page_title: German–Yugoslav Partisan negotiations
section_title: March negotiations
hierarchical_section_title: German–Yugoslav Partisan negotiations / March negotiations
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Joachim von Ribbentrop Reichsaussenminister v. Ribbentrop. 19.7.40. [Herausgabedatum] AV. 59951 [Berlin.- Joachim von Ribbentrop. (Porträt) Aufgenommen im April 1938 in Vorbereitung zum 45. Geburtstag am 30.4.1938 auf Gut Sonnenburg bei Freienwalde.] Abgebildete Personen: Ribbentrop, Joachim von: Außenminister, NSDAP, Deutschland
context_page_description: The German–Yugoslav Partisan negotiations were held between German commanders in the Independent State of Croatia and the Supreme Headquarters of the Yugoslav Partisans in March 1943 during World War II. The negotiations – focused on obtaining a ceasefire and establishing a prisoner exchange – were conducted during the Axis Case White offensive. They were used by the Partisans to delay the Axis forces while the Partisans crossed the Neretva River, and to allow the Partisans to focus on attacking their Chetnik rivals led by Draža Mihailović. The negotiations were accompanied by an informal ceasefire that lasted about six weeks before being called off on orders from Adolf Hitler. The short-term advantage gained by the Partisans through the negotiations was lost when the Axis Case Black offensive was launched in mid-May 1943. Prisoner exchanges, which had been occurring between the Germans and Partisans for some months prior, re-commenced in late 1943 and continued until the end of the war.
  Details of the negotiations were little known by historians until the 1970s, despite being mentioned by several authors from 1949 on.
context_section_description: From 20 January 1943, the Partisans had been hard-pressed by the Axis Case White offensive. Throughout that offensive, Partisan Supreme Headquarters engaged the Germans in negotiations to gain time to cross the Neretva River. In late February or early March 1943, the Partisans captured a German officer and about 25 soldiers, who joined about 100 Croatian Home Guards, and 15 Italian officers and 600 soldiers already being held as prisoners of war by the Partisans. Due to their desperate situation at this stage of Case White, and their need to delay the Axis in order to cross the Neretva river before the Germans struck, they decided to use the recently captured German officer to initiate negotiations. The German historians Ladislaus Hory and Martin Broszat concluded that at this critical period, Tito was also concerned that by the end of the war the attrition to his Partisan forces would be such that Mihailović's Chetniks would be more powerful. They suggest that Tito may have been willing to agree to a truce with the Germans in order to destroy the Chetniks.
  The negotiations commenced on 11 March 1943 in Gornji Vakuf. According to the historian Jozo Tomasevich, the three Partisans tasked with the negotiations show the importance that the Partisans placed on the outcome. They were: Koča Popović, Spanish Civil War veteran and commander of the 1st Proletarian Division; Milovan Đilas, a member of the Partisan Supreme Headquarters and member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (using the alias of Miloš Marković); and Velebit (using the alias of Dr. Vladimir Petrović). The German negotiators were led by the commander of the 717th Infantry Division Generalleutnant (Major General) Benignus Dippold, one of his staff officers and a Hitler Youth representative. In their written statement, the Partisans:
  identified their prisoners and indicated who they wanted in exchange, emphasising that they wanted to complete the exchange as soon as possible;
  said that if the Germans accepted the Partisan proposal, especially in regard to the wounded and captured, the Partisans would reciprocate;
  stated that Partisan Supreme Headquarters believed that, given the circumstances, there was no reason for the Germans to attack the Partisans, and it would be in the interests of both if hostilities stopped and areas of responsibilities were agreed;
  stated that they considered the Chetniks their main enemies;
  proposed that an armistice should apply during the negotiations; and
  required a signature from their higher headquarters on any final agreement.
  Popović returned to report to Tito, and the Wehrmacht Commander South-East Generaloberst (Senior General) Alexander Löhr approved an informal ceasefire while the talks continued. On 17 March, Kasche reported on the negotiations to the Reich Foreign Ministry, requesting approval to continue discussions, and asking for instructions. The following is an extract from Kasche's telegram:
  Under circumstances possibility exists that Tito will demonstratively turn his back on Moscow and London who left him in the lurch. The wishes of the Partisans are: Fight against the Chetniks in the Sandžak, thereafter return to their villages and pacification in Croatian and Serbian areas; return of camp-followers to their villages after they are disarmed; no executions of leading Partisans on our part... It is my opinion that this possibility should be pursued since secession from the enemy of this fighting force highly regarded in world opinion would be very important. In fact, the Tito Partisans are, in their masses, not Communists and in general have not committed extraordinary excesses in their battles and in the treatment of prisoners and the population. I refer to previous written reports and also to my conversation with State Secretary von Weizsäcker. Request instructions. In talks with Casertano [Italian Minister in Zagreb] and Lorković [Croatian Foreign Minister] I found that the above development would be treated positively.
  — Siegfried Kasche
  According to Roberts, it is clear that the next phase of 
caption: In late March 1943, Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop prohibited any further negotiations with the Partisans.
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