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C o
p y 2
w
r
D E
P A R T
M E N
T O F
T H
A R
M Y P A M
P H L E
T
N O 2
2 4 3
jS
r m y i l i t a r y H is t o r y
I n s t i t u t e
H
I S
T O
R I
C
L
S T
U D
Y
G R M N
N
M
G
U
E
R
R
I
L L
O
P
E
R
H
O
N
S
I N
T
H
E
B
L
K
N
S
D E
P A R T
M E N
T O F
T H E
A R
M Y
A
U G U S
T 9 5
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Departm
ent of
the
Army Pamphlets Published
In
the
GERMAN
REPORT SERIES
Title
Publicatio
n
date
o
20-201
Military
Improvisations During the Ru
ssian Campaign___ Aug 51
20-202 Germ
an
Tan
k
Mainte
nance
in
World
War I I
Jun 54
20-230
Russian Combat Methods in World War II.__________ No
v 50
20-231 Combat in R
ussian Forests and w a m p s
Jul
51
20-232 Airborne
Operations: A German
Appraisal._____ Oct 51
20-233 German D
efense
Tactics Against
Russian Break-Throughs Oct
51
20-234 Operations o
f
Encirc
led ForcesGerman Experience in
R u s s i a
_
Jan 52
20-236
Night
Combat______________________________
Jun
53
20-240
Rear Area
Security
in RussiaThe S
oviet
Second
Front
Behind the German
Lines_______________..____
Jul
51
20-242 German Ar
mored Traffic Control During the Russian Cam
paign___.___________
__________________
Jun
52
20-260 The German
Campaigns
in the Balk
ans (Spring 1941 ___ Nov 53
20-269
Small Unit Actions During the German
Campaign in Russia.
Jul 53
20-290 Terrain Factors in the
Russian Campaign___________
Jul
51
20-29
1
Effects
of Climate on
Combat
in
European Russia
__
Feb 52
20-292
Warfare in the Far
North____________________
_
Oct
51
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D E P A R T M E N T O F T H E R M Y P A M P H L E T N O
2
- 2 4 3
G E R M A N
A N T K M R H I A
O
P E R A T I O N S
I N
T H E
B A L K A N S
1 9 4 1 - 1 9 4 4 )
D E P A R T M E N T
O F
T H t
A R M Y
A 8 6 D S
T 9 5
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DEPAR
TMENT OF THE
A R M Y
W S H I N
G T O N 25, D . C.,
6
Augu
st
1954
Depar
tm ent of
the Army
Pamp
hlet 2 0- 2 4
3
is
published for the
in
form atio
n
an d
use
o
f
a
ll con
cerned.
[AG385
(U
un54)]
Y
O R D E R
O F THE SECRETARY
O F THE fiKY
OFFIC
IAL :
J O H N A. KLEIN
M
ajor Genera
l United States
Army
The Adju
tant
General.
M .
B.
RIDG W A Y
General
Un
ited States
Army
Chief of Staff.
D
I S T R I B U T I O N
Active
Army
Gen Sta ff D A 5)
SS D
A 5)
Tec
Svc D A
26)
Admin Tec Svc
Bd 10)
TP
10)
OS Ma] Comd 50
)
Arm ies
10)
Corps
10)
D lT
8)
Brig
3)
Eegt 3
Gen Br
Sv
c
Sen
25)
P M S T
HOTO Units
1)
T/O
B
30-
500A
Teams
A A
th rough A E 1)
T/O B
30-510 Te
ams A-l
through A-5
1)
T/O E
30-600 Teams
A A
throu
gh AE 1)
NO
Special.
VSAR
Special.
Unless
oth
erwise
noted
distribution
ap
plies to GonU S
and
Overse
a.
F
o r
explanation of abbreviat
ions
use
d see SB
320-50-1.
8/11/2019 DA Pamphlet No. 20-243 (German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans)
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FOR WOR
The
purpose
of this
stu
dy is to
describ
e briefly the German cam
paign
against
the guerri
llas
in the
Balkans during the
period of
the
European Axis occupati
on, from the
end
of h
ostilities against Greece
and
Yugoslavia in April
1941 to the ca
pture of Belgrade by the
Sovi
et forces
and the
Partis
ans in October 1944.
The
activities
of
Ge
rmany's Italian
,
Bulg
arian, Croatian,
and
other
allies, as
well
as
the British, Soviet,
and U
nited States
forces in
the
area,
are
treated
only to the
extent that they affected German operations.
In seq
uence
of
time,
this
study is
a contin
uation of
Department of
the
Army
Pamphlet
20-260, The
German
Campaigns in the
Balkans (Spring
1941) , of
November
1953 .
The
materia
l
for
this study was
obtained
from
Germ
an military
records
n
ow
in the
custo
dy
of
The
Adjutant
General,
Department
of
the
Army.
n
addition to
these
official
records,
monographs
by
former
German
officers
who participated
in
these operations
furnished
con
siderable general
in
formation and
were
of
assistance
in supplementing
the terse official
reports of specific
actions. The authors of the
se
monographs
prepared for the
Historical
Division,
United
States
Army, Europ
e,
include General
der Gebirgstrup
pen
(Lieutenan
t
General) Hubert Lanz,
form
er
commander
of
the XX
Mountain
Corps,
and
Polizeiob
erst (Colonel of Police) Karl Gaisser, Germ
an
te
chnical adviser to the
Croatian Police.
The
w ork
of
preparing
this
study
was
done by
Major Robert
M .
Kennedy of the Office
of
the C
hief of Military
History.
In its presen
tation, every effort wa
s made to give an accurate account
of
the
pro
tracted
attempt
by
the
German
occupation forces to destroy
their
elusive
guerrilla enemy
in
this
.seconda
ry theater of
war from 1941
t
hrough 1944 .
ii i
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C O N T E N T S
P o r t
On*.
T H E BALKAN AREA AND
ITS
PEOPLES
C h a p t e r 1.
P h y s i c a l G e o g r a p h y
I.
Topography...................................
2
II. Climate .. . _ _ . 3
2. N o t i o n a l States
I.
General._________. ..___ 4
II.
Greece.__________________.. __ 4
III. Yugoslavia. . .... ... . .. . . . 5
IV.
Albania. ._........___.....
..
--
6
V .
Bulgaria,
Hungary, Romania, and Turkey ... 7
3. T r a n s p o r t a t i o n a n d C o m m u n i e a t i o n i
I. General . .. . 8
II. Main Rail
Lines ______. ...___......
8
III.
Principal
Highways______________
9
IV. Waterways, Airfields, and Signal Facilities.._....
9
P a r t T w o . T H E
OCCUPATION
OF T H E
B A L K A N S
AND T H E RIS E OF
T H E
G U E R R I L L A
MOVEMENT
1941-42). 10
C h a p t e r 4. T h e O c c u p a t i o n Z o n e s
a n d F o r c e s
I. Division and Dismemberment-.- - 13
II. The
Italians___
1 3
III.
The Germans____________.-_. 15
IV.
The Bulgarians and
Hungarians ...
17
V . The Puppet Governments .. . .. 18
5. The E a r l y M o v e m e n t
a n d A x i s C o u n t e r m e a s u r e s
I.
Yugoslavia.._ ... ...._ ...
20
II.
Greece... . . . ... . 27
6. O r g a n i z a t io n o f G u e r r i l l a
Units
I. Unit and
Command Structure--------------- 3 1
II.
Communications and Supply______
- 3 2
III. Training and
Tactics_________
--
3 3
P o r t T h r e e . T H E
G U E R R I L L A
MOVEMENT
IN G R E E C E ,
YUGOSLAVIA,
AND ALBANIA 1943-44)..
3 5
C h a p t e r 7. O p e r a t i o n s
J a n u a r y - A u g u s t
1943)
I. Yugoslavia..........__
3 6
II. Greece_______________.....- 3 8
III.
The German Situation by Mid-1943. 40
0.
T h e D e f e c t i o n of
Italy
and I t s E f f e c t s
I. General._____________ ___
44
II.
Yugoslavia
and Albania. 44
III.
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Vi
C O N T E N TS
P
a r t T h ree . T H E
G UE RR
I L L A
MOVEM
ENT
IN GREECE, YUGOS
LAVIA,
P
a g e
A
ND
A
LBANIA (194
3-4 4 ) Co n t in
u e d
C h a p t e r
9.
O p e r
a t i o n t o t h e En d
o f 1943
I.
General.__________............._._.
47
II.
Y
ugoslavia
and Alba
nia...
............
... 50
III.
Greec
e______
__. ..__
_........_..
_. 52
10.
O p e
r a t i o n s In 194
4
I.
Gener
al .__...
_.._____
._..........
.
53
II. The Area
of
A
rm y Group
E . _.
........... 54
III. T
he
A
rea
of
Army Grou
p F
____...._
_....... 64
11.
GEMSBO
CKandSTEIN
ADLER..
.............
.........
7 0
P a r t F o u r .
RESULTS AND
CONCLUSIONS-.. ..-._
73
A p p e n d ix
I. C
h r o n o l o g y o f
Event*-..
... ....-.
..
.... ..
.. 79
II.
B i b l i o g r a p h
i ca l Note....
_._ .
....
.. 82
M A P
S
A
o.
1 . General Re
ference Map-------
-.--_-_-_----
-------------
---Facing
1
2.
T
he
P
artition
of
G
reece___
__.______
______
____
12
3. The Partition
of Yugos
lavia_...._
__
__ _
__
1 4
4 .
German Dispositions in
the
Balkans as
of
Mid-A ugust
1944....Facing 53
5 .
Ge
rmanEstimate
of Guerrilla
Strength
and Dispo
sitions in Greece as
of M
id-August 1944___
__...__._
_______
__...........
61
6 . Germ
an
Estim
ate
of Guerrilla
Strength and
Dispositions
in Yugos
lavia
an
d
A
lbania
as
o
f Mid-Augus
t 1944....
._
_...Facing
6 7
7 . Operati
on
GEM
SBOCK.
.________
_..
_
_.._Facin
g 70
8. Operation
S
TEINAD
LER.__..
______..._
....._. Fac
ing 7 2
C HA
RTS
o
1 .
G erman Ground
Forces
in
O ccupied Greece
and
Yugoslavia
as
of
July
1
941.........._
_..__....
......_
.
_..
....... 1
7
2 . German
Ground Fo
rces in Occup
ied Greece a
nd Yugoslavia
as of
1 December
1942__
_.______
_____._
.._____._
__
27
3 . G erman
and Bulgarian Gr
ound Force
s in
O ccup
ied G
reece, Yugoslavia
and A lbania
a
s of 26 D e
cember 1943.__
.
.._____.
51
4. Germ an Gro
und
F
orces
in
Occupi
ed Yugoslav
ia and
Albania as
of
the
Fall of Belg r
ade 20 O ctober
1944
________
_ _______
___
68
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G E N E R A L R E FE R E N C E M A
P
T KTN
N
Map 1
General re fere
nce
map
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P R T O N E
THE B LK N R E N D
T S
PEOPLES
The term Balkan is derived from a Turkish word meaning
mountain. As used by the English-speaking nations, however,
the
word
refers
to
that
peninsula
of
southeastern
Europe
lying
between
the
Black and Adriatic Seas and extending south to
the Mediterranean.
To
the north,
the geographic boundary
is less
definite, but
is
generally
accepted as the area
south
of the line of the
Danube
and
Sava,
west
along the Kupa Eiver,
whence
an
imaginary
line
is
drawn to
the
Adriatic port
of
Fiume.
From north to south,
the
broad expanse of
the
Danube Basin gives
way to
the
mountain ranges of Yugoslavia
and Bulgaria.
The re
mainder of the
peninsula
consists
mainly
of rugged
mountains, broken
occasionally
by
such
features
as
the coastal lowlands
of
Albania, the
area surrounding
the Gulf
of Salonika in Greece,
and the
lowlands
of Turkish
Thrace.
The
Balkan
peoples have
been
in contact
with the
inhabitants of
Asia Minor,
the
Hungarian
.Plain, Central
Europe,
and
the
highly
developed Mediterranean civilizations for thousands
of
years. Never
theless
it
is still possible to distinguish such ethnic
groupings as the
Albanians, Serbs,
Bulgars, Turks, Greeks, and
Vlachs,
the last a
semi-
nomadic race of herdsmen being absorbed gradually into
the
various
national states into
which
the
Balkan area
is
divided.
Occupied
for
centuries by Romans,
Turks, Austrians,
and Hungar
ians,
the Balkan
peoples were forced
to adopt the
methods
of irregular
warfare
in
the struggle
against their oppressors. When
not resisting
foreign
invaders,
they
battled one
another
or kept alive their fighting
traditions in bitter blood feuds. The mountainous terrain of their
peninsula,
with
few good roads or
rail
lines, hampered the
counter-
measures of
regular
forces and
made possible
sustained
guerrilla
operations.
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C
HA PT
ER
PH
YSIC
A L GE
OGR
APH
Y
I
Top
og r ap
h y
The
most
im
port
ant ph
ysical
feat
ure of th
e Balk
ans
as
a
s
cene of
milita
ry
o
peratio
ns
is its wild
te
rrain.
Th
e brus
hym o
untain
cou
ntry
c
raggy
pea
ks,
and
ro a
dless
fore
st are
as of
fer irreg
ular
troops
num
er
ous
pla ces
to
hide ,
opportunity
to
shift
forces
unse en even
from
the
a
ir
andlo
cation
s fo
r amb
ush.
To the
west
,
th
e D
inaric
Alps
fo
llow
Y
ugos
lavia s
A
driati
c c
oast
i
n a
south
easter
ly d
irectio
n and
bar
access
to the
inte
rior of
thecou
n
try
. A
lthou
gh
so
me
coas
tal areas
are f
ertile
the
lim
eston
e
com
posi
t
ion of th
ese m
ountai
ns
make
s
the
hi
nterla
nd a ba
rren
region
incap
able
of sup
portin
gany
con
sidera
ble po
pula t
ion.
Deep
gorg e
s make
tr
ans
ve
rse
movem
ent diff
icult,
and
there
are only
a
few
s
econd
ary ro
ads
and
rail
lin
es u
ntil the
cen
tral Yu
gosla
v up
lands
to the
east are
re a
ched.
F
rom th
e
headw
aters o
f the
Drin
Rive
r the l
ength
of Alb
ania
to
the
port
cit
y
of Valon
a,
the m oun
tains
dr
aw
back from
the
coa
st,
m aki
ng for
ea
sier ac
cess
to
the
in t
erior
and
assum
e
a north-
south
d
irectio
n . Sou
th o
f
V
alona
, the
m
ounta
ins
re sum
e the
ir
so
uthea
sterly
m
arch
and m er
ge
in t
o theGree
k Pind
us.
These
l
atter
exten
d t
o
t
he
Gul
f of
C
orinth
reap
pearin
g
o
n
th
e
south
ern
side of the
g
ulf
in
th
e
Pe
loponn
esus.
Directly
south
of
Gre ece
proper
is
the
large
is land
of
Crete ,
of
con
sidera
ble st
rategi
c im po
rtance
. O
ther
Gre
ek is
lands
dot
ting the
Ionia
n and A
egean
Seas
are
Cor
fu Cepha
lonia ,
Z
ante
Rhod
es, th
e
D
odeca
nese, the
Sporad
es, th
e
Cycla
des, Lem
nos,
and
Khio
s.
T
he cen
tral
upla
nds eas
t of
the m
ounta
in c
hain
exte
nding
t
he
length
of
the B
alkan
Penin
sula
are
fe
rtile
enoug
h to su
pport
larg
e
cente
rs of po
pulati
on a
nd some
indu
stry.
T
o
t
he
north
thi
s regio
n
is drain
ed by the
Sa
va and M
orava
Rive
rs,
flo
wing in
to
th
e Dan
ube;
to
the
south, by
the
Vardar
wending
its
way
through
M acedonia to
th e
Gulf
of Salo
nika
and
t
he A
egean
.
The easte
rn
po
rtion
of the p
eninsu
la
is
bi
sected
b
y the
Balka
n
M
ount
ains.
To the
nort
h th is
are
a
desce
nds to the
Dan
ubian
pla
in;
to
th
e
south
,
to
the
stepp
e-like
lands
of Turk
ish
THrac
e.
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GERMAN
ANTIG UERRIUA
OPERATIONS
IN THE
B A
UCANS 1941-1944)
II
Cl imate
With the ex
ception
of
its coastal ar
eas,
the Balkan Peninsula has a
central Eu ropean
climate,
characterized
by
warm and
rainy
summers
and cold w
inters, differing
little
from
the
Danubian lands to the
north.
The
Dalmatian coas
t
of Yugoslavia, facing the Adriatic,
and the
Io
nian
and western
Aegean coasts of Greece
enjoy
variations
of
th
e
M editerranean typ e of
climate, with warm, dry
summers
and
mild,
rainy winter seasons; o
ther coastal
areas have
a
climate
betw
een that
of central Euro
pe and
the
Mediterraneanfor example, the north
Aegean coast with its
hot summers
and
cold wint
ers and
the
Black Sea
coast with its
moderately
hot
su mmers
and
cold
winters.
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CH
P
TER
NAT
IO
NA
L S
T T
ES
T
he p
eace
t
reat
ies fo
llow
ing
the
Ba
lka
n
Wa
rs of
191
2
and
1
913
W or
ld W
ar
I
and
the
G
ree
k-T
urk i
sh
co
nfli
ct endi
ng
in
192
3 reso
lved
th
e fro
ntie
rs
of the
va
riou
s Ba
lkan
sta
tes
unti
l 193
9.
I
n
tha
t y
ear,
Italy
occupied
Albania
and
proceeded
to
implement
her
designs
for
d
omi
nati
ng the
B
alka
nP
eni
nsul
a.
Th
e
c
reat
ion
of
thes
e sta
tes
ha
d
sati
sfie
d m
any
na
tion
al a
sp i
ratio
ns,
butnum
erou
s
m i
nori
ty an
d
te
rrito
rial
pro
blem
s
wer
e le
ftu
nset
tled
,
an
d b
oth
Ita
lian
s
a
nd G
erm
ans
we
re ab
le
to
turn
them
to
thei
r
o
wn
adv
anta
ge;
A
mon
g the
diss
atisf
ied
w
ere th
e
Hun
gar
ians
in
th
e
part
o
fn
ort
h
c
entr
al Y
ugo
slav
ia th
at
ha
don
ce bee
n
pa
rto
f the
Aus
tro-
H
un
gari
anE
mp
ire; th
e
Ital
ians
a
long
Y
ugo
sla v
ia s
nor
thw
este
rn
b
or
der
;
tii
e M
ace
don
ians
,
torn
amo
ng
th
e
Bu
lgar
ia ns
,
Y
ugo
slav
s,
and
Greeks;
and
the
la
rge
colonies
of A
ust
rian
s
and
G
erm
ans
i
n
n
orth
ern
Yu
gosl
avia
.
T
here
w
ere
a
lso bit
ter r
ival
ries
b
etw
een
me
mbe
r na
tion
s
of
th
e
s
ame
sta
te, as
th
e Se
rbs
an
d C
roats
of
Yug
osla
via,
and
both
Y
ugo
slav
ia
an
d
B
ulg
aria
w
ere
re
sent
ful of G
reek
p
osse
ssio
n o
f the
A
ege
an
co
ast.
Des
pite
the
eff
orts
o
f som
e
B
alka
n
l
ead
ers
to
fo
ster
i
ntra
-Bal
kan
co
ope
ra tio
n an
dg
ood
w
ill
pr
ior
to 194
1 t
hese
so
urce
s of
anim
os
ity a
nd
fri
ctio
n
r
ema
ined
to
ham
per
resi
stan
ce
toItal
ian
and
G
erm
an
sub
juga
tion
.
II
G reec e
Sli
ght
ly
sm
all
er
in
area
th
anEn
glan
d
Gre
ece
h
ad a
pop
ulat
ion of
l
ess t
han
eig
ht
m
illi
on
in
1
941
. M
igra
tio n
s a
nd ex
cha
nges
of p
opu
la
tio
n, ch
ief
am
ong
the
mt
herep
la c
eme
nt
of
Tu
rksi
n
w
est
ern
Thr
ace
wi
th a m
illio
n
an
d a
qua
rter
Gr
eeks
exp
elle
d from
Asia
M
in o
r in
19
22 -2
4
co
ntri
bute
d t
o mak
in g
the
i
nhab
itan
tsof
the
He
llen
ic st
ate
p
red
om i
nan
tly G
reek
b
y the
o
utbr
eak
of
W
orld
W
ar
II.
Alth
oug
h
the
re
w
ere
a
num
ber o
fAl
bani
ans
a
nd
Vl
achs
in
the
Pin
dus
M
oun
ta in
s
area,
they presented
no
minority
problem.
A
then
s,the
cap
ital,
w
ith
its
por
t city
o
fPi
raeu
s w
as
the nu
cleu
s
of
th
e Gr
eek
m a
ritim
e
sys
tem;
S alo
nik
a wa
sa
ce
nter o
flan
d
tra
nsp
orta
t
ion
and
anim
po
rtan
t s
eapo
rt
for t
he m
ore
nor
ther
lyo
f the
Balk
an
c
oun
tries
.
W
ith
an
e
con
omy
base
d
ch
iefl
y
o
n o
cea
n
com
mer
ce a
nd
a
gric
ultu
re,
G
reec
e ha
d
n
o hea
vy
ind
ustr
y.
B
ath
er it
res
tric
ted
its
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G E R M A N
ANTI GUERRI L L A O P ERA
T I O NS IN
THE B A L K ANS 1941-1944
)
processing
of goods
mainly to olive
oil, currants, and
tobacco.
Cereals
l
ed among heavy food
im ports, since
G re
ece
co
uld not
feed its
own
populati
on
o
n its do
mestic pr
oduction.
When
Italian
forces
attacked from
occupied
Albania
on
28
October
1940,
the Gree
ks
adop
ted astrategy
of
holding ligh
tly
on the
ir
lef
t,
a
llowing Italian
columns
to advance deep into
the barrenPindus, while
they
re
sisted
strongly and t
hen
launch
ed
a
counteroffens
ive on their
right. Their
advance brou
ght the
G r
eeks in
to
Alb
ania,
w h
ere
they
presented
a
serious
threat to the l
eft
flank o
f th e Italian
f
orces to the
south.
Despite their vi
ctories over
the
Italian
invaders, the Greeks
could
not
l
ong resist the
fast-moving German forces
that inter
vened in the
G reek-Italian
conflict on
6
April
1941.
Greece
surrenderedto the
G er
m
ans o
n
23 Apri
l, an
d
was
then required to su
rrender to the Italians
as w ell. T
his
subm
ission t
o
an
enemy
t
hey
had
all
b
ut defeated aroused
therese
ntment
of
th eG
reeks. Later coupled with
the occupation of
most of
Greece
by
Italian forces,
it contributed i
n
no s
mall measure
to
the
rise of the
Greek
re sistance mo
vement.
III
Y u g o
s lav ia
A
most
heterog
eneous
state, the homeland of
th eSerbs, C
roats, and
Slovenes,
derived
its
name
from
the
Slavic
te rms
for
South Slav
and
became
a statefollowing
W
orld War I.
Yugoslaviahad
a population
of nearl
y
sixteen
millions by 1941,
and
in
geographic area
w asslightly
smaller than th
e state of
W
yoming.
Almost one half
of
its
inhabitants,
or six
and one-half milli
on
peop
le, were Serbs, oc
cupying the
areas
o
f
t
he form er Kingdom of
S
erbia and the old pro vinces
of
Bo
snia, Herce-
govina, and D
almatia. The Serbs used t
he Cyrillic
alphabet,
pro
fessed
mainly th eOrthodox faith
tho
ugh many Serbswere
Moslems,
a
nd
stubb
ornly resiste
d
th
e C entral Powers in
World
War
I. Serbian
Belgrade
w as
th e
seat
of the
Yugoslav
national
government,
le nding
credence to the
claim of
the
minor
ities that th
e
Serbs do
minated
the
sta te. t was
the Se
rbs' violent protestto
Regent
P
aul's
acco
rd
with
Hit
ler and their overthrow
of the go
vernment
in
M arch
1941
tha
t pre
cipitated the German
attack th e follo
wing month,
and
it w a
s
f
rom
among the Serbs
that the C
hetniks
r
ose to resist the
occ
upation
forces.
Next in numbers
to th e Serb
s
were
the C roats, som
e three an
d
thre
e-
qu
arter million,
inhabiting the
northwestern
part
of
Y
ugoslavia. The
tradit
ional capit
al of the Croats was
Zagreb ,
and
the
ir
territory
was
part
of the Austro-Hun
garian Empire
until
the
end of
Worl
d
War I.
The Croats were
culturally more
ad vanced than
the Serbs, were west
ern European in their outloo
k,
and
the
majority profes
sed
C a
th oli
cism.
Although
th
eir
language was related
closely to that of
the
Serbs,
the
Croats usedthe Latin
alphabet. German
influence among
the C r
oats
in t
he pre-194 1
period
w
as strong, and it was on
th e
trad
i-
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6
GERMAN REPOR
T S
R S
tional
Croatian
h
ostility
to the Serbs
that
t
he invader
s placed much
con
fidence in
1941.
Last amo
ng the major
racial groupscompris
ing the Y
ugoslav state
were
the
Slovenes,
inhabiting the
most
northerly
portion
of
th e
coun
try
and numbering som
e one and one-h
alf million.
Like
the C
roats,
the Slovenes
w ere cultur
ally
w
ell advan
ced, usedthe La
tin alphabe
t,
were
oriented toward
the W est,
and for the m
ost
part
Catholic.
Their
historic ca
pital
w
as Ljubljana,
and the
G erman influence
was
very
m
arked.
Smaller national
minorities in
clu ded one-half mill
ion
Hu
ngarians
and almost as
many Albanians;one-
quarter million Romania
ns; and
spli
nter
group
s o
f
C
zechs,
Slova
ks, a
nd other Slavic
p
eoples.
There
were
also
well over
one-half million
Austrians and
G ermans.
n 1941 over
three
q
uarters
of
the
Yugo
slav
popul
ation
worked the
land, an
d agricultur
e
fo
rmed
the
nation's
economic
base. The
chief
e
xports
w e
re
lumber, bauxite, copp
er, some ironore,
and
proce
ssed
fruit
s; im ports
included textiles and
machinery. Depo
sits
of
iron
ore near
the surface
of
t
he groun
d
coul
d not be
use
d to build up
a siz
able steel
industry
because of th e
shortage of cokin
g
coal.
The German onslaug
ht o
f 6 April 1941 caugh
t
the
Yu
goslavs
i
n
th e
midst
of
gen
eral mobilizatio
n,
a
measure that had be
en delay
ed
to
avoid giving provo
cation to Hitle
r. A devastating air
attack on
Be
lgrade
the
day hostilities co
mmenced cr
ippled communic
ations be
tweenthe Yugo
slav
High
Comm
and andthe
armies in thefiel
d. To
placat
e
the
dissatisfied min
orities, which charged t
hat the Serb-
dom
in ated government
would defend only
Serb-inha
bited
areas,
th
e
Yu
goslav Army w as
deployed a
ll
aro und the borde
rs
of
the
countr
y.
T
o
make the Y
ugoslav
position even mo
re
dif
ficult, thousan
ds of Croat
res
ervists
did n
ot
rep
ort asdi
rected for milit
ary
service.
By 17
April
the
G erman
Second
A rmy fromthe northwest and
the Twelfth
Army
from
the
s
outheast, assisted tosom
e extent
by
their
Italian
a
llies,had
broken throughthe thin
shell o
f
resis
tance around the co
untry, cap
tured
al
l major
cities,
and
fo rced
t
he Yugoslav High C o
mmand to
cap
itulate.
I
V Alban
ia
This
small
est of
the
Balkan coun
tries,
approx
imately the
size of
Maryland, had
a population
of slightly over one
million
in
194
1.
After
centuries
of
Turkish
domination,
Albania
had
declared
its
in
dependence
in 1912 , but
it was not until
the end
of
W
orld
War
that
the
tiny state could
consider
itsel
f free
of
it
s stronger neighb
ors.
C onsisting mainly
of
Gheg
tribesmen in
the
north and Tosk
s
h
i
the sout
h,
the
Albanians
were
almost
exclusively
an agricultu
ral and
stock-
raising people. Mineral
and lu mb
er
reso
urces w ere largel
y
undevelope
d
beca
use
of
a
lack of transportation,
although the Italian
s
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G E R M A N ANTIG UE
R R IUA
O PE RA TIO
NS IN TH
E
B A L K
A NS 1941
-1944)
manage
d to
produce
so
me oil a
nd
complete
d
part
of
the s
hort rail
li
ne from Tira
na to the
Adria
tic after
their
occupa
tion
of
the
co
untry
in 1939 .
In
normal
times,
Albania
exported
quantities
of
w ool,
dairy
prod
u
cts, t
obacco,
hides, and
som e
cattle. Texti
les
and
o
ther
finished
produ
cts led
amon
g imports.
Exploi
ted
by
the
Italia
ns Alba
nia furnished
12,000
auxi
liaries to
M us
solini s d
isastrous
campaig
n
a
gainst G
reece in 1940.
A
large
number of
th
ese, howev
er, prom
ptly
deserted
. In
t
he
rugged
moun
tain
areas of
Alban
ia,
Italian con
trol w as Uttle^m
ore than
nomi
nal,
and
the
o
ccupation
garri
sons us
ually re
stricted thems
elves
to
the
few
towns
, t
o
the
throu
gh ro
ads,
a
nd to the
coas
ta l regions.
V.
B u l
gar ia H u n
g a r y R
o m a n ia
an
d
Turi
c ey
Sin
ce
Bulg
aria,
R
omania, andHun
garysuccum
bed to
G erm
an
pres
su
re
to
be
comepartne
rs
of
the
Europea
n A
xis,
an
d Turkey
rem
ained
neut
r l untilthe
end o
f
W
orld Wa
r
II
this
study
will co
nsider these
c
ountries
bu
t briefly.
Bulga
ria, ap
proximat
ely the si
ze of O
hio, had a
popu
lation
of a
little
mo
re
th
an seven
milli
on
in 194
1. Ethni
cally
close
to
the
Rus
sians, the
la n
guage of
the
Bulga
rians w as Sl
avonic.
With an econo
my
primarily
agricultural
the
chief
Bulgarian
exports
w ere
fruits
and
dairy
produc
ts .
Hungary
not
a
tru
e Balka
n c
ountry
b
ut
adjacent
to
t
he Balka
n
area an
d continu
ally
involved in its
pr
oblems, had a
popul
ation
of
slightl
y o
ver nin
em illion and
was approxim
ately the
siz e
of
In
diana.
The eco
nomy o
f Hung
ary w as agr
ic ultural,
w ith m
eat and
cerea
ls
t
hec
hief e
xports.
Rom
ania,
also
outside
th
eBalkan
a
rea
proper,
was approxim
ately
th
e size
of O
regon, and h
ad a
p
opulation
of fifte
en and
one-half
million,
three
quarters
of
whom were engaged
in
agriculture.
With
its
ri
ch Ploes
ti
fields, Roma
nia w as the l
argest
oi
l
produc
er in the
Balkan-
Danubian
ar
ea.
Turkey, as
la
rge as
Texa
s and
M aine combined,
had
a populati
on
of
nineteen
and
one-ha
lf millio
n
an
d
a
n gr
icultur l econ
omy in
1
941 .
In
jthe
Balkans
proper
, Turkey had
only
a
few
thousand
square
m
iles
in
ea
ste rn
Thrace
.
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CH
APTE
R
3
T
RA N
SPO
RTA
TION
AN
D
COM
MUN
ICA
TIO
NS
I
Gene
ral
The
rug
ged
terrai
nof
the B
alka
nsprop
er h
as
beena
hea
vy
hand
i
ca
p tot
he deve
lopm
ent of
an ad
equat
e
tran
sport
ation
and
com
muni
c
ation
net,
and
the fr
equen
t wa
rs and
cha
nges
inth
e
p
olitic
al fro
ntier
s
w
ithin
the
area
have m ade
the
extension
and
improvement offacilities
even
mo
re diffic
ult.
Such
ra
il cons
tructi
on
a
s c
ould
be comp
ared
fa
vor
ablyto
th
at of
we
stern Eu
rope
in
194
1
w
as
r
estric
ted
to the
int
er
nat
ional
li
nes co
nnec
ting
the
capita
l cities
an
d so
me lin
es
int
he
l
ow
land
regio
ns
in
the no
rth.
A
lthou
gh
the road
s affo
rded
som
ewha
t
m
ore
c
omple
te c
overa
ge
tha
n
the
ra
il l
ines,the
re
were
few
h
ard-s
urfac
e h
ighw
ays as
ide fr
om
tho
se
paral
leling
the
main
railro
ads.
Th
e
terra
in
m
ade
ne
cessa
ry
n
umero
us serpe
ntine
s
and br
idges,
an
d deto
urs
were
o
ften
dif f
icult or
im possible .
On
the
whole
road
repair
was very
deficient.
Cab
le s conn
ectin
g
the
vari
ous Ba
lkan
capi
tals we
re
laid
befor
e
Wo
rld
W
ar
I
an
dsom
e im pr
ovem
ents
w
ere
m
ade
d
urin
g th
e
p
eriod
prec
edin
g
th
e at
tack
in 194
1 .
Howe
ver,
little
wa
s do
ne to estab
lish
a
unif
ied and ef
ficien
t cab
le n
etwo
rk thro
ughou
t the
Bal
kan co
untrie
s.
To
rem
ain
with
in
the sc
ope
of thi
s stud
y i
t
will
be
n
ecess
ary to
lim
it consi
derat
ion
of
the
tran
sport
ation
an
d co
mmun
icatio
nn
et to
th
atof
imp
ortan
ce to the
occu
patio
nf
orces
a
ndth
e irreg
ulars
arra
yed
again
st
them
.
II
Main
R
ail L
ines
At
th
e t
ime Germ
an
fo r
ces
over
ran the
Balk
ans
Yug
oslav
ia had
appr
oxim
ately
6 00
0
miles
and
G
reece
1 70
0
m
iles o
f
railro
ad lines;
bo
th count
ries
us
ed th
e
s
tanda
rd
Eur
opean
gau
ge. Th
e m
ost im
por
tant
lin
es w
ere
th
ose c
onver
ging
on
Zag
reb
fromA
ustria
I
taly
a
nd H
ung
ary;
the
lineZ
agreb
-Belg
rade
-Nish
;
a
nd
the
lines
Nis
h-
Sofiy
a and
N
ish-S
alonik
a-At
hens.
All
we
re
vit
al to th
e
Itali
an-
G
erma
n wa
r
e
ffort
sinc
e B
ritish
ai
r
and n
aval
a
ctivi
ty
m
ade su
pply
by
sea difficult
and
the
Germans
did
not
have
the
necessary
truck
tra
nspo
rt
fa
ciliti
es.
Too
in
a
dditi
on t
o t
he
oc
cupat
ion
fo
rces, th
ose
unit
s and inst
allatio
ns s
uppo
rting
th
e Ger
man a
irand n
aval
effor
t i
n
th
e
east
ern
Medi
terran
ean
had
to
be su
pplie
d byrail
a
long
the line
Z
agreb
-Belg
rade
-Nish
-Salo
nika-
Athe
ns.
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GERM
AN A
NTIOU
ERRIU
A
OPER
ATION
S IN
TH
E BA
UtANS
19
41,19
44)
III.
Pr
i n c i p
a l H ig
hw a
ys
T
he r
oads o
f Gre
ece
an
d Yu
gosl
avia we
re
poo
r, wit
h the
e
xcep
tion
of a
t w
international
highw ays and limited areas
in
and about the
ca
pital
s and
majo
r c
ities.
O
f
th
e
v
ariou
s
ro
ad
n
ets,
t
he
be
stw
ere
t
hose i
nnor
thwe
stern
Y
ugos
lavia
, in the
areas
tak
en
from
t
he A
ustr
o-
Hun
gari
an E
mpi
re;
abo
ut
B
elgra
de;
t
hrou
gh S
kopl
je to Salo
nika
;
in
the
indu
stria
l
area
abo
ut
S
alon
ika;
and
in
the
At
hens
-Pira
eus
in
d
ustri
al
a
nd sh
ippin
g
comp
lex.
T
o
t
he
Ger
man
an
dIt
alian
o
ccup
ation
for
ces, the
mo
st imp
orta
nt
road
ne
ts we
ret
hose
r
ough
lyp
arall
eling
the
rail
line
s thr
ough
nor
th
er
n
Yug
oslav
ia,inc
ludin
g Be
lgrad
e;
along
th
e V
arda
r Bi
vr
to Sa
lonika, thence along
the
Aegean
coast
to
Athens;
a
system
of
road?
th
roug
h
the
n
orth
ern h
alf
of t
heP
elop
onne
sus; a se
ries
o
f sec
onda
ry
ro
ads
alo
ng t
heAd
riati
ccoa
st
of Y
ugos
lavia
; som
e t
ortuo
us r
oads
thro
ugh
th
e
Di
naric
A
lps;
an
d
afew
m
ain roa
ds
inwe
stern
G
reec
e.
Th
ough
s
omeof
the
se
r
oads
we
re
pav
ed,th
e m
ajor
itywe
rebuil
t of
cru
shed
stone
an
d u
nab le
tosup
port
sus
taine
d traff
ic an
dhe
avy t
ruck
s
inan
y nu
mbe
rw
ithou
t con
stan
t
re
pair
. I
n
man
y plac
es,
lengt
hsof
pa
ved
road
alt
erna
te d
with
str
etche
s
of crush
ed st
one.
IV .
Waterw ay s
Air f ie ld s
an d
Si g n a l
Fac i l i t ies
W
hil
e
t
heD
anub
e pla
yed
a
s
igni
fican
t
par
t
in
the
log
istica
l supp
ort
of th
e att
ack f
orces
, th
e
wat
erwa
ys with
in Gr
eece
and
Y
ugo
slavi
a
p
rope
r play
ed li
ttle
part
in th
elat
ersu
pply
o
f t
heo
ccup
ation
troop
s.
P
erhap
s th
at put
to
the
most
ext
ensiv
e u
se
wa
s
the
Cor
in th
Can
al,
link
in g t
he G
ulf
of
C
orin
th
and
the
Aege
an. B
y
us
ingth
is
cana
l,
the
Itali
ans w
ere a
ble
tocut
the
distan
ce
from
the
ir s
uppl
y ba
ses
alon
g
the
Adri
atic a
nd
Ionia
n Se
as
to
Pirae
us and
A
then
s b
y s
oma 1*
6
m
iles,
av
oidin
g the
o
pen
sea a
nd
Brit
ish ai
rcraf
t base
d
m
Egyp
t.
Airfield facilities
in
Greece
and
Yugoslavia,
.though
not
extensive,
wer
e m
ore
tha
n adeq
uate
for
the n
eeds
of the
G
erm
ans
and I
talia
ns.
S
tock
s
o
f ga
solin
ean
d o
ther
supp
lies le
ft b
ehin
din G
reece
by
t
he
Br
itish
w
ere
put
to
use,
an
d
the slig
ht
dam
age
to f
ighte
r
b
ases
wa
s
n
ot
enou
gh
to prev
ent
their
im
me
diate
utili
zatio
n.
Perh
aps
mo
st
im
por
tant stra
tegic
ally
w
ere th
eexc
ellen
t ba
ses on
C
re te an
d
in
t
he
At
hens
-Pira
eus
are
a.
S
ignal
facil
ities
in
the
Var
ious
Balk
an
c
ount
ries at
the t
utfe o
ft h s
occ
upat
ion we
re in
capa
ble o
f sup
porti
ng
he
avytr
affic
.
To
o,
it
wa
s
a
simple
m
atter
for th
e
guerri llas
to
d
isrup
tth e f
ew
lon
g-di
stanc
e
c
ables
a
nd ov
erhe
ad w
ires
th
at exis
ted.
The
moun
tain
ous na
ture
of
the
te
rrain
c
ircu
mscr
ibed
the u
se o
f radio
, b
ut
itw
ason
this
and
f
ield
telep
hone
lin
es,
pl
us lia
ison
air
craf
t
tha
t
th
eocc
upat
ion f
orce
s u
suall
y
had
torely.
8/11/2019 DA Pamphlet No. 20-243 (German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans)
19/94
P A R T TW
O
T H E O C C
U P A T IO
N O F
T
H E
B A L K A
N S
AND
T
H E R IS
O F
T H E
G
U E R R I L
LA
M
O VE M
E N T
1941-4
2)
TheGerm
an combat troo
ps,
scheduled to
leave
alm
ost imm ediat
ely
t
o refit for Ope
ration BARB
AROSSA
(the assault on the
Soviet
Unio
n),
h
ad little
time fo
r
pris
oners after
their quick
co
nquest
of
Y
ugoslavia,
and captu
red
Greeks were
paroledas
a
gesture
of res
pect
for their heroic ef
fort in
d
efense of the
ir country
. Thus, short
ly after
the
cessati
on
of
hostilities,
the Yugosla
v and
Greek
force
s were de
mobili
zed, their
pers
onnel
id le, and
stunn
ed
rather
than crushe
d by
their
sudden
defeat.
Many
had
never
seen
the
enem y,
others
had
recently be
en
o
n th
e
offe
nsive, as
the G reek forces
in Albania,
and
had
been
forced to stop
fighting
only when enc
ir cled by th
e
G
ermans o
r
because h
igher command
ers had surre
ndered.
The G
erm an aut
horities
were cognizan
t
of
the.
threat
of
t
hese u
n
em
ployed e
x-soldiers a
nd other dissiden
t elem
ents uni
ting
to
fo rm
a
res
istance m
ovement .
M ore
over,
the
commence
m ent of
hostiliti
es
wit
h
the
Soviet
U
nion
2
m
onths
later
m
ade ex
ternal suppo
rt of su
ch a
m o
vement most
probab
le;
aid
by the R
ussians would
serve
to
div
ert
G
erman divisions
from
the
Russian th
eater of w
ar, gain
the
Kre
mlin
anopening
wedge
for th
e communica
tion of the
Bal
kans,
and
possibl
y
even permi
t
realization of the
age
-old Russian des
ire foraccess
to the
Adria
tic and
M
editerranea
n.
Little
was done to
fore
stall
title obvi
ous
threat o
f revolt.
Perhap
s
the G erm
ans c
onsidered
the few divisions
th e
y were leav
ing behind
su
fficient t
o secure Gree
ce and Yugosla
via and
ke
ep
up
an un
in
terrupted flow of raw
materi
als tothe G
ermanwar
machine
. Most
certainly
German
planners
were,
preoccupied
with
the
approaching
campaign
ag
ainst
th
eSoviet U
nion. At
anyrate,
German
prepara
tionsto contain
and destr
oylarge-scale
risings
were inadequa
te .
Be
lated Ge
rm an
efforts as time
pass
ed
succeede
d
only
in quel
ling
t
emporarilyt
he
growing surge
of
resistanc
e inareas wher
e
th
e
occupa
tion authoriti
es could
m ass
superior forc
es. Suppress
ion
o
f the re-
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G ER
M N NTIGU
ERRIU OPER TIONS
IN TH B
IK NS 194
1-1944)
s
istance movemen
t
became
and
rem
ained
f
or ov
er 2 years
a
makeshif
t
affair,
with the guer
rill s bein g
pursued
from one ar
ea to a
nother,
sufferin
g heavy casual
ties,
but never be
ing destroyed.
During this
2-year
period
duty
in
the
southeast was
regarded
as
relative
ly saf
e
by
the averageLand
aer so
ldier); n
ot
as
pleasa
nt,
per
haps, as
assignm
ent to
occup
ation d
uty in
France Belgiu
m , or Ho
l
land,
but infinitely
preferabl
eto
service
in
the Soviet
Union or North
Africa. F
or
i
ts part,
the A
rm ed Forces H
igh
Comm
and consid
ered
its
Balkan
theat
er
a
bulwark
against attack fr
om th
esouth an
d
its
possession nec
essary for
the secu
rity of th
e
forces
in the
southern
p
art
of the
Soviet Union
.
The R
eichs
primary
inte
rest in
th e
are
a itself
once the
se securit
y
objective
s
had been achieved, w
as
as a source of
strategic
raw m aterials.
Its
im portance increased when
the
supply
of
chrome
f
rom
Tur
key was
stopped
and the Turks beg
an to
drift toward
the Allied cam
p.
The
Germ a
n attitude
toward th
e population
was on
e of
mistrust
.
The maj
ority of
th e
inha
bitants
were
S
lavs, a
nd
o v
n a
ultmr (lac
king
cu
lture).
H
owever, as in
th e other occupied
countries,
the Germans
felt th
ey
could
re
ach a modus v
iven i to achieve
their
military
and
political
aim
s; the
p
opulation coul
d be kept
under cont
rol by
a
p
ro
gram of dividi
ng and ruli
ng well
illustrat
ed by th
e
establis
hment of a
Croatian
state
out
of
the
body
of
Yugoslavia.
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GE
RMA
N R
E P O
R T S R I
S
Y
U
O
SL
VI
THE
P
ART
ITIO
N OF
GRE
ECE
Arto
t O c
c u p i
ed
r b
y
t h a I tal
lo n s
A r
s t O
c c u p
ied
b y
ta
O
trma
at
A
reas
A n a
e i e t f
b y t h
B u lg a r lo n t
it T
h
Gt
rm on
h o
d A
i r F o
re* b
ait
an d
var i
o u i
a d m in i t t r a t lv * In * fo l ia t i o n s
t o
tht
Athtr.i-Pirocvi arta
ap2
he
p
art
itio
nof
G
reec
e
8/11/2019 DA Pamphlet No. 20-243 (German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans)
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CHAPTER
4
THE OCCUPATION ZONE
S ND FORCES
I D i v i s i on
a n d
D i s m e
mbe r men t
To free German troops for
employment
in
Operation BARBA-
KOSSA and in
compliance with comm
itments to Mussolini, the
occupation
of
the
Balkans was
to
be primarily
a
responsibilit
y of the
Italians.
German
interests
in
the
area, as
def ined
by
Hitler,
included
only
the
secur
ity of
sup
ply routes and
communications to German
air
bases in Gr&ece and
Crete, the safeguarding of the copper-pro
ducing area
in
northeastern Serbia,
the protection of a
n
open shipping
r
oute on the Danube, and
reten
tion of the
econc-mic
privileges
granted
Germany
by
t
he
former Yugos
lav Gov
ernment.
In
addition to Albania, which they had
held since 1939,
theItalians
assumed control of
Greece, with
the
exception of German-held areas
around Salonik
a and
Athens, th island
of Crete, and a number
of the
Aegean
Islands.
Another
exception was western
Thrace,
which
was
annexed by
the
Bulgarians.
(M
ap 2.)
In Yugoslavi
a, the Italians
incorpor
ated western
Slovenia, includ
ing Ljubljana, into Italy, and
annexedDalmatia and
Montenegro.
A
small
portion ofsouthwestern Serbia
was
detached
and
added
to
Greater Albania,
The
It
aliansalso dominated the newly
pro
claimed kingdom
of Croatia, which fo
r
purposes
of
security and
antigue
rrilla
opera
tions
was
divided
into
Ge
rman and Italian zones
of interest by a line along the
axis Visegrad-Sarajevo-Banj
a
Lnka-
north to the border
of
the
German-annexed
portion o
f Slovenia;
the Germans
were permittedto send
tro
ops into the area
east ofthis
line
andthe
Italian troops
could
operate
west of the
line.
F
or their
part, th
e
Germans
incorporated into Greater Germany that
portion
of Sloveni
a that had once been
part
o
f
the
Austri
an
province 6f
Carinthia,
an
d occ
upied
Serbia and the Banat.
The Bulg
arians
an
nexed
Y ug
oslav Macedonia and,
in
early
1942,
occupied
south
eastern Serbi
a;
the Hu
ngarians annexed the Batchka and
Baranya
and a small portion
of
eastern
Slovenia.
(Map
3.)
II The
I ta l ians
T
hree Italian armies and
a total of
4
5 divisions had pa
rticipated
i
n the campaigns
against Greece
and
Yugoslavia.
The armies were
the Secon
d,
Ninth,
and Eleventh, all directly under t
he omm ndo
13
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G ERMA N
ANTIGUERRIUA
OPERATIONS IN THE BAUC A
NS
1941-
1944) 15
upremo (Supreme General
Staff),
under which
they
remain
ed for
the
period of the
occupation.
By early
August 1941 the army head
quarters
had been redesignated as
area
commands
and
the
total
num
ber of
divisions
reduced
to
32.
The
commander
of
the
Italian
Sec
ond
Army became
Armed
Forces Commander
, Slovenia and Dal-
matia, with
8
divisions; the commanding
general of the N
inth
Army
became Armed
F
orces
Commander, Albania and Montenegro,
with
12 divisions; the
Eleventh
Ar
my commander
became the
Arm
ed
Forces Commander, Gre
ece, with divisions. One
addi
tional
div
i
sion
was
stationed in the Dodecanese
Islands.
A
change in this
organization was made when
the
Ar
med
Force
s Comma
nd,
A
lbania
and
Montenegro, was divided between
the Armed
Forces Comm
and,
Albania,
and the M ilitary
Command,
Montenegro.
The
policy
of the
Italian
occupation
authorities
was waverin
g and
irresolute,
and the Italians accom
plished Pttle
or noth
ing
toward
restoring the economy of
the areas un
der
their
contro
l. Com
mandei-s
were slow to
react to
guerrilla
forays,
and the common soldier hoped
for a
state of mutual
toleration with the population. This
reluct
ance
to act
firmly,
after their poor showi
ng in the
1940-41 campa
igns,
earne
d the Italians the
disdain of the
Greek
s and Yugoslavs
and
encouraged depredations. Harsh and
arbitrary
reprisals,
when
action
was
undertaken,
further
increased
tha
resentment of
the
popu
lation to
ward
the Italians.
Individual punishment was
often in
flicted
w
ithout
trial, and on many
occasio
ns entire
villages were
burned to discourage d
isorders. From disdain, the attitud
e of the
Greeks
and Yugoslavs soon changed
to one of hatred.
The
German
Twelfth Army,
w
hich
had driven the length of the
Balkan
Peninsula
and
conquered
Greec
e, was assigned to
the occupa
tion
of
the
German-held
areas
in
the southeast,
with headquarters
near Athens, whence it moved on
27
Octob
er to
Salonika.
The com
m a
nder of Twelfth
Army,
Generalfeldmarsc
hall Field M arshal)
Wilhelm List, also becam
e
A
rmed
Forces
Commander, Southeast, on
9
June 194
1,
thereafter
functioning in a dual role. As
Armed
Forces
Commander, Southea
st, Field Marshal
List
was
the supreme German
military
authority
in the
Balkans
and was
answerable directly to
Hi
tler. His
responsib
ilities in
tMs capacity included the preparation
and direction
of
a coordinated defen
se agains
t attack,
th
e
suppression
of
internal
unrest,
and the
conduct
of
relations with
the
Italian
and
other Axis milit
ary authorities in the area. Mars
hal List was further
charged
with the
sec
urity
of
German supp
ly
routes
through the
Hereaf
ter
the term Armed Forces
Commander, Southeast, w
ill
be useO
to refer to the
officer
holding
the title W ehrmachlbefehlshab
er
Suedoe
t, while
tlie
abbreviate
d
title
WB
Southeast will be used to refer
to
his
headquarters.
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B
alkans
and the m
ilitary
ad
ministrat
ion
o
f the
German-
occupied
ar
eas.
These last
w
ere thre
e
in
num
ber:
Serbia
p
roper;
t
he Salon
ika
region
and
the is l
ands of L
emnos, M yt
ilene. Kh
io s,
and Skyros
; and
southe
rn
Greece, in
cluding th
e
citi
es o
f Ath
ens and Pirae
us,
and the
islands of C
rete,
Cythera
, and
Melos.
Se
rbia
w a
s plac
edunder,
the
Military
Commander,
Serbia,
with
headquarters
at
Belgrade; the
S
alonika
area un
der the
Milit
ary
C
ommande
r. Salon
ika-Aeg
ean, wi
th
headqu
arters at
Salonik
a;
and Athen
s and Pira
eus und
er the M
ilitary
Com
mander,
S
outhern Gre
ece, w ith
head
quarters at
Athens.
Since
much
of the
Ge
rman
air effo
rt in the
eastern M
editerra
nean was
di
rected
f
rom Ath
ens, the hea
dquarter
s of th
e Militar
y Comm
ander,
Southern
Gr
eece,
w as
staffed
larg
ely by the
Air Forc
e. The
naval
and
air for
ce headq
uarters
inth
e
Ba
lkans
werep
laced under c
ontrol
of Marshal
Listfor
operational
purposes,as were
the
v riou
s
liaison
uiS-scrs
and military m
issions
wi
th
the It
alians,
Bulgari
ans, Hun
gari
ans, an.d
Croats.
Atthe
timehostil
ities ende
d in April,
Twelf
th A
rmyhad un
der
its
control four
corp
s
he
adquarte
rs an
d a to
tal of
t
w elve div
isions,
fou
r of
them arm o
red. By
22
J
une,
w
henOpe
ration BA
RBARO
SSA
began,
three of the co
rps h
eadquart
ers, all
the
arm
ored
divisio
ns, and
all
b
ut 2
mounta
in
and infantry
divisions
had been rede
ployed.
Th
is redis
tribution
o
f forces
l
eft T
welfth Ar
my wi
th the X
Vin
Mountain
Corps,
with
headquarters
near
Athens,
to which were
attac
hed th
e
5th
and 6th M
ountain D
ivisions
,
o
n C
rete and
near
At
hens, r
espective
ly; the1
64th Infan
try
D
ivision,
in
Salon
ika
and
on
the Aeg
ean
I
slands;
and
t
he
125th
I
nfantry Eegime
nt Sepa
rate),
in
Sa
lonika.
The
gap
create
d
b
y the
depart
ed
uni
ts was'
fil
led partially
by tl i
e
rec
ently
creat
ed
L
XVCorps
Co
mmand,
an area,
rather
than a
tactic
al,
h
eadquart
ers st
ationed
in Bel
grade. To
this
headqu
arters w e
re at
tached
the 704t
h,
714th, an
d
7l7th
Infan
try
D
iv isions,
spread
over
Serbia
proper, and the
718th
Infantry
Division,
stationed in
the
Germ
an
zone of i
nterest in
Croatia
, with
headqua
rters
at
Banja
Luk
a.
( Chart
1.) In
contr
ast to the troo
psthe
y
repl
aced, m
ore than o
ne-half
of
the
personn
el
of
th ese
division
s, par
ticularly
th
e platoon
lea
ders
and
nonc
ommissi
oned off
icers,
were ove
r
a
ge for
infan
try
service.
The
co
mbat
experie
nce of m
ost of
the com
pany a
nd highe
r com
man
ders w as li
mited to
World Wa
r
I
and the divi
sio ns lacked
their
full
complem
ent of
m
otor vehicl
es
and logist
ical services
.
Tr
aining
h
ad been int
errupted
by th
e assi
gnment t
o
o
ccupation
d
uty
to
the
ext
ent one
division
had only co
mpleted
battali
on exe
rcises.
Germ
an
str
ength
inthe
Balkans
remain
ed
at
a
pproxima
tely t
his
level
until
mid
-Septemb
er
1941,
the
only
change
b
eing
in mi
d-August
,
when
the6
th Mount
ain Div
ision left. Th
e713th
Infantry
Div
ision.
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GE
R M A N AN TIG
UERRILLA O P E R A T I
O N S IN THE
B A L K A N S 1941
-1944) 19
briga
des an
d a railroad se
curity
brigade u
ntil late
i
n the
war,
when
these
bri
gades
we
re
joined
with the ex
panded Ustas
cha force
s
to
form
div
is ions.
Croatian-
German
Legion
units, su
ch as the 369th, 3 7 3
d,
and 392d
Infantr
y
Divi
sions;
two SS div
isions, the 1 3
th and 23d
Mountain; and
addition
al
m
ountain
brigades and
separat
e battalions
were recruited in Cro
atia
by theGermans
draining
of
f m uc
h of the
manpowe
r that might
have
g
one to
the Croati
an forc
es. M
ore
poten
tial
Cr
oatian t
roops w e
re sip honed
off
in
labo
r
dr
afts or
by
t
he poli
ce,
or
fl
ed t
o
join
one
or another
of the
guerrilla groups.
A Peta
in-like figu
re wa
s
fo
und
in
Serbia
in the person
ofGeneral
Nedit
ch, a former chief
of staff
of the Eoya
l
Yug
oslav Army.
Within
Serbia,
in addition
to
the
civil
police,
several
militarized
security
fo
rces
w er
e
fo
rmed to
keep order an
d lighten the
German
occupation
ta
sk. The first
of
these was the Borde
r Guard,
5,600
stro
ng, includin
g
a
Ger
man cadre
of
600; the prima
ry m is
sion
of
thi
s force wa
s tocon
t
rol traffic acr
oss
t
he Ser
bian fron
tier. In addition,
to
su
pport
the
city
and rural
police should the
need arise, the State
Guar
d was organized,
comprisin
g
five
bat
talions with
an
au
thorized
tot
al
s
trength of 3 ,
560
m en.
The Serbi
an
V
olunteer
Battal
ions,la
ter
amalgam
ated into
the Ser
bian Volunteer
Corp s, most
closely
approximated a
national
military
force. Four and
l
ater
five in
num
ber, the
se
batt
alions, under
thecom
mand
ofGeneral Ljotit
ch, were
scatter
ed about
the
German-occ
upied
area
ofSerbia
.
T
heir
a
pproximate
tota
l strength
w
as 2,000.
Anot
her for
ce
fo
rmed in 1941
within
Serbia but n
ot respon
sible
to
the
Neditch G
overnment
was the Russi
an Guard
Corps
, under com
man
d
o
f General
Steif
on
.
It had
thre
e regime
nts and
a total
streng
th
of
4,000. Inc
orporated into th
e
Wehrm
acht, th
e corps w
asco
mposed
largely
of anti-S
oviet emig
res
who
had
served in the arm
ies of the
Czar;
many
of
the
personnel
were
incapable
of
extended
field
service,
and the Germ
ans generally
restr
icted them to
such security du
ties as
the protection
of the
vital Belgrade
-Nish railr
oad lin
e.
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CH APT
ER 5
THE EARLY M O V E M E NT
AND AXIS
COUNTERMEASU
RES
The
political allegiances of the
r
esistance movement
had
little
in
fluence on the
military
operations
cond
ucted
b
y the
occupying
powers.
Rather,
everyon
e fighting against the occupation forces was
considered
a
threat
to
their
hold
on
the
Balkans.
True, the
methods
used
and the
ultimate objectives differed fro
m one group to the other. However, as
far
as
the
Italians,
Germ
ans, and Bulgarians
were
concerned, all
in
ar
msagainst them were ene
mies, whether they
wore
the royal crest of
a
so
vereign in
exile,
the hamme
r and sickle, or no
insignia whatever.
I
Y ugo s la v i a
Armed opposition on
a significant scale received
its start in Y ugo
slavia.
However, any consideration
of
this
movement would
be
incomplete
without distinguishing
between
the Pan-Serb,
monarchical
group ofthe former
Col. Draja Mihailovitch
and
the communist-led
effort of Josip
Broz, or Tito. It was
the former that first came to the
attention of the All
ied world, at the time German domination
,
of
the
C
ontinent was almost complete
and Soviet
forces were retreating
from
we
stern Russia.
Mihailovitch
c
alled his
irregulars
Chetniks, from
the
title of
a
Serb national
ist organizati
on
that had
resisted the Turks, fought well
in World War I and since existe
d asa reserve for
ce to be
called up
when needed. Costa
Pecanatch, the
aging World
War I
leader, went
over to the Neditch
government at the outset of the occupation, leaving
Mihailovitch with
thos
e remnants
willing to
re
sist the oc
cupation
forces.and
collaborationists. TheMihailovitch m
ovement quickly
gained
momentum during the early s
ummer
of 1941,
and liaison was
established
with the government-in-exile
of
King
Peter. A short time
later M
ihailovitch
was
first named
commander
of the
resistance
forces
within
Yugoslavia,
and
then minister of defense
of the royal
govern
ment-in-exile.
Chetnik
policy
called
for the organiza
tion of strong undergroun
d
forces inSerbia
for
the
day
when
they might
rise
in conjunction
with
Al
lied landing
s
on the Balk
an
Pe
ninsula.
Mihail
ovitch, hmisel
f, had
been
appalled by
the
execu
tion of some 35,000 Serb
hostages for
Chetnik acti
vities inWorldWar I
and
was
determined
to
av
oid
repeti-
20
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GERMAN ANTIGUERRILLA
OPERATION
S
IN
TH E
B A L K A N S 1941-194
4) 21
tion
of any
such
reprisals for a premature
rising
o
f the forces under
his
command.
Thus,
Chetnik operations
were
generally
restricted
to
small-scale actions and
sabotage.
It
was
the
communist
irregulars
who
adopted
the
name
of
Partisan
and
m
ade
it
synony
mous
with guerrilla. U
nderTito, bornJosip Broz
in
Croa
tia, converted
to communism while a prisoner
of war of
the
Russians at
the
time of
the
B
ed
E
evolution, and
Secretary
Ge
neral of
the Communist Party of Yu
goslavia
since
1937, the Partisan
move
ment
received its
start
in
Belg
rade immediately after
the surrender to
the G
ermans.
I
n
August
1941 Tito
moved
his headqua
rters into the
field and took over
command of the
gr
owing Partisan
forces.
The
antiroyalist policy of
the Partisans
and
ant
icommunist attitude of the
hetniks
soon
led
to
a
fratricidal
conflict between
the
two,
a
cleavage
the Germans
were quick to turn to
their own advantage. Whereas the
Chetniks
comprised mostly local units
to be called
up as
needed,
the
Pa
rtisans
had
a
gre
at
number
of
l
arge and
active mobile unitscapable
of moving about
the country and not
tied down to any parti
cular
locality. As a
consequence, the Partisans
were
not as
hesitant
as
the
Chetniks
toengage in
o
perations for
which the occupying f
orces
would
e
xact severe reprisals, a deve
lopment
that inc
urred
further
the enmity
of the Chetniks. A
conflict
w
ithin a conflict soon de
veloped, with one
Yugoslav force
attacking the
other
while
that
force was
already
engaged aga
inst occupation troops.
In so
me
cases
the Partisans were given credit for
Chetnikattacks
against the
o
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