The Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade.

The liberation of Belgrade on 20 October 1944 was a major turning point in the Second World War, marking the end of more than three years of German occupation of the Yugoslav capital. Belgrade had been occupied by Nazi Germany since April 1941, following the Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia. During the occupation, the city experienced brutal repression, mass executions, and the persecution of Jews, Roma, and political opponents. By the autumn of 1944, Germany’s position in the Balkans was deteriorating rapidly as Soviet forces advanced westward and Yugoslav Partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito, intensified their campaign against Axis occupation forces. Following Romania’s change of sides in August and Bulgaria’s withdrawal from the Axis alliance in September, the Soviet Red Army was able to advance into Yugoslavia. The liberation of Belgrade became a joint operation involving Soviet troops and the communist-led Yugoslav Partisans, who had been fighting a guerrilla war against German and collaborationist forces since 1941.

The Belgrade Offensive, launched in late September 1944, brought together the Soviet Red Army’s 3rd Ukrainian Front, commanded by Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin, and the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Army under Tito’s overall leadership. Soviet forces included the 57th Army and the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps, while Yugoslav Partisan formations provided essential infantry support and knowledge of the local terrain. The offensive aimed to destroy German positions in eastern Serbia, capture Belgrade, and disrupt the withdrawal of German forces from Greece and the southern Balkans. Soviet and Partisan troops advanced through eastern Serbia, overcoming fierce German resistance and capturing important towns and transport routes. By mid-October, they had reached the outskirts of Belgrade, where German defenders had established fortified positions. The final assault on the capital began on 14 October, with Soviet tanks and artillery supporting Yugoslav infantry as they fought their way into the city.

The battle for Belgrade involved six days of intense urban warfare, with Soviet and Yugoslav forces fighting German troops street by street. German defenders used barricades, machine-gun positions, artillery, and fortified buildings to slow the Allied advance. Fighting was particularly fierce around railway facilities, bridges, government buildings, and major intersections. Soviet armoured units played a crucial role in breaking through German defensive positions, while Yugoslav Partisans cleared buildings and secured neighbourhoods. The Germans attempted to maintain an escape route across the Sava River, but the advancing forces gradually surrounded and overwhelmed their positions. By 20 October 1944, the remaining German resistance in Belgrade had been defeated, and the city was liberated. Thousands of German soldiers were killed or captured during the wider offensive, while Soviet and Yugoslav forces also suffered substantial casualties. The victory was celebrated by Belgrade’s inhabitants, many of whom had endured years of occupation, violence, and hardship.

The liberation of Belgrade had enormous military and political significance for Yugoslavia and the wider Balkan campaign. It disrupted German communications and withdrawal routes, strengthened the Soviet position in southeastern Europe, and provided Tito’s Partisans with control of the country’s historic capital. Unlike many other Eastern European countries liberated primarily by Soviet armies, Yugoslavia had developed a powerful indigenous resistance movement that played a central role in its own liberation. This helped Tito establish considerable political independence from Moscow after the war. Belgrade subsequently became the centre of the new socialist Yugoslav state, although fighting continued elsewhere in the country until May 1945. The joint Soviet-Yugoslav victory was commemorated for decades as a symbol of cooperation between the Red Army and the Partisans, even though relations between Tito and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin deteriorated dramatically in 1948. Today, 20 October remains an important date in Belgrade’s history, commemorating the defeat of Nazi occupation forces and the sacrifices made by those who fought to liberate the city.