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Leftist errors
Leftist errors (Serbo-Croatian: leva/lijeva skretanja, лева/лијева скретања) were a term used by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) to describe radical policies and strategies – described as the Red Terror (Crveni Teror) by others – pursued by self-described left-wing elements among the party and partisan units during World War II, mostly in Montenegro, Herzegovina, and Serbia, as well as to a lesser extent in Croatia and Slovenia.
From 1941–1942, these areas saw mass executions, burning of villages and confiscation of property, motivated both by partisan fears of a "fifth column" and class conflict. As a result of these actions by the communists, many villagers from Montenegro and eastern Herzegovina joined Chetnik forces en masse. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia condemned actions undertaken during the period and punished several local commanders.
This policy was also referred to as leftist deviation or left-wing deviation, left errors or sectarian deviations. In Titoist dogma after World War II, this policy was referred to as the "Mistakes of the left" or "left deviations" while the others referred to it as "Red Terror". This policy is sometimes referred to as the "Second Stage". Karl Marx believed that revolution has two stages: bourgeois-democratic and proletarian.[citation needed] He believed that in the second stage the proletarian revolution has to turn against its allies from the first stage.
Tito was the main protagonist of the leftist deviations. His formal appointment as general secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) was confirmed in October 1940, during the Fifth Land Conference of the CPY in Zagreb. At this conference, Tito formulated the leftist strategy of the CPY as focused on revolutionary seizure of power in the country in order to organize Soviet-style administrative system in Yugoslavia.
In July 1941, after the German attack on the Soviet Union, the Communist Politburo adopted a strategy insisting that the Partisans should aim to create "liberated territories", cleared of enemies. According to the instructions of the Politburo, such territories were to be administered by the Communists in a state-like manner, so that the local population would be exposed to the ideas and practices of socialism. In the territories that came under their control, the Communists implemented many radical policies. This antagonized many peasants in Serbia, Montenegro, and Herzegovina. Laziness was punished as desertion, and peasants were punished with high taxes or forced labor if their houses were not tidy or if they got lice. The Yugoslav communists suspended the instructions not to proceed to the second stage (the revolution) given by the Comintern in June 1941. They ignored instructions from Moscow to find a modus vivendi with the other resistance movement, Mihailović's Chetniks, because they thought doing so could put communist revolutionary action in danger. That is why Tito rejected Soviet pleas to cooperate with the Chetniks and insisted on carrying on with the communist revolution.
In June 1941, the Regional Committee of the CPY for Montenegro, Boka and Sandžak issued a proclamation inviting people to join the "final liquidation of the capitalist system". The leftist errors policy was pursued in Montenegro beginning in August, and its intensity increased after September 1941.[verification needed] This extremist policy was pursued by the Partisans in Montenegro under the influence of Milovan Đilas and Moša Pijade. After the initial success of the Uprising in Montenegro, the Communists seized control of almost all the territory of Montenegro and began to fight against their class enemies. A substantial percentage of the population of Montenegro supported the Chetniks because they were afraid of the "Red Terror". Despite instructions to minimize the revolutionary side of their policies, the leaders of the Montenegrin Partisans introduced "Soviet elements" in the summer of 1941, during the Uprising in Montenegro, because they perceived the uprising as the first stage of the communist revolution. On 27 July 1941, the Communist command for Montenegro issued an order for the establishment of courts-martial aimed against those who they perceived as fifth columnists ending their order with the proclamation "Patriots, destroy the fifth column and victory is ours!".
In mid-August 1941, Đilas wrote a letter to the Regional Committee of Yugoslav Communist Party for Montenegro, Boka and Sandžak and recommended an isolation and destruction of the fifth column. He emphasized that tolerance and inactivity of communists toward spies is a crime equal to treason. At the end of August 1941 the Regional Committee issued a directive which followed the recommendations of Đilas and insists on cleansing of the villages from the fifth column. In another directive issued in October the Regional Committee repeated similar instructions insisting on the destruction of those who disturb the mobilization of insurgents even by saying "wait, it's not the right moment yet". Đilas himself wrote how retreating Partisans, who only punished their opponents in July, arbitrarily executed them following the Italian counteroffensive of August 1941.
From September 1941 onward, Communist Party program documents began to mention courts authorized to prescribe the death penalty. This was immediately put into practice. Since October 1941, the headquarters of Partisan forces in Montenegro, Boka and Sandžak published lists of executed "enemies of the people, including spies and traitors" with a note - "to be continued...". During the first year the victims included women who "flirted" with Italians. Most of the people killed by the communists in 1941 were military and administrative officers of former Kingdom of Yugoslavia before the war. According to professor Jozo Tomasevich, during the period of "leftist deviation" from c. December 1941 through May 1942, the Partisans, especially in Herzegovina and Montenegro, used terror against people who were not collaborating, but were potential class enemies.
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Leftist errors
Leftist errors (Serbo-Croatian: leva/lijeva skretanja, лева/лијева скретања) were a term used by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) to describe radical policies and strategies – described as the Red Terror (Crveni Teror) by others – pursued by self-described left-wing elements among the party and partisan units during World War II, mostly in Montenegro, Herzegovina, and Serbia, as well as to a lesser extent in Croatia and Slovenia.
From 1941–1942, these areas saw mass executions, burning of villages and confiscation of property, motivated both by partisan fears of a "fifth column" and class conflict. As a result of these actions by the communists, many villagers from Montenegro and eastern Herzegovina joined Chetnik forces en masse. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia condemned actions undertaken during the period and punished several local commanders.
This policy was also referred to as leftist deviation or left-wing deviation, left errors or sectarian deviations. In Titoist dogma after World War II, this policy was referred to as the "Mistakes of the left" or "left deviations" while the others referred to it as "Red Terror". This policy is sometimes referred to as the "Second Stage". Karl Marx believed that revolution has two stages: bourgeois-democratic and proletarian.[citation needed] He believed that in the second stage the proletarian revolution has to turn against its allies from the first stage.
Tito was the main protagonist of the leftist deviations. His formal appointment as general secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) was confirmed in October 1940, during the Fifth Land Conference of the CPY in Zagreb. At this conference, Tito formulated the leftist strategy of the CPY as focused on revolutionary seizure of power in the country in order to organize Soviet-style administrative system in Yugoslavia.
In July 1941, after the German attack on the Soviet Union, the Communist Politburo adopted a strategy insisting that the Partisans should aim to create "liberated territories", cleared of enemies. According to the instructions of the Politburo, such territories were to be administered by the Communists in a state-like manner, so that the local population would be exposed to the ideas and practices of socialism. In the territories that came under their control, the Communists implemented many radical policies. This antagonized many peasants in Serbia, Montenegro, and Herzegovina. Laziness was punished as desertion, and peasants were punished with high taxes or forced labor if their houses were not tidy or if they got lice. The Yugoslav communists suspended the instructions not to proceed to the second stage (the revolution) given by the Comintern in June 1941. They ignored instructions from Moscow to find a modus vivendi with the other resistance movement, Mihailović's Chetniks, because they thought doing so could put communist revolutionary action in danger. That is why Tito rejected Soviet pleas to cooperate with the Chetniks and insisted on carrying on with the communist revolution.
In June 1941, the Regional Committee of the CPY for Montenegro, Boka and Sandžak issued a proclamation inviting people to join the "final liquidation of the capitalist system". The leftist errors policy was pursued in Montenegro beginning in August, and its intensity increased after September 1941.[verification needed] This extremist policy was pursued by the Partisans in Montenegro under the influence of Milovan Đilas and Moša Pijade. After the initial success of the Uprising in Montenegro, the Communists seized control of almost all the territory of Montenegro and began to fight against their class enemies. A substantial percentage of the population of Montenegro supported the Chetniks because they were afraid of the "Red Terror". Despite instructions to minimize the revolutionary side of their policies, the leaders of the Montenegrin Partisans introduced "Soviet elements" in the summer of 1941, during the Uprising in Montenegro, because they perceived the uprising as the first stage of the communist revolution. On 27 July 1941, the Communist command for Montenegro issued an order for the establishment of courts-martial aimed against those who they perceived as fifth columnists ending their order with the proclamation "Patriots, destroy the fifth column and victory is ours!".
In mid-August 1941, Đilas wrote a letter to the Regional Committee of Yugoslav Communist Party for Montenegro, Boka and Sandžak and recommended an isolation and destruction of the fifth column. He emphasized that tolerance and inactivity of communists toward spies is a crime equal to treason. At the end of August 1941 the Regional Committee issued a directive which followed the recommendations of Đilas and insists on cleansing of the villages from the fifth column. In another directive issued in October the Regional Committee repeated similar instructions insisting on the destruction of those who disturb the mobilization of insurgents even by saying "wait, it's not the right moment yet". Đilas himself wrote how retreating Partisans, who only punished their opponents in July, arbitrarily executed them following the Italian counteroffensive of August 1941.
From September 1941 onward, Communist Party program documents began to mention courts authorized to prescribe the death penalty. This was immediately put into practice. Since October 1941, the headquarters of Partisan forces in Montenegro, Boka and Sandžak published lists of executed "enemies of the people, including spies and traitors" with a note - "to be continued...". During the first year the victims included women who "flirted" with Italians. Most of the people killed by the communists in 1941 were military and administrative officers of former Kingdom of Yugoslavia before the war. According to professor Jozo Tomasevich, during the period of "leftist deviation" from c. December 1941 through May 1942, the Partisans, especially in Herzegovina and Montenegro, used terror against people who were not collaborating, but were potential class enemies.