AXIS INVASION of Yugoslavia (1941): th-cam.com/video/PGWRiN9Y4vg/w-d-xo.html SLOVENIA during World War II: th-cam.com/video/75B7fO0jSrc/w-d-xo.html CROATIA during World War II: th-cam.com/video/lpou33h-KrU/w-d-xo.html
Italian fascists saved many Serbs from the Ustasa. If there were no Italians, no Serb would have stayed in Dalmatia. When they saw the atrocities of the Ustasa, the Italians forbade the Ustasa to enter their zone of occupation. Thanks to the Italians because I am also a Serb. Thank you too for being objective.
Did you know about the Republic of Užice? It is the only free territory in the Second World War that was liberated by the Yugoslav army in the homeland. Members of the Yugoslav Army in the homeland were Chetniks. And did you know that the Chetniks saved over 500 Allied pilots who were shot down by the Wehrmacht. So, after the war, the communists, with the help of the USSR, won in Yugoslavia and declared the Chetniks traitors and servants to the occupier.
It might be important to mention, that most of the partisans were not communists. They were led by leaders of whom majority were communists. However, the majority of partisans were not communists, nor have they had any clue what communism was or meant to be. Many of them were just swept by the wave of disastrous events of the occupying forces and their helpers ( who emerged from domestic populace). That was pretty much a reaction to an action( a reaction against bullies).
Living nearby me in Australia is a 98 year old Italian man, who was in the Italian army in Slovenia when he was 19. He sometimes talks about the terrible tasks that the soldiers were asked to do, but he then cries and puts his head in his hands. His memory is excellent, one of very few left alive today who were there. He has told me a story about the officers ordering the men to push villagers out of their houses during cold weather so that they could burn the village. He and his fellow soldier found an old lady by a hearth staying warm, so they went back and told their officer they couldn't expel her. The officer exploded at them, and at that point he is crying and unable to continue the story. He is a kind man and these events have burdened him. Few of us have ever faced that pressure at such a tender age.
Our soldiers behave better in Russia where fascists never followed them. So they had orders to do that kind of shit, but never applied. Instead, they treated Ukrainians and Russian civilians and POW way better, even sharing their own food and clothes to protecting themselves from winter. Russians wasn't anyway impressed since they executed every Italian wasn't an Alpino. Of course our troops had no choice than find their own way out from that hell and it was thanks to the Alpini that some returned home.
That " Quando,Quando" singer from NRL commercial back years ago ..is still alive and lives in Blacktown area...He was born in Libya to Italian colonists family and was in fascist youth organisations " lupini" ( little wolves,wolfcubs) and he is very old man right now ( in his 90s) ... Unbelievable spirit and lust for life you can only find in Mediterranan types 😀
Same thing here in Greece. The country was occupied by the axis and devided into 3 occcupation areas : German, Italian and Bulgarian occupation zones. Greeks living under Italian rule suffered a great deal less than those under German and Bulgarian rules. And when I said suffered I speak about millions of people starving to death in Athens under german rule. Italian were mostly in charge of greek islands. At the end of the war, after Italy changed sides and joined the allies, the Germans invaded the Italian occupation zone and tried to liquidate the Italian army there. Greek citizens helped lots of italian soldiers to hide and survive the war.
As usual, an extremely well prepared lecture for we amateur historians. I appreciate all the work and effort that goes into these sessions. Thank you again. RS, Canada
This video was really needed. Ive been curious how the occupation of Yugoslavia sort of occured and how life was in it. Amazing work! Also we are so close to 100k!!!!!
I need to correct you Stephan with photo of shooting of hostages at Montenegro description (at 8:45). This photo is about Italians shooting civilian hostages on 31th July 1942 in village Dane at Loška dolina, Slovenia. The civilian victims are known by names. This photo is held by Slovenian National Museum of Contemporary History, Ljubljana. This photo is also notorious, because it was used by Italian state for the commemoration of Italians victims at the end of war presenting as the victims were Italians shot by Yugoslav partisans. But it was Italians shooting Slovenian hostages at their so called Operation Primavera (It. Operazione Primavera). In the museum is possible to see the notorious Circolare 3C, 1st of March 1942 / commands issued by Italian general Mario Roatta: "The treatment to be done to the partisans must not be summarized by the formula: "tooth for tooth" but by that "head for tooth". When necessary for the purposes of maintaining the O.P (Operazione Primavera) and operations, the Commands of G.U. can provide: a) to intern, as a protective, precautionary or repressive title, families, categories of individuals from the city or countryside, and, if necessary, entire populations of villages and rural areas; b) to "stop" hostages routinely taken by the suspect part of the population, and - if deemed appropriate - also by the whole, including the upper classes; c) to consider co-responsible for the sabotages, in general, the inhabitants of houses close to the place where they are carried out. The hostages referred to in b) may be called to answer, with their lives, for treacherous attacks on Italian soldiers and officials, in the locality from which they are taken, if they are not identified - within a reasonable period of time, set from time to time. - the culprits. The inhabitants referred to in c), if they are not identified - as mentioned above - the saboteurs, can be interned for repressive purposes; in this case their livestock is confiscated and their homes are destroyed. It is well known that excesses of reaction, carried out in good faith, will never be prosecuted." Italian historians prepared the exhibition "A ferro e fuoco" (The iron and the fire) about Italian occupation in Yugoslavia: www.occupazioneitalianajugoslavia41-43.it/ There are plenty of photos, videos. Some photos are "Ustase horror" like. Italian Fascists were pure racists: - Benito Mussolini, speech held in Pula, 22 February 1922 "When dealing with such a race as Slavic - inferior and barbarian - we must not pursue the carrot, but the stick policy.... We should not be afraid of new victims.... The Italian border should run across the Brenner Pass, Monte Nevoso and the Dinaric Alps.... I would say we can easily sacrifice 500,000 barbaric Slavs for 50,000 Italians...." As noted by Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mussolini government, Galeazzo Ciano, when describing a meeting with secretary general of the Fascist party who wanted Italian army to kill all the Slovenes: "I took the liberty of saying they (the Slovenes) totaled one million. It doesn't matter - he (Benito Mussolini) replied firmly - we should model ourselves upon ascari (auxiliary Eritrean troops infamous for their cruelty) and wipe them out". General Mario Robotti, Commander of the Italian XI Corps (Italy) in Slovenia and Croatia, issued an order in line with a directive received from Mussolini in June 1942: "I would not be opposed to all (sic) Slovenes being imprisoned and replaced by Italians. In other words, we should take steps to ensure that political and ethnic frontiers coincide.",[6] which qualifies as ethnic cleansing policy. The Province of Ljubljana saw the deportation of 25,000 people, which equaled 7.5% of the total population. The operation, one of the most drastic in Europe, filled up Italian concentration camps on the island Rab, in Gonars, Monigo (Treviso), Renicci d'Anghiari, Chiesanuova and elsewhere. Robotti was quoted as saying "Non si ammazza abbastanza!" ("There are not enough killings") in 1942.[41] Mario Roatta's "Circular 3C" (Circolare 3C), tantamount to a declaration of war on the Slovene civil population, involved him in war crimes while he was the commander of the 2nd Italian Army in Province of Ljubljana. One of Roatta's soldiers wrote home on July 1, 1942: "We have destroyed everything from top to bottom without sparing the innocent. We kill entire families every night, beating them to death or shooting them."[42] My father's uncles were arrested on street of Ljubljana by Italians and shot next day as hostages. My fathers house was so close to the spot were these shootings of hostages took place, that his family didn't dare to leave opened windows due to continuous shooting noise during the Italian rule of Ljubljana. I wouldn't consider Italian attitude during the WWII after beginning of 1942 in Slovenia much better than German one. At the end of war, the Ljubljana region suffered about 9,6% population killed from all parties involved .
Thanks for sharing this additional information. First, I think the order I mention also applied for Italian-occupied Slovenia. Second, there aren't many (copyright free) photographs of that time so sometimes I have to resort to photos that weren't exactly taken on the place I mention but sure are representative for what happened.
@@HistoryHustle New York, Rome, etc May 3, 1941 Mussolini barbarism, barbed wire, concentration camps in Gonas and Rab, executions, Ljubljana, Slovenia. What is to difficult you can NOT see what happened?
@@HistoryHustle Italians were very brutal...additionally to the above described crimes against humanity, there were 20 years of opression and italianisation of western Slovenia already during the period 1920-1941...Slovenes were forbidden to use Slovene language, their names were italianised, Slovene books and medias were forbidden, Slovene intelectuals, teachers, priests, ... were sent to prision or to remote parts of Italy...just because they wanted to use Slovene language. in 1921 Italians belonging to fascists party were shooting at children playing near the tracks...just for fun, this happened in Strunjan. Two of children were killed, two became permanently handicapped for entire life and some more were injured. No one from those Italians were convicted. In 1936 Italians cought Slovene composer Lojze Bratuž, age 35, and put by force mechanic oil in his mouth. Just because he was making music in Slovene language. He was suffering terribly for 2 months in hospital before he died...hundreds of Slovene children were living in 1942-43 in starvation on bare ground in Rab concentration ...more then 100 of them died only here. And there were many more Italian concentration camps. Hundreds of Slovene villages were burnt and entire families killed just because Italians wanted to show they are real army. AT THE END OF WAR NO ONE OF THESE BUTCTHERS WAS CONVICTED. SO DON'T SPREAD EVEN A BIT OF A LEGEND OF ''GOOD ITALIANS'' DURING 2ND WORLD WAR, BECAUSE NO REAL HISTORY EXPERT SHOULD DO THAT. THEY WERE ALLIES OF NAZIS AND THEY WERE CRIMINAL STATE FROM 1939-45. Of course there were also Italian resitance groups, mainly on the left side of politics, and thanks to them at least some fascists got bullet. But most of Italians supported Mussolini, as far as he was winning (mainly thanks to support of German army), they were 100 % supprting his aggressive actions. Today they claim it was not like this...but this is mainly due to horrible primary education system in Italy
I didn’t know too much about this topic, thanks for a making a video on it. It’s interesting that Yugoslavia was split up into so many different occupation zones.👍
Well, I considered your presentation in this episode as GREAT! The way you did your best to explain the many factions and their overall outlooks were given to us in a clear and straightforward manner. Thank You because I am American and the only place you can study such, or even hear of this, is in a Collage class.
Excellent Video. I am looking forward to more. A few years ago I vacationed in Slovenia and during my time in Lubljana that there is a walking path around the city. This land is the region that was fenced by the Italians to prevent partisan attacks and supply. The population of the city was held inside by this fence and there are still concrete posts in place that once held the barbed wire. This would be an interesting topic to explore further.
Yes it's complicated but you're doing a great job. My family lived in the Batschka, the part given to Hungary. I'd love to see you cover that. It gets more complicated though! Thanks for your hard work.
Actually my friend Batschka is and was part of Vojvodina Serbia but it does sit on the Hungarian Flats running into it . Now i am positive that during the österreichisch-ungarisch Austro-Hungarian rule which even before the duality just while the Kingdom of Hungary which reigned for a thousand years even then for sure belonged to Hungary, but not because anyone has given it to them but because the Hungarians from the Arpad Dynasty who fought for it and earned it. But your heart’s in the right place and wished there were more souls like you.
Sind Sie Schwabian? Das Land Batschka und Südungarn hatten drei große Wellen von Habsburg-gesponserten deutschen Siedlungen, die Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts in großer Zahl dorthin zogen!
@@alxb2474 Es tut mir leid zu sagen, aber es gibt es nicht zu viel Schwabians in Yugoslav teil von Batschka heute. Und noch weniger spracht Deutsch. Mein Deutsch lehrerin war einige das ich weiss.. Es is ganz andere in Ungarish teil, wo ich habe ein paar Freunden dass noch sparacht Deutsch.. p.s. Ich bin Serbisch aus Sombor
Dear Stefan...Very interesting, but as you say very confusing. I had a friend, Vicko, from the island of Brac. He died about 15 years ago or a bit more. His mother was an ethnic Italian and his father was a Croat. At first, he was in the Croatian state navy like so many other young men. Later he was captured by the Italians and taken to Italy. I am not sure why, but possibly he did something the Italians did not like. He was treated well in Italy and seemed to be able to go about the town where he lived. Luckily he knew some Italian from his mother. Later he was able to return home. Next he was forced to rejoin the Croatian forces. By then he realized that the Tito partisans would probably win the war and not wanting to be on the wrong side, he attempted to flee over the mountains. He knew that it would be hard alone, so he asked a friend to go with him and it was this friend who betrayed him and consequently he was arrested. Just before the trial he managed to escape. He probably would have been shot as a traitor. On the Sunday there was always a soccer game. The teams were a bit short, so they let the prisoners including Vicko play. He noticed that if the ball was kicked in a certain direction, it went down the hill and it took a couple of minutes for the ball to be retrieved. In the heat of the game, the ball did run down the hill and Vicko shouted that he would get it. Supposedly, the guards forgot that he was a prisoner and let him go get the ball. He just kept running and running. When they realized that he was not coming back with the ball, they sounded the alarm, but by that time, Vicko was already in the forest. Fleeing across the mountains and travelling from safe house to safe house, he did get to the partisans. Since he was one of the few Croats in the brigade, he rose quickly in the ranks and was by a certain point appointed the political commissar of the unit even though he had never formerly studied Marxism or had been to university. Each unit had a military and a political commissar. He was able to have some young German prisoners spared by suggesting that they be employed as ammunition carriers. I am not sure how many Germans survived because of Vicko's suggestion. The policy was to shoot them as there was no sort of prison to hold them in the mountains. At the end of the war, Vicko, my friend was on the winning side. Not so with another friend, Ivo. Toward the end of the war he had joined the Utaschi and had fled toward Austria once the partisans had taken Zagreb. He was captured by the partisans and would have been shot, but the commander said that he would not shot a boy who had never shaved, so Ivo was not shot, although most of his unit was shot right there in front of him. It was only much later that both Vicko and Ivo met in Canada. By that time, both had seen how rotten the Yugoslav state was and that Tito had not kept his promises for a democratic and fair society. Fortunately they were both able to leave. Vicko went to work in Germany and only returned home to Brac many years after the death of Tito. Ivo arrived as a visiting scientist in Ottawa and then did not return, but stayed in Canada. Fortunately he had a skill or knowledge that Canada wanted. The prime minister of the time, the father of our present sad example of a leader, Trudeau was a friend of Tito and probably also a Marxist. However Ivo was not sent back because by that point Yugoslavia was already changing. I could tell you more, but I might get the details mixed up. Vicko told me some fantastic stories about his life in the mountains during the war. If you have time, I think that you should visit the camps where the Serbs were starved to death. This should never be forgotten. Stephan in Ottawa
Italian concentration camps in Croatia and Slovenia were reserved solely for Croats, Slovenes and Jews. Serbian Chetniks were collaborating with Italian fascist scum so Serbs were spared from Italian concentration camps.
Excellent explanation of a very complex situation. My mum was from Trieste and dad from Split, they grew up in this tumultuous time. Your video's are excellent. Thanks.
Another small comment - at Dalmatian part at 6:53 you showed the document concerning Ljubljana and its sounding villages, not Dalmatia. It listed some villages of this Ljubljana area on the top (now mostly part of Ljubljana) and at the bottom is written Ljubljana, 23 of February 1942. I assume you didn't have other similar documents for Dalmatia. Point 1 of the document declared everyone could be shot without warning if approached outside of the dedicated entrance listed... Ljubljana was completely encircled with barbwire and bunkers in February 1942, and movement was severely restricted. My father who lived in Ljubljana said that during WWII occupation there were only limited sources of food in Ljubljana and he was mostly hungry and he suffered malnutrition.
Thanks for sharing. Since I had limited images for this video I had to resort to some images that didn't fully cover what I was saying. Also when speaking about Montenegro and collaborators the photo I show was of some Chetniks who wasn't Montenegrin per se.
Hi, I add one more thing as an Italian, I have always liked history, even when I went to school, and I must say that in the Italian school, the whole invasion of Yugoslavia is not treated almost completely, this is a real shame, you have to to know one's country, both in positive things and in its skeletons in the closet.
Yes and no. Think you can't put them on a par with the Wehrmacht, and for sure not the ustasha. But stating they were 'good' isn't a right description.
A unit of former Italian soldiers was used by newly formed Yugoslav Army in October 1944 to help with street fighting against Germans in the centre of Belgrade.
A lot of Italian soldiers also join in partisan units in Macedonia. One of them was killed during the liberation of Prilep and was burred in memorial complex Mound of Unbeaten.
Kansas City, KS where I used to live is a sister city of Ljubljana. Kansas City has a very large Slavic population, Russians, Serbs, Croats, Slovaks, and, yes, Slovenes.
My grandfather's brother actually fought in this war. He was Italian, from the Alpini division, but I don't know where he acted. I was just 5 at the time he died, in 2007, but I actually overheard a conversation when he told my parents what made him run away: the scene of German soldiers throwing a recent-born baby in the air and shooting him. My family owned a hotel at Trentino Alto Adidge back then and story says that he went under a train from Yugoslavia to Italy just to escape the war. Arriving there, some German soldiers recognized him and almost shot him, but let him go anyways because the hotel welcomed all types of soldiers (even Americans, at some point). He and the rest of my family escaped to Paraguay and my grandfather decided to live in Brazil since then. It's nice to know some of the history behind this specific war...
Hey professor Stefan! Another great video, so did Germany and Italy have growing animosity towards each other over these territories as Germany starting taking over the majority of the areas???? And how did this affect their relationship as allies for the remainder of the war? BTW I will be in Haarlem this February for a family wedding just for a week but I hope we can meet for a coffee while I’m in town!
@@HistoryHustle ok great I’ll send you a message thru patreon or email! I know you are busy but just throwing it out there i would have no problem taking the train to Utrecht for a couple hours if we end up finding some time for coffee while I’m there. I’ll tty about it privately and see what happens as it gets closer
@@HistoryHustle It wasn't by accident. The Italians complained to their superiors that the Ustasha were very brutal towards the Serbs and were appalled by their killing methods because they did not choose between a pregnant woman, a small child or an old man. I was told by older people who escaped from the Ustasha at that time how brutal they were. So the Italians even started arming the Serbs so that the Serbs could defend themselves as much as possible. You can explore a little about Priest Momcilo Đujić. Đujić started an uprising to defend the Serbs in that area. And don't research communist or Croatian sources because they are biased.I love your shows. Contact this journalist, historian and researcher, I think he would be happy to cooperate with you. th-cam.com/users/Pogledii
Hi Prof Stefan. Did you know that there was another reststance apart of all mentioned, it was caled TIGR it stands for Trst(trieste), Istra, Gorica(Gorizzia), Rijeka(fiume). It Would be a fun topic
My father (born 1917) was there on 1941 in Lubiana before to be transferred to France in 1943 (Tolone). He often told me about ambushes against partizans. But expecially he often told me an episode in which, he told:" I've risked very much my life". He was patrolling, togheter with another fellow soldier, a pathway when they saw, over a little hill, about 10/15 men who were talking to each other. As soon as they saw my father and his fellow, they immediatly ran away in few seconds. My father told me he didn't understand at the moment why they were escaping. Later he understood. They were partisans. Those men thought my father and his fellow were a vanguard of a more consistent military unit. But it wasn't. They were only two. My fahter always told me: "if those men on the hill understood we were only two men, they killed us".
I guess there were 4 confronting "teams"; the Comintern, the Axis, the Allies and our local petty nationlists, all with a unique view on the opponents. I admire your dedication and resolve to share your knowledge or viewpoint on my troubled part of the world. Many thanks!
Italy in WW2 is a really fascinating topic. Thanks for the video Stefan! It is indeed very complicated. I hope you are ok! It's great to see how large your channel is getting! Just remember me I was around 2.5k subscribers like 2-3 years ago. Keep making videos please you're doing really well!
The italian concentration camp on the island of Rab had the same death rate as Buchenwald. Still, not a single italian fascist was prosecuted for war crimes in the Balkans. Just outrageous. Unfortunately, the fact that italians have not dealt with their warmongering and racist past caused a peculiar case of making their own revisited history where they`re basically depicted as good lads (brava gente).
the speech is a little more complicated than that, then "Italiani brava gente" is also an Italian-Soviet film, made to increase relations at the time between Italian Communists and the Soviet Union, showing the difference between Italian soldiers and German soldiers , in the Soviet Union, in the treatment of civilians, certainly in an area such as Yugoslavia, the discourse was different. It is necessary to remember that Italy changed sides, so to speak, and it was clear that the allies could not deliver to a communist country (and moreover to certain death), people who, although fascists, had helped them against the Nazi-fascists, and were future allies in the fight against communism, as the cold war was about to begin. Imagine that Italy is a disunited country, there were other prison camps for Slavs, even in Italy, but not all of them had the same brutality, in one in southern Italy (Calabria region) only 4 people died, but due to an aerial combat in the skies, due to stray bullets. Let's say that when we talk about the faults of the Italian fascists, we think more about the holocaust.
@@alexs7189 I think that you`re not sufficiently informed about italian/fascist politics between 1920 and 1943 on the "eastern border" as they used to call it. Italy, following the myth of the slavs who were uneducated and barbaric, openly pursued racist politics long before WW2 started. Slavs weren`t allowed to speak slovenian or croatian in public, they were forced to give italian names to their children, they were italianised. Basically for years they were deprived of their rights. And then came the war with executions, destruction of entire villages, deportations in camps. Luckily, italian fascist weren`t as much organised as the nazis. But still, they were merciless and cruel. You have to read the "Circolare 3C".
@@ivan-boskohabus1400 My message is not in contrast with yours, I know the things you write, I just say that it is complex, God, many Italians don't even know about the existence of Slovenia, or the fact that it was part of the former Yugoslavia.
Hello, I like your approach and theme selection... Could you do for Short-lived states the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, RSI, 1943-1945), popularly and historically known as the Republic of Salò?
I live in a part of Slovenia that went under Italy's rule after the First World War, and there were numerous accounts of brutal Italianisation politics already in the interwar period... Speaking Slovenian in public was severely punished (there was even an incident where the Italian fascists were shooting with rifles out of a train window onto a group of young boys speaking Slovenian among themselves, killing several of them), or renaming the tombstones to give the deceased more Italian names on graveyards... In 1942, the Italians encircled the whole city of Ljubljana with barbed wire, effectively turning the whole city into a concentration camp... so they were no angels... it's unfortunate you didn't mention that, but otherwise I enjoyed your video as the rest of your superb content. Cheers to Utrecht from Kras region, Slovenia!
Top notch video, your travels have yielded some great material. As for being confused, yes, the Yugoslavian story is a challenging one to understand. It reminds me of Churchill’s quote on Russia “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”✌
The title of this episode is misleading... I expected it to cover several aspects of life of non-Italians in territories that were occupied/annexed by Italians. Despite a brief mention of the situation in Montenegro, there was no information on the subject but a general history of Yugoslavia in WWII.
@@HistoryHustle cool beans. To be honest the Bosnian Muslim people or Muslim Slavs always feel the most underappreciated or underrepresented among the other people of the Balkans.
Hey stefan, First of all, great video I am myself really interested in Italy in world war 2 So if you want to do a Video about the Italian army in 1940, I can help with tank research seeing that I know quite a lot about it Great video, keep making content : )
@@HistoryHustle oh nice, if you have any questions please let me know, seeing that i would like to help if it comes down to tanks and tankettes of Italy
Anyway, regardless of all that I rambled on about previously , Stefans clip is an EXTREMELY rare exploration of a topic, online, that virtually no one else comes close to touching, with the exception of probably only Dr Mark Felton. TIKs videos are simply excuses to launch into hour-plus rants in favour of Austrian ‘ Economics ‘ from the mesmerizing confines of what looks like a corner of his bedroom. Stefan ? He gets up, goes out, and appears on location, from the DPRK to Poland !
There was a HUGE difference in Italian vs German occupation, even in treatment of partisans! My grandfather was communist and partisan organizer, with bounty on his head. Italians arrested him three times in Zadar/Zara region, even sentenced him to death once. But he got out of jail each time: once by bribing them, once saved by Chetnik and third time they just let him go.. On other side, as soon as Germans took over in 1943 - SS came looking for him, did not find him at home, so they killed his father and burned down the house with his grandmother in it.
well, you just need to be fascinated by history, read more and you'll get well-informed. It is not that difficult. In fact, he just throws some facts without really analyzing the situation in the Balkans. The role of England, Russia, and the bankers affected all the underground movements not only in Yougoslavia but in the Balkans area as a whole. The real history was much more complicated and in eleven minutes is impossible to be revealed. He makes people who don't know anything about that part of the world during ww1 and ww2 very confused. This needs time, more episodes where he can starts slowly by explaining what was really going on at the time and WHY.
One day for sure! Therefore I'll have to travel to the south of France (regarding the concept format of these videos). Cannot tell when that will happen, but like I said: one day for sure!
@@HistoryHustle Thank you very much! I actually believe it was one of your videos that I learned the Italians even had an occupation zone. Do you have any recommendations on the subject? From a fellow history nerd, thanks a lot!!!!
Great video as always. Concerning the chetnics you need to have under consideration that in yugoslavia the communists started first the attacks and attrocities towards the right winged. Similar happened in greece with the communists that during the occupation from 1943 they solely killed right winged. So you shouldn t be suprised that the chetnics collaborated in certain regions with the germans but not croats italians and albanians
I knew that the situation in Yugoslavia during WW2 was complicated, but goodness me, your video on the topic nearly fried my brain! Thank you for another outstanding video. Your channel and those of Professor Mark Felton are the most informative I have come across. Well done sir.
I took a course back in my university days from a professor who said "Yugoslavia, more or less, liberated itself". I know it's probably too complicated for a "yes" or "no" answer, but do you agree with that statement? I know very little about all of this so I have appreciated your recent videos.
That is correct. Well the Soviets did help a bit... but because of the fact, that Yugoslavia had an operational army at the end of the war, Soviets or Western forces didn't dare to occupy the Yugoslavia and they had to treat Yugoslavia as a partner.
Another interesting video. The Chetniks had quite an interesting flag, didn't they? I've never learned Serbian, but being a Slav (Polish, if anyone is wondering) and having learned a little Russian I'm pretty sure that the writing on it says "for King and Fatherland" above the skull and "freedom or death" below it. It reminds me of the flag of Nestor Machno's Black Army. Quite ironic, as they were radical left-wing (anarchist) and Chetniks were right-wing. Edit: OK, it's apparently up for a debate how "right-wing" the Chetniks exactly were, or weren't (see the comments below).
You read the text of the flag well. I am a Serb and I understand Polish quite well even though I have never been to Poland. All Slavic languages are very similar.
@@БрусЛи-м3ю Them being anti-Communist and Royalist (also nationalist, I guess)? I won't argue about it, as I'm not an expert in Serbian/Yugoslavian/Balkan in general history, and the terms like "right wing" are rather broad and admittedly purely defined. If you would ask me to, for example, put Józef Piłsudski on the right-left political spectrum, I wold have a hard time to do so. It kinda depends in what sense, what aspect, and in which moment/period in his career.
If you checkout his site it says 'serbian battles'. Anyhow, in this vid he sam ustashas killing serbians, jesi and ITALIANS, which he screwing around like the main reason the italians 'sometimes' interferred against ustashas. Not a word about all Croats killed by ustashas in NDH or todays Croatia. He is a scam payed by serbian revision. Always repairing the bitter truth so it better fits.
at first i was expecting some serb propaganda but tbh this video was very good. I remember my albanian relatives , they all used to say that unlike communist propaganda after the war , the italians were pretty decent. They usually helped create infrastructure and were lenient towards using violence towards civilians. Although they clearly favored the catholic north of albania (thats where i am from) , maybe the opinion of my relatives might be biased compared to the other parts of albania but i highly doubt it since italy and albania for hundreds of years have had good relations. They would say the opposite for the germans though. Anyways it was a great video my friend, good job and keep these videos up.
@@HistoryHustle general idea of an italian oppressor that used all means to crush the partisans and the serbs coming out victorious and unifying the south slavs on a state of brotherhood while in reality after communism many populations found themselves in a serb dominated politics trying to make these territories more serb. If you see many “history experts” out there in the internet that are clearly serbs claim that the reunification of the south slavs was done mainly by them without recognizing the contribution to the others and sometimes as in this case slovenians, considering them collaborators aswell as the croats.
Hello, I am Italian, from southern Italy, what you say is true, just think of the Arbëreshë community in Italy (descendants of the Albanians who fled centuries ago from Albania conquered by the Ottomans), among which exponents we also find founding fathers of Italy. Mussolini and the fascists were racists against the Slavs, especially Slovenes and Croats, but they weren't so much racist against the Albanians, as far as I know the fascists were much more brutal against the Greeks, moreover if I am mistaken the Albanian government that existed at the time he was an ally of Mussolini, so it was a wicked choice to attack Albania. Greetings from Palermo.
@@alexs7189 They weren't racist to albanians because they saw them as illyrians an ancient people just like them while they saw slavs as being an inferior and barbaric race so were of course racist towards them.
My greatgrandmom told stories about Italian soldiers, mostly positive. There is another story about how an Italian officer begged to be left alive, but well that day there was no mercy.
@@justiceiscomingsoon Also she saw her younger brother and father burned alive by Uštašas and her sister detained and beaten up for a whole week by Chetniks. So yeah... WW2 in Yugoslavia was a mess
@@r.j.lombardi111 I am sorry that Croats have etnically cleansed and did genocide against Italians for which noone was held accountable, I think if there is justice at this world, ancient Latin-Italian lands of Istria and Dalmatia should be reunited with their motherland
@@HistoryHustle Well, British gradually cut their support to Chetniks who made majority of MVAC in Montenegro and Croatia. In July 1943 Germans intercepted radio communication between British and Chetniks, in which British demanded more and more anti-Axis operations in Croatia. British officers also demanded that Draza Mihailovic finally moves his ass against Germans. That happened in September of 1943. when Germans, Partisans and Chetniks all rushed to disarm as many surrendering Italians as possible. Italians even fought alongside Chetnik in Boka Kotorska against Germans, as they did alongside Partisans in rest of Montenegro or around Split. Many Italians joined Partisans (purely Italian brigades and battalions were formed), some joined Germans, most just gave up arms. Chetnik offensive culminated with Chetniks attacking Bosnian city of Visegrad (known for significant bridge over Drina) where they destroyed small NDH garrison. In the city, much to the shock of Allied observer, they massacred thousands of Muslim natives. However, large scale Chetnik offensive against both German, NDH and Partisans put them against Partisans who were also destroying NDH garrisons there. So, Partisans countered their offensive, captured Visegrad and in 2 weeks Chetniks were again fighting alongside Germans.
Did you see that it was a natural ,geoetnicks shape of Croatia !?? I looking your videos with huge satisfacting because you gotta impresive gift for naration and diction , bravo Mr. Good !
Nice topic... That was my comment on Balkan war and that my city Zadar didn't fall in Serbian/JNA (like Vukovar) hands because we has old Italy royal complex of concret trenches... That was border vith SHS, NDH, and so on. We were lucky! Really... lucky
My Grandpa was 11 when Yugoslavia was occupied(Slovenian guy). He told me as a young boy he thought the Germans looked much smarter and crisp and superman like than the Italians as his first impression of both.
I don't know if this accurate but I heard that the troubles that caused the Germans to take over the Italian occupied provinces of Yugoslavia delayed the German plan to invade Russia just long enough to be confronted by the Russian winter. Barbarossa was scheduled to start in March and war not able begin until May of 41 dooming the Germans to a bitter winter without securing, Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. This minor event in Yugoslavia sealed Germany's fate.
Thanks for your reply. Many historians doubt if the Germans would've proclaimed victory if they had invaded the USSR earlier since the winter wasn't the main reason the German got halted, but also the very long supply lines.
"Chetniks" was the name for guerilla units Of Yugoslav Royal Army. Somehow it transpired as the name for the whole organization of Colonel (later General) Draza Mihailovich, the Supreme Commander of Yugoslav Army in Fatherland. There may have been some groups (some independent) that may be called Serbian nationalist, but Draza was a commander of Yugoslav Army consisted of all nationalities in Yugoslavia. Serbs (majority in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Slovenes were the most loyal to Draza. Draza considered Tito and his "Communists" as a terrorist organization. Which they practically were. Normally, to defend one's country, you would join the existing State and Army structure, instead of inventing the new one under the auspices of Soviet Union and Comintern. They started the civil war, to come to power, not really to defend their country. Unfortunately, helped by Soviet troops, which liberated Belgrade and some parts of Serbia, on their way to Hungary and ultimately Germany, Tito and his communists came to power in Yugoslavia. British also helped this, as they switched from supporting King of Yugoslavia in exile and Yugoslav Army, to supporting Tito, in 1943. Draza was the most decorated officer in Yugoslav Army, even before WWII. He led the first uprising in occupied Europe and scored quite a few victories over Germans. He received the medals for his acts of bravery from Pres. Truman, Pres. Charles de Gaulle and Pres. Sikorsky. He never left the country, although Americans offered to evacuate him. He was captured by Communists, found guilty at Tito's mock trial and killed at night. No one knows where he was buried. Unfortunately, lot of TH-cam historians use sources found in history books written by Yugoslavian communists after WW2. Fortunately, there are more and more sources becoming available that tell different story. Good luck.
@@Xenia9Slovenes joined the people's causes and partisans like the rest of normal people, and today you have Slovenia. If they joined draza's collaborators and policy of doing nothing Slovenia wouldn't exist today.
@@Nista357 It was just a joke to the mess of borders since the First War... By the way,...How can people of the Balkans recognize a serbian from a croat, or a bosnian, etc, in order to differ who to shot in a act of ethnical cleansing? They all looks the same to me. Thanks!
Thank you, insightful. Complicated area, geographically and historically. There was even a Roman Emperor from Croatia, Diocletian. Please let us know what is the oath taken by Italian soldiers referred to about safeguarding civilians. There was an oath taken to the King and the Constitition (which guaranteed personal liberty, due process) and "laws" of the State, and to fulfill duties to the the State "for the sole inseparable purpose of the good of the King and the Nation", from the decree of 24 June 1929: "Giuro di essere fedele a Sua Maestà il Re ed ai suoi Reali Successori, di osservare lealmente lo Statuto e le altre leggi dello Stato e di adempiere tutti i doveri del mio Stato, con il sol scopo del bene inseparabile del Re e della Patria"
@@aleskosir2727 Thank you for the point you make. Also for your comment below, which was troubling. My grandfathers - Sicilians - did not support the regime. One evaded the war totally, another (an anti-Fascist communist) was a cook. Indeed in Sicily even the Mafia was an enemy of the regime. The Italians generally had no wish to fight anyone. Those from the south especially, they instead supported the King, who sacked Mussolini in July 1943 and made Italy surrender. Even central and north Italy turned against Mussolini, viciously hunting and hacking him, and those with him, in an appalling exhibition like in ancient Roman times 2,000 years earlier. Few Italian troops wanted to be in the Balkans, USSR, Africa. Even when in those parts of Hell at the time, most remained civilised. Unfortunately criminal deviate minorities always exist, even in modern societies today.
Please mention that the Serbs tore up the Tri Partite pact in 1941 resist Hitler which brought Hitler's wrath on the Serbian people in Operation "Punishment." Belgrade was bombed by the Nazis on Easter Sunday (April 6, 1941). This delayed Operation Barbarossa bringing the Nazis their first major defeat at the gates of Moscow in December during the Russian winter. Also, please mention the role of the Vatican in fomenting the genocide of Serbian Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Gypsies. This was documented in "The Vatican's Holocaust" by Avro Manhattan and "Magnum Crimen" by Victor Novak. To date, the Vatican has never apologized or acknowleged the genocide it instigated in the "Independent" State of Croatia at the hands of the Croatian Ustashe and Bosnian Muslim Handzars. Thank you for trying to tell this long suppressed and tragic story.
@@HistoryHustle I was 1 years old when he died, my grandmother though she lived until I was 14, she was captured and forced to walk to a work camp,I do not remember the name, she had her "serial" number tattooed on her arm. She had so many stories about life in the camp and almost starving to death... all the horrors she saw
Love Lubyana. I was there in the early 1970s when it was still part of communist Yugoslavia. I had just escaped Greece after the Invasion of Cyprus and the fall of the junta. It was a wild time. I was travailing with a German woman I had met on an an island in the Cyclades. We were on our way to Trieste where we learned about the junta's fall. The days in Athens before we left were wild and somewhat of a massive orgy. It was a strange time for a teenager from the US.
@@HistoryHustle I've give you a tour of Warsaw in terms of history :) I was also lucky enough to visit Auschwitz when it was totally empty! Just me and the tour guide. My friend said the photos are worth the weight in gold :)
A super informative episode .The flag of the Kingdom of Italy had a crown on it didn’t it? It would be interesting to have an episode on the Government in Exile of Yugoslavia and indeed the other occupied Balkan nations.
Thanks for your reply! Believe the flag with the crown was the official royal flag. The 'normal' flag was the one with only the shield I believe. I actually covered Slovenia / Croatia recently on this channel.
@@HistoryHustle I'm italian and I'm a royalist since I was a kid, now I'm nearly 50 yo. The Civil flag of the Italian kingdom (1861-1946) had the shield of Savoy with no crown. Naval ensign and military flags had the crown. The royal banner was a blue square with a black crowned eagle with four additional crowns in each corners. If you have some questions about it, please ask me.
It served as Royal and Naval flag and the Italian Royal Army did used a variant. Crownless shield was de jure a State flag, though emigrants did flied the Royal one. Considering I saw one myself hanging from a window I guess is srill the favourite one 😅
Italians always wanted the Dalmatian coast, the Serbs would of had no problem living under Italian administration, they have lived there under Venetian periods also many of them still use Italian words like Pomodoro etc. Chetniks and Italians started collaborating almost immediately. . In some cases they were Allied completely to each other! Italians were not stupid, they remembered Serbian support for coastal islands and places like Fiume. It was the Croats who ideologically wanted that entire territory as far as Zemun in Belgrade! Italians also remebered the Croats,Slovenes were frontliners for the Austro-Hungarians in WW1! Vatican is 1 thing, Mussolini and most of the Italians were another! Italians saved millions of Serbs, Jews and others from certain death, everybody was running into their zone of controll or over into German controlled Serbia away from the NDH under the Ustasa.
AXIS INVASION of Yugoslavia (1941):
th-cam.com/video/PGWRiN9Y4vg/w-d-xo.html
SLOVENIA during World War II:
th-cam.com/video/75B7fO0jSrc/w-d-xo.html
CROATIA during World War II:
th-cam.com/video/lpou33h-KrU/w-d-xo.html
Italian fascists saved many Serbs from the Ustasa. If there were no Italians, no Serb would have stayed in Dalmatia. When they saw the atrocities of the Ustasa, the Italians forbade the Ustasa to enter their zone of occupation. Thanks to the Italians because I am also a Serb. Thank you too for being objective.
Did you know about the Republic of Užice? It is the only free territory in the Second World War that was liberated by the Yugoslav army in the homeland. Members of the Yugoslav Army in the homeland were Chetniks. And did you know that the Chetniks saved over 500 Allied pilots who were shot down by the Wehrmacht. So, after the war, the communists, with the help of the USSR, won in Yugoslavia and declared the Chetniks traitors and servants to the occupier.
It might be important to mention, that most of the partisans were not communists. They were led by leaders of whom majority were communists. However, the majority of partisans were not communists, nor have they had any clue what communism was or meant to be. Many of them were just swept by the wave of disastrous events of the occupying forces and their helpers ( who emerged from domestic populace). That was pretty much a reaction to an action( a reaction against bullies).
Much more to cover in the future, for sure!
That there is truth in your statement. Not all partisans were communists. Many peasants did not even know what politics was.
Living nearby me in Australia is a 98 year old Italian man, who was in the Italian army in Slovenia when he was 19. He sometimes talks about the terrible tasks that the soldiers were asked to do, but he then cries and puts his head in his hands. His memory is excellent, one of very few left alive today who were there. He has told me a story about the officers ordering the men to push villagers out of their houses during cold weather so that they could burn the village. He and his fellow soldier found an old lady by a hearth staying warm, so they went back and told their officer they couldn't expel her. The officer exploded at them, and at that point he is crying and unable to continue the story. He is a kind man and these events have burdened him. Few of us have ever faced that pressure at such a tender age.
I can imagine. Thanks for sharing this.
Is he still alive ? Did he told other more facts ?
Our soldiers behave better in Russia where fascists never followed them. So they had orders to do that kind of shit, but never applied. Instead, they treated Ukrainians and Russian civilians and POW way better, even sharing their own food and clothes to protecting themselves from winter.
Russians wasn't anyway impressed since they executed every Italian wasn't an Alpino.
Of course our troops had no choice than find their own way out from that hell and it was thanks to the Alpini that some returned home.
That " Quando,Quando" singer from NRL commercial back years ago ..is still alive and lives in Blacktown area...He was born in Libya to Italian colonists family and was in fascist youth organisations " lupini" ( little wolves,wolfcubs) and he is very old man right now ( in his 90s) ... Unbelievable spirit and lust for life you can only find in Mediterranan types 😀
Same thing here in Greece. The country was occupied by the axis and devided into 3 occcupation areas : German, Italian and Bulgarian occupation zones.
Greeks living under Italian rule suffered a great deal less than those under German and Bulgarian rules.
And when I said suffered I speak about millions of people starving to death in Athens under german rule.
Italian were mostly in charge of greek islands.
At the end of the war, after Italy changed sides and joined the allies, the Germans invaded the Italian occupation zone and tried to liquidate the Italian army there.
Greek citizens helped lots of italian soldiers to hide and survive the war.
Thanks for your reply. I hope to travel to Greece one day and cover WW2 history there.
As usual, an extremely well prepared lecture for we amateur historians. I appreciate all the work and effort that goes into these sessions. Thank you again. RS, Canada
Thanks for replying, Richard!
This video was really needed.
Ive been curious how the occupation of Yugoslavia sort of occured and how life was in it.
Amazing work!
Also we are so close to 100k!!!!!
Yes! Many thanks for your reply 👍
I need to correct you Stephan with photo of shooting of hostages at Montenegro description (at 8:45). This photo is about Italians shooting civilian hostages on 31th July 1942 in village Dane at Loška dolina, Slovenia. The civilian victims are known by names. This photo is held by Slovenian National Museum of Contemporary History, Ljubljana.
This photo is also notorious, because it was used by Italian state for the commemoration of Italians victims at the end of war presenting as the victims were Italians shot by Yugoslav partisans. But it was Italians shooting Slovenian hostages at their so called Operation Primavera (It. Operazione Primavera).
In the museum is possible to see the notorious Circolare 3C, 1st of March 1942 / commands issued by Italian general Mario Roatta:
"The treatment to be done to the partisans must not be summarized by the formula: "tooth for tooth" but by that "head for tooth".
When necessary for the purposes of maintaining the O.P (Operazione Primavera) and operations, the Commands of G.U. can provide:
a) to intern, as a protective, precautionary or repressive title, families, categories of individuals from the city or countryside, and, if necessary, entire populations of villages and rural areas;
b) to "stop" hostages routinely taken by the suspect part of the population, and - if deemed appropriate - also by the whole, including the upper classes;
c) to consider co-responsible for the sabotages, in general, the inhabitants of houses close to the place where they are carried out.
The hostages referred to in b) may be called to answer, with their lives, for treacherous attacks on Italian soldiers and officials, in the locality from which they are taken, if they are not identified - within a reasonable period of time, set from time to time. - the culprits.
The inhabitants referred to in c), if they are not identified - as mentioned above - the saboteurs, can be interned for repressive purposes; in this case their livestock is confiscated and their homes are destroyed.
It is well known that excesses of reaction, carried out in good faith, will never be prosecuted."
Italian historians prepared the exhibition "A ferro e fuoco" (The iron and the fire) about Italian occupation in Yugoslavia: www.occupazioneitalianajugoslavia41-43.it/ There are plenty of photos, videos. Some photos are "Ustase horror" like.
Italian Fascists were pure racists:
- Benito Mussolini, speech held in Pula, 22 February 1922
"When dealing with such a race as Slavic - inferior and barbarian - we must not pursue the carrot, but the stick policy.... We should not be afraid of new victims.... The Italian border should run across the Brenner Pass, Monte Nevoso and the Dinaric Alps.... I would say we can easily sacrifice 500,000 barbaric Slavs for 50,000 Italians...."
As noted by Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mussolini government, Galeazzo Ciano, when describing a meeting with secretary general of the Fascist party who wanted Italian army to kill all the Slovenes:
"I took the liberty of saying they (the Slovenes) totaled one million. It doesn't matter - he (Benito Mussolini) replied firmly - we should model ourselves upon ascari (auxiliary Eritrean troops infamous for their cruelty) and wipe them out".
General Mario Robotti, Commander of the Italian XI Corps (Italy) in Slovenia and Croatia, issued an order in line with a directive received from Mussolini in June 1942: "I would not be opposed to all (sic) Slovenes being imprisoned and replaced by Italians. In other words, we should take steps to ensure that political and ethnic frontiers coincide.",[6] which qualifies as ethnic cleansing policy.
The Province of Ljubljana saw the deportation of 25,000 people, which equaled 7.5% of the total population. The operation, one of the most drastic in Europe, filled up Italian concentration camps on the island Rab, in Gonars, Monigo (Treviso), Renicci d'Anghiari, Chiesanuova and elsewhere. Robotti was quoted as saying "Non si ammazza abbastanza!" ("There are not enough killings") in 1942.[41]
Mario Roatta's "Circular 3C" (Circolare 3C), tantamount to a declaration of war on the Slovene civil population, involved him in war crimes while he was the commander of the 2nd Italian Army in Province of Ljubljana. One of Roatta's soldiers wrote home on July 1, 1942: "We have destroyed everything from top to bottom without sparing the innocent. We kill entire families every night, beating them to death or shooting them."[42]
My father's uncles were arrested on street of Ljubljana by Italians and shot next day as hostages. My fathers house was so close to the spot were these shootings of hostages took place, that his family didn't dare to leave opened windows due to continuous shooting noise during the Italian rule of Ljubljana.
I wouldn't consider Italian attitude during the WWII after beginning of 1942 in Slovenia much better than German one. At the end of war, the Ljubljana region suffered about 9,6% population killed from all parties involved .
Thanks for sharing this additional information. First, I think the order I mention also applied for Italian-occupied Slovenia. Second, there aren't many (copyright free) photographs of that time so sometimes I have to resort to photos that weren't exactly taken on the place I mention but sure are representative for what happened.
@@HistoryHustle Thanks for your work
@@HistoryHustle New York, Rome, etc May 3, 1941 Mussolini barbarism, barbed wire, concentration camps in Gonas and Rab, executions, Ljubljana, Slovenia. What is to difficult you can NOT see what happened?
@@HistoryHustle Italians were very brutal...additionally to the above described crimes against humanity, there were 20 years of opression and italianisation of western Slovenia already during the period 1920-1941...Slovenes were forbidden to use Slovene language, their names were italianised, Slovene books and medias were forbidden, Slovene intelectuals, teachers, priests, ... were sent to prision or to remote parts of Italy...just because they wanted to use Slovene language. in 1921 Italians belonging to fascists party were shooting at children playing near the tracks...just for fun, this happened in Strunjan. Two of children were killed, two became permanently handicapped for entire life and some more were injured. No one from those Italians were convicted. In 1936 Italians cought Slovene composer Lojze Bratuž, age 35, and put by force mechanic oil in his mouth. Just because he was making music in Slovene language. He was suffering terribly for 2 months in hospital before he died...hundreds of Slovene children were living in 1942-43 in starvation on bare ground in Rab concentration ...more then 100 of them died only here. And there were many more Italian concentration camps. Hundreds of Slovene villages were burnt and entire families killed just because Italians wanted to show they are real army. AT THE END OF WAR NO ONE OF THESE BUTCTHERS WAS CONVICTED. SO DON'T SPREAD EVEN A BIT OF A LEGEND OF ''GOOD ITALIANS'' DURING 2ND WORLD WAR, BECAUSE NO REAL HISTORY EXPERT SHOULD DO THAT. THEY WERE ALLIES OF NAZIS AND THEY WERE CRIMINAL STATE FROM 1939-45. Of course there were also Italian resitance groups, mainly on the left side of politics, and thanks to them at least some fascists got bullet. But most of Italians supported Mussolini, as far as he was winning (mainly thanks to support of German army), they were 100 % supprting his aggressive actions. Today they claim it was not like this...but this is mainly due to horrible primary education system in Italy
I didn’t know too much about this topic, thanks for a making a video on it. It’s interesting that Yugoslavia was split up into so many different occupation zones.👍
Thanks for your message!
Another very good video: quick, clear, straight to the point and very professional. I didn't find it complicated at all. Good job Stefan
Thanks, Mattia!
Thanks Stefan. I learned a lot about a forgotten story I knew nothing about. That's my kind of history!
Great!
Well, I considered your presentation in this episode as GREAT! The way you did your best to explain the many factions and their overall outlooks were given to us in a clear and straightforward manner. Thank You because I am American and the only place you can study such, or even hear of this, is in a Collage class.
Great to read! Glad you liked the episode. Hope to cover more on this in the future.
Great topic. Outstanding coverage bother. Well done.
Many thanks!
Excellent Video. I am looking forward to more. A few years ago I vacationed in Slovenia and during my time in Lubljana that there is a walking path around the city. This land is the region that was fenced by the Italians to prevent partisan attacks and supply. The population of the city was held inside by this fence and there are still concrete posts in place that once held the barbed wire. This would be an interesting topic to explore further.
Yes, indeed, thanks for your reply, Peter!
Yes it's complicated but you're doing a great job. My family lived in the Batschka, the part given to Hungary. I'd love to see you cover that. It gets more complicated though! Thanks for your hard work.
Glad you appreciate it, thanks!
Actually my friend Batschka is and was part of Vojvodina Serbia but it does sit on the Hungarian Flats running into it . Now i am positive that during the österreichisch-ungarisch Austro-Hungarian rule which even before the duality just while the Kingdom of Hungary which reigned for a thousand years even then for sure belonged to Hungary, but not because anyone has given it to them but because the Hungarians from the Arpad Dynasty who fought for it and earned it. But your heart’s in the right place and wished there were more souls like you.
Sind Sie Schwabian? Das Land Batschka und Südungarn hatten drei große Wellen von Habsburg-gesponserten deutschen Siedlungen, die Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts in großer Zahl dorthin zogen!
@@alxb2474 Ja, ich bin Schwabian. Meine familie war 1785 teil der dritten welle.
@@alxb2474 Es tut mir leid zu sagen, aber es gibt es nicht zu viel Schwabians in Yugoslav teil von Batschka heute. Und noch weniger spracht Deutsch. Mein Deutsch lehrerin war einige das ich weiss..
Es is ganz andere in Ungarish teil, wo ich habe ein paar Freunden dass noch sparacht Deutsch..
p.s. Ich bin Serbisch aus Sombor
Dear Stefan...Very interesting, but as you say very confusing. I had a friend, Vicko, from the island of Brac. He died about 15 years ago or a bit more. His mother was an ethnic Italian and his father was a Croat. At first, he was in the Croatian state navy like so many other young men. Later he was captured by the Italians and taken to Italy. I am not sure why, but possibly he did something the Italians did not like. He was treated well in Italy and seemed to be able to go about the town where he lived. Luckily he knew some Italian from his mother. Later he was able to return home. Next he was forced to rejoin the Croatian forces. By then he realized that the Tito partisans would probably win the war and not wanting to be on the wrong side, he attempted to flee over the mountains. He knew that it would be hard alone, so he asked a friend to go with him and it was this friend who betrayed him and consequently he was arrested. Just before the trial he managed to escape. He probably would have been shot as a traitor. On the Sunday there was always a soccer game. The teams were a bit short, so they let the prisoners including Vicko play. He noticed that if the ball was kicked in a certain direction, it went down the hill and it took a couple of minutes for the ball to be retrieved. In the heat of the game, the ball did run down the hill and Vicko shouted that he would get it. Supposedly, the guards forgot that he was a prisoner and let him go get the ball. He just kept running and running. When they realized that he was not coming back with the ball, they sounded the alarm, but by that time, Vicko was already in the forest. Fleeing across the mountains and travelling from safe house to safe house, he did get to the partisans. Since he was one of the few Croats in the brigade, he rose quickly in the ranks and was by a certain point appointed the political commissar of the unit even though he had never formerly studied Marxism or had been to university. Each unit had a military and a political commissar. He was able to have some young German prisoners spared by suggesting that they be employed as ammunition carriers. I am not sure how many Germans survived because of Vicko's suggestion. The policy was to shoot them as there was no sort of prison to hold them in the mountains. At the end of the war, Vicko, my friend was on the winning side. Not so with another friend, Ivo. Toward the end of the war he had joined the Utaschi and had fled toward Austria once the partisans had taken Zagreb. He was captured by the partisans and would have been shot, but the commander said that he would not shot a boy who had never shaved, so Ivo was not shot, although most of his unit was shot right there in front of him. It was only much later that both Vicko and Ivo met in Canada. By that time, both had seen how rotten the Yugoslav state was and that Tito had not kept his promises for a democratic and fair society. Fortunately they were both able to leave. Vicko went to work in Germany and only returned home to Brac many years after the death of Tito. Ivo arrived as a visiting scientist in Ottawa and then did not return, but stayed in Canada. Fortunately he had a skill or knowledge that Canada wanted. The prime minister of the time, the father of our present sad example of a leader, Trudeau was a friend of Tito and probably also a Marxist. However Ivo was not sent back because by that point Yugoslavia was already changing. I could tell you more, but I might get the details mixed up. Vicko told me some fantastic stories about his life in the mountains during the war. If you have time, I think that you should visit the camps where the Serbs were starved to death. This should never be forgotten. Stephan in Ottawa
I read your reply with great interest. Thanks for sharing this!
Italian concentration camps in Croatia and Slovenia were reserved solely for Croats, Slovenes and Jews. Serbian Chetniks were collaborating with Italian fascist scum so Serbs were spared from Italian concentration camps.
Great vid
Thanks 👌
Excellent explanation of a very complex situation. My mum was from Trieste and dad from Split, they grew up in this tumultuous time. Your video's are excellent. Thanks.
Thanks for watching!
Another small comment - at Dalmatian part at 6:53 you showed the document concerning Ljubljana and its sounding villages, not Dalmatia. It listed some villages of this Ljubljana area on the top (now mostly part of Ljubljana) and at the bottom is written Ljubljana, 23 of February 1942. I assume you didn't have other similar documents for Dalmatia.
Point 1 of the document declared everyone could be shot without warning if approached outside of the dedicated entrance listed... Ljubljana was completely encircled with barbwire and bunkers in February 1942, and movement was severely restricted. My father who lived in Ljubljana said that during WWII occupation there were only limited sources of food in Ljubljana and he was mostly hungry and he suffered malnutrition.
Thanks for sharing. Since I had limited images for this video I had to resort to some images that didn't fully cover what I was saying. Also when speaking about Montenegro and collaborators the photo I show was of some Chetniks who wasn't Montenegrin per se.
Hi, I add one more thing as an Italian, I have always liked history, even when I went to school, and I must say that in the Italian school, the whole invasion of Yugoslavia is not treated almost completely, this is a real shame, you have to to know one's country, both in positive things and in its skeletons in the closet.
How long are you staying in Slovenia? I live in Idrija which was under Italy until 1943.
I recorded this video last Summer when I was there.
"Italians good people" is Italy's version of Clean Wehrmacht myth.
Yes and no. Think you can't put them on a par with the Wehrmacht, and for sure not the ustasha. But stating they were 'good' isn't a right description.
Outstanding job! Thank you
👍👍👍
Well done covering a topic that is little known about and rarely covered.
Thanks. Soon a video on the Hungarian occupation and here my video on the Bulgarian one:
th-cam.com/video/-2fIk0kUm0k/w-d-xo.htmlsi=67DDXwhi5Gc7pHi7
A unit of former Italian soldiers was used by newly formed Yugoslav Army in October 1944 to help with street fighting against Germans in the centre of Belgrade.
Thanks for sharing this!
After 1943, 20,000 Italians joined Tito's partisans.
A lot of Italian soldiers also join in partisan units in Macedonia. One of them was killed during the liberation of Prilep and was burred in memorial complex Mound of Unbeaten.
Amazing info found only here. And author takes time to reply to comments. Thank you.
Awesome, Milan. Nice to read. Thanks!
Kansas City, KS where I used to live is a sister city of Ljubljana. Kansas City has a very large Slavic population, Russians, Serbs, Croats, Slovaks, and, yes, Slovenes.
Interesting to read!
My grandfather's brother actually fought in this war. He was Italian, from the Alpini division, but I don't know where he acted. I was just 5 at the time he died, in 2007, but I actually overheard a conversation when he told my parents what made him run away: the scene of German soldiers throwing a recent-born baby in the air and shooting him. My family owned a hotel at Trentino Alto Adidge back then and story says that he went under a train from Yugoslavia to Italy just to escape the war. Arriving there, some German soldiers recognized him and almost shot him, but let him go anyways because the hotel welcomed all types of soldiers (even Americans, at some point). He and the rest of my family escaped to Paraguay and my grandfather decided to live in Brazil since then. It's nice to know some of the history behind this specific war...
Hey professor Stefan! Another great video, so did Germany and Italy have growing animosity towards each other over these territories as Germany starting taking over the majority of the areas???? And how did this affect their relationship as allies for the remainder of the war? BTW I will be in Haarlem this February for a family wedding just for a week but I hope we can meet for a coffee while I’m in town!
Hi Nick, thanks for your reply! I live in Utrecht myself. Feel free to sent me a message (via IG, e-mail, Patreon).
@@HistoryHustle ok great I’ll send you a message thru patreon or email! I know you are busy but just throwing it out there i would have no problem taking the train to Utrecht for a couple hours if we end up finding some time for coffee while I’m there. I’ll tty about it privately and see what happens as it gets closer
Thanks to the Italians because they saved many Serbs from the Ustasha genocide. Ustashas were forbidden to enter the Italian occupation zone.
I did know the Italians in some cases protected people. I'm not yet sure if this was systematic or incidental.
@@HistoryHustle It wasn't by accident. The Italians complained to their superiors that the Ustasha were very brutal towards the Serbs and were appalled by their killing methods because they did not choose between a pregnant woman, a small child or an old man. I was told by older people who escaped from the Ustasha at that time how brutal they were. So the Italians even started arming the Serbs so that the Serbs could defend themselves as much as possible. You can explore a little about Priest Momcilo Đujić. Đujić started an uprising to defend the Serbs in that area. And don't research communist or Croatian sources because they are biased.I love your shows. Contact this journalist, historian and researcher, I think he would be happy to cooperate with you. th-cam.com/users/Pogledii
A bit confusing, but you did very well explaining all of it. It was great!!!
Nice to read, thanks, Robert!!
Hi Prof Stefan. Did you know that there was another reststance apart of all mentioned, it was caled TIGR it stands for Trst(trieste), Istra, Gorica(Gorizzia), Rijeka(fiume). It Would be a fun topic
Thanks for sharing this!
slovenians suffered very much during the ww2, if axis powers had won ww2, slovenians would have been wiped out as a nation, thats a sad fact.
Luckily that didn't happen and Slovenia is still here today.
Yes, greetings from Italy.
🇸🇮
My father (born 1917) was there on 1941 in Lubiana before to be transferred to France in 1943 (Tolone). He often told me about ambushes against partizans. But expecially he often told me an episode in which, he told:" I've risked very much my life". He was patrolling, togheter with another fellow soldier, a pathway when they saw, over a little hill, about 10/15 men who were talking to each other. As soon as they saw my father and his fellow, they immediatly ran away in few seconds. My father told me he didn't understand at the moment why they were escaping. Later he understood. They were partisans. Those men thought my father and his fellow were a vanguard of a more consistent military unit. But it wasn't. They were only two. My fahter always told me: "if those men on the hill understood we were only two men, they killed us".
Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for explaining! I’d rather be the Italian zone
Thanks for watching. And yes, I think so too although life wasn't easy there either.
Thanks for your videos
You're welcome!
Terrific. Complicated, but that is to be expected. I will listen again and again to absorb this fundamentally important history! Thank you ! RS Canada
Many thanks, Richard!
11k more only. Underrated channel
As always: feel free to share of course:)
Hello from region Lika. As a kid I used to find lot of Carcano shells where was Italian bunkers, and I remember the stories about Italians in WW2
I can imagine. Thanks for sharing.
I absolutely not confused. Your illustrations are clear and concise. Thanks.
👍👍👍
I guess there were 4 confronting "teams"; the Comintern, the Axis, the Allies and our local petty nationlists, all with a unique view on the opponents. I admire your dedication and resolve to share your knowledge or viewpoint on my troubled part of the world. Many thanks!
Thanks for your reply!
Italy in WW2 is a really fascinating topic. Thanks for the video Stefan! It is indeed very complicated. I hope you are ok! It's great to see how large your channel is getting! Just remember me I was around 2.5k subscribers like 2-3 years ago. Keep making videos please you're doing really well!
Amazing you're still on board. We've come a long way. Thanks for your support as always!
The italian concentration camp on the island of Rab had the same death rate as Buchenwald. Still, not a single italian fascist was prosecuted for war crimes in the Balkans. Just outrageous.
Unfortunately, the fact that italians have not dealt with their warmongering and racist past caused a peculiar case of making their own revisited history where they`re basically depicted as good lads (brava gente).
Pretty much I believe.
the speech is a little more complicated than that, then "Italiani brava gente" is also an Italian-Soviet film, made to increase relations at the time between Italian Communists and the Soviet Union, showing the difference between Italian soldiers and German soldiers , in the Soviet Union, in the treatment of civilians, certainly in an area such as Yugoslavia, the discourse was different.
It is necessary to remember that Italy changed sides, so to speak, and it was clear that the allies could not deliver to a communist country (and moreover to certain death), people who, although fascists, had helped them against the Nazi-fascists, and were future allies in the fight against communism, as the cold war was about to begin.
Imagine that Italy is a disunited country, there were other prison camps for Slavs, even in Italy, but not all of them had the same brutality, in one in southern Italy (Calabria region) only 4 people died, but due to an aerial combat in the skies, due to stray bullets.
Let's say that when we talk about the faults of the Italian fascists, we think more about the holocaust.
@@alexs7189 I think that you`re not sufficiently informed about italian/fascist politics between 1920 and 1943 on the "eastern border" as they used to call it. Italy, following the myth of the slavs who were uneducated and barbaric, openly pursued racist politics long before WW2 started. Slavs weren`t allowed to speak slovenian or croatian in public, they were forced to give italian names to their children, they were italianised. Basically for years they were deprived of their rights. And then came the war with executions, destruction of entire villages, deportations in camps. Luckily, italian fascist weren`t as much organised as the nazis. But still, they were merciless and cruel. You have to read the "Circolare 3C".
@@ivan-boskohabus1400 My message is not in contrast with yours, I know the things you write, I just say that it is complex, God, many Italians don't even know about the existence of Slovenia, or the fact that it was part of the former Yugoslavia.
Great video and I will be looking forward to learning more about this very complicated subject. Something is a little off with the audio.
Thanks Randy. Will cover more on this in the future. And I know, the background noise got mixed in.
Hello, I like your approach and theme selection... Could you do for Short-lived states the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, RSI, 1943-1945), popularly and historically known as the Republic of Salò?
For sure one day, once I visit Salò.
I live in a part of Slovenia that went under Italy's rule after the First World War, and there were numerous accounts of brutal Italianisation politics already in the interwar period... Speaking Slovenian in public was severely punished (there was even an incident where the Italian fascists were shooting with rifles out of a train window onto a group of young boys speaking Slovenian among themselves, killing several of them), or renaming the tombstones to give the deceased more Italian names on graveyards... In 1942, the Italians encircled the whole city of Ljubljana with barbed wire, effectively turning the whole city into a concentration camp... so they were no angels... it's unfortunate you didn't mention that, but otherwise I enjoyed your video as the rest of your superb content. Cheers to Utrecht from Kras region, Slovenia!
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Slovenia is one of the most beautiful countries in the world
It sure is a beautiful nation!
Top notch video, your travels have yielded some great material. As for being confused, yes, the Yugoslavian story is a challenging one to understand. It reminds me of Churchill’s quote on Russia “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”✌
I understand. Many thanks for your reply, Tanya!
Churchill betrayed, big time
Excellent video. BZ
Imbroglio
👍👍👍
Thanks for this video, it was really awesome🙏
Great, thank you for watching!
I bought Stefan a couple of beers on PayPal. Anyone who enjoys these videos should do the same.
Yes, I saw it. Many thanks, Derek!! 👍
Mate you’ve earned a subscription
Welcome to the channel!
The title of this episode is misleading... I expected it to cover several aspects of life of non-Italians in territories that were occupied/annexed by Italians. Despite a brief mention of the situation in Montenegro, there was no information on the subject but a general history of Yugoslavia in WWII.
Ok.
You da best historian ever my dawg!!!
Thanks! :)
People were switching sides faster than the Landsknechts!
Indeed..
I hope you cover more of Yugoslavia maybe you can cover like what did the Bosnian Muslims do during the Second World War.
Sounds like an interesting topic. Hope to cover that in the future.
@@HistoryHustle cool beans. To be honest the Bosnian Muslim people or Muslim Slavs always feel the most underappreciated or underrepresented among the other people of the Balkans.
I got lost but found it interesting, perhaps a longer episode to explain more?
Thanks for your reply. More in the future 👍
Great job Stefan, keep up the great work!
Will do. Thank you, Alan!
Hey stefan, First of all, great video I am myself really interested in Italy in world war 2
So if you want to do a Video about the Italian army in 1940, I can help with tank research seeing that I know quite a lot about it
Great video, keep making content : )
Thanks for your reply. And yes, I will cover the Italian Army of 1940. I've planned to make this the last video of 2021.
@@HistoryHustle oh nice, if you have any questions please let me know, seeing that i would like to help if it comes down to tanks and tankettes of Italy
defeated in 12 days? yeah, but still fighting 5 years later.
In 1946 the fighting was pretty much done in Yugoslavia.
Could you talk about the french resistamce in it's colonies?? I think it is a very interesting topic that more people should know about
For sure. One day, cannot tell when.
@@HistoryHustle It's more than I expected
Anyway, regardless of all that I rambled on about previously , Stefans clip is an EXTREMELY rare exploration of a topic, online, that virtually no one else comes close to touching, with the exception of probably only Dr Mark Felton. TIKs videos are simply excuses to launch into hour-plus rants in favour of Austrian ‘ Economics ‘ from the mesmerizing confines of what looks like a corner of his bedroom. Stefan ? He gets up, goes out, and appears on location, from the DPRK to Poland !
Glad you like my content. Best regards!
There was a HUGE difference in Italian vs German occupation, even in treatment of partisans!
My grandfather was communist and partisan organizer, with bounty on his head. Italians arrested him three times in Zadar/Zara region, even sentenced him to death once. But he got out of jail each time: once by bribing them, once saved by Chetnik and third time they just let him go..
On other side, as soon as Germans took over in 1943 - SS came looking for him, did not find him at home, so they killed his father and burned down the house with his grandmother in it.
Respect from Italy for your grandfather.
Greetings from Italy, and sorry for the war.
🇭🇷❤️🇸🇮❤️🇮🇹
Very interesting to read. Thanks for sharing this.
I’ve never seen such a well-informed and thorough insight into modern Italian history by a non-Italian like this. My compliments!
Great to read. Thanks!
well, you just need to be fascinated by history, read more and you'll get well-informed. It is not that difficult. In fact, he just throws some facts without really analyzing the situation in the Balkans. The role of England, Russia, and the bankers affected all the underground movements not only in Yougoslavia but in the Balkans area as a whole. The real history was much more complicated and in eleven minutes is impossible to be revealed. He makes people who don't know anything about that part of the world during ww1 and ww2 very confused. This needs time, more episodes where he can starts slowly by explaining what was really going on at the time and WHY.
Hey history hustle! Can you do a video about the Italian occupation zone of France?
One day for sure! Therefore I'll have to travel to the south of France (regarding the concept format of these videos). Cannot tell when that will happen, but like I said: one day for sure!
@@HistoryHustle Thank you very much! I actually believe it was one of your videos that I learned the Italians even had an occupation zone. Do you have any recommendations on the subject? From a fellow history nerd, thanks a lot!!!!
Italy in WW2 is a topic I do have to more explore also!
Thank you
You're welcome!
Very interesting, cheers.
Thanks, Steve!
Great video as always. Concerning the chetnics you need to have under consideration that in yugoslavia the communists started first the attacks and attrocities towards the right winged. Similar happened in greece with the communists that during the occupation from 1943 they solely killed right winged. So you shouldn t be suprised that the chetnics collaborated in certain regions with the germans but not croats italians and albanians
Thanks for your reply. I hope to travel to Greece one day and cover WW2 history there.
I knew that the situation in Yugoslavia during WW2 was complicated, but goodness me, your video on the topic nearly fried my brain! Thank you for another outstanding video. Your channel and those of Professor Mark Felton are the most informative I have come across. Well done sir.
Very nice to read, David. Many thanks for your reply!
@@HistoryHustle I hope you weren't commenting on the "nearly fried my brain" part of my post!😀😀😀👏
I took a course back in my university days from a professor who said "Yugoslavia, more or less, liberated itself". I know it's probably too complicated for a "yes" or "no" answer, but do you agree with that statement? I know very little about all of this so I have appreciated your recent videos.
That is correct. Well the Soviets did help a bit... but because of the fact, that Yugoslavia had an operational army at the end of the war, Soviets or Western forces didn't dare to occupy the Yugoslavia and they had to treat Yugoslavia as a partner.
@@TheMcinku Soviets "liberated" (raped) Slovenian women in north eastern part of Slovenia.
@@VendPrekmurec Yes, that happened to.
Without the wider war in Europe, it is unlikely that the Partisans could have won.
Rubbish. Red Army
Another interesting video.
The Chetniks had quite an interesting flag, didn't they? I've never learned Serbian, but being a Slav (Polish, if anyone is wondering) and having learned a little Russian I'm pretty sure that the writing on it says "for King and Fatherland" above the skull and "freedom or death" below it. It reminds me of the flag of Nestor Machno's Black Army. Quite ironic, as they were radical left-wing (anarchist) and Chetniks were right-wing.
Edit: OK, it's apparently up for a debate how "right-wing" the Chetniks exactly were, or weren't (see the comments below).
hi
@@In_Our_Timeline Hello!
You read the text of the flag well. I am a Serb and I understand Polish quite well even though I have never been to Poland. All Slavic languages are very similar.
Četniks right wing? What gave you that impression? Draza Mihailovic himself was centre-left politically
@@БрусЛи-м3ю Them being anti-Communist and Royalist (also nationalist, I guess)? I won't argue about it, as I'm not an expert in Serbian/Yugoslavian/Balkan in general history, and the terms like "right wing" are rather broad and admittedly purely defined. If you would ask me to, for example, put Józef Piłsudski on the right-left political spectrum, I wold have a hard time to do so. It kinda depends in what sense, what aspect, and in which moment/period in his career.
I had to rewind the video three times:
The Germans were appalled by the way the ustasha hunted down jews?
Incredible
More on that here:
th-cam.com/video/lpou33h-KrU/w-d-xo.html
If you checkout his site it says 'serbian battles'. Anyhow, in this vid he sam ustashas killing serbians, jesi and ITALIANS, which he screwing around like the main reason the italians 'sometimes' interferred against ustashas. Not a word about all Croats killed by ustashas in NDH or todays Croatia. He is a scam payed by serbian revision. Always repairing the bitter truth so it better fits.
Hello mr
I follow you from Iraq 🇮🇶
Thank you for This beautiful content.
Nice to read! Many thanks for your reply. Glad you like my content.
at first i was expecting some serb propaganda but tbh this video was very good. I remember my albanian relatives , they all used to say that unlike communist propaganda after the war , the italians were pretty decent. They usually helped create infrastructure and were lenient towards using violence towards civilians. Although they clearly favored the catholic north of albania (thats where i am from) , maybe the opinion of my relatives might be biased compared to the other parts of albania but i highly doubt it since italy and albania for hundreds of years have had good relations. They would say the opposite for the germans though. Anyways it was a great video my friend, good job and keep these videos up.
Thanks for your reply. What would Serb propaganda be like if it was the case? Please explain.
@@HistoryHustle general idea of an italian oppressor that used all means to crush the partisans and the serbs coming out victorious and unifying the south slavs on a state of brotherhood while in reality after communism many populations found themselves in a serb dominated politics trying to make these territories more serb. If you see many “history experts” out there in the internet that are clearly serbs claim that the reunification of the south slavs was done mainly by them without recognizing the contribution to the others and sometimes as in this case slovenians, considering them collaborators aswell as the croats.
Thanks for sharing your insights on this.
Hello, I am Italian, from southern Italy, what you say is true, just think of the Arbëreshë community in Italy (descendants of the Albanians who fled centuries ago from Albania conquered by the Ottomans), among which exponents we also find founding fathers of Italy.
Mussolini and the fascists were racists against the Slavs, especially Slovenes and Croats, but they weren't so much racist against the Albanians, as far as I know the fascists were much more brutal against the Greeks, moreover if I am mistaken the Albanian government that existed at the time he was an ally of Mussolini, so it was a wicked choice to attack Albania.
Greetings from Palermo.
@@alexs7189 They weren't racist to albanians because they saw them as illyrians an ancient people just like them while they saw slavs as being an inferior and barbaric race so were of course racist towards them.
Love this guy!
Great!
Like during the cold War, it isn't a fight between two camps. It is a fight for country's intrests.
Very good video😎👌🏻
Thanks!
My greatgrandmom told stories about Italian soldiers, mostly positive. There is another story about how an Italian officer begged to be left alive, but well that day there was no mercy.
Thanks for sharing this.
yes true Croats fascists would kill women and children but the Italians were merceful they were not as bad as Croats
@@justiceiscomingsoon ehh, my grandmom was with the partisans when she saw that... And well there isn't much that she could have done about it
@@justiceiscomingsoon Also she saw her younger brother and father burned alive by Uštašas and her sister detained and beaten up for a whole week by Chetniks. So yeah... WW2 in Yugoslavia was a mess
@@r.j.lombardi111 I am sorry that Croats have etnically cleansed and did genocide against Italians for which noone was held accountable, I think if there is justice at this world, ancient Latin-Italian lands of Istria and Dalmatia should be reunited with their motherland
Italy wasting Resources they barley even had, this is why they failed in north africa.
Interesting thought.
You should make a video on the West Russian Volunteer Army. Very interesting topic.
Ah yes, you mean the Bermontians? I talk about them in this video:
th-cam.com/video/uWYjwXVBc3Q/w-d-xo.html
What would Churchil do when he find out about MVAC?
dunno
@@HistoryHustle Well, British gradually cut their support to Chetniks who made majority of MVAC in Montenegro and Croatia. In July 1943 Germans intercepted radio communication between British and Chetniks, in which British demanded more and more anti-Axis operations in Croatia. British officers also demanded that Draza Mihailovic finally moves his ass against Germans. That happened in September of 1943. when Germans, Partisans and Chetniks all rushed to disarm as many surrendering Italians as possible. Italians even fought alongside Chetnik in Boka Kotorska against Germans, as they did alongside Partisans in rest of Montenegro or around Split. Many Italians joined Partisans (purely Italian brigades and battalions were formed), some joined Germans, most just gave up arms. Chetnik offensive culminated with Chetniks attacking Bosnian city of Visegrad (known for significant bridge over Drina) where they destroyed small NDH garrison. In the city, much to the shock of Allied observer, they massacred thousands of Muslim natives. However, large scale Chetnik offensive against both German, NDH and Partisans put them against Partisans who were also destroying NDH garrisons there. So, Partisans countered their offensive, captured Visegrad and in 2 weeks Chetniks were again fighting alongside Germans.
Did you see that it was a natural ,geoetnicks shape of Croatia !?? I looking your videos with huge satisfacting because you gotta impresive gift for naration and diction , bravo Mr. Good !
Many thanks!
Good history is needed in these troubling times. Nostalgia becomes grim reality without it Expecially when it comes to european wars
Thanks for your response.
Nice topic... That was my comment on Balkan war and that my city Zadar didn't fall in Serbian/JNA (like Vukovar) hands because we has old Italy royal complex of concret trenches... That was border vith SHS, NDH, and so on. We were lucky! Really... lucky
I understand, thanks for watching, Danny!
My Grandpa was 11 when Yugoslavia was occupied(Slovenian guy).
He told me as a young boy he thought the Germans looked much smarter and crisp and superman like than the Italians as his first impression of both.
Interesting, thanks for replying!
well of course the germans looked sharper .... cause the italians wer bakin pizza !! ann doing this zzzzzznooring..........
@@tomortale2333
👍😆
I don't know if this accurate but I heard that the troubles that caused the Germans to take over the Italian occupied provinces of Yugoslavia delayed the German plan to invade Russia just long enough to be confronted by the Russian winter. Barbarossa was scheduled to start in March and war not able begin until May of 41 dooming the Germans to a bitter winter without securing, Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. This minor event in Yugoslavia sealed Germany's fate.
Thank you History Hustle.
Thanks for your reply. Many historians doubt if the Germans would've proclaimed victory if they had invaded the USSR earlier since the winter wasn't the main reason the German got halted, but also the very long supply lines.
@@HistoryHustle Supply chain was definitely a factor. So is it a myth about the delay?
I believe it is. But we'll never know.
And in the end Italy lost everything south of Triest, like the germans everything east of Oder/Neisse
True.
"Chetniks" was the name for guerilla units Of Yugoslav Royal Army. Somehow it transpired as the name for the whole organization of Colonel (later General) Draza Mihailovich, the Supreme Commander of Yugoslav Army in Fatherland. There may have been some groups (some independent) that may be called Serbian nationalist, but Draza was a commander of Yugoslav Army consisted of all nationalities in Yugoslavia. Serbs (majority in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Slovenes were the most loyal to Draza. Draza considered Tito and his "Communists" as a terrorist organization. Which they practically were. Normally, to defend one's country, you would join the existing State and Army structure, instead of inventing the new one under the auspices of Soviet Union and Comintern. They started the civil war, to come to power, not really to defend their country. Unfortunately, helped by Soviet troops, which liberated Belgrade and some parts of Serbia, on their way to Hungary and ultimately Germany, Tito and his communists came to power in Yugoslavia. British also helped this, as they switched from supporting King of Yugoslavia in exile and Yugoslav Army, to supporting Tito, in 1943. Draza was the most decorated officer in Yugoslav Army, even before WWII. He led the first uprising in occupied Europe and scored quite a few victories over Germans. He received the medals for his acts of bravery from Pres. Truman, Pres. Charles de Gaulle and Pres. Sikorsky. He never left the country, although Americans offered to evacuate him. He was captured by Communists, found guilty at Tito's mock trial and killed at night. No one knows where he was buried.
Unfortunately, lot of TH-cam historians use sources found in history books written by Yugoslavian communists after WW2. Fortunately, there are more and more sources becoming available that tell different story. Good luck.
Thanks for sharing your insights with us on this!
" Slovenes were most loyal to Draza" is false statement. And that Slovenes considerate communists as a terrorist organization is also false.
@@Xenia9Slovenes joined the people's causes and partisans like the rest of normal people, and today you have Slovenia. If they joined draza's collaborators and policy of doing nothing Slovenia wouldn't exist today.
not at all confessing!. what of Banat and Belgrade from 1941-1946?-that's probably less known part of this era of the history
Indeed. Hope to cover more in the future.
yugoslavia more like yoguleavaia
lol
Interesting
👍
tribal war;great video,very complicated history
Thanks, Stephen.
Could you make another video to definitely explain this mess? I am so confused...🙃 🇧🇷
What confuses you? Maybe I can help.
@@Nista357 It was just a joke to the mess of borders since the First War... By the way,...How can people of the Balkans recognize a serbian from a croat, or a bosnian, etc, in order to differ who to shot in a act of ethnical cleansing? They all looks the same to me. Thanks!
@@marcoskehl You wouldn't even believe at the number of "friendly fire" cases we have here 🤣🤣🤣
@@Nista357 So sad. I think the civil wars are just friendly fire. What "kind" of Yugoslav are you? Serbian, croat, bosnian...?
I'll explore this topic more in the future.
Thank you, insightful. Complicated area, geographically and historically. There was even a Roman Emperor from Croatia, Diocletian. Please let us know what is the oath taken by Italian soldiers referred to about safeguarding civilians.
There was an oath taken to the King and the Constitition (which guaranteed personal liberty, due process) and "laws" of the State, and to fulfill duties to the the State "for the sole inseparable purpose of the good of the King and the Nation", from the decree of 24 June 1929:
"Giuro di essere fedele a Sua Maestà il Re ed ai suoi Reali Successori, di osservare lealmente lo Statuto e le altre leggi dello Stato e di adempiere tutti i doveri del mio Stato, con il sol scopo del bene inseparabile del Re e della Patria"
Thanks for sharing this!
Slovene civilians weren't protected by Italians in annexed Ljubljana Province (Provincia di Lubiana). Far from it.
@@aleskosir2727 Thank you for the point you make. Also for your comment below, which was troubling. My grandfathers - Sicilians - did not support the regime. One evaded the war totally, another (an anti-Fascist communist) was a cook. Indeed in Sicily even the Mafia was an enemy of the regime. The Italians generally had no wish to fight anyone. Those from the south especially, they instead supported the King, who sacked Mussolini in July 1943 and made Italy surrender. Even central and north Italy turned against Mussolini, viciously hunting and hacking him, and those with him, in an appalling exhibition like in ancient Roman times 2,000 years earlier. Few Italian troops wanted to be in the Balkans, USSR, Africa. Even when in those parts of Hell at the time, most remained civilised. Unfortunately criminal deviate minorities always exist, even in modern societies today.
Idea: make a video about Finnish SS volunteers.
For sure one day, Ali! Cannot tell when yet. Expect early 2022.
@@HistoryHustle sounds good.
Very interesting, glad I am well read on the history of Yugoslavia and its successor states or I might have gotten lost
Thanks for your reply!
Please mention that the Serbs tore up the Tri Partite pact in 1941 resist Hitler which brought Hitler's wrath on the Serbian people in Operation "Punishment." Belgrade was bombed by the Nazis on Easter Sunday (April 6, 1941). This delayed Operation Barbarossa bringing the Nazis their first major defeat at the gates of Moscow in December during the Russian winter. Also, please mention the role of the Vatican in fomenting the genocide of Serbian Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Gypsies. This was documented in "The Vatican's Holocaust" by Avro Manhattan and "Magnum Crimen" by Victor Novak. To date, the Vatican has never apologized or acknowleged the genocide it instigated in the "Independent" State of Croatia at the hands of the Croatian Ustashe and Bosnian Muslim Handzars. Thank you for trying to tell this long suppressed and tragic story.
I actually covered that in my two others videos about the 1941 Axis invasion and the NDH state. Please take a look on my channel.
My grandad fought against the Nazis in Yugoslavia, he was a partisan.
Did you ever meet him? And what did he tell you about his experiences.
@@HistoryHustle I was 1 years old when he died, my grandmother though she lived until I was 14, she was captured and forced to walk to a work camp,I do not remember the name, she had her "serial" number tattooed on her arm. She had so many stories about life in the camp and almost starving to death... all the horrors she saw
She must've seen a lot yes. Thanks for sharing.
Love Lubyana. I was there in the early 1970s when it was still part of communist Yugoslavia. I had just escaped Greece after the Invasion of Cyprus and the fall of the junta. It was a wild time. I was travailing with a German woman I had met on an an island in the Cyclades. We were on our way to Trieste where we learned about the junta's fall. The days in Athens before we left were wild and somewhat of a massive orgy. It was a strange time for a teenager from the US.
I can imagine!
3:28 😂😂Lulijana😂😂 i am sorry but.. I am from Slovenia and hearing this was funny.
😂 No problem.
Love your videos! If you're ever in Poland hit me up :)
Yes 👍
@@HistoryHustle I've give you a tour of Warsaw in terms of history :) I was also lucky enough to visit Auschwitz when it was totally empty! Just me and the tour guide. My friend said the photos are worth the weight in gold :)
Great!
I think first croat partisans came from dalmatia ..then croat government signed over parts of dalmatia 2 italy..
Okay, thanks for sharing this.
How did German occupation of Slovenia go?
Please see:
th-cam.com/video/75B7fO0jSrc/w-d-xo.html
A super informative episode .The flag of the Kingdom of Italy had a crown on it didn’t it? It would be interesting to have an episode on the Government in Exile of Yugoslavia and indeed the other occupied Balkan nations.
Thanks for your reply! Believe the flag with the crown was the official royal flag. The 'normal' flag was the one with only the shield I believe. I actually covered Slovenia / Croatia recently on this channel.
@@HistoryHustle I'm italian and I'm a royalist since I was a kid, now I'm nearly 50 yo. The Civil flag of the Italian kingdom (1861-1946) had the shield of Savoy with no crown. Naval ensign and military flags had the crown. The royal banner was a blue square with a black crowned eagle with four additional crowns in each corners. If you have some questions about it, please ask me.
It served as Royal and Naval flag and the Italian Royal Army did used a variant.
Crownless shield was de jure a State flag, though emigrants did flied the Royal one.
Considering I saw one myself hanging from a window I guess is srill the favourite one 😅
Italians always wanted the Dalmatian coast, the Serbs would of had no problem living under Italian administration, they have lived there under Venetian periods also many of them still use Italian words like Pomodoro etc.
Chetniks and Italians started collaborating almost immediately. . In some cases they were Allied completely to each other!
Italians were not stupid, they remembered Serbian support for coastal islands and places like Fiume.
It was the Croats who ideologically wanted that entire territory as far as Zemun in Belgrade!
Italians also remebered the Croats,Slovenes were frontliners for the Austro-Hungarians in WW1!
Vatican is 1 thing, Mussolini and most of the Italians were another!
Italians saved millions of Serbs, Jews and others from certain death, everybody was running into their zone of controll or over into German controlled Serbia away from the NDH under the Ustasa.
@@johnnymlad8472 🇮🇹❤️🇷🇸
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