 December. With these operations, large swaths of territory, from

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 census, its population was 55,705. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located on the Zagreb-Rijeka highway and railway line, south-west of Zagre ...

in the west to Prozor in the east, were cleared of Axis forces. Partisans established control over an area that was some 250 km long and 50–70 km wide. Some towns were retaken by Axis forces in local attacks: (Jajce was reoccupied on 6 December, and Teslić on 8 January by Germans), but most of the territory was reoccupied in large offensives ( Weiss I and Weiss II). Germans retook Bihać on 29 January, Drvar on 27 February, and Livno on 5 March 1943.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bihac Republic States and territories established in 1942 States and territories disestablished in 1943 Geographic history of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bihac, Republic of Bihac, Republic of Former Slavic countries

Bosnia and Herzegovina in World War II Republic of Bihac Communism in Bosnia and Herzegovina Communism in Croatia History of Bosanska Krajina

Liberation of the territory

See also

References

Sources