Hrvatsko domobranstvo

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Symbol of the Croatian Home Guard : Croatian Trefoil ( Hrvatski trolist ), also known as the Cross of Zvonimir ( Zvonimirov križ ) (version of the national emblem 1941–45)

The Croatian associations of Austria-Hungary ( ku Landwehr ) and the regular armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) were called Hrvatsko domobranstvo (Croatian Home Guard).

The term for the members of the Hrvatsko domobranstvo , namely Domobrani ( Croatian singular : domobran = home defender) is used more often. Is erroneously Croatian domobranstvo also often translated as "Croatian Landwehr" although usually the term " militia called" the German-speaking associations with reduced combat effectiveness. However, this was not the case here. Although personnel weaker with only three battalions instead of four per infantry - regiment equipped with the units of the Joint Army , it was yet to regular combat troops.

founding

The ku Landwehr was divided into the Hungarian Landwehr and the Croatian-Slavonian Landwehr, whereby the Croats were granted the right in the " small compensation " of 1868 to introduce Croatian as the service and command language in their Honvéd units. In addition, the Croatian-Slavonian Honvéd units were subordinate to the Ban in Agram and not to the National Defense Minister in Budapest .

Farther:

  • relatives were to serve exclusively in the territory of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia
  • the training of officers and non-commissioned officers took place exclusively in the Academy of Domobranen.
  • the units were designated by Croatian names

Accordingly, Croatian associations were set up within the framework of the Royal Hungarian Landwehr , which bore the official name of the Croatian-Slavonian Landwehr .

First World War

Immediately before the outbreak of the First World War, the 42nd Division was set up, which was nicknamed "Devil's Division" because of its military successes. Under the leadership of Colonel General Stjepan Sarkotić, 14,000 men belonged to this division . This division excelled in taking Montenegro in 1916 .

Military service for conscripts lasted two years.

After the establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , the Croatian Home Guard was dissolved.

Second World War

Memorial to the fallen of the Croatian Home Guard in World War II ( Mirogoj Cemetery , Zagreb )

As a result of the invasion of Yugoslavia by the German armed forces , a Croatian puppet state was founded. On April 16, 1941, under Slavko Kvaternik as commander in chief, the Hrvatsko domobranstvo with army , navy , air force , national guard , gendarmerie and labor service were formed as the regular armed forces of Croatia. You were instrumental in containing the first wave of uprisings in late summer and autumn 1941.

In accordance with the agreements concluded in 1942 and 1943, its operational management was taken over by the responsible German Army Group or the German Army High Command. Between November 1941 to May 1943 approximately 55,000 men in three were Army Corps with six infantry - divisions and a Mountain Division organized. In May 1943, the six divisions were converted into four mountain and four rifle brigades. On November 21, 1944, the Head of State took Ante Pavelić in command and ordered the merger of army units with the fascist Ustasha militia to oružane Hrvatske snage (Croatian Armed Forces). Combined, this resulted in a workforce of 16 divisions. In addition to Croats , Bosniaks , Serbs , Czechs , Slovaks , Ukrainians , Russians and members of other national minorities also served.

When the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army was victorious, the soldiers of the Domobrani fled with the government from Zagreb in the direction of Carinthia in May 1945 , where they surrendered unconditionally and were handed over to the Yugoslav government under Tito by the British army . As a result, the Bleiburg massacres took place .

gallery

First World War

  • Cap badge of the Croatian-Slavonian Landwehr

  • Regimental flag of the Croatian-Slavonian Landwehr (obverse)

  • Regimental flag of the Croatian-Slavonian Landwehr (reverse)

  • Hussar of the Croatian-Slavonian Landwehr

  • Domobran in full equipment

  • Domobranen while exercising

  • Domobranen during the conquest of Serbia

  • Flight Department of the 42nd Domobranen Division (Italy, August 18, 1918)

  • Domobranen at the front during the break in combat

  • Cap badge of the members of the 26th Karlovac Domobranen Regiment

  • Swearing-in of a Domobranen unit on the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Zagreb, November 1918)

Second World War

See also

literature

Memoir literature

  • Rudolf Horvat: Poviest Međimurja. (History of the Međimurje ). Zagreb 1944.
  • Adolf von Ernsthausen: The Wolves of Lika: With legionaries, Ustaschi, Domobranen and Tschetniks against Tito's partisans: Experiences in Croatia 1944 . Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, Neckargemünd 1959.

Scientific literature

  • Zlatko Stublić: Hrvatsko domobranstvo 1868–1993 . Ed .: Ministarstvo obrane Republike Hrvatske . Zagreb 1994 (exhibition catalog).
  • Ivan Košutić: Hrvatsko Domobranstvo u Drugom Svjetskom Ratu. (The Croatian Home Guard in World War II). Zagreb, 1992.
  • Ivan Košutić: Hrvatsko Domobranstvo u Drugom Svjetskom Ratu, II dio. (The Croatian Home Guard in World War II, Part II). Zagreb, 1994.
  • Nigel Thomas, Krunoslav Mikulan: Axis forces in Yugoslavia 1941–5 [The Axis Powers in Yugoslavia 1941–5] . Osprey publishing, Oxford 1995, ISBN 1-85532-473-3 .
  • Tomislav Aralica / Višeslav Aralica: Hrvatski ratnici kroz stoljeća . 3rd volume. Oružane snage Nezavisne Države Hrvatske i druge hrvatske postrojbe na osovinskoj strani 1941–1945. (The Armed Forces of the Independent State of Croatia and other Croatian Axis forces 1941–1945). Znanje, Zagreb 1996, ISBN 953-195-899-8 .
  • Krunoslav Mikulan, Siniša Pogačić: Hrvatsko oružane snage: 1941 - 1945 . PC grafičke usluge, Zagreb 1999, ISBN 953-97564-2-1 , p. 168 ff .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950, Vol. 4 (Lfg. 19, 1968), p. 343; Friedrich (Miroslav) Gf. (1814–1877), major general