The Soviet partisan movement and German occupation policy in Western, Soviet and post-Soviet writing -- The case study area : the rear areas of Army Group North -- Soviet and German preparations for occupation and resistance -- The establishment and nature of German military government -- The fledgling partisan movement -- Who was winning the partisan war during 1941? : the military effectiveness of the partisan movement -- Life under German military government c. December 1941 : spring/summer 1943 -- German 'anti-partisan' warfare and the civilian population -- The Soviet partisan movement comes of age -- The suppression of the adolescent partisan movement : partisan losses, the fragmentation of units and forced withdrawal to Soviet lines -- Evacuation, scorched earth, and the emergence of a 'vsenarodnoe' partisan movement -- Conclusion : German brutality, the changing fortunes of the partisan movement and the partisan movement in the general context of the Soviet war effort.