Anti-partisan operations in World War II
Encyclopedia
Anti-partisan
operations (or counter-insurgency
operations) were operations against the various resistance movement
s during World War II
by the Axis powers
. Resistance movements and corresponding anti-partisan operations by occupying authorities were a common occurrence during the war.
Allies based much of their anti-partisan policies (often untested) on harsh German policies; for example, in early 1945, Allied policy in the light of a potential German uprising on occupied German territories was to shoot captured German partisans on spot. However, the Allies never considered collective punishment of the local populace to deprive partisans of potential support, as was the German policy.
A separate issue involves anti-Soviet resistance in territories occupied by the Soviet Union
at the end of the war. Such resistance groups formed in the Baltic states
, Poland
(a former Allied country) and Romania
. Such groups were active in the first post-war decade, and were eventually destroyed by the Soviets and their local communist puppet state
-allies.
.
The Germans concentrated on short-term victories against the partisans. The Germans were able to defeat the partisans militarily, but failed to offer any serious alternative to the local populations.
The first resistance movements were created as early as in late 1939 in occupied Poland. As the war progressed and the number of Nazi-occupied territories grew, so did the number and strength of resistance movements.
Throughout the war, regular formations of German army as well as auxiliary police formations of Germany (Ordnungspolizei
) and their allies (Schutzmannschaft
or Hilfspolizei) would be used in anti-partisan operations.
Overall, the Germans were able to achieve military successes but were never able to end the partisan threat; the struggle of Germans versus the partisans can be described as a stalemate – eventually ended by the German military defeat in the regular war.
After the war, brutal German tactics used against the partisans were one of the charges presented at the Nuremberg Trials
(see legality of the Commando Order and Hostages Trial
).
The Polish resistance movement
was formed soon after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and quickly grew in response to the brutal methods of the German occupation
. Polish resistance had operatives in the urban areas, as well as in the forests (leśni
). Throughout the war, the Polish resistance grew in numbers, and increased the scale of its operations, requiring the Germans to devote an increasing amount of resources (personnel, equipment and time) to deal with the partisan threat.
Polish partisans were particularly active in the Zamość
region (see the Zamość Uprising
). Sturmwind I and Sturmwind II ("Hurricane") in June 1944 were the largest German operations against the Polish leśni partisans, based on the "cauldron operations" Germans developed to deal with the Soviet partisans (see also battle of Osuchy
). Soon afterwards, the Polish resistance launched a series of major operations against the Germans (Operation Tempest
), of which the Warsaw Uprising
was the best known. In Operation Tempest, Polish partisans challenged the Germans in a series of open battles for the control of vital strategic areas. The Germans were not prepared for the vast scale of the Polish operation, but had the advantage of numbers and better equipment; further, when the Polish partisans operated without the support of the advancing Red Army
, they were significantly less effective. In areas where the Soviets cooperated with the Poles, the Germans were much less able to suppress the partisans, but where the Soviets did not advance to aid the Poles, as was the case with the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans were able to concentrate enough regular army and anti-partisan units to defeat the Polish insurgents.
The tactics and policies the Germans developed in Poland would serve as a template for similar operations against the Soviet partisans
.
Security Divisions
– to deal with securing the rear and carrying out the anti-partisan duties. Those formations would also be involved in the suppression of civilians (including participation in The Holocaust
by rounding up Jews).
The policies the Germans employed in the occupied Soviet territories were the extension of the severe policies they had developed over the past two years in occupied Poland. At first, the Germans tried to cow the local populace with violence. The policies of 1941 were aimed more at a potential than a real threat, as the Soviet partisans
were only just organizing in the aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It was on the Eastern Front (including the Balkans) that German terror directed against the local populace was the greatest. To a certain degree, it is hard to distinguish pure military anti-partisan operations from ethnic cleansing
actions.
With the German failure to topple the Soviet Union in the first year of the war, the German anti-partisan policy changed, switching from short term to a more long term view. Nazi propaganda
and similar tactics were employed, in order to influence the local populace and make them more friendly towards the Germans (and less towards the partisans). It was at that time that Germans started to support creation of local auxiliary units that were to be used against the partisans. The anti-partisan operations also became more professional and better organized.
By late 1942 the "hearts and minds" policy had already weakened. Around 1942–1943, the large-scale "cauldron operations" were employed, which involved the use of regular army units, detached from the frontline, against the partisans. Such operations often involving destruction of local settlements (villages) that were seen as potentially supporting the partisans, that meant both the physical destruction of the buildings and the massacres of local inhabitants. Those "cauldron operations" resulted in major antagonizing of the local populace, and contributed to the growth, not shrinking, of the Soviet partisans. Major "cauldron operations" included: Operation München
and Operation Bamberg
(March–April 1942), Operation Hannover
(May–June 1942), Operation Vogelsang (June–July 1942) and Operation Zigeunerbaron ("Gypsy Baron", May–June 1943).
In 1944, a new policy was introduced: creation of Wehrdorfers, or fortified villages. This project, seen by both the Germans and the Soviets as one of the most successful of German anti-partisan policies (and later imitated by other armies, for example French in Algiers or United States in Vietnam (Strategic Hamlet Program
)) involved creation of autonomous and well-armed villages, with sympathetic populace. The advance of the Red Army
and liberation of the remaining Soviet territories from under the German occupation prevented the full implementation of this policy.
, the Yugoslav resistance forces consisted of two factions: the Partisans and the Chetniks
.
The Partisans were a communist-led movement propagating pan-Yugoslav tolerance ("brotherhood and unity
") and incorporating republican, left-wing, and liberal elements of Yugoslav politics. The Chetniks were a conservative royalist and nationalist force, enjoying support almost exclusively from the Serbian
population in occupied Yugoslavia. The Chetniks organized soon after the Axis invasion and received recognition from the western Allies. The Partisans organized after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union and were initially supported by the Soviets. The Partisans received universal Allied recognition in place of the Chetniks after the Tehran conference in 1943. By the time of this conference, the degree of Chetnik-Axis collaboration was indicated to have increased greatly.
During the war, the Axis forces mounted a number of operations against the partisans. Former Yugoslav historiography
recognized seven major offensives
, of which the fourth and the fifth came close to defeating the partisan forces, and the seventh almost captured their headquarters.
, Germans used different, milder policies than in the East. Part of that reason was that the scale of resistance facing German authorities was much smaller. A large part of France remained under autonomous Vichy regime. Hence from the very beginning of the occupation, much of the police duties were carried out by local (French) forces.
Around 1943, as the French Resistance grew in size (due to the Vichy regime accepting the deportation of Frenchmen for forced labor in Germany), German anti-partisan operations in France became more serious. In response, Germans deployed military units against the resistance groups. Further, Germans managed to create a large and successful counter-network of covert collaborators, which succeeded in infiltrating many cells of the French resistance. The first major German military operation against the French Resistance took place in early 1944 in the mountainous region of the French Alps
and French Jura. The French resistance forces went to ground and reorganized soon after the German operation ended. Soon afterward, another operation where the French Resistance challenged the Germans to a battle at Plateau de Glieres in Savoy
ended in a German victory. Despite this defeat and London's advice to avoid head-on confrontation, in the aftermath of the Allied invasion of France (D-Day) the French Resistance openly challenged German forces in several areas. After several early Resistance successes, German countermeasures became particularly harsh. Once seriously threatened, German forces resorted to brutality and terror that had been mostly unheard of previously in the Western front (but commonplace on the Eastern). The largest atrocity occurred in Oradour-sur-Glane, where the Germans massacred 642 local inhabitants and burned the village. German terror tactics proved successful in the short term, as the shocked Resistance pulled back.
Around July and August, Germans launched their largest operations against the French partisans (Maquis du Vercors
). Similar to the "cauldron operations" employed in the Soviet Union, 10,000 German troops encircled and destroyed a 4,000 strong local partisan force, also committing atrocities against the local civilian population, in order to terrorize the locals and to prevent the surviving partisans from regrouping in the villages.
1942:
1943:
1944:
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
operations (or counter-insurgency
Counter-insurgency
A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
operations) were operations against the various resistance movement
Resistance during World War II
Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation and propaganda to hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns...
s during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
by the Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
. Resistance movements and corresponding anti-partisan operations by occupying authorities were a common occurrence during the war.
Allies
As most of the war consisted of Axis occupying Allied territories, and not the other way around, much less material exists regarding the Allied anti-partisan operations. In the end, the Axis powers were unable to implement any serious plans for the resistance movement, hence the Allies never needed to devote significant resources to developing and implementing anti partisan policies.Allies based much of their anti-partisan policies (often untested) on harsh German policies; for example, in early 1945, Allied policy in the light of a potential German uprising on occupied German territories was to shoot captured German partisans on spot. However, the Allies never considered collective punishment of the local populace to deprive partisans of potential support, as was the German policy.
A separate issue involves anti-Soviet resistance in territories occupied by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
at the end of the war. Such resistance groups formed in the Baltic states
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(a former Allied country) and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Such groups were active in the first post-war decade, and were eventually destroyed by the Soviets and their local communist puppet state
Puppet state
A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
-allies.
Axis
The forms of resistance varied depended on place and time, and so did the Germans countermeasures. Roughly, both the scale of resistance and the severity of German reprisals were much more limited in the West than in the East. While Germans were much more likely to treat the entire local populace as enemies in the East, they were much less ideologically driven in the West, where, for example, women and children were only rarely killed by SS troops (while being a much more common target in the East). In the East, some scholars noted that the anti-partisan operations gave Germans a pretext for ideologically motivated ethnic cleansingEthnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
.
The Germans concentrated on short-term victories against the partisans. The Germans were able to defeat the partisans militarily, but failed to offer any serious alternative to the local populations.
The first resistance movements were created as early as in late 1939 in occupied Poland. As the war progressed and the number of Nazi-occupied territories grew, so did the number and strength of resistance movements.
Throughout the war, regular formations of German army as well as auxiliary police formations of Germany (Ordnungspolizei
Ordnungspolizei
The Ordnungspolizei or Orpo were the uniformed regular police force in Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1945. It was increasingly absorbed into the Nazi police system. Owing to their green uniforms, they were also referred to as Grüne Polizei...
) and their allies (Schutzmannschaft
Schutzmannschaft
Schutzmannschaft or Hilfspolizei were the collaborationist auxiliary police battalions of native policemen in occupied countries in East, which were created to fight the resistance during World War II mostly in the Eastern European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. Hilfspolizei refers also to...
or Hilfspolizei) would be used in anti-partisan operations.
Overall, the Germans were able to achieve military successes but were never able to end the partisan threat; the struggle of Germans versus the partisans can be described as a stalemate – eventually ended by the German military defeat in the regular war.
After the war, brutal German tactics used against the partisans were one of the charges presented at the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
(see legality of the Commando Order and Hostages Trial
Hostages Trial
The Hostages Trial was held from8 July 1947 until 19 February 1948 and was the seventh of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S...
).
Against the Polish partisans
Polish resistance movement in World War II
The Polish resistance movement in World War II, with the Home Army at its forefront, was the largest underground resistance in all of Nazi-occupied Europe, covering both German and Soviet zones of occupation. The Polish defence against the Nazi occupation was an important part of the European...
was formed soon after the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and quickly grew in response to the brutal methods of the German occupation
Occupation of Poland
Occupation of Poland may refer to:* Partitions of Poland * The German Government General of Warsaw and the Austrian Military Government of Lublin during World War I* Occupation of Poland during World War II...
. Polish resistance had operatives in the urban areas, as well as in the forests (leśni
Leśni
Leśni is one of the informal names applied to the anti-German partisan groups operating in occupied Poland during World War II. The groups were formed mostly by people who for various reasons could not operate from settlements they lived in and had to retreat to the forests...
). Throughout the war, the Polish resistance grew in numbers, and increased the scale of its operations, requiring the Germans to devote an increasing amount of resources (personnel, equipment and time) to deal with the partisan threat.
Polish partisans were particularly active in the Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
region (see the Zamość Uprising
Zamosc Uprising
The Zamość Uprising refers to the actions by Polish resistance against the forced expulsion of Poles from the Zamość region under the Nazi Generalplan Ost...
). Sturmwind I and Sturmwind II ("Hurricane") in June 1944 were the largest German operations against the Polish leśni partisans, based on the "cauldron operations" Germans developed to deal with the Soviet partisans (see also battle of Osuchy
Battle of Osuchy
The Battle of Osuchy was one of the largest battles between the Polish resistance and Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II, a part of the Zamość Uprising...
). Soon afterwards, the Polish resistance launched a series of major operations against the Germans (Operation Tempest
Operation Tempest
Operation Tempest was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II by the Polish Home Army , the dominant force in the Polish resistance....
), of which the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
was the best known. In Operation Tempest, Polish partisans challenged the Germans in a series of open battles for the control of vital strategic areas. The Germans were not prepared for the vast scale of the Polish operation, but had the advantage of numbers and better equipment; further, when the Polish partisans operated without the support of the advancing Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, they were significantly less effective. In areas where the Soviets cooperated with the Poles, the Germans were much less able to suppress the partisans, but where the Soviets did not advance to aid the Poles, as was the case with the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans were able to concentrate enough regular army and anti-partisan units to defeat the Polish insurgents.
The tactics and policies the Germans developed in Poland would serve as a template for similar operations against the Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
.
Against the Soviet partisans
In early 1941 Germans set up special units – WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
Security Divisions
Security Division (Germany)
The Wehrmacht Security Divisions were German military units which operated during World War II.-History and organisation:...
– to deal with securing the rear and carrying out the anti-partisan duties. Those formations would also be involved in the suppression of civilians (including participation in The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
by rounding up Jews).
The policies the Germans employed in the occupied Soviet territories were the extension of the severe policies they had developed over the past two years in occupied Poland. At first, the Germans tried to cow the local populace with violence. The policies of 1941 were aimed more at a potential than a real threat, as the Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
were only just organizing in the aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It was on the Eastern Front (including the Balkans) that German terror directed against the local populace was the greatest. To a certain degree, it is hard to distinguish pure military anti-partisan operations from ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
actions.
With the German failure to topple the Soviet Union in the first year of the war, the German anti-partisan policy changed, switching from short term to a more long term view. Nazi propaganda
Nazi propaganda
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...
and similar tactics were employed, in order to influence the local populace and make them more friendly towards the Germans (and less towards the partisans). It was at that time that Germans started to support creation of local auxiliary units that were to be used against the partisans. The anti-partisan operations also became more professional and better organized.
By late 1942 the "hearts and minds" policy had already weakened. Around 1942–1943, the large-scale "cauldron operations" were employed, which involved the use of regular army units, detached from the frontline, against the partisans. Such operations often involving destruction of local settlements (villages) that were seen as potentially supporting the partisans, that meant both the physical destruction of the buildings and the massacres of local inhabitants. Those "cauldron operations" resulted in major antagonizing of the local populace, and contributed to the growth, not shrinking, of the Soviet partisans. Major "cauldron operations" included: Operation München
Operation München
Operation München was the codename of a joint German-Romanian offensive in World War II, with the primary objective of re-capturing Bessarabia, ceded by Romania to the Soviet Union a year before. The operation concluded successfully after 24 days of fighting.Axis formations involved included the...
and Operation Bamberg
Operation Bamberg
Operation Bamberg was an anti-partisan operation during the Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The pilot project for offensive anti-partisan fighting was the operation Bamberg in the area of Hłusk-Pariczi-Oktiabrskij to the south of Bobrujsk, in the eastern Polesie...
(March–April 1942), Operation Hannover
Operation Hannover
Operation Hannover or Operation Hanover was a German operation in April–June 1942 aimed at eliminating Soviet partisans, airborne troops and encircling Red Army soldiers near Vyazma...
(May–June 1942), Operation Vogelsang (June–July 1942) and Operation Zigeunerbaron ("Gypsy Baron", May–June 1943).
In 1944, a new policy was introduced: creation of Wehrdorfers, or fortified villages. This project, seen by both the Germans and the Soviets as one of the most successful of German anti-partisan policies (and later imitated by other armies, for example French in Algiers or United States in Vietnam (Strategic Hamlet Program
Strategic Hamlet Program
The Strategic Hamlet Program was a plan by the governments of South Vietnam and the United States during the Vietnam War to combat the Communist insurgency by means of population transfer.In 1961, U.S...
)) involved creation of autonomous and well-armed villages, with sympathetic populace. The advance of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and liberation of the remaining Soviet territories from under the German occupation prevented the full implementation of this policy.
Against the Yugoslav partisans
After the Axis invasion of YugoslaviaInvasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
, the Yugoslav resistance forces consisted of two factions: the Partisans and the Chetniks
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
.
The Partisans were a communist-led movement propagating pan-Yugoslav tolerance ("brotherhood and unity
Brotherhood and unity
Brotherhood and Unity was a popular slogan of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia that was coined during the Yugoslav People's Liberation War , and which evolved into a guiding principle of Yugoslavia's post-war inter-ethnic policy....
") and incorporating republican, left-wing, and liberal elements of Yugoslav politics. The Chetniks were a conservative royalist and nationalist force, enjoying support almost exclusively from the Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
population in occupied Yugoslavia. The Chetniks organized soon after the Axis invasion and received recognition from the western Allies. The Partisans organized after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union and were initially supported by the Soviets. The Partisans received universal Allied recognition in place of the Chetniks after the Tehran conference in 1943. By the time of this conference, the degree of Chetnik-Axis collaboration was indicated to have increased greatly.
During the war, the Axis forces mounted a number of operations against the partisans. Former Yugoslav historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
recognized seven major offensives
Seven anti-partisan offensives
The Seven anti-Partisan offensives, known by some sources in the former Yugoslavia as the Seven Enemy offensives , is a group name for seven major Axis military operations on the territory of former Yugoslavia during World War II, undertaken against the Yugoslav Partisans...
, of which the fourth and the fifth came close to defeating the partisan forces, and the seventh almost captured their headquarters.
Against the French Resistance
In France, as the rest of occupied Western EuropeWestern Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, Germans used different, milder policies than in the East. Part of that reason was that the scale of resistance facing German authorities was much smaller. A large part of France remained under autonomous Vichy regime. Hence from the very beginning of the occupation, much of the police duties were carried out by local (French) forces.
Around 1943, as the French Resistance grew in size (due to the Vichy regime accepting the deportation of Frenchmen for forced labor in Germany), German anti-partisan operations in France became more serious. In response, Germans deployed military units against the resistance groups. Further, Germans managed to create a large and successful counter-network of covert collaborators, which succeeded in infiltrating many cells of the French resistance. The first major German military operation against the French Resistance took place in early 1944 in the mountainous region of the French Alps
French Alps
The French Alps are those portions of the Alps mountain range which stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions....
and French Jura. The French resistance forces went to ground and reorganized soon after the German operation ended. Soon afterward, another operation where the French Resistance challenged the Germans to a battle at Plateau de Glieres in Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
ended in a German victory. Despite this defeat and London's advice to avoid head-on confrontation, in the aftermath of the Allied invasion of France (D-Day) the French Resistance openly challenged German forces in several areas. After several early Resistance successes, German countermeasures became particularly harsh. Once seriously threatened, German forces resorted to brutality and terror that had been mostly unheard of previously in the Western front (but commonplace on the Eastern). The largest atrocity occurred in Oradour-sur-Glane, where the Germans massacred 642 local inhabitants and burned the village. German terror tactics proved successful in the short term, as the shocked Resistance pulled back.
Around July and August, Germans launched their largest operations against the French partisans (Maquis du Vercors
Maquis du Vercors
-In fiction:The maquis du Vercors is depicted and veterans act in Pierre Schoendoerffer's Above the Clouds 2002 feature film, and in the third season of the British TV programme Wish Me Luck, which first aired in 1990.-See also:...
). Similar to the "cauldron operations" employed in the Soviet Union, 10,000 German troops encircled and destroyed a 4,000 strong local partisan force, also committing atrocities against the local civilian population, in order to terrorize the locals and to prevent the surviving partisans from regrouping in the villages.
List of anti-partisan operations
Axis
1941:- First anti-Partisan OffensiveFirst anti-partisan offensiveThe First anti-Partisan Offensive, known in ex-Yugoslavia as the First Enemy Offensive , was the first major military confrontation on the Yugoslav Front of World War II. It was an offensive by German and collaborationist troops against the "Užice Republic", the first of a large number of...
(27 September – 15 October 1941)
— attempts to suppress partisans in western SerbiaSerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans... - Ozren (1941 & 1942) — two attempts to suppress partisans near OzrenOzrenOzren is a mountain in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies between cities of Doboj and Zavidovići, partly in the Republika Srpska and partly in the Federation entity....
, BosniaBosnia (region)Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
1942:
- Second anti-Partisan OffensiveSecond anti-partisan offensiveThe Second anti-Partisan Offensive, known in ex-Yugoslavia as the Second Enemy Offensive , was a battle during World War II between the Yugoslav Partisans on one side, and German forces aided by a number of Ustaše and Italian troops on the other...
(January 17 – January 23 1942) 
— attempts to suppress partisans in eastern Bosnia - HornungOperation HornungOperation Hornung was an anti-partisan operation during the Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany, carried out in February 1943. It was directed against the area Hancewicze-Morocz-Lenin-Łuniniec, a thinly populated area of about 4,000 square kilometers southwest of Słuck on the southern border of...
(March–April 1942) — anti-partisan operation in Soviet Union - BambergOperation BambergOperation Bamberg was an anti-partisan operation during the Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The pilot project for offensive anti-partisan fighting was the operation Bamberg in the area of Hłusk-Pariczi-Oktiabrskij to the south of Bobrujsk, in the eastern Polesie...
(March 26 – April 6, 1942) — anti-partisan operation in Belarus - Trio (March 31 – June 1942) — also known as the Third anti-Partisan Offensive, action against partisans in region of southern BosniaBosnia (region)Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
- HannoverOperation HannoverOperation Hannover or Operation Hanover was a German operation in April–June 1942 aimed at eliminating Soviet partisans, airborne troops and encircling Red Army soldiers near Vyazma...
(May–June 1942) — anti-partisan operation in Soviet Union - Vogelsang (June–July 1942) — anti-partisan operation in Soviet Union
- AdlerOperation AdlerMilitary history records three events called Operation Adler, the name meaning Eagle in German:# A series of Luftwaffe attacks beginning on 13 August 1940 known as Operation Eagle Attack set to begin on Adlertag .# Anti-partisan operation centered on the Chechivichi region of Belarus begun on 20...
(July 20, 1942) Anti-partisan operation centered on the Chechivichi region of Belarus - Operation AlfaOperation AlfaOperation Alfa was an Italian-Chetnik military operation carried out in the Prozor region. Prozor was located within the Italian third occupation zone in the Independent State of Croatia....
(October 5–10, 1942) — an ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-Chetnik military operation carried out in the Prozor region - Risnjak (1942) — Italian action against partisans in coastal CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and MontenegroMontenegroMontenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
1943:
- Fall Weiss ("Case white") (January – April 1943) — also known as the Fourth anti-Partisan Offensive; operations in YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
- HornungOperation HornungOperation Hornung was an anti-partisan operation during the Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany, carried out in February 1943. It was directed against the area Hancewicze-Morocz-Lenin-Łuniniec, a thinly populated area of about 4,000 square kilometers southwest of Słuck on the southern border of...
(February 8 – 26, 1943) — anti-partisan operation in Belarus - CottbusOperation CottbusOperation Cottbus was an anti-partisan operation during the occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany. The operation began on May 20, 1943 during the World War II occupation of northern Belarus in the areas of Begoml, Lepel and Ushachy...
(May 20 – June 23, 1943) — anti-partisan operation in Belarus - Zigeunnerbaron ("Gypsy Baron") (May – June 1942) — anti-partisan operation in Soviet Union in preparations for the Zitadelle ("Citadel")
- DelphinOperation DelphinOperation Delphin was an anti-partisan operation in the Independent State of Croatia that took place in World War II, from 15 November to 1 December 1943...
("Dolphin") (15 November – 1 December 1943) — Action on central DalmatiaDalmatiaDalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n islands - SchwarzSutjeska offensiveThe Battle of the Sutjeska , codenamed Fall Schwarz, was a joint attack by the Axis taking place from 15 May to 16 June 1943, which aimed to destroy the main Yugoslav Partisan force, near the Sutjeska river in south-eastern Bosnia...
("Black") (May 15 – June 16 1943) 
— Fifth anti-Partisan Offensive, Action against partisans in YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century.... - AdlerOperation AdlerMilitary history records three events called Operation Adler, the name meaning Eagle in German:# A series of Luftwaffe attacks beginning on 13 August 1940 known as Operation Eagle Attack set to begin on Adlertag .# Anti-partisan operation centered on the Chechivichi region of Belarus begun on 20...
(November 1943) anti-partisan operation on the north Dalmatian coast, between Karlobag and Zadar (Yugoslavia) - Kugelblitz ("Lightning Ball") (late 1943 and early 1944) — also known as the Sixth anti-Partisan Offensive, anti-partisan action near VitebskVitebskVitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...
1944:
- Feuerzange ("Fire-Tong") (1944) — Action against Dalmatian Islands in the AdriaticAdriatic SeaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
- FruhlingMaquis du Vercors-In fiction:The maquis du Vercors is depicted and veterans act in Pierre Schoendoerffer's Above the Clouds 2002 feature film, and in the third season of the British TV programme Wish Me Luck, which first aired in 1990.-See also:...
and VercorsMaquis du Vercors-In fiction:The maquis du Vercors is depicted and veterans act in Pierre Schoendoerffer's Above the Clouds 2002 feature film, and in the third season of the British TV programme Wish Me Luck, which first aired in 1990.-See also:...
(January 1944 – July 1944) — action to suppress FFIFrench Forces of the InteriorThe French Forces of the Interior refers to French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation...
activity in Vercors MassifVercors PlateauThe Vercors is a range of plateaux and mountains in the départements of Isère and Drôme in the French Prealps. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac and Isère...
, France followed by main German action to retake Vercors MassifVercors PlateauThe Vercors is a range of plateaux and mountains in the départements of Isère and Drôme in the French Prealps. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac and Isère...
, France - Rösselsprung ("Knight's-move") (May 25 – July 3, 1944) — Seventh anti-Partisan Offensive; Action against the Yugoslav Partisan HQ
- Sturmwind I and Sturmwind II ("Hurricane") (June 1944) — largest anti-partisan action in Poland (see Battle of OsuchyBattle of OsuchyThe Battle of Osuchy was one of the largest battles between the Polish resistance and Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II, a part of the Zamość Uprising...
)
See also
- List of partisan operations in World War II
- Seven anti-Partisan offensivesSeven anti-partisan offensivesThe Seven anti-Partisan offensives, known by some sources in the former Yugoslavia as the Seven Enemy offensives , is a group name for seven major Axis military operations on the territory of former Yugoslavia during World War II, undertaken against the Yugoslav Partisans...
External links
- German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans (1941–1944)
- Axis History Factbook: Anti-Partisan Operations in Croatia 1941-1945
Further reading
- PARTISAN WARFARE: German Anti-Partisan Operations in Yugoslavia, Albania, and Greece, 1941–1944, 2005, ISBN 1-891227-65-3