Background
On 6 April 1941, the Axis powers invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, resulting in the capitulation of the Royal Yugoslav Army on 17 April. Yugoslavia was occupied with some parts annexed and with puppet states being established in others. Amongst the puppet states was the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) which consisted of modern-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The NDH was divided by a German–Italian demarcation line, known as the "Vienna Line" with the Germans occupying the north and northeastern parts of the NDH, and the Italians the south and southwestern sections. The NDH immediately implemented genocidal policies against the Serb, Jewish and Roma population. Initial armed resistance consisted of two loosely-cooperating factions, the Partisans who were led by communists, and the Chetniks who were mostly led by Serb–chauvinist officers of the defeated Yugoslav Army. However, the Chetniks, in their pursuit of an ethnically pure Greater Serbia, adopted a policy of collaboration and cooperated "extensively and systematically" with Italian forces. In July and August 1942. under the auspices of the Italians, the Chetniks thoroughly ethnically cleansed eastern Herzegovina of its Croats and Muslims.
In September 1942, the Chetniks, knowing that they could not defeat the Partisans alone, attempted to persuade the Italians into carrying out a "large operation" within their occupation zone. On September 10 and 21, Chetnik commander Ilija Trifunović-Birčanin met with General Mario Roatta, commander of the Italian Second Army. He informed Roatta that he was not under the command of Draža Mihailović, but that he had seen him in Avtovac on July 21 and that he had his approval in collaborating with the Italians. Trifunović-Birčanin urged him to take action "as soon as possible" in a large operation against the Yugoslav Partisans in the Prozor-Livno area. In return Trifunović-Birčanin offered support in the form of 7,500 Chetniks on the condition that they be provided the necessary arms and supplies. Roatta provided "some arms and promises of actions" for his demands. Mihailović later congratulated Trifunović-Birčanin on his conduct and "high comprehension of the national line" in these arrangements.
Read more about this topic: Operation Alfa
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