Who still remembers Tito’s Yugoslav Partisans? Once worshipped by some, now disparaged by others (or even by the very same), they remain largely unknown to the English-speaking public. This book enables readers to discover them through a meticulous reconstruction of their everyday life in the liberated territories. How did the Partisans stop interethnic violence? How did they foster the political participation of young people and women? What was the role of the Communist Party? What were the principles of the economy in the liberated territories? What were the Partisans’ views on justice, revenge and forgiveness? These are just some of the questions the author seeks to answer. The book also goes further, however, showing what makes up a resistance or revolutionary movement in the extreme conditions of war—where everyone must prove themselves, or perish.

Xavier Bougarel is a researcher at the Center for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkan and Central Asian Studies of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). His most recent publication is, co-edited with Paolo Fonzi and Sabine Rutar, Food, Scarcity and Power in Southeastern Europe during the Second World War(2024).

LIST OF MAPS
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1. THE FRATERNITY OF THE YUGOSLAV PEOPLES
Chapter 2. THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF THE MASSES
Chapter 3. THE LEADING ROLE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY
Chapter 4. THE ECONOMY OF THE LIBERATED TERRITORIES
Chapter 5. THE PEOPLE’S JUSTICE
CONCLUSION: COMMUNISTS, PEASANTS, AND COMMUNIST PEASANTS
APPENDICES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX