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The Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia, known more commonly by its Yugoslav abbreviation AVNOJ, (Serbo-Croatian: Antifašističko Vijeće Narodnog Oslobođenja Jugoslavije, AVNOJ) was the political umbrella organization for the national liberation councils of the Yugoslav resistance against the World War II Axis occupation, eventually becoming the Yugoslav provisional wartime deliberative body. The AVNOJ was established on November 26, 1942 to administer terrorities under the Partisans' control. It was under the political leadership of the main resistance forces of Yugoslavia, during the Axis occupation of World War II.
First Session of the AVNOJ
After the Yugoslavian army capitulated on April 17, 1941, Yugoslavia was distributed between Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary and the newly formed puppet states: Independent State of Croatia , Independent State of Montenegro, Albanian Kingdom and Nedić Serbia. Opposition to these occupation regimes caused the formation of resistance movements, resulting in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY), then only active in the underground but fast gaining popularity, assuming the role of leading the forces in the Yugoslavian resistance. The CPY as an organisation comprised people from, and drew support from, the whole of Yugoslavia; as such, it represented a single Yugoslav identity.
On November 26, 1942, the Partisan leaders of Yugoslavia convened the first AVNOJ meeting at Bihać, in the northwest of Bosnia, in the hope of gaining political legitimacy. Comprising a committee of both the communist and non-communist Partisan representatives, under Josip Broz Tito, AVNOJ proclaimed support for:
democracy;
the rights of ethnic minorities;
the inviolability of private property; and
freedom of individual economic initiative for the different groups.
In January 1943, Germany mounted a fourth large-scale anti-partisan offensive to strengthen its control of Yugoslavia by destroying the central command of the Partisan movement – the Central Committee of the CPY – and the primary Partisan hospital. The Partisans, outnumbered and engaged in major battles with the Chetnik formations of Colonel Draža Mihajlović, Ustasha militias and the combined German and Italian regular forces, were steadily forced into retreat until an elaborate deception plan allowed the Partisans to escape their pursuers. Despite the tactical defeat and the loss of men and equipment, the Partisan central command remained intact and the hospital safe which, over time, enabled the continuation of further operations against the enemy. All the major strategic military offensives of the Axis and their collaborators were ultimately thwarted.
In May of the same year, German, Italian, Bulgarian and Croatian troops launched a fifth concerted offensive against the Partisans in south eastern Bosnia, near the Sutjeska river. Again, faced by superior enemy numbers and potential encirclement, the Partisans escaped defeat but not without cost. However, the fact that after their successful breakout the Partisans were still able to mount major counter offensives proved to be a turning point in the battle for control of Yugoslavia. When Italy surrendered in September, the Partisans were further aided by captured Italian armour, control of additional coastal territory, and the shipment of supplies from the Allies in Italy.
Second Session of the AVNOJ
In its second AVNOJ conference in the Bosnian town of Jajce, from November 21 to November 29, 1943, Tito declared AVNOJ to be the superior executive authority. The decisions and the resolutions of the second AVNOJ conference were:
to create a federal Yugoslavia, based on the right of self-determination of nations, in which the southern Slavic peoples (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Montenegrins and Macedonians) who would live in six constituent republics with equal rights[:Image:Avnojf.gif];
Note: the AVNOJ denied all rights to people of German ancestry
Provisions of the AVNOJ in Jajce, 1943
On 21 Nov. 1943, the AVNOJ decided on the following provisions ‘On the Deprivation of
Civil Rights’, which, in the years to come, formed the legal basis for the treatment of the
Germans in Yugoslavia:
1. All persons of German nationality living in Yugoslavia automatically lose their
Yugoslavian citizenship as well as all civil rights.
2. The entire movable and immovable possessions of all persons of German nationality
are confiscated by the state and henceforth its property.
3. Persons of German nationality are neither allowed to claim or exercise any rights, nor
to use courts or other institutions for their personal or legal protection.
to stress that even during the War of National Liberation there had been established anti-fascist councils of the national liberation of Yugoslav lands for Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sandžak, Macedonia, and Montenegro and the Bay of Kotor as the organisations of the people's administration of the land;
to elect the National Committee of the Liberation of Yugoslavia (Nacionalni komitet oslobođenja Jugoslavije, NKOJ), based in Jajce, to act as the temporary government;
to name Tito, Marshal of Yugoslavia and Prime Minister;
to revoke the Yugoslavian government-in-exile; and
to deny King Petar II Karađorđević’s return to the country, until a popular referendum had been held on the status of the monarchy.
Stalin, the Soviet leader, was enraged when he found out that he was not being informed of the November meeting, and reportedly barred Tito from declaring AVNOJ as a provisional government. The Western Allies, however, were not alarmed, because they knew that the Partisans were the only Yugoslav resistance group actively fighting the Germans.
In December 1943, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin decided to support the Partisans. The United Kingdom joined a month later, and stopped supplying the Chetniks. The first Soviet mission arrived at Partisan headquarters, shortly thereafter. The United States kept a military mission with Mihajlović to encourage continued Chetnik aid for downed American fliers.
In May 1944, German airborne forces attacked Tito's headquarters in Drvar, nearly capturing him. Tito fled to Italy, and established a new headquarters on the Adriatic island of Vis. After throwing its full support to the Partisans, Britain worked to reconcile Tito and Petar. At Britain's urging, Petar agreed to remain outside Yugoslavia, and in September, summoned all Yugoslavs to back the Partisans.
See also Yugoslav Partisans
People's Liberation War
Members of the Central Committee
Yugoslavia
Josip Broz Tito
Edvard Kardelj
Moša Pijade
Milovan Djilas
References
External links [http://www.vloe.at/download/avnoj_english.pdf The AVNOJ-Regulations and the Genocides of the Germans in Yugoslavia between 1944 and 1948 – .pdf document]
[http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/YugoPM.html Post-War Yugoslavia]
[http://komunist.free.fr/dokumenta/avnoj_deklaracija.html Declaration of AVNOJ 2nd meeting]
Category:Eastern European World War II resistance movements
Category:Yugoslavia during World War II
bs:AVNOJ
bg:Антифашистко събрание за народно освобождение на Югославия
cs:Antifašistická rada národního osvobození Jugoslávie
de:Antifaschistischer Rat der Nationalen Befreiung Jugoslawiens
hr:Antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Jugoslavije
it:AVNOJ
mk:АВНОЈ
ja:ユーゴスラビア人民解放反ファシスト会議
no:Antifascistiske Råd for Nasjonal frigjøring av Jugoslavia
ro:AVNOJ
ru:Антифашистское вече народного освобождения Югославии
sl:AVNOJ
sr:Антифашистичко веће народног ослобођења Југославије
sh:AVNOJ
tr:AVNOJ
zh:阿夫诺伊
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