The counter-offensive by more than 70,000 Italian troops , commanded by General Alessandro Pirzio Biroli , was assisted by Sandžak Muslim militia and Albanian irregular forces from border areas between Montenegro and Albania , and suppressed the uprising within six weeks . The former Royal Yugoslav Army officers and communists were in dispute over the insurgent 's strategy . The nationalists wanted to protect the mountain villages if they were attacked . The communists disagreed and organized a frontal struggle against Italian forces in which the rebel forces were defeated . A split occurred between the insurgents because of their defeats , which were inflicted by the Italians , and because some of the insurgents realized that the uprising was led by the communists . Josip Broz Tito dismissed Milovan Đilas from the command of Partisan forces in Montenegro because of his mistakes during the uprising , particularly because Đilas chose a frontal struggle instead of guerrilla tactics against the Italian forces and because his " Leftist Errors " . After the major defeat of 1 December 1941 during the unsuccessful attack of the communist forces on the Italian garrison in Pljevlja , many soldiers deserted Partisan forces and joined the Chetniks . Following this defeat , the communists terrorized the people they perceived as their enemies , which antagonized many in Montenegro
Leftist Errors
Leftist errors (Yugoslavia)
Uprising in Montenegro (1941)