Macedonian Partisans

{{Short description|Anti-fascist movement in occupied Yugoslavia}}

{{Infobox military unit

|unit_name=National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia

|image=File:Flag of North Macedonia (1944–1946).svg

|caption=The flag of the Macedonian Partisans

|dates=1941"Вчера и денес: Македонија" Јован Павловски, Мишел Павловски. Скопје, 2000. (1943)The Bulgarian occupation forces in the Yugoslav part of Macedonia were received as liberators and pro-Bulgarian feeling ran high in the early stages of the occupation. Neither the Communists’ position regarding a separate Macedonian nation nor the idea of a Yugoslav federation met with much response from the Slav population, which nurtured pro-Bulgarian sentiments. The local Communists, led by M. Satorov, splintered off from the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and joined the Bulgarian Labour Party (Communists), with the slogan “One state, one party”. The subsequent dissatisfaction with the occupation authorities was due to social factors (high-handedness, heavy taxation, contempt for local sensitivities) rather than national ones. This was also why Tito’s resistance movement in Yugoslav Macedonia failed to develop till 1943. For more see: Sfetas, Spyridon. “Autonomist Movements of the Slavophones in 1944: The Attitude of the Communist Party of Greece and the Protection of the Greek-Yugoslav Border.” Balkan Studies 35, no. 2 (1995): 297–317. (299) – 1945

|allegiance=Communist Party of Macedonia

|size= 1,000 (1941)
8,000 (August 1944){{sfn|Lee Miller 1975|p=202}}{{sfn|Poulton 2000|p=104}}
66,000 (late 1944){{sfn|Rossos & Evans 1991|p=304}}
up to 100,000 (April 1945)

|command_structure={{flagicon|Democratic Federal Yugoslavia}} Yugoslav Partisans

|battles=World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia
(part of World War II in Yugoslavia)

|anniversaries=August 18
October 11

|notable_commanders=Mirče Acev {{KIA}}
Mihajlo Apostolski
Metodija Andonov-Čento
Svetozar Vukmanović-Tempo

}}

The Macedonian Partisans,{{efn|{{langx|mk|македонски партизани|makedonski partizani}}}} officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia,{{efn|{{langx|mk|Народноослободителна војска и партизански одреди на Македонија, НОВ и ПОМ| Narodnoosloboditelna vojska i partizanski odredi na Makedonija, NOV i POM}}
{{langx|sh|Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odredi Makedonije}}}} was a communist and anti-fascist resistance movement formed in occupied Yugoslavia which was active in the World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia (National Liberation Struggle). Units of the army were formed by Macedonians within the framework of the Yugoslav Partisans as well as other communist resistance organisations operating in Macedonia at the time{{sfn|Trifunovska 1994|p=209|}} and were led by the General Staff of the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia, headed by Mihajlo Apostolski.{{sfn|Ministry of Defense of North Macedonia}}

History

= Resistance under question =

After the Bulgarian takeover of Vardar Banovina in April 1941, the Macedonian communists fell in the sphere of influence of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP), which supported the idea of a independent and unified Macedonia.{{sfn|Georgieva & Konechni 1998|p=223}} They thought that the ordinary Macedonian people believe in Bulgaria's role as liberator from the oppressive Serbian rule and that no Macedonian wants to fight against the Bulgarian soldiers.{{sfn|Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 7|p=686}}{{cite book|last=Boškovska|first=Nada|title=Yugoslavia and Macedonia Before Tito: Between Repression and Integration|year=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781786730732|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICSPDwAAQBAJ&q=serbianisation&pg=PA163|pages=282-284}} Also, they believed that Macedonian people preferred a unified independent Macedonia rather than becoming part of Yugoslavia again as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) had in mind. Nevertheless when the USSR was attacked by Nazi Germany in June, some form of anti-Axis resistance started, with the emergence of Macedonian Partisan military units. Fighters from the Prilep Partisan Detachment "Goce Delchev" attacked the Bulgarian police station in the city of Prilep on 11 October 1941, thus this date is considered to be the beginning of the Macedonian Uprising against fascism. Initially it had no real success.{{sfn|Bechev 2009|p=63}} The problem arose at the end of 1941, when the CPY lost its contact with the local communists due to its leaders withdrawal into Bosnia and because the Bulgarian forces captured Lazar Koliševski, whom the CPY had appointed to led the Macedonian communists.Horncastle, J. (2016). The Pawn that would be King: Macedonian Slavs in the Greek Civil War, 1946–49, p. 73. The role of the Bulgarian communists, which avoided organizing mass armed resistance in the area, was also a key factor.{{sfn|Meier 2005|p=181}} As well as the fear of reestablishment of the previous despised Yugoslav (Serbian) rule and the unfavorable stance of the CPY towards the idea of unification of Macedonia.

= Resistance in development =

File:Bataljon Stiv Naumov, 1943.jpg

The wartime backlash from the Bulgarian national chauvinism and suffering generated sizable support for the partisans.{{Cite book |last1=Roth |first1=Klaus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6RveDmHbIv8C&pg=PA144 |title=Region, Regional Identity and Regionalism in Southeastern Europe |last2=Brunnbauer |first2=Ulf |date=2008 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-8258-1387-1 |pages=144 |language=en }} Although several revolts arose in 1942 which led to temporary liberation of some areas, most Macedonian communists were not yet lured to Yugoslavia.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_NbmSoRsRcC&q=who+are+the+macedonians&pg=PP1 |title=Who are the Macedonians? |author=Hugh Poulton|publisher=Hurst & Co|date=1995|isbn=1-85065-238-4|pages=101-102}} Between 1941 and 1943, Tito sent five emissaries to Macedonia, to persuade his ill-disciplined comrades, but their efforts had limited success, and the Regional Committee of the Communists in Macedonia was de facto under the control of the Bulgarian Communist Party.{{sfn|Livianos 2008|p=121}}

To change that, in the beginning of 1943 the Montenegrin Svetozar Vukmanović-Tempo was sent by Tito as an assistant to the HQ of the Macedonian partisan forces. One of his objectives was to destroy the influence of the BCP in Macedonia and to set up a Macedonian Communist Party within the framework of the Yugoslav one, which would include only activists loyal to the Yugoslav agenda.Roumen Daskalov, Diana Mishkova ed., Entangled Histories of the Balkans, Vol. Two, Brill, 2013, {{ISBN|9004261915}}, pp. 509-544. Tempo was able to capitalize on the increasing resentment towards the Bulgarian regime as result of the oppressive Bulgarianisation and centralisation policy.{{Cite book |last=Tomasevich |first=Jozo |title=War and Revolution in Yugoslavia 1941–1945 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0804736154|pages=163–165}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_NbmSoRsRcC&q=who+are+the+macedonians&pg=PP1 |title=Who are the Macedonians? |author=Hugh Poulton|publisher=Hurst & Co|date=1995|isbn=1-85065-238-4|pages=101-102}} Yugoslav communists proclaimed as their aim the issue of unification of the three regions of Macedonia – Yugoslav, Greek and Bulgarian, within Yugoslavia as extension of its prewar territory and so managed to attract Macedonian nationalists. As result the Communist Party of Macedonia (CPM) was formed on 19 March 1943 in Tetovo, then in the Italian occupation zone. In May 1943 Mihajlo Apostolski was promoted to Major General and during the Second Session of AVNOJ he became a member of the Presidency of AVNOJ. Apostolski became the commander of the General Staff of the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia.{{Cite book |title=Македонска енциклопедија, том 1. |publisher=Македонска академија на науките и уметностите |year=2009 |isbn=9786082030234 |location=Skopje |language=mk}}

= People's Liberation Army of Macedonia =

File:Četvrta makedonska brigada, 1944.jpg

File:51va Divizija, 1944.jpg

The People's Liberation Army of Macedonia ({{langx|mk|Народноослободителна војска на Македонија (НОВМ)|Narodnoosloboditelna vojska na Makedonija (NOVM)}}) was founded on the date of the creation of its major unit, the Mirče Acev battalion, on August 18, 1943 on Mount Slavej{{sfn|Popovski 1962}}{{pagenumber|date=July 2019}} between Ohrid and Kičevo, then in the Italian occupation zone. Today is officially celebrated in North Macedonia as the Day of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia. The CPM stressed the Macedonian character of the NOVM, Macedonian officers ran it and propagated national liberation of all Macedonians and unification, thus attracting more and more Macedonians to join NOVM.Macedonia and the Macedonians: A History, Andrew Rossos, Hoover Press, 2008, {{ISBN|9780817948832}}, p. 194. The capitulation of Italy and the Soviet victories over Nazi Germany turned the tide in the war and the partisans went from victory to victory.{{sfn|Lee Miller 1975|pp=132–133}} On 11 November 1943, the 1st Macedonian Kosovo Assault Brigade was formed in western Macedonia by merging two Vardar Macedonian and one Kosovo battalion. The second — larger ethnic Macedonian military unit was the 2nd Macedonian Assault Brigade, formed on 22 December 1943 just across the border in Greek Macedonia.{{sfn|Stojanovski, Katardžiev & Zografski 1988}}{{pagenumber|date=July 2019}} On 26 February 1944 in the village of Zegljane, near Kumanovo, the 3rd Macedonian Assault Brigade was formed. These three brigades were the nucleus of the National Liberation Army of Macedonia, which after constant battles became stronger in numbers. Meanwhile, the second session of AVNOJ recognized the Macedonians as a separate nation for the first time in November 1943. From 8,000 partisans in the summer of 1944, until the final military operations in the Yugoslav National Liberation War in April 1945, the National Liberation Army of Macedonia had increased to three corps, seven divisions and thirty brigades, all with a total of 100,000 regular soldiers.{{sfn|Utrinski vesnik, no. 1342}} Chronological composition by the number of the members of MNLA (partisans, their helpers, etc.) was as follows:[https://archive.org/details/serbiassecretwar0000cohe Cohen, Philip J.; Riesman, David (1996). Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History]. Texas A&M University Press. {{ISBN|0-89096-760-1}}, p 96.

	Late 1941	Late 1942	September 1943	Late 1943	August 1944Bulgaria During the Second World War, Marshall Lee Miller, Stanford University Press, 1975, p. 202.Who Are the Macedonians? Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000. p. 104.	Late 1944[https://books.google.com/books?id=prEEAQAAIAAJ&q=+66000+ The Slavonic and East European review], School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, 1991, p. 304.
class="wikitable" style="text-align:right; width:500px;"
align=left\|Macedonia	1,000	2,000	10,000	7,000	8,000	66,000

Commanders

Orders of battle

=Brigades=

1st Macedonian Auto-Brigade
1st Macedonian Cavalry Brigade
1st Aegean Assault Brigade
1st Macedonian Brigade
2nd Macedonian Brigade
3rd Macedonian Brigade
4th Macedonian Brigade
5th Macedonian Brigade
6th Macedonian Brigade
7th Macedonian Brigade
8th Macedonian Brigade
9th Macedonian Brigade
10th Macedonian Brigade
11th Macedonian Brigade
12th Macedonian Brigade
13th Macedonian Brigade
14th Macedonian Brigade Dimitar Vlahov
15th Macedonian Brigade
16th Macedonian Brigade
17th Macedonian Brigade
18th Macedonian Brigade
19th Macedonian Brigade
20th Macedonian Brigade
21st Macedonian Brigade
11th Macedonian Brigade (41st Macedonian Division)
Gotse Delchev Brigade

=Corps=

15th Corps (operated in Zemun)
16th Corps
Bregalnica-Strumica Corps

=Divisions=

41st Macedonian Division (General Staff of Macedonia)
42nd Macedonian Division (15th Corps)
48th Macedonian Division (15th Corps)
49th Macedonian Division
50th Macedonian Division
51st Macedonian Division
Kumanovo Division

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

{{Cite book |editor-last=Babić |editor-first=Anto|date=1968 |title=Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, 7: R-Srbija |language=Serbian |publisher=Yugoslav Lexicographical Institute |location=Zagreb |oclc=58574765 |ref={{sfnref|Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Vol. 7}}}}
{{Cite book |last=Bechev |first=Dimitar |date=2009 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0810862951 |ref={{sfnref|Bechev 2009}}}}
{{Cite book |last1=Georgieva |first1=Valentina |last2=Konechni |first2=Sasha |date=1998 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-3336-0 |ref={{sfnref|Georgieva & Konechni 1998}} |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000geor }}
{{Cite news |last=Gogov |first=Rade |date=16 October 2006 |url=http://217.16.70.245/?pbroj=1342&pr=9&stID=11928 |title= Зимските операции на Македонска војска 1943/44 |trans-title=The winter operations of the Macedonian army 1943/1944 |language=Macedonian |publisher=Utrinski vesnik |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210055737/http://217.16.70.245/?pbroj=1342&pr=9&stID=11928 |archive-date=10 February 2012 |access-date=23 July 2019 |ref={{sfnref|Utrinski vesnik, no. 1342}}}}
{{Cite book |last=Lee Miller |first=Marshall |date=1975 |title=Bulgaria During the Second World War |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0804708703 |ref={{sfnref|Lee Miller 1975}}}}
{{Cite book |first=Dimitris |last=Livanios |date=2008 |title=The Macedonian Question: Britain and the Southern Balkans 1939-1949 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0191528729 |ref={{sfnref|Livianos 2008}}}}
{{Cite book|last=Meier |first=Viktor |date=2005|title=Yugoslavia: A History of Its Demise |publisher=Routledge |isbn=1134665113 |ref={{sfnref|Meier 2005}}}}
{{Cite book |last=Popovski |first=Jovan |date=1962 |title=НОБ на Македонија |trans-title=National Liberation War of Macedonia |language=Macedonian |location=Skopje |ref={{sfnref|Popovski 1962}}}}
{{Cite book |last=Poulton |first=Hugh |date=2000 |title=Who Are the Macedonians? |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |isbn=9780253213594 |ref={{sfnref|Poulton 2000}}}}
{{Cite journal |last1=Rossos |first1=Andrew |authorlink=Andrew Rossos|last2=Evans|first2=P. H. |date=April 1991 |title=The Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia: A British Officer's Report, 1944 |journal=The Slavonic and East European Review |volume=69 |issue=2 |publisher=Modern Humanities Research Association and School of Slavonic and East European Studies|pages=282–309 |jstor=4210592 |ref={{sfnref|Rossos & Evans 1991}}}}
{{Cite book |last1=Stojanovski |first1=Aleksandar |last2=Katardžiev |first2=Ivan |last3=Zografski |first3=Dančo |date=1988 |title=Историја на македонскиот народ |trans-title=History of the Macedonian Nation |language=Macedonian |location=Skopje |ref={{sfnref|Stojanovski, Katardžiev & Zografski 1988}}}}
{{Cite book |last=Trifunovska |first=Snežana |date=1994 |title=Yugoslavia Through Documents: From Its Creation to Its Dissolution |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=0-7923-2670-9 |ref={{sfnref|Trifunovska 1994}}}}
{{Cite web| url=http://www.morm.gov.mk:8080/morm/en/ARM/History/History3.html |url-status=unfit |title=History of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia – World War II |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120224114/http://www.morm.gov.mk:8080/morm/en/ARM/History/History3.html |archive-date=20 November 2008 |access-date=23 July 2019 |publisher=Ministry of Defense of North Macedonia|ref={{sfnref|Ministry of Defense of North Macedonia}}}}