Partisans, Civilians and the Soviet State: An Overview

Abstract

Civilians are an inseparable part of guerrilla wars, no less so than in the struggle between the Soviet partisans and the German-led occupation forces during World War II. The ultimate success of the Soviet partisan movement depended on civilians, who provided material aid, manpower, intelligence and other support. However, civilians could also supply the occupiers with the same goods and services. How to treat occupied civilians was a central problem facing both the Soviet leadership in Moscow and the partisans in the forests. Complicating the issue of civilian-partisan relations were the population’s often ambivalent — and sometimes outright hostile — views of the Soviet regime. The government’s innate distrust of its own citizens, especially when they were no longer under its overt control, and the partisans’ own fears of spies and collaborators, made establishing close and friendly relations between partisans and civilians all the more difficult.