AVNOJ

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AVNOJ (Antifašističko V(ij)eće Narodnog Oslobođenja Jugoslavije), standing for "Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia", was the political umbrella organization for the people's liberation committees that was established on November 26, 1942 to administer terrorities under their control. It was under the political leadership of the main resistance forces of Yugoslavia, during the Axis occupation of World War II.

1 1st AVNOJ meeting
2 2nd AVNOJ meeting
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] 1st AVNOJ meeting

The building where AVNOJ met for the first time in Jajce. Picture taken in the summer of 2005.

Tito at AVNOJ

After the Yugoslavian army capitulated on April 17, 1941, Yugoslavia was distributed between Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria. 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, assuming the role of leading the forces in the Yugoslavian resistance.

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 groups;
the inviolability of private property; and
freedom of individual economic initiative for the different groups.

In 1943, Germany mounted offensives to improve its control of Yugoslavia, in anticipation of an Allied invasion of the Balkan Peninsula. Fearing that an Allied invasion would benefit the Četnici, the Partisans attacked Colonel Draža Mihajlović’s forces, and in March, outmaneuvered the German army, and decisively defeated the Četnici in Hercegovina and Montenegro, in the famous battle at the river Neretva.

In May, however, German, Italian, Bulgarian, and NDH (Nezavisna država Hrvatska) launched a final crushing attack against the Partisans in the Sutjeska Gorge, but the Partisans escaped encirclement. This proved to be a turning point, and when Italy surrendered in September, the Partisans captured Italian arms, gained control of coastal territory, and began receiving supplies from the Allies in Italy.

[edit] 2nd AVNOJ meeting

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 resolutions of the second AVNOJ conference were:

to create a federal Yugoslavia, based on the right of self-determination, in which the southern Slavic peoples of the Serbs, Croats, Slovenians, Macedonians, and Montenegrins, were planned to live in constituent republics with equal rights;
to elect the National Committee for 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; and
to revoke the Yugoslavian government-in-exile; and
to deny King Petar II Karadjordjević’s return to the country, until a popular referendum had been held on the status of the monarchy.

AVNOJ Proclamation of what will later become SFRJ

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 believed 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. Britain 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.