The Bihać Republic (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Bihaćka Republika'',

Cyrillic The Cyrillic 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 countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

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

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

-occupied

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

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

Bihać Bihać 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 (Sava), Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in th ...

. 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 greatly improved their organization and tactics. Organized in mobile brigades, Partisans were able to attack and overpower isolated

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

garrisons of battalion size and, in some cases, even larger. Partisan units in western Bosnia and Croatia were significantly reinforced with the 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 involving eight Krajina and Croatian brigades against the 4th Ustaša Brigade and 12th Croatian Home Guard Regiment. Some towns were liberated earlier ( Vojnić, Vrginmost, Korenica,

Drvar Drvar (, ) is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Drvar in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the road between Bosansko Grahovo an ...

Glamoč Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Glamoč 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 fo ...

, and

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 as a continuation of the Bihać operation:

Bosanska Krupa Bosanska Krupa ( sr-cyrl, Босанска Крупа) is a city 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 situat ...

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 border ...

on 6, and

Slunj Slunj is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and Plitvice Lakes National Park, on the meeting of the rivers Korana and Slunjčica. Slunj has a popu ...

on 14 November. Several towns were liberated during separate attacks: Jajce on 26 November,

Livno Livno ( Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: ''Ливно'', ) is a town and the administrative center of the Township of Livno and Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bis ...

on 15 December,

Tomislavgrad Tomislavgrad ( Cyrl, Томиславград, ), also known by its former name Duvno ( Cyrl, Дувно, ), is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Tomislavgrad in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosni ...

on 19 December 1942, and

Teslić Teslić ( sr-cyrl, Теслић) is a town in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the central part of Republika Srpska, on the banks of the Usora (river), Usora River. As of 2013, the town has a population of 7,518 inhabita ...

on 1 January 1943.

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

and

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

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 Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Situated in the far northwest of the country, it lies across the Una from th ...

and

Dvor na Uni Dvor ( sr-Cyrl, Двор) is a municipality in the Banovina (region), Banovina region in central Croatia. Administratively, it belongs to the Sisak-Moslavina County and is located across the Una (Sava), Una River from Novi Grad, Republika Srpska, ...

on 26–28 November, and

Sanski Most Sanski Most ( sr-cyrl, Сански Мост, ) is a town and municipality located in the Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of the Sana River in northwes ...

on 10–22 December. With these operations, large swaths of territory, from

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

in the west to Prozor in the east, were cleared of Axis forces. Partisans established control over an area that was some long and wide. Some towns were retaken by Axis forces in local attacks: Jajce was reoccupied on 6 December, and Teslić on 8 January by Germans. However, 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 Historical geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bihac, Republic of Bihac, Republic of

*Republic of Bihac Communism in Bosnia and Herzegovina Communism in Croatia History of Bosanska Krajina

Liberation of the territory

See also

References

Sources