Ljubinka Škodrić,
PhD, Institute for Contemporary History Belgrade, Serbia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Women in the National Liberation Movement in Serbia (1941–1944)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2021-3-6
In the period before the WWII the communist organization in Kingdom of Yugoslavia managed to attract support from a large number of women. After the defeat in the war with Germany in April 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was divided, and Serbia as her integral part, was occupied by the German military forces. Article focuses on the politics toward women who join the communist resistance movement - National Liberation Movement (partisans) and analyzes position of women in the units of this Movement in Serbia. After initial doubts, the policy of admitting women to the detachments of National Liberation Movement was implemented in 1942. Despite stressing the need for gender equality, traditional relationships prevailed in these military formations. Women in the detachments rarely had the roles of fighters, but were mainly in charge for the work of the ambulance or courier service. In addition, they often represented the part of the corps that was the worst equipped and to which the least attention was paid. The presence of women in the detachments resulted in them becoming one of the favorite targets of enemy propaganda. Also, different standards in the detachments applied to women, especially for violations of sexual discipline. Despite that the very possibility of women taking massive part in the fighting represented a breakthrough in regards to the past and specific phenomenon of World War II.
Publishing: 28/06/2021
The article has been received by the editor on 25.03.2021
How to cite: Škodrić L. Women in the National Liberation Movement in Serbia (1941–1944) // Historical Courier, 2021, No. 3 (17), pp. 49–58. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2021/ISTKURIER-2021-3-06.pdf
Links: Issue 3 2021
Keywords: Serbia; World War II; occupation; resistance; Ravna Gora Movement; National Liberation Movement; partisans; women; nurses; emancipation