ChetnikSerbian military organization Serbo-Croatian Četnik

member of a Serbian nationalist guerrilla force that formed during World War II to resist the Axis invaders and Croatian collaborators but that primarily fought a civil war against the Yugoslav communist guerrillas, the Partisans.

After the surrender of the Yugoslav royal army in April 1941, Serb soldiers throughout Yugoslavia set up čete, or “bands,” named after armed irregulars who had harrassed the Turks in the 19th century. The most important were those organized in the Ravna Gora district of western Serbia under Colonel Dragoljub (Draža) Mihailović. Mihailović directed his units to avoid large-scale fighting with the Germans (who exacted horrible reprisals for every act of resistance) and to wait for an Allied invasion that would liberate Yugoslavia and restore the monarchy. This cautious strategy soon led the Chetniks into open conflict with the Partisans. Even after the Germans drove both forces out of Serbia, many Chetniks occasionally joined German, Italian, and Croatian units in operations against their communist rivals. The Allies, who at first considered Mihailović the pillar of the Yugoslav resistance, eventually shifted their support to the Partisans. By the end of the war, the Chetniks were greatly reduced in number. Some retreated north to surrender to Anglo-American forces; Mihailović and his few remaining followers tried to fight their way back to the Ravna Gora to continue the anticommunist struggle, but they were beaten and dispersed by the victorious Partisans. In March 1946 Mihailović was captured and brought to Belgrade, where he was tried and executed.