Who still remembers Tito’s Yugoslav Partisans? Once worshipped by some, now disparaged by others (or even by the very same), they remain largely unknown to the English-speaking public. This book enables readers to discover them through a meticulous reconstruction of their everyday life in the liberated territories. How did the Partisans stop interethnic violence? How did they foster the political participation of young people and women? What was the role of the Communist Party? What were the principles of the economy in the liberated territories? What were the Partisans’ views on justice, revenge and forgiveness? These are just some of the questions the author seeks to answer. The book also goes further, however, showing what makes up a resistance or revolutionary movement in the extreme conditions of war—where everyone must prove themselves, or perish.
Xavier Bougarel is a researcher at the Center for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkan and Central Asian Studies of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). His most recent publication is, co-edited with Paolo Fonzi and Sabine Rutar, Food, Scarcity and Power in Southeastern Europe during the Second World War(2024).
LIST OF MAPS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS INTRODUCTION Chapter 1. THE FRATERNITY OF THE YUGOSLAV PEOPLES Chapter 2. THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF THE MASSES Chapter 3. THE LEADING ROLE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY Chapter 4. THE ECONOMY OF THE LIBERATED TERRITORIES Chapter 5. THE PEOPLE’S JUSTICE CONCLUSION: COMMUNISTS, PEASANTS, AND COMMUNIST PEASANTS APPENDICES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX