*Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading “The peoples of Yugoslavia do not want Fascism. They do not want a totalitarian regime, they do not want to become slaves of the German and Italian financial oligarchy as they never wanted to become reconciled to the semi-colonial dependence imposed on them by the so-called Western democracies after the first imperialist war.” - Tito The Belgrade Offensive of 1944, while not considered one of the greatest and most important battles of the Second World War, was definitively an important moment of the war in the Balkans and marked the final defeat of the Axis in Southeastern Europe. The Axis campaign started in April 1941, when Germany and Italy, helped by Hungary and Bulgaria, attacked Yugoslavia and Greece. Almost immediately after the conquest of these two countries, occupying forces had to face the resistance of local guerilla movements, especially in Yugoslavia. It was divided between the remains of the Royal Army (the Chetniks or JVuO) and Communist Partisans. Yugoslav guerillas were a constant threat for the Axis in Balkans. Their fight was based on diversions, but they also conducted large military operations, making them unique in occupied Europe. During the four years of occupation, the Germans and Italians conducted five large operations and several smaller ones in order to defeat the guerillas and to secure the Balkans, which by 1943 was thought of as one of the possible landing zones for the Allies in Europe.