The Republic of Užice ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Užička republika, Ужичка република) was a short-lived liberated Yugoslav territory and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organized as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 in

occupied Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the US ...

, more specifically the western part of the

Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia The Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia (german: Gebiet des Militärbefehlshabers in Serbien; sr, Подручје Војног заповедника у Србији, Područje vojnog zapovednika u Srbiji) was the area of the Kin ...

. The Republic was established by the Partisan resistance movement and its administrative center was in the town of

Užice Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 59,747. The Cit ...

Borders

The Republic of Užice comprised a large portion of western part of the occupied territory and had a population of more than 300,000 (according to another source, nearly one million). It was located between the

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the administrative area of Valjevo had 90,312 inhabitants, 59,07 ...

–

Bajina Bašta Bajina Bašta ( sr-cyr, Бајина Башта, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of western Serbia. The town lies in the valley of the Drina river at the eastern edge of Tara National Park. The population of the tow ...

line in the north, the river

Drina The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long Balkans river, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps whic ...

on the west, the river

Zapadna Morava West Morava ( sr, Западна Морава, Zapadna Morava, ) is a river in Central Serbia, a 184 km-long headstream of the Great Morava, which it forms with the South Morava. It was known as Brongus in antiquity. Origin The West Mora ...

in the east, and the Raška region to the south. Different sources provide differing information about the size of the republic: according to some sources, it included 15,000 or 20,000 square kilometres.

History

The government was made of "people's councils" ('' odbori''), and the partisans opened schools and published a newspaper, '' Borba'' (meaning "Struggle"). They even managed to run a postal system and around 145 km of railway and operated an ammunition factory from the vaults beneath the bank in Užice. In November 1941, in the

First anti-Partisan offensive Operation Uzice was the first major counter-insurgency operation by the German Wehrmacht on the occupied territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. The operation was directed against the Užice Republic, the first of several "fr ...

, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

troops occupied this territory again, while the majority of Partisan forces escaped towards

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

Sandžak Sandžak (; sh, / , ; sq, Sanxhaku; ota, سنجاق, Sancak), also known as Sanjak, is a historical geo-political region in Serbia and Montenegro. The name Sandžak derives from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a former Ottoman administrative dis ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, re-grouping at

Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and a municipality located in Republika Srpska in south-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 18 ...

in Bosnia.

End

The leftist policy then pursued by

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 ...

(known later as the

leftist errors Leftist errors ( sh, leva/lijeva skretanja) was a term used by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) to describe radical policies and strategies – described as the Red Terror (''Crveni Teror'') by others – pursued by self-described Left-wi ...

) substantially contributed to the defeat of the partisans in the Republic of Užice. Because of the pro-fascist Serbian propaganda which described the partisans as being led by foreigners, the population of Serbia turned against the uprising and against the partisan insurgents. At the beginning of December 1941 the partisans moved from Serbia to Bosnia (nominally part of the NDH) and joined their comrades who had already left Montenegro.

In popular culture

The 1974 Yugoslav

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

feature film '' The Republic of Užice'' covers the events surrounding the existence of the Republic of Užice.

References

;Notes ;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * *

External links

Modern Serbia - Revolution and the antifascist struggle
at

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

.
Opština UžiceWestern SerbiaNational Museum Uzice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Republic of Uzice 1941 disestablishments in Europe Uzice, Republic of Uzice, Republic of Uzice, Republic of Former Slavic countries States and territories established in 1941 1941 establishments in Europe

Borders

History

End

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links