Introduction: Understanding the Partisan-Chetnik Conflict

This introductory chapter sets out the purpose of the book, which is to present a history of the birth and rise of the Partisans in Bosnia-Hercegovina, as a Communist-led movement of resistance to the German and Italian occupiers and their domestic collaborators; of the emergence of a Chetnik movement as a conservative, Serb-nationalist rival to the Partisans; and of the conflict between the two. It analyses the impact that the conflict with the Chetniks had on Partisan policy and organization, and the evolution of the Partisan movement under the influence of this conflict. Finally, it examines the sequence of events that enabled the Partisans to emerge effectively as the victors in the contest with the Chetniks in Bosnia-Hercegovina by the autumn of 1943, and the reasons for the Partisan success. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.