Fall Weiss ("Plan White") was a German strategic plan for a combined Axis attack launched in early 1943 against the Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia, in the Independent State of Croatia. The Axis Powers is a term for those participants in World War II opposed to the Allies. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The Column The Yugoslav Partisans were the main resistance movement engaged in the fight against the Axis forces in the Balkans during World War II. // Origins The Rebellion They went under the official name of Peoples Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia (Narodno-oslobodilačka vojska i partizanski... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in all south Slavic languages) is a term used for three separate but successive political entities that existed during most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. ... The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) was a Nazi/Fascist puppet state in World War II. It was set up in April 1941 on parts of the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after its occupation. ...

The Germans aimed to destroy the central command of the Partisan movement, the Central Committee of Communist Party of Yugoslavia, as well as the main Partisan hospital. The Axis rallied nine divisions, six German, three Italian, as well as two Croatian divisions and a number of Chetnik and Ustashi formations. Estimated 150,000 Axis combatants engaged a much smaller partisan force. SKJ flag in Serbo-Croat, with Cyrillic script SKJ flag in Serbo-Croat, with Latin script SKJ flag in Albanian SKJ flag in Hungarian SKJ flag in Italian SKJ flag in Macedonian SKJ flag in Slovenian The Communist Party of Yugoslavia (after 1952 the League of Communists of Yugoslavia) was... A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to fifteen thousand soldiers. ... Chetniks (Serbian Četnici, Четници) were an organization of Yugoslavs (mostly Serbs) who supported the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and formed a notable resistance force during World War II. The name is derived from the Serbian word četa which means company (of about 100 men). ... The Ustaše (often spelled Ustashe in English; singular Ustaša or Ustasha) was a Croatian right-wing organisation put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers in 1941. ...

The operation was done in three stages:

• Weiss I started on January 20th, 1943, with the attack on Partisan-held areas in western Bosnia and parts of central Croatia
• Weiss II followed on February 25th, with fighting done in western and southwestern Bosnia, and the Partisans retreated as far southeast as the Neretva river
• Weiss III was launched in March, and centered around the areas of northern Herzegovina, but the targetted partisans managed to breakout from an encirclement into northern Montenegro, and the third phase was not successfully completed

By the end of March, the fascist forces had killed about eight thousand partisans, capturing another two thousand. Despite these heavy losses and a tactical victory for the Axis powers, the partisan formations secured their command and the hospital, and were able to continue operations. In fact, once they reached the eastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the partisans had to face only the Chetniks, and in turn almost entirely incapacitated them in the area west of the Drina river. Bosnia and Herzegovina (officially Bosna i Hercegovina, shortened to BiH, also in English variously written Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bosnia-Hercegovina) is a mountainous country in the western Balkans. ... Neretva (also Неретва) is a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. ... Herzegovina (natively Hercegovina/Херцеговина) is a historical region in the Dinaric Alps that composes the southern part of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... Serbia and Montenegro  â€“ Serbia    â€“ Kosovo and Metohia        (UN administration)    â€“ Vojvodina  â€“ Montenegro Official language Serbian Capital Podgorica Former Royal Capital Cetinje President Filip Vujanović Prime Minister Milo Đukanović Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % water  13,812 km²  n/a Population  â€“ Total (2003)  â€“ Density  616,258  48. ... The Column The Yugoslav Partisans were the main resistance movement engaged in the fight against the Axis forces in the Balkans during World War II. // Origins The Rebellion They went under the official name of Peoples Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia (Narodno-oslobodilačka vojska i partizanski... The Drina is a river on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro. ...

The next major operation in Yugoslavia was Operation Schwarz. The Sutjeska offensive (May-June 1943) was a failed attempt by the Axis forces to destroy the anti-occupation Yugoslav partisan force, marking a turning point for Yugoslavia during World War II. This action--codenamed Operation Schwarz (Black) by the Germans--took place near the Sutjeska river, in Italian-occupied...

The 1969 Oscar-nominated motion picture "The Battle of Neretva" (see "Bitka na Neretvi" at the Internet Movie Database) depicts these events. 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), owned by Amazon. ...