The Srb uprising was the first major armed rebellion against the NDH in 1941, prompting Italian military expansion into Lika and Bosanska Krajina.
Key Facts
- Start date
- 27 July 1941
- Location
- Srb, Lika region
- Led by
- Chetniks and Yugoslav Partisans
- Spread to
- Lika and Bosanska Krajina
- Former Croatian holiday
- 27 July – Uprising Day of the People of Croatia
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Ustaše regime of the Independent State of Croatia carried out systematic persecutions of the Serb population, driving local communities in the Lika region to armed resistance. These atrocities created conditions in which rebellion became the response of the persecuted population.
Beginning on 27 July 1941 in the village of Srb, the local population rose against NDH authority, led by Chetnik and Yugoslav Partisan forces. The uprising rapidly expanded across Lika and Bosanska Krajina, and was accompanied by war crimes committed against Croat and Muslim civilians, particularly around Kulen Vakuf.
Unable to suppress the rebellion, NDH forces ceded effective control of the affected areas, prompting the Italian Army to expand its zone of influence into Lika and parts of Bosanska Krajina. The date 27 July was commemorated as a national holiday in Socialist Croatia until 1991, when it was replaced by 22 June as Anti-Fascist Struggle Day.