Axis tactical victory
162-732: Uprisings 1942 1943 1944 1945 Case White ( German : Fall Weiss ), also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive ( Serbo-Croatian : Četvrta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva ), was a combined Axis strategic offensive launched against the Yugoslav Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia during World War II . It was one of the most significant confrontations of World War II in Yugoslavia . The offensive took place in early 1943, between 20 January and mid-to-late March. The Axis operation prompted
324-423: A coup de main . The Italian fortifications were overcome on 18 February, after some artillery and mortar fire exchanges, and after an intervention attempt by an armored train from Konjic had been repulsed. In that situation, with no enemy activity from Sarajevo, the 1st Proletarian Brigade headquarters made a critical error in judgment by sending two battalions to attack the railway station Tarčin near Sarajevo, and
486-465: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it
648-402: A second language , and 75–100 million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90 million people, or 16% of
810-612: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become
972-436: A company of L3 light tanks . The town was heavily fortified with a large number of stone and concrete bunkers surrounded by wire obstacles and covered by a well-organized fire system. The Partisan attack began on the evening of 15 February, but failed due to the fierce resistance of the garrison. After receiving reinforcements, the 3rd Division made another attempt and the second attack ultimately succeeded. The Italian garrison
1134-559: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from
1296-646: A mutiny of 173 Croatian Germans of the division in 1943 in Bosnia when apparently the men of mixed ancestry did not speak German and were mistreated by their superiors as a result. Many of these men preferred service in the Croatian Home Guard for a variety of reasons; Himmler intervened personally in the problem. In 1942, the Pančevo -based unit was declared a Mountain Division. Its troops were issued with
1458-458: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained
1620-774: A night battle and defeated the Partisan units. In the operation Schwarz the division suffered total losses of 613 men. In August 1943, the division became a part of the XV Mountain Corps and was sent to the Dalmatian coast, to disarm the local Italian forces in September 1943 after the Italian government had surrendered to the Allies . In exploiting Italian capitulation , Tito's forces succeeded in seizing control of
1782-876: A plan that called for the use of Chetniks from Lika, northern Bosnia, northern Dalmatia, Herzegovina and Montenegro in order to destroy the Partisan-held territory there. The "March on Bosnia" also called for the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Sandžak . According to the Germans, the Chetniks forces comprised 150,000 men in February 1943 (up from 100,000 in August 1942). The Partisans, on
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#17327727072181944-696: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In
2106-552: A result, the 3rd Division saw no alternative but to cancel the attack by the morning of the 23rd. For the next attempt, on 24 February in the evening, the attacking forces were reinforced with the 4th Montenegro Brigade from the 2nd Proletarian Division, and the Tank Company of the Supreme Headquarters. The attack went on through the night, and resumed the next night, but to no avail. In a report, Germans praised
2268-483: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it
2430-553: A significant amount of non-standard German weapons and used captured equipment such as Czechoslovak machine guns like the ZB-53 and French light tanks. They were provided with excellent German-made mountain artillery such as the 10.5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 40 howitzer and 7.5 cm Gebirgsgeschütz 36 mountain gun. When the division was formed, it was assigned to the Balkans as an anti-Partisan mountain division. In October 1942,
2592-601: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as
2754-612: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German
2916-558: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic
3078-478: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German
3240-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25 million speak it as
3402-489: Is famed for its cruelty," and that "wherever it passed - through Serbia, through Bosnia and Herzegovina, through Lika and Banija or through Dalmatia - everywhere it left behind scenes of conflagration and devastation and the bodies of innocent men, women, and children who had been burned in the houses." It also committed numerous atrocities in the area of Nikšić in Montenegro: The following officers commanded
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#17327727072183564-535: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in
3726-611: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as
3888-565: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are
4050-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and
4212-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
4374-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German
4536-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c. 1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period
4698-578: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish
4860-485: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers
5022-689: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to
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5184-639: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as
5346-667: The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia as well as the bulk of the Partisan units around the Supreme Headquarters . The Axis mustered ten divisions equaling 90,000 troops and 12 air squadrons. Chetnik auxiliaries and units consisting of between 12,000 and 15,000 men also took part and worked closely with the Italians. The operation coincided with the so-called "March on Bosnia",
5508-641: The Division Murge intervened from Mostar, but was almost completely annihilated (120 dead and 286 captured, including the Commander, Lt. Col. Francesco Metella), on 16 February with the loss of all its equipment. The Partisans sent a messenger to Mostar to propose a prisoner exchange, but the exchange did not happen. With this success, the 2nd Division wrested control over the Neretva valley north of Mostar from enemy forces, and severed all contact between
5670-537: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share
5832-480: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language
5994-644: The Fascist Party , and that he had taken part in the Spanish Civil War as an officer in the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie . With the fall of Jablanica, Partisans were in control of the entire Neretva valley between Mostar and Ivan Sedlo; only the strategically important town of Konjic was still in Italian hands. The Left Column (1st Proletarian Division) was only partially concentrated, but decided to go ahead with
6156-522: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout
6318-746: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in
6480-823: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941, the Wehrmacht placed Serbia proper , the northern part of Kosovo (around Kosovska Mitrovica ) and the Banat under a military government. The division was formed in late 1941 following the invasion initially from German-speaking Danube Swabian Selbstschutz in the Banat autonomous area within the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia . The unit
6642-666: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in
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6804-660: The Reichsdeutsche and Volksdeutsche Germans, including ex- Kriegsmarine conscripts. Its remnants were incorporated into the 14th Regiment of Prinz Eugen , which received its honor title Skanderbeg . In January 1945, the division was in action against the Yugoslav Partisans at Otok and Vukovar in Croatia. In February, it took part in Operation Wehrwolf against a Yugoslav bridgehead in
6966-676: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung
7128-550: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
7290-400: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German
7452-413: The Virovitica area. The withdrawal from Bosnia towards Austria continued as Prinz Eugen retreated through Croatia in April 1945. On 10 May, the division moved towards Celje in Slovenia. There it surrendered to the Yugoslav People's Army on 11 May, three days after the capitulation of Germany that marked the official end to World War II in Europe. All personnel of Prinz Eugen taken prisoner by
7614-573: The Zelengora mountain, in south-eastern Bosnia. During the battle, the division received a task to move through the Italian occupation zone in order to block the possible advance of Partisans towards the Adriatic Sea and the Italian-occupied Albania, to close the south-east part of the encirclement and then advance north over mountainous terrain to crush the Partisan forces. In eleven-day fightings from May 20, division captured Šavnik . For this success, Sturmbannführer Dietsche as well as commander Phleps both received first two Knight's Crosses for
7776-408: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
7938-400: The remaining two battalions on a surprise attack attempt on Konjic, thus leaving the most important objective in its area, the Ivan sedlo mountain pass, virtually unoccupied. The surprise raid on Konjic was conceived with the intention of exploiting the demoralization among the Italians, and with the hope of establishing contact with the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division for a joint attack. But,
8100-429: The "help of the brave Chetniks". As the blockade of the Ivan Sedlo Pass by the 1st Proletarian Division seemed to be holding, and no further parts of the battle group Annaker reached Konjic, Tito decided to send another brigade. Early on 26 February, the 3rd Krajina Brigade left its positions around Prozor, and started the march to the embattled town. However, after only a few hours, it was summoned back. The appearance of
8262-479: The 1st Battalion of the 260th Regiment near Drežnica, and a company of 1st Battalion of the 259th Regiment, sent from Konjic, was destroyed near Prozor. According to the popular myth, on the eve of the attack, a conference in the 3rd Division HQ was interrupted by the arrival of a courier with a note from Tito (who was in nearby Šćit ). The note simply read: "Prozor must fall tonight" (Prozor noćas mora pasti). Historical records and participants' memories are divided on
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#17327727072188424-514: The 2nd Battalion and its commander Niko Strugar were officially commended by Tito. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and
8586-446: The 2nd and 5th Krajina Brigades moved to Kozara and launched a series of attacks on the NDH garrisons and posts in Lijevče polje . Since these activities coincided with the attacks of the 1st Proletarian Division in central Bosnia, Gen. Lüters decided to redeploy the 714th division to the defense of the Banja Luka area. As the 718th Division was already engaged in fighting the Partisans in central and eastern Bosnia, Lüters reinforced
8748-509: The 369th Division had to cover the route from Mrkonjić-Grad over Mliništa and Glamoč to Livno. In front of them stood six (out of ten) brigades of the Partisan 1st Bosnian Corps. The plan of the Corps Headquarters did not call for decisive defense. The units would put up just enough resistance to allow the units and the population to be evacuated, and would thereafter merely evade the German advancing columns. The 7th SS division captured Drvar on 28 February, and continued towards Grahovo, pushing back
8910-438: The 369th Division with one regimental combat group of the 187th Reserve Division . The attacks from all directions began on 20 January, but none of the divisions succeeded in keeping the original schedule. The Axis forces attacked the territory controlled by the Partisan 1st Croatian and 1st Bosnian Corps—the areas of Banija, Kordun, Lika and western Bosnia. On the Karlovac-Bihać axis, four Partisan brigades were defending against
9072-419: The 369th, 187th and 717th Division started their attack on Grmeč. The 2nd and 5th Krajina Brigades were caught in the encirclement, along with some 15,000 inhabitants. On 10 February the brigades made the decision to break out of the encirclement, and succeeded in opening the way over the Krupa-Sanski Most road toward Potkalinje . The inhabitants followed the brigades, but a large number (up to 2,000) succumbed to
9234-404: The 717th Division resumed the attack on the main enemy forces towards Ključ and Bosanski Petrovac. The attack was scheduled to begin in the early hours of 28 January, but battalions of the 1st Krajina Brigade succeeded in surprising the Germans during the night with a preventive attack at their starting positions, scattering their units. The next day the Germans launched an attack led by tanks with
9396-489: The 717th Infantry Division (now attacking Prozor instead of Livno, as originally envisaged by the plan for Weiss 2) on the flank of battle group Vogel endangered the whole western front of the NOVJ; the Central Hospital at Šćit was now directly exposed to the German onslaught. Consequently, the attack on Konjic, using additional forces from the Prozor area, had to be cancelled. At this stage, Tito and his HQ had suddenly found themselves facing an entirely different situation from
9558-400: The 738th Regiment (minus one battalion), the 5th Ustaša Brigade (the so-called Black Legion ) and artillery. It captured Gornji Vakuf on 22 February, and then found itself stuck in a ten-day-long battle against the reinforced 7th Banija Division in front of Prozor. The column from Sarajevo (named "Battle Group Annacker"), consisted of the 750th Regiment (minus one battalion), two battalions of
9720-413: The 749th Regiment and elements of the 202nd Tank Battalion. Despite air support, it was halted by the 1st Krajina and one battalion of the 7th Krajina Brigade some 10 km south of Sanski Most. The division's 737th Regiment was in reserve, standing ready to exploit a breakthrough, but the 749th Regiment failed to make one. Over the following days both sides stepped up their efforts, building up strength at
9882-414: The 7th Home Guard Regiment, one Ustaša battalion, artillery, and one platoon of tanks. It was this battle group which attacked two battalions of the 1st Proletarian Brigade in Tarčin on 21 February. The group repulsed the Partisan attack on Tarčin, threw back Partisan battalions, and on the same day reached Ivan sedlo and Raštelica. After regrouping, the Partisans reclaimed their positions on the Ivan sedlo on
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#173277270721810044-407: The 7th SS and 717th Divisions, deployed on the extreme ends of the arc, were to race into the enemy rear with motorized battle groups and meet at Vrtoče on the second day of the operation. The reinforced 369th and 714th Division were to meet them and close the circle around the bulk of the Partisan forces in the area of the Grmeč mountain. In the final stage, three divisions were supposed to destroy
10206-466: The 8th, 9th and 10th Krajina Brigades. On the road to Glamoč, the 4th and 7th Krajina Brigades were slowing down the 369th Division. As the 7th SS Division reached Grahovo, and the 369th, Glamoč, on 2 March, the Corps Headquarters decided to perform the evasion maneuver, and the brigades, together with a mass of the refugees, commenced their march over Šator Mountain towards Rore, and back to the Krajina. The freezing weather and deep snow meant this march over
10368-401: The Axis. The existence of the "Central Hospital" had a profound impact on the course and outcome of future operations. The Right Column (2nd Proletarian Division) started its advance with easy victories over NDH garrisons in Posušje and Imotski on 9 and 10 February. On 15 February it reached Neretva and attacked a small Italian garrison in Drežinca. The 1st Battalion of the 260th Regiment of
10530-409: The Balkan Germans the SS head of recruitment Gottlob Berger remarked: " kein Mensch [kümmert] [sich ja] darum, was wir unten mit unseren Volksdeutschen tun " ("no person cares what we do with our ethnic Germans in the South"). Ethnic Germans in the Balkans were therefore powerless and could not oppose conscription into the SS. The unwillingness of ethnic Germans to serve in the unit is illustrated by
10692-488: The Communists, who are preventing us from destroying Pavelić's Croatia"." The orders for the operation called for extreme severity towards captured Partisans and the civilian population. The former were to be shot after capture, and civilian populations deemed hostile were to be deported to transit camps. Villages in the combat area were to be razed to the ground. The commanders on the ground were prohibited from punishing their subordinates for excessive harshness. According to
10854-405: The Division sent its 4th Proletarian Brigade to the north in order to assist the Central Column. In the opening phase the Central Column (3rd Division) captured Gornji Vakuf on 30 January, and by 8 February was making preparations for an attack on the Prozor garrison. Prozor was defended by the 3rd Battalion of the Italian 259th Regiment, reinforced with some infantry and artillery units, along with
11016-614: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
11178-414: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
11340-455: The German 749th Regiment. After several hours of defense, the Brigade charged the enemy positions and pushed the Germans back down the slopes of the Raduša mountain . The fighting was intense and dramatic, under difficult circumstances, and the losses were serious. The report for that day counted 51 killed, 83 wounded, 21 missing and 31 cases of frostbite. On the other side, 3rd Company of the 2nd Battalion fell down to only 8 men. For this success,
11502-417: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
11664-504: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
11826-681: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
11988-476: The Germans launched Weiss 2, attacking Drvar, Glamoč and Livno with two divisions; the Italians in Mostar regrouped, and fielded two battle groups with Chetnik support up the river; further strong Chetnik concentrations were detected on the eastern bank of the Neretva. Consequently, the plans had to be revised, and tough decisions had to be made. Based on the gathered intelligence, German command concluded that Livno
12150-487: The Germans pressuring Prozor. According to this new direction, he ordered the Pioneer Company to destroy all the bridges across the Neretva, which was done between 1 and 4 March. He also ordered all the forces to concentrate attacks against Gornji Vakuf, with only necessary rearguards left on the Neretva. The counterattack began not a minute too soon. The 717th Division and the battlegroup Vogel were attacking along
12312-515: The Germans to leave the control of pacified areas to second-tier forces, and to concentrate their best units in the endangered areas. The 714th, 717th and 7th SS Divisions (all in west Bosnia in January 1943) were all originally deployed in Serbia. Tito started with the plans for a march to the east in early autumn 1942. The original idea was to start the large movement in the spring, but signs of an imminent Axis offensive in January 1943 made Tito order
12474-605: The Gornji Vakuf – Prozor road with the main column, while trying to circumvent the partisan defense with flanking columns over Pidriš and Vilića gumno, intending to capture the important pass at Makljen. On 2 March at dawn, the 4th Proletarian Brigade, led by its 2nd Battalion, bypassing the columns of the wounded from the Central Hospital, reached Vilića gumno, and assumed positions in the deep snow, 30 to 50 meters from German lines, to be attacked almost immediately by
12636-655: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
12798-978: The Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
12960-518: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
13122-619: The Partisan Supreme Command to enact its plans to drive toward eastern Herzegovina , Sandžak and Montenegro . In order to do this, Tito formed the so-called Main Operational Group, which eventually succeeded in forcing its way across the Neretva in mid-March 1943, after a series of battles with various hostile formations. Other Partisan formations, the 1st Croatian and 1st Bosnian Corps, managed to evade Axis blows and, despite significant losses, reclaim most of
13284-411: The Partisan units, suffering from air attacks, hunger, frost and disease along the way. The 7th SS Division continued to push towards Petrovac, against Partisan defenses consisting mainly of the 7th Banija Division. It took another ten days to cover those 50 km. The 7th SS Division reached Petrovac on 7 February, and on 9 February finally managed to link up with the 717th Division, thereby fulfilling
13446-818: The Partisans. In May, June and July, the Prinz Eugen saw further action in Operation Freie Jagd , Operation Rose and Operation Feuerwehr . Between 12 and 30 August, the division was engaged in Operation Rübezahl , aimed to prevent offensive of NOVJ forces from Montenegro into western Serbia . In September, the Soviet Red Army had advanced to the Balkans and the division suffered heavy casualties in defensive battles against
13608-662: The Rasina Corps was able to escape from the Axis ring entrapment. The division's first major action thus ended in a failure, as the Germans and Bulgarians cleared the Chetnik free territory (and in the process committed war crimes against the Serbian civilian population), yet the Chetniks themselves successfully withdrew beyond the reach of the occupation forces. The Prinz Eugen was next involved in counter-insurgency activities on
13770-556: The Serbian-Montenegro border in the mountains east of river Ibar . Afterwards, the division took part in the Fourth anti-Partisan Offensive (Operation Weiss) in Croatia's Zagreb - Karlovac area. There, together with Italian forces, the Germans attempted to defeat the Yugoslav Partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito , but the operation failed as most of the Partisans managed to evade the main attack. In Operation Weiss I,
13932-492: The Supreme HQ which had ordered them to slow down the German advance towards Neretva. On 5 March, the two German divisions had finally reached Livno and taken it without a fight. After several days of rest, the 7th SS Division resumed its movements to the Mostar bauxite area without Partisan interference and the 369th Division headed towards Jablanica. Further to the south, the group of Herzegovina Chetnik units under Baćović
14094-477: The Yugoslav army were then killed. Most were executed wholesale, without trial, disposed of through a variety of methods immediately following their surrender. The killings, which were never punished, were ordered by local Yugoslav commanders, apparently acting directly against Tito's strict instructions to detain the captives in prison camps and screen them for war criminals. In 2010, a large mass grave containing
14256-433: The approaches to the lower Neretva Valley. The fact that Konjic controlled the only road leading to Eastern Herzegovina (the rest of the eastern bank of Neretva to the south of the town being dominated by the virtually unpassable Prenj mountain), made it the prime objective of the Partisan army. The Konjic garrison originally consisted of the 1st Battalion of the 259th Regiment with artillery elements and other units. During
14418-540: The attack of the 7th SS Division: 4th and 15th Brigades of the 8th Kordun Division and 6th and 14th Littoral-Gorski Kotar Brigades. The 7th Banija Division was successful in containing the advance of the 369th Division from Glina and Kostajnica towards Cazin and Bosanska Krupa. The 6th Lika Division successfully held the line Plitvička Jezera – Gračac against Italian attacks. The 717th Division encountered difficulties while advancing on Bosanski Petrovac from Sanski Most. The Division launched its attack on 20 January with
14580-585: The beginning of the Weiss Mostar operation. By the third week of February the Partisans had managed to breach the Italian blockade along the Neretva River, thus compromising one of the main aspects of the operational plan for Weiss 2. Worst of all, the Partisans captured Posušje and endangered the wider Mostar area, which provided the German war industry with 10 percent of its bauxite ore needs. Since Italian troops were seemingly incapable of containing
14742-616: The city and Italian garrisons to the north. The Italian Command concluded that the Mostar garrison was endangered, and decided to mobilize immediately all available Chetnik units. Originally, the Italians had agreed not to use the Chetniks from Montenegro on the territory of the NDH, but now had to reverse their decision in the face of the looming threat to their interests in Herzegovina. The 2nd Proletarian Division, for its part, felt confident in its new position. As it had fulfilled its main task,
14904-598: The combined Bulgarian, Soviet and NOVJ forces in the Nish region. On 21 September, Obergruppenführer Phleps—the division's first commander—was believed to have been killed when en route from Montenegro to Transylvania . The division's next action was the defence of the Kraljevo bridgehead against the Soviet-led Belgrade Offensive as a part of XXXIV Army Corps (Army Corps Müller). This defence
15066-459: The commencement of the operation without delay. The operation was to be carried out in three stages: the first was an advance to Neretva, the second was from Neretva to Drina , and the third from Drina to the river Lim , and further to the south-east. The main intention was to revive Partisan presence and activities in these areas. On 8 February in Tomislavgrad , Tito presented the plan for
15228-546: The contact was not established, and in the night on 19/20 February, two battalions of the 1st Proletarian Brigade attacked the main target of the whole Partisan operation, the Konjic garrison, unsupported. The attack had some initial success, and the defenders were thrown back from the right bank of the river. However, since only two partisan companies managed to cross the river and enter the town center, they were easily halted by heavy mortar and artillery fire. Seeing that no progress
15390-430: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with
15552-456: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
15714-704: The division advanced from Karlovac area against the Yugoslav National Liberation Army (NOVJ) resistance and on January 29 captured informal partisan capital Bihać . In Operation Weiss II, it forced its way from western Bosnia to Mostar area in Hercegovina and also deployed units northwest of Sarajevo . From 15 May – 15 June, the Prinz Eugen took a part in the subsequent Fifth anti-Partisan Offensive (Operation Schwarz) aiming to pin Tito's main force of about 20,000 Partisans against
15876-765: The division led a German-Bulgarian anti-guerrilla offensive by the name of Operation Kopaonik against the Chetniks in the Kopaonik , Goč and Jastrebac mountains in Serbia. The operation was aimed at the destruction of the Rasina Corps of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland , commanded by Major Dragutin Keserović , whose headquarters was located in the village of Kriva Reka . In early October 1942,
16038-415: The division was deployed in southwestern Serbia, in Kraljevo , Užice , Ivanjica , Čačak , Raška , Kosovska Mitrovica , and Novi Pazar . On 5 October 1942, the division commander Artur Phleps ordered the German and Bulgarian forces to destroy the enemy. A comprehensive attack was planned: 20,000 well-armed and fully trained troops would encircle the 1,500 Serb guerrillas from four directions. Because of
16200-631: The division. In the following days, the focal point of the battle shifted westward. After the main group of the Partisans headed by the 1st Proletarian Division broke out of the encirclement, two battalions of the division that were moved to cover the left bank of the Sutjeska river and block the Partisans' escape route were surprised by the attack of three battalions of the NOVJ 1st Dalmatian Strike Brigade and one from 5th Montenegro Brigade at Tjentište pushing them back. They recovered their positions during
16362-635: The division: Out of the four commanders of the division, one (Phleps) was killed in battle, two of them were sentenced to death by hanging and executed in Belgrade 1947, and the fourth (Kumm) managed to avoid extradition to Yugoslavia by fleeing over the wall of the internment camp of Dachau. Several members were decorated with high German military awards, including one Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oaks Leaves and Swords awarded to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Otto Kumm when he
16524-425: The eastern bank of Neretva, and a further two German divisions (7th SS and 369th) were approaching from the west. Alarming news about the imminent threat to the Central Hospital was arriving in Tito's HQ on a daily basis. In that situation, Tito took the tactical command firmly in his hands. On 28 February he decided to reverse the direction of the attack, and, instead of pushing over Neretva, decided to strike hard at
16686-519: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
16848-517: The encircled Partisans, and to deport the population to prevent the possibility of the revival of guerrilla activity in the area. German divisions were reinforced with the 202nd Tank Battalion and 2nd and 3rd Home Guard Mountain Brigade. Italian divisions used the Lika, Dalmatia and Herzegovina Chetnik auxiliaries, three Ustasha (31st, 32nd and 34th) and one (2nd Jäger) Home Guard battalions. On 8 January
17010-528: The ethnic cleansing of German-speaking populations throughout eastern Europe. The loss of the division's war diary , likely through intentional destruction, has caused significant gaps in the historiography of both the division itself and the broader Yugoslav campaign. The post-war Nuremberg trials made the declaratory judgement that the Waffen-SS was a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity, including
17172-496: The fighting at Prozor, Rama and Jablanica, parts of the Konjic garrison were sent as reinforcements, and were destroyed. Division Murge, as a whole, in one week suffered losses of some 2,300 men, and was affected by panic and demoralization, and this caused a lot of optimism among Partisans. But, immediately before the main Partisan attack, a two and a half battalion strong vanguard of the Battle Group Annacker entered
17334-407: The figures suggests that those killed were mainly civilians. During the first half of 1942 the Partisans were expelled from the eastern parts of Yugoslavia, and the Axis powers largely succeeded in pacifying these areas. The Partisans established a stronghold in the western parts of the country, but returning to the east remained one of their main objectives. Localization of guerrilla activity enabled
17496-422: The first stage in a conference with the staffs of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Division, and issued the necessary orders and directives. The execution of the offensive was facilitated by the fact that the main forces Tito was counting on for the operation (the 1st and 2nd Proletarian and 3rd Shock Division) were deployed outside the area affected by the operation Weiss 1. The most distant unit, the 1st Proletarian Division,
17658-480: The forced conscription of ethnic Germans was the disappointingly low number of volunteers for the division after the initial recruitments (no more than 5,000). While the division remained "volunteer" in name, few of the conscripted ethnic Germans actively sought entry into the unit. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler had announced that the wishes of the Volksdeutsche were irrelevant, while in connection with
17820-578: The four Partisan brigades, capturing Slunj on 24 January and Rakovica on the 27th. As a result, Bihać came under threat and had to be evacuated, and Germans entered it on 29 January without a fight. This turn of events also compromised the position of the 7th Partisan Division in the Banija region. It was ordered to withdraw and occupy a new line in front of the 7th SS Division, covering the Bihać-Petrovac axis. Thousands of refugees left Banija together with
17982-427: The freezing weather. Some 400 remaining civilians were killed by the Germans. According to a German report from 18 February for Weiss 1, the 7th SS Division suffered losses of 149 dead, 222 wounded and 68 missing, and the 717th Division's casualties were 118 dead, 290 wounded and 20 missing. The same report puts the Partisan losses at 6,561 dead, but adds that only 286 rifles were captured. This drastic imbalance between
18144-501: The group encountered the elements of the 9th Partisan (Dalmatian) Division. The division, deployed in the broader area of Imotski, was already under pressure from the east (Italian regimental battle group "Scotti" from Mostar) and the south-east (Montenegro Chetniks under Vesković from Ljubuški ). Facing such odds, the division had to retreat towards Jablanica, where it became a part of the Main Operational Group. In
18306-443: The high mountain area cost many civilian lives. The Germans invested large efforts in pursuing the Partisans through the mountain, but the Partisans remained elusive, and the only result was the capture of a number of exhausted refugees. After this maneuver, all the units of the 1st Bosnia Corps found themselves out of reach of the advancing Germans, except the 7th and 9th Krajina Brigades. They were temporarily subordinated directly to
18468-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,
18630-481: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
18792-510: The initial rush of Volksdeutsche to join, voluntary enlistments tapered off, and the new formation did not reach division size. Therefore, in August 1941, the SS discarded the voluntary approach, and after a favorable judgement from the SS court in Belgrade, imposed a mandatory military obligation on all Volksdeutsche in Banat, the first of its kind for non- Reichsdeutsche . One of the reasons for
18954-421: The intention of collecting weapons and stragglers, but Partisan anti-tank fire destroyed the first tank, killing the commander of the 202nd Tank Battalion, Lt. Col. von Geyso. The Partisan defense line, which had withstood most of the German attacks to that point, was finally compromised by the advance of the 7th SS Division. This unit, with the help of two Italian divisions on the right flank, steadily pushed back
19116-489: The key point; the Partisans remained successful in blocking German attacks, while launching fierce night counterattacks. The 717th Division tried a diversionary attack from Sanski Most westwards with the 2nd Mountain Home Guard Brigade. On 25 January this battle group of two Home Guard battalions and one German company was attacked by the 1st Battalion of the 6th and the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Krajina Brigade, and
19278-471: The killing of prisoners-of-war and atrocities committed in occupied countries. Excluded from this judgement were those who were conscripted into the Waffen-SS and had not personally committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The division was infamous for its brutality. On 6 August 1946, during the morning session at the Nürnberg Trials , it was said that "The 7th SS Division, Prinz Eugen ,
19440-614: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" ( 7. SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen" ), initially named the SS-Volunteer Division Prinz Eugen ( SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Prinz Eugen" ),
19602-544: The last days of February, Tito's Main Operational Group found itself in a critical position with no open road remaining. On the one side it was stuck in front of the stubborn defense of the Konjic garrison, and on the other, it was exposed to the mounting pressure on Prozor. There was also constant pressure from the reinforced parts of the 718th division from Sarajevo, increasing pressure of the Italian-Chetnik battlegroups from Mostar, build-up of further Chetnik forces on
19764-535: The meantime, the 4th Proletarian Brigade from the Right Column captured a further 270 Italians, 140 of which were in the town of Jablanica, which was taken on 22 February. Among the captured were Lieutenant Colonel Pelleroni, commander of the Jablanica garrison, and Colonel Malantonio, Commander of the 259th Regiment. Colonel Malantonio was shot after the Partisans had determined that he was a prominent member of
19926-629: The most part of the Dalmatian coast. In sixteen-days long battle the division pushed back NOVJ units and on September 29 reoccupied Split , forcing the resisting Italians to surrender. In October, division participated in Operation Landsturm , another anti-Partisan operation in Omiš , Ploče and Biokovo . In battles for Split and Biokovo coastline, the Prinz Eugen suffered losses of 1,582 killed, wounded and missing in action. The division
20088-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted
20250-437: The next day, but a substantial part of the battle group, including one German and one Home Guard battalion, an Ustaša company, and a number of tanks, succeeded in breaking through to Konjic on 22 February. They arrived just in time to decisively strengthen the garrison before a major Partisan attack. The commander of the 1st Proletarian Brigade Danilo Lekić had to answer in person to Tito for the failure of his brigade to seal off
20412-653: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from
20574-488: The one they faced only days earlier. By 20 February, the prospects looked good for the "Main Operational Group": all but one Italian garrison in the Neretva Valley were destroyed and the road to Eastern Herzegovina looked open. Now, the road was blocked by unexpectedly strong resistance in Konjic, and the Partisan army was hemmed in the narrow Neretva valley surrounded on all sides by strong enemy forces: On 25 February
20736-457: The original plan. In light of the recent developments, however, first one (718th), and after a week another (717th) division were directed towards the new flashpoint. Two divisions, the 7th SS and the 369th, were used for the Weiss 2 operation. Their advance commenced on 25 February. The route assigned to the 7th SS Division was from Bosanski Petrovac, over Drvar and Bosansko Grahovo to Livno, while
20898-424: The other hand, numbered less than a third of that figure. On 2 January Draža Mihailović reported his plan to the Chetniks for the destruction of the Partisans' Bihać Republic in order to "liberate this Serb territory from Communist terror". On the 21st he wrote: "Indeed, the question of Bosnia is most important. In western Bosnia and Lika we are currently making the final preparations for the definitive destruction of
21060-573: The perceived importance of this operation and to observe the first military operations of the newly established SS Division, Himmler himself travelled to Kraljevo in the German occupation zone; Himmler was in Kraljevo from 15 to 18 October 1942 and toured the division. German and Bulgarian forces began their attack on the Chetnik territory at dawn on 12 October 1942, proceeding from four directions. However, Keserović ordered his units to regroup into smaller squads for easy maneuvering and penetration, and
21222-557: The plan using only two of its brigades. The main objectives on the Sarajevo-Konjic railway line, Ivan sedlo and Raštelica, were defended by the Ustaša Railroad Battalion, and important railroad objects Bradina, Lukač and Brđani were defended by up to a company strong Italian units in strong fortifications. The 1st Proletarian Brigade captured the important mountain pass Ivan Sedlo and Raštelica station on 17 February by
21384-408: The plan, four German divisions ( 7th SS Volunteer Mountain , 369th , 714th and 717th ) were to attack from the arc stretching from Karlovac across Glina , Kostajnica , Bosanski Novi and Sanski Most towards the line Bihać-- Petrovac . Three Italian divisions ( "Lombardia" , "Re" and "Sassari" ) were to advance on their right wing, through Lika and northern Dalmatia . According to the plan,
21546-553: The possibility of an Allied landing in the Balkans. In such an event, resistance forces in Yugoslavia would be likely to interfere with German defensive operations as well as their economic exploitation of natural resources, including timber, copper and bauxite. As a result, on 16 December 1942 Adolf Hitler ordered the Armed Forces Commander in Southeast Europe , Generaloberst Alexander Löhr , to crush
21708-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation
21870-461: The remains of some 2,000 Prinz Eugen soldiers was opened near the Slovenian village of Brežice ; the soldiers had been stripped naked, bound together with telephone wire, and shot, their bodies buried in a trench in a summary mass execution on 22 May 1945. Many of the soldiers' family members were amongst the tens of thousands of local civilians who perished at the hands of Yugoslav forces during
22032-635: The resistance in Yugoslavia. In a meeting of 18–19 December, the General Staff of the Wehrmacht decided on the destruction of the Bihać Republic . On 8 January Löhr and Mario Roatta , commander of the 2nd Italian Army, met in Zagreb and devised a detailed plan. The operation was planned to be carried out in three stages: The Germans aimed to destroy the central command of the Partisan movement,
22194-427: The right bank of the river, and the second (the 10th Herzegovina Brigade) along the left. The hastily organized attack began in the evening of 22 February. Due to insufficient intelligence, the 10th Brigade ran into strong Chetnik resistance on the eastern bank and could barely reach the town before dawn. On the opposite bank, the 5th Brigade faced stiff resistance by German and Italian forces, achieving little success. As
22356-563: The situation, the German Command was compelled to adjust the operational plans accordingly. It was decided to deploy 718th Division immediately to the endangered areas, even before Weiss 2 was launched. The 718th Division started its attack on 19 February, with one column advancing from Bugojno towards Gornji Vakuf and Prozor, and the other from Sarajevo towards Konjic. Jablanica was the ultimate objective of both pincer arms. The column from Bugojno, named "Battle Group Vogel", consisted of
22518-546: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,
22680-499: The subject, but the phrase became popular, and entered into everyday speech and pop culture. The offensive continued with the 10th Herzegovina Brigade of the 3rd Partisan Division attacking and routing a company from the 1st Battalion of the 259th Regiment in Rama on 20 February, inflicting losses of 183 killed and 7 captured Italian soldiers. On 22 February, the 5th Proletarian Brigade of the same division captured Ostrožac on Neretva. In
22842-506: The task of killing or capturing Tito, and the operation was spearheaded by the 500th SS Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon and supported by the Brandenburg Regiment . In this timespan many other ethnic groups joined the division, such as ethnic Croats, ethnic Hungarians, and over 1,000 ethnic Serbs who volunteered for the division at General Phelps' office, most of whom were either ideologically or otherwise motivated to fight against
23004-461: The task originally scheduled for the second day of the operation. The 369th Division and the 3rd Home Guard Mountain Brigade, facing only Partisan rearguards, reached Bosanska Krupa on 30 January and relieved the encircled 737th Regiment at Benakovac a few days later. The 369th joined with the 7th SS near Bihać on 4 February. With this, the broader area of Grmeč was encircled by three German divisions. On 6 February, after they had received reinforcements,
23166-646: The territory they had held before the beginning of the operation. Since its final stage took place on the Neretva River , the operation was known in Yugoslavia as the Battle of the Neretva ( Bitka na Neretvi ). This stage is also known as the Battle for the Wounded ( Bitka za ranjenike ). In late 1942, with the Axis situation in North Africa deteriorating, the German high command became concerned about
23328-449: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in
23490-435: The town. At the same time, some 3,000 strong Chetnik formation under Lukačević reached the town, and, in agreement with the garrison, assumed positions around the town. This way, it unexpectedly became a very difficult obstacle for the whole Partisan Main Operational Group. The 3rd Division decided to storm the town by using two of its brigades (the third remained in Prozor), with one (the 5th Montenegro Brigade) attacking along
23652-438: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during
23814-415: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching
23976-516: Was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS , an armed branch of the German Nazi Party that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World War II . At the post-war Nuremberg trials , the Waffen-SS was declared to be a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. From 1942 to 1945, the division fought a counter-insurgency campaign against communist-led Yugoslav Partisan resistance forces in occupied Yugoslavia . It
24138-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of
24300-407: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially
24462-415: Was being made by dawn, the Brigade Headquarters cancelled the attack. The other two battalions of the brigade attacked Tarčin on the night 20/21 February. The attack coincided with the arrival of the German reinforcements from Sarajevo. As the Partisans were outnumbered, the Germans succeeded in throwing them back, and resuming their movement towards Ivan sedlo. The appearance of German units in Tarčin marked
24624-485: Was destroyed, with 120 killed and 220 captured. Partisans also captured four 100 mm howitzers, two 47 mm anti-tank guns, nine 81 mm mortars and 12 heavy and 25 light machine-guns. All of the tanks were captured or destroyed: nine of them were captured in the Prozor area, and two were captured later in Ostrožac, and all eleven were used for the formation of the Tank Company of the Supreme Command. The Italian reinforcements sent earlier that day were also destroyed:
24786-454: Was essential for the success of Army Group E efforts to open a corridor which would allow the retreat of 350,000 German soldiers from Greece and the Aegean Sea . In the beginning of November, the very understrength and underperforming 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg was disbanded, following widespread demoralisation and mass desertions within its ranks. It was nominally ethnic Albanian but in reality staffed mostly with
24948-427: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which
25110-399: Was formed in 1941 from both Reich Germans and Volksdeutsche – ethnic German volunteers and conscripts from the Banat , Independent State of Croatia , Hungary and Romania . The division surrendered on 11 May 1945 to Yugoslav Partisan forces, with thousands of stragglers surrendering by the 15th near the Austrian border. After the invasion, occupation and dismantling of
25272-426: Was given the title Prinz Eugen after Prince Eugene of Savoy , an outstanding military leader of the Habsburg Empire who liberated the Banat and Belgrade from the Ottoman Empire in the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18 . A key figure in the organisation of the division was the Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia, SS- Obergruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei (Police General) August Meyszner . After
25434-437: Was launched on 27 January with the reinforced 737th Regiment, which reached Benakovac before being halted by the 6th Krajina Brigade. In the meantime, the 2nd and 5th Krajina Brigades arrived from Kozara as reinforcements, and the 737th Regiment suddenly found itself in a difficult situation. Seeing no alternative, the regiment set up an all-around defense ; it remained cut off and under attack until 3 February. Simultaneously,
25596-429: Was marching from Split towards Neretva. This group had been transported by the Italians by sea and land to Knin in December 1942 in order to fight the Partisans in Lika. In early February 1943, the group was first returned to Split and were then ordered to make an overland march to Neretva. While passing through the Biokovo hinterland, the group committed numerous crimes against the civilian population. Around Vrgorac ,
25758-407: Was ordered to begin preparing for a start-off march in late January. The main Partisan force was divided into three columns: 7th Banija Division was tasked with acting as the group's rearguard and protecting the recently formed "Central Hospital" with some 4,000 sick and wounded. The hospital was created in order to provide protection to the wounded, since they were routinely targeted for execution by
25920-506: Was reorganized on 22 October 1943 and was renamed the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen . In November, the unit was attached to the V SS Mountain Corps and took part in anti-Partisan Operations Kugelblitz and Schneesturm in Dalmatia during the next month. In January 1944, the division was involved in more anti-Partisan actions in Operation Waldrausch . It then took part in Seventh anti-Partisan Offensive (Operation Rösselsprung) which began on 25 May 1944. This operation had
26082-424: Was routed with heavy losses. The Partisans seized weaponry including 40 light and 10 heavy machine guns and four mountain and one anti-tank cannons. Gen. Dippold , commander of the 717th Division, reported to Gen. Lüters that on 26 January the 2nd Home Guard Brigade was completely shattered, and that the remnants of the 2nd and 4th battalions were absorbed into 749th Grenadier Regiment. A more ambitious westward attack
26244-444: Was the center of the southeastern half of the Partisan territory. For that reason, Weiss 2 had been conceived as a concentric attack on Livno, with the assumption that the Partisans would be pushed back, encircled and destroyed there. In the meantime, the situation had changed. The Partisans broke into the Neretva valley, and their main concentration was now between Prozor and Konjic. In spite of this, German command largely proceeded with
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