The 4th Army of the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

was a Partisan army that operated in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

during the last months of the Second World War. The Army was created on 1 March 1945, when Chief Commander Marshal

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

converted the underground National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia in the more regular Yugoslav Army.

History

As commander was named General lieutenant

Petar Drapšin Petar Drapšin ( sr-Cyrl, Петар Драпшин; 15 November 1914 – 2 November 1945) was a Serbian and Yugoslav Partisan commander. Early life and education Drapšin was born to a family of poor peasant farmers in the village of Turija ...

, as Political Commissioner Colonel Boško Šiljegović, and as Chief of staff, Colonel Pavle Jakšić. The Army was formed from the divisions of the 7th Corps (14th and 18th), 8th Corps (9th, 19th, 20th and 26th Dalmatian), 11th Corps (13th, 35th and 43rd) and later also the 9th Corps (30th and 31st). In addition the 4th Army had an Artillery, 1st Tank, Engineer and Replacement Brigade, a Motorized Artillery Battalion and a liaison regiment. Three major operations were carried out in the Liberation of Yugoslavia: the Lika-Primorje operation (March 20 – 15 April 1945), the Rijeka operation (April 16 – 7 May) and the Trieste operation (April 29 – 3 May). They destroyed the German XV Mountain Corps, surrounded the LXXXXVII Army Corps and liberated

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

Hrvatsko Primorje Croatian Littoral () is a historical name for the region of Croatia comprising mostly the coastal areas between traditional Dalmatia to the south, Croatia proper, Mountainous Croatia to the north, Istria and the Kvarner Gulf of the Adriatic Sea ...

Gorski Kotar Gorski Kotar () is the mountainous region in Croatia between Karlovac and Rijeka. Because 63% of its surface is forested it is popularly called ''the green lungs of Croatia'' or ''Croatian Switzerland''. The European route E65, which connects B ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

, part of the Slovenian littoral and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

with its surroundings.
Her motorized units even advanced into central

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

. The 29th Division also participated in the liberation of the area between

Postojna Postojna (; , ) is a town in the traditional region of Inner Carniola, from Trieste, in southwestern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Postojna.

and

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

Composition

According to Vladimir Dedijer IV Army in its composition have 40,500 Croats, 31,500 Serbs and 18,000 Slovenes.Pavle Jakšić; ''Nad uspomenama I'', p. 8; Rad, 1990
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References

Sources

* This is a translation of the article in the Slovenian Wikipedia, '' 4. armada (NOVJ).''
Researchgate
* {{Yugoslav Partisans military units 4th Army Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1945 disestablishments in Yugoslavia Partisans Military units and formations of the Yugoslav Partisans