Operation Uzice

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Operation Uzice
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
Date September 27 – November 29, 1941 Location Occupied Yugoslavia 43°31′N 19°31′E / 43.51°N 19.51°E / 43.51; 19.51 (today’s Bosnian/Serbian border, including the Partisan "Republic of Užice") Result German victory Partisan and Chetnik retreat and heavy losses; breakup and conflict between the two movements
Belligerents
September 27:  Germany  Government of National Salvation  Independent State of Croatia		September 27:  Yugoslav Partisans  Chetniks
November 1 on:  Germany  Government of National Salvation  Independent State of Croatia	November 1 on:  Chetniks	November 1 on:  Yugoslav Partisans
Commanders and leaders
Franz Böhme	Draža Mihailović	Josip Broz Tito
Strength
113th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 342nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) Elements of: 704th Infantry Division 714th Infantry Division 717th Infantry Division 718th Infantry Division 100th Panzer Brigade (one battalion) Serbian Volunteer Corps; total around 80,000[1]	Around 3,000 (a proportion of which did not participate)[2]	Around 20,000[1]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown	4,180 killed c. 3,800 missing c. 6,700 wounded[1]

Operation Uzice was the first major counter-insurgency operation by the German Wehrmacht on the occupied territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. The operation was directed against the Užice Republic, the first of several "free territories" liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans. It was named after the town of Užice, and is associated with the First Enemy Offensive (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Prva neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva) in Yugoslavian historiography. The security forces of the German-installed puppet regime of Milan Nedić also participated in the offensive.

After the offensive commenced on 20 September 1941, the Partisans initially received assistance from local Chetnik formations in opposing the Germans, but after weeks of disagreement and low-level conflict between the two insurgent factions about how the resistance should proceed, the Chetniks launched an attack on the Partisans in the towns of Užice and Požega on November 1 which resulted in the Chetniks being repulsed. The Partisans then counter-attacked decisively, but by early December had been driven from liberated area by the German and Serb collaborationist offensive.^[3]