The Partisans in Western Bosnia, c. July 1941–October 1942

The Partisan movement in Bosnia-Hercegovina varied in character according to region. In western Bosnia, the region known as ‘Bosanska Krajina’, the Partisans operated autonomously in relation to the Bosnian Partisan command in East-Bosnia. The Partisan movement in Bosanska Krajina went through the same phases as the Partisan movement in the eastern parts of Bosnia-Hercegovina of initial co-operation with Chetnik elements, followed by the breakdown of co-operation, followed by outright war. Yet the very different geographical circumstances of Bosanska Krajina, combined with its stronger and more resilient Communist organization, meant that the Partisan movement there survived and flourished while its counterpart to the east decayed and collapsed. Not only were the Bosanska Krajina Partisans more successful in their confrontation with the Chetniks, but they were more successful in implementing the new Communist policy of building a genuinely multinational guerrilla army that encompassed Croats and Muslims as well as Serbs. Consequently, Bosanska Krajina became not just the heartland of the Bosnian Partisan movement, but the centre of activities of the Yugoslav Partisans as a whole.