In the late 19th and early 20th century, Valpovo was part of the Virovitica County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. In March 1945, German forces launched Operation Spring Awakening. On the southern arm which moved north through Valpovo was the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division. The operation was as disastrous as it was ambitious. Yugoslav partisans of the 3rd Army (Yugoslav Partisans) continuously harassed and delayed the Cossacks. Shortly after the end of World War II, officials in the communist Yugoslav regime established a labor camp for Germans which operated until May 1946.