The 4th Corps ( sh-Latn, Četvrti korpus) was a
Yugoslav Partisan
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, Slovene language, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НО� ...
corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
that fought against the
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
,
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...
(NDH) and
Chetniks
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nation ...
in occupied
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, also known as Democratic Federative Yugoslavia (DF Yugoslavia or DFY), was a provisional state established during World War II on 29 November 1943 through the Second Session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the Natio ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
It was created on 22 November 1942 with the 6th Lika, 7th Banija and 8th Kordun divisions as the 1st Croatian Corps. It was renamed the 4th (Croatian) Corps on 5 October 1943.
Commander of the Corps was
Ivan Gošnjak
Ivan Gošnjak ( sh-Cyrl, Иван Гошњак; 10 June 1909 – 8 February 1980) was a Yugoslav communist who held numerous important offices in Yugoslavia during and after World War II, serving as the Minister of Defence from 1953 to 1967.
Iv ...
and later
Ivan Rukavina. Political Comissar
Većeslav Holjevac
Većeslav Holjevac (22 August 1917 – 11 July 1970) was a Croatian and Yugoslav soldier and communist politician.
Holjevac was born in Karlovac, at the time in Austria-Hungary. He joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1939. Following th ...
, future Mayor of Zagreb.
It operated in Croatia, South of the
Sava river
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
and in the
Una river valley. During the Fourth Axis offensive (
Case White
Case White (german: Fall Weiss), also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive ( sh, Četvrta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva), was a combined Axis strategic offensive launched against the Yugoslav Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia during ...
), the Corps was heavily engaged in the
Banija
, settlement_type = Geographic region
, image_skyline = Banovina-Banija-Банија.jpg
, image_caption = Collage of Banovina Photos
, image_shield =
, shield_size ...
and
Kordun
The Kordun () region is a part of central Croatia from the bottom of the Petrova Gora (Peter's mountain) mountain range, which extends along the rivers Korana and Slunjčica, and forms part of the border region to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within ...
area's and defended the liberated area of
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 ...
. During 1943, it conducted successful actions and created liberated territory between the rivers Una and Sava, in Slovenia,
Gorski Kotar and Lika.
In the 1945 final operations of the Yugoslav Army, the Corps participated in the liberation of Bihać, Lika, Karlovac and Zagreb. It was disbanded on 15 May 1945.
Sources
vojska.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:4th Corps
Corps of the Yugoslav Partisans
Military units and formations established in 1942
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945