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Republic of Užice Užička republika Ужичка република | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag used by the Užice Partisan Detachment | |||||||||
| Anthem: None official[a] | |||||||||
%2c_jesen_1941.jpg) Liberated and partially liberated territories in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia on 29 August 1941, marked in red | |||||||||
| Capital | Užice | ||||||||
| Common languages | Serbo-Croatian | ||||||||
| Chairman[b] | |||||||||
| General Secretary[c] | |||||||||
| Legislature | Main National Liberation Committee for Serbia | ||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | ||||||||
• Partisan arrival inUžice | 28 July 1941 | ||||||||
• Battle ofDrežnik | 18 August 1941 | ||||||||
• German ultimatum | 10 September 1941 | ||||||||
• Fall of Užice | 24 September 1941 | ||||||||
• Battle ofKadinjača | 29 November 1941 | ||||||||
| 1 December 1941 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Serbia | ||||||||
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TheRepublic of Užice or theUžice Republic (Serbo-Croatian:Užička republika /Ужичка република) was a short-lived liberatedYugoslav territory and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organized as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 inoccupied Yugoslavia, more specifically the western part of theTerritory of the Military Commander in Serbia.[a] The Republic was established by thePartisan resistance movement and its administrative center was in the town ofUžice.
The Republic of Užice comprised a large portion of western part of the occupied territory and had a population of more than 300,000[3] (according to another source, nearly one million[4]). It was located between theValjevo–Bajina Bašta line in the north, the riverDrina on the west, the riverZapadna Morava in the east, and theRaška region to the south.[citation needed]
Different sources provide differing information about the size of the republic: according to some sources, it included 15,000[4] or 20,000[5] square kilometres.
The government was made of "people's councils" (odbori), and the partisans opened schools and published a newspaper,Borba (meaning "Fight"). 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.[6]
In November 1941, in theFirst anti-Partisan offensive, theGerman troops occupied this territory again, while the majority of Partisan forces escaped towardsBosnia,Sandžak andMontenegro, re-grouping atFoča in Bosnia.[7]
The leftist policy then pursued byJosip Broz Tito (known later as theleftist errors) substantially contributed to the defeat of the partisans in the Republic of Užice.[8] Because of the pro-fascist Serbian propaganda which described the partisans as being led by foreigners,[9] the population of Serbia turned against the uprising and against the partisan insurgents. At the beginning of December 1941[10] the partisans moved from Serbia to Bosnia (nominally part of theNDH) and joined their comrades who had already left Montenegro.[11]
The 1974 Yugoslavpartisan feature filmThe Republic of Užice covers the events surrounding the existence of the Republic of Užice.
Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia and the leaderships of the national liberation movement withdrew from Serbia early in December 1941
