Чачак под окупацијом 1941–1944: привреда и друштво

English title: Čačak under Occupation, 1941–1944: Economy and Society

The article examines economy and society in Čačak and the Čačak region under German occupation from 1941 to 1944. Its starting point is a shift of attention from military and political questions to everyday life, economic coercion, food supply, labor, poverty, refugees and survival strategies under occupation rule.

Occupation brought state collapse, the breakup of a unified economic space, economic exploitation, the imposition of new regulations and deep insecurity. The Čačak region, which had entered a phase of accelerated industrialization during the 1930s, was pushed by war into economic instability, interrupted production, damaged communications, shortages, the mobilization of men and pressure from the occupation authorities.

Agriculture occupies a central place in the article. German authorities viewed Serbia as an agrarian space and a source of food and raw materials for the war economy. Wheat, maize, livestock, meat, wool, sugar beet, sunflower, tobacco and other crops therefore became objects of quotas, coercion, control and punishment. Peasants tried to preserve food for their own households, while occupation and domestic authorities attempted to secure supplies for the town, the army and the administrative apparatus.

The article shows that occupation measures fundamentally changed everyday life. Price lists, ration cards, trade bans, meatless days, winter relief, compulsory sowing, requisitions, and threats of imprisonment, forced labor and harsher punishments demonstrate how the occupation system penetrated household life and the local community.

Economic and social changes were closely connected with civil war. Food shortages, fear, ideological divisions, coercion, reprisals, the struggle for resources and different survival strategies shaped people’s behavior in Čačak and its surroundings. For that reason, the article contributes to understanding occupation as an everyday, economic and social order, not only as military and political rule.

Through the case of Čačak, the article contributes to the history of local modernity in Serbia. It shows how a local society already marked by incomplete modernization and agrarian constraints faced war, occupation exploitation, shortages, coercion, collaborationist administration and civil conflict.