Women's Antifascist Front of Yugoslavia

A rally in Drvar in September 1942

The Women's Antifascist Front (Serbo-Croatian: Savez Antifašistička fronta žena, Савез Антифашистичка фронта жена, abbreviated AFŽ/Aфж; Slovene: Protifašistično fronta žensk; Macedonian: Сојуз Антифашистичкиот фронт на жените), was a World War II-era feminist movement and female political organization across Yugoslavia and the predecessor to several present-day feminist organisations in the former Yugoslavia. It was formed by volunteers on the 6th December 1942 in Bosanski Petrovac at the First National Conference of Women, and was one of only four to also become an organised resistance movement.^[1] The Inaugural address was given by the commander of the National Liberation Army Josip Broz Tito.

Name

In its early days, the organization was called The Wives of the Anti-Fascist Committee (AOZ). In Croatia, the organization was named the Anti-fascist front Croatian of Women.^[2] In Slovenia there a number of titles: Anti-Fascist Women Association, Anti-Fascist Front wives, anti-fascist Front of Women, and was founded under the name of Slovenian Anti-Fascist Women Association. There was also a Slovenian's Anti-Italian Women's Union. In Macedonia, Antifašističkiot front of women (Antifašističkiot front) to many. In Serbia there was Antifascist Front of Women in Serbia, with what is in Vojvodina there Antifascist Front of Women of Vojvodina (based in Subotica).^[3]

Establishment and reasons for establishing

Before World War II, many women organizations were advocates for peace, fighting against the different totalitarianism's that were growing across Europe. During the war however, many women organized themselves within the antifascist movement, and strengthened its position. This is confirmed by the first document of the Supreme Headquarters and the National Liberation Army volunteer Yugoslavia, which at that time was the supreme authority in the liberated territories. In various documents it confirmed women active and passive voting rights, which they already possessed pair to 1941, as outlined in the Constitution, but were not allowed to exercise.

years Rabia during elections for national liberation committees as the new authorities. Women began to massively involve the NOP as female soldiers, boničarke, politicians and MPs.

Different female structures, which were ustanovljivani of 1941 under various names, have been associated in the wider areas, and as of 6 December 1942, held the first National Conference of women. At the conference attended by 166 delegates from all over Yugoslavia, except for Macedonia, because they did not occur because of both distance and security concerns. Then the Conference founded Antifascist Front of Women with the aim of mobilizing women for assisting NEW units, helping partisan government bodies, participation in armed and sabotage actions, and for the development of so-called 'Brotherhood and Unity' among women.

These groups were decentrasized into what would later become the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia:

An inscription supporting the organization in Split, Croatia

• Women's Antifascist Front of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Women's Antifascist Front of Croatia
• Women's Antifascist Front of Kosovo
• Women's Antifascist Front of Macedonia
• Women's Antifascist Front of Montenegro
• Women's Antifascist Front of Serbia
• Women's Antifascist Front of Slovenia
• Women's Antifascist Front of Vojvodina

World War II

AFŽ played an influential role in the Second World War, after the Invasion of Yugoslavia. The NLA attracted about two million women. In military units, there were 110 000 women. During the war, 2,000 women became officers. AFŽ Committees were also responsible were collecting clothes for the NOV, cared about children, wounded soldiers, worked as front line nurses and perform agricultural tasks.

Losses

Of the 305,000 fallen soldiers between 1941-1945, 25000 were women, and of the 405,000 injured 40,000 were women.

After the War

The issue of legal equality did not arise, because the women through their participation in the national liberation movement had arguably already achieved certain rights. All that after FOCA regulations on the principles of equality enshrined in the later constitutions "new" Yugoslavia, and various laws, the result of the struggle of women themselves in the feminist and anti-fascist women's organizations before the war, as well as their struggle during the war. AFŽ acted to eliminate the consequences of the war, the promotion of education, the construction of new residential buildings, cultural work and others. In particular, it was the education of the girlS, and opposition to discrimination and segregation of women.

Abolition

Antifascist Front of Women was abolished at its Fourth Congress (26th - 28 September 1953) in Belgrade, when the decision on the name WAS changed to The Women's societies of Yugoslavia, and access to the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia. Front was upbraided "superfluous political activities". Instead AFŽ in the Socialist Republic of Croatia acted Croatian Union of Women Societies (Union of Women Croatian), later conference for social position of women and the family within the Republican conference SSRNH (Conference for Social Activity of Women Croatian). There was a Committee for social position of women and the family which actually keeps. In her work The Yugoslav Antifascist Front of Women (AFŽ): Legacy, Lessons and Some Insights, Andrea Jovanović explores the question of the legacy of the AFŽ and attempts to explain how and why the AFŽ legacy disappeared in the post-Yugoslav period.^[4]

References

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