Leftist errors

Leftist errors
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
Location
DateJuly 1941 – Spring 1942
Deaths
  • 1941–42:
    • Herzegovina: 500
    • Montenegro: 500–624
PerpetratorCommunist Party of Yugoslavia

Leftist errors (Serbo-Croatian: leva/lijeva skretanja, лева/лијева скретања) was 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.[1][2][3]

From 1941-1942, these areas saw mass executions, burning of villages and confiscation of property,[4][5] motivated both by partisan fears of a "fifth column" and class conflict.[6] As a result of these actions by the communists, many villagers from Montenegro and eastern Herzegovina joined Chetnik forces en masse.[7] The Communist Party of Yugoslavia condemned actions undertaken during the period and punished several local commanders.

  1. ^ Banac 1990, p. 89.
  2. ^ Goldstein 2008, p. 287 "Bila je to akcija nazvana kasnije „lijeva skretanja" ponajviše provođena u Bosni i Crnoj Gori, a mnogo manje u Hrvatskoj."
  3. ^ NIN: nedeljne informativne novine. Politika. 2002. p. 4.
  4. ^ Morrison, Kenneth (2009). Montenegro: a modern history. I.B. Tauris. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-84511-710-8.
  5. ^ NIN: nedeljne informativne novine. Politika. 2002. p. 4.
  6. ^ Hurem 1972, p. 155.
  7. ^ Banac 1988, p. 82.