Independent state of Croatia
| Nezavisna Država Hrvatska | |||||
| Independent state of Croatia | |||||
| 1941-1945 | |||||
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| Official language | Croatian | ||||
| Capital | Zagreb | ||||
| Form of government |
Fascist one-party dictatorship (1941–43 formally monarchy ) |
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| Head of state |
King Tomislav II. (1941–43) Poglavnik Ante Pavelić (1943–45) |
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| Head of government |
Ante Pavelić (1941–43) Nikola Mandić (1943–45) |
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| surface | 115,133 km² | ||||
| population | approx. 6,300,000 | ||||
| Population density | 54.7 inhabitants per km² | ||||
| currency | Kuna (1 Kuna = 100 Banica) | ||||
| founding | April 10, 1941 | ||||
| National anthem | Lijepa naša domovino | ||||
| National holiday | April 10 (foundation day) June 13 ( name day of Poglavnik) June 20 (day of national sacrifices) |
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Independent State of Croatia ( Croatian Nezavisna Država Hrvatska , short NDH ), short USK , is the name of the Croatian vassal state of the Axis Powers, which existed from 1941 to 1945 during the Second World War . The USK was under the leadership of the dictator Ante Pavelić (1889-1959) and his fascist Ustaša movement. The declared area of this Greater Croatian state was parts of today's Croatia (without Istria and until 1943 without parts of Dalmatia ), all of Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of today's Serbia ( Syrmia ). As a result, it had a total of 6.3 million inhabitants , including 3.3 million Croatians , 2 million Serbs , 700,000 Muslims and 150,000 " ethnic Germans ".
The USK was created after the German Balkan campaign (1941) and the division of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the German Empire and the Kingdom of Italy . German and (until 1943) Italian occupation troops were stationed in the area of the USK. The USK supported the Axis Powers allied with it through the military, adopted the Nuremberg Laws accordingly, and carried out the systematic persecution and murder of ethnic minorities such as Serbs , Jews and Roma and members of the opposition. The internal conflicts in the USK that had existed from the beginning also reached government agencies in the end ( Lorković - Vokić conspiracy ). With the German defeat in 1945, the USK was no longer able to withstand the superior military strength of the communist Tito partisans .
Emergence
After Yugoslavia joined the Tripartite Pact , there was a British- backed coup by Serbian officers against Prince Regent Paul . The new Yugoslav government tried to come to an understanding with the German Reich , but on April 6, 1941 the German Reich began the Balkan campaign , an attack on Yugoslavia and Greece. The alliance agreement concluded the day before with the Soviet Union no longer came into effect, and on April 17 the Yugoslav armed forces capitulated. On April 10, Maundy Thursday of that year, the Wehrmacht marched into Zagreb , whereupon Colonel Slavko Kvaternik proclaimed the Independent State of Croatia on behalf of the Ustaša movement with the following words - with reference to the imminent Easter festival :
“God's providence and the will of our great ally as well as the centuries-long struggle of the Croatian people and the great sacrifice of our leader Dr. Ante Pavelić and the Ustaša movement at home and abroad have agreed that today, before the resurrection of the Son of God, our independent state Croatia is also rising.
I call on all Croatians, especially the officers, NCOs and men of the armed forces and the organs of public security, to maintain calm and order. The armed forces must indicate their whereabouts and immediately take the oath on the Independent State of Croatia and its Poglavnik.
Today, as the representative of the Poglavnik, I took command of all armed forces.
God with the Croatians! Ready for the fatherland! "
geography
According to Foreign Minister Mladen Lorković , the independent state of Croatia owed the demarcation of the border “above all [...] to the generous friendship of the German Empire and Fascist Italy.” Significantly, in Ante Pavelić's study there were also pictures of the Dukes of Spoleto Mussolini and Hitler.
In addition to the Croatian core areas (Croatia, Slavonia ), the national territory also included Bosnia and Herzegovina and Syrmia . With the ratification of the "Roman Protocols" the western border of the USK with Italy was established: the area from Sušak to Kraljevica with a small hinterland fell to Italy, then the coast to Obrovac to Croatia, further south the coastal area at a depth of no more than 40 km (including Šibenik and Trogir) again to Italy, plus the islands of Krk, Rab and Vis and the area of Kotor. The island of Pag and the coast from exclusively Trogir up to and including Dubrovnik remained with Croatia. The areas annexed by Italy had an area of 5,400 km² with 380,000 inhabitants (280,000 Croatians, 90,000 Serbs and 5,000 Italians). They were particularly valuable, both strategically and economically, and occupied a prominent place in Croatian national consciousness. The Croatian government tried unsuccessfully to avoid the loss of Dalmatia by offering the Croatian crown to an Italian prince and other political concessions. With the announcement of this agreement, the Ustaša government quickly lost popular support.
As former foreign minister and later interior minister, Mladen Lorković justified the assignment of the territories:
“Assuming a loyal implementation of the Treaty of Rome from one side and the other, the Croatian government was allowed to hope that Croatian-Italian relations would develop in a friendly atmosphere one day, or at the latest after the end of this War to be able to review the question of borders in favor of Croatia. "
After the capitulation of Italy in 1943, the Italian annexed areas fell to the independent state of Croatia.
population
The new state had about 6.3 million inhabitants, including 3.3 million Croatians, about 1.9 million Serbs, 700,000 Muslims, 30,000 Roma, and a number of other ethnic minorities.
The NDH state also introduced racial laws based on Hitler's Germany . After this, hundreds of thousands of Jews , Roma and especially Serbs were persecuted, imprisoned and murdered. The Jasenovac concentration camp was the largest concentration camp in this part of Europe.
With representatives of the German occupation in Slovenia and Serbia, the government of the NDH state decided to deport a total of 220,000 to 260,000 Slovenes to Croatia or old Serbia . The background was the German population policy in Slovenia, which - similar to the Generalgouvernement - with the help of the German People's List classified the Slovene population according to a “racial value” and made resettlement decisions for “inferior” and “politically unreliable” people. The resettlement began on June 7, 1941. In this context, Croatia in turn deported tens of thousands of members of the Serbian minority.
politics
The Independent State of Croatia was after the Croatian Peasant Party had refused to collaborate with the German occupying forces, led by Ante Pavelić (was formally Aimone Duke of Spoleto as Tomislav II. Proclaimed king).
The resulting state was formally independent, but de facto a protectorate of the German Reich and Italy with a politically, economically and militarily supported regime. In order to keep any Italian demands low, the German leadership did everything in the initial phase to avoid “any doubts about the sovereignty of the young state”. Pavelić was therefore initially able to work between the Axis powers and develop a scope for action. In the background, however, the German Empire expanded its influence, mainly to profit from the region economically. Italian observers noted a "systematic infiltration of Croatia". The German influence finally reached so far that the Duke of Spoleto declared in the summer of 1941 “that he will not enter Croatia until [...] all German elements have been definitively removed from there”. In the end, Aimone di Savoia would never ascend the Croatian throne.
The state was recognized by the members of the Three Power Pact, as well as by Finland and Spain. Switzerland and France also had consulates in Zagreb. In 1942, the Croatian Foreign Ministry had embassies in the capitals of the following countries: Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain and Finland. Consulates general existed in Vienna, Zadar (1941–43 Italian), Milan and Prague. There were consulates in Munich, Graz, Rijeka (1941–43 Italian), Ljubljana, Maribor, Belgrade and Florence.
Political system
The regime was organized according to the leader principle. The administration was cleared and put under the control of Ustaša officials. In 1942 a parliament was convened, the members of which were appointed and were of different political origins. It remained meaningless, however. The press was brought into line. The “supervisory service” Ustaška nadzorna služba (UNS, later GRAVSIGUR ) assumed executive powers and made independent decisions about arrests and the fate of those arrested.
International treaties
Various treaties were concluded with friendly or allied states, which often concerned the regulation of economic relations. In addition, they joined the Universal Postal Union on April 7, 1942 and the Geneva Convention on March 13, 1943.
military
The state's armed forces persisted
- the regular army ( Croatian domobranstvo ) that the War Department under Slavko Kvaternik was subordinated
- and the military units of the Ustasha Army ( Ustaška vojnica ), which were subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior under Andrija Artuković . The bodyguard of Poglavnik Pavelić was under his sole command.
In order to increase the combat strength, both military organizations were merged on November 21, 1944 under the name Hrvatske oružane snage ( Croatian Armed Forces ). The supreme command took over Pavelić, assisted by the Army General Gjuro Gjurić and the Ustasha Colonel Sertić.
The Croatian armed forces reached their highest level in December 1944 with 70,000 soldiers ( Domobranci ), 76,000 Ustasha militiamen ( Ustaše ) and 32,000 gendarmerie ( Hrvatsko oružništvo ).
Units of the Wehrmacht , the majority of which were made up of Croatian crew and German officers, provided military support. These "legionary divisions" comprised three infantry divisions, an air and a naval legion, as well as a few other regiments. The reinforced Croatian 369 infantry regiment was largely wiped out in the Battle of Stalingrad .
Administrative division
There were three levels of administration: large counties ( velike župe ), districts ( kotari ) and municipalities ( općine ).
In 1945 there were 22 large counties and a separate administrative unit (capital Zagreb).
1941-1943
| Greater County | Main parish | Districts |
|---|---|---|
| Baranya | Osijek | Osijek, Virovitica, Našice, Donji Miholjac, Valpovo, Podravska Slatina, Đakovo |
| Bilo-gora | Bjelovar | Bjelovar, Gjurgjevac, Koprivnica, Križevci, Čazma, Garešnica, Grubišno Polje |
| Bribir Sidraga | Knin | Knin, Drniš, Bosansko Grahovo |
| Cetina | Omiš | Omiš, Sinj, Imotski, Makarska, Brač, Hvar |
| Dubrava | Dubrovnik | Dubrovnik, Čapljina, Stolac, Ravno Trebinje, Bileća, Gacko |
| Gora | Petrinja | Petrinja, Sisak, Glina, Dvor, Bosanski Novi, Hrvatska Kostajnica |
| Hum | Mostar | Mostar, Nevesinje, Konjic, Ljubuški, Metković, Posušje |
| Krbava-Psat | Bihać | Bihać, Cazin, Bosanski Petrovac, Bosanska Krupa |
| Lašva-Glaž | Travnik | Travnik, Žepče, Zenica, Visoko, Fojnica |
| Lika-Gacka | Gospić | Gospić, Otočac, Perušić, Udbina, Gračac, Korenica, Donji Lapac |
| Livac-Zapolje | Nova Gradiška | Nova Gradiška, Požega, Daruvar, Pakrac, Novska, Bosanska Dubica, Bosanska Gradiška, Prnjavor |
| Modruš | Ogulin | Ogulin, Slunj, Vrbovsko, Delnice |
| Pliva-Rama | Jajce | Jajce, Bugojno, Prozor, Duvno, Livno, Glamoč, Varcar-Vakuf, Kupres |
| Pokupje | Karlovac | Karlovac, Jastrebarsko, Pisarovina, Vojnić, Vrgin Most |
| Posavje | Brod na Savi | Brod na Savi, Derventa, Gradačac, Brčko, Bijeljina, Županja |
| Prigorye | Zagreb | Zagreb, Samobor, Donja Stubica, Sv. Ivan, Zelina, Dugo Selo, Velika Gorica, Kutina |
| Sana-Luka | Banja Luka | Banja Luka, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Ključ, Kotor-Varoš |
| Usora solos | Tuzla | Tuzla, Zvornik, Kladanj, Maglaj, Gračanica, Doboj, Tešanj, Teslić |
| Vinodol-Podgorje | Senj | Senj, Karlobag, Crikvenica, Kraljevica, Brinje, Novi Vinodolski, Obć. Obrovac |
| Vrhbosna | Sarajevo | Sarajevo, Foča, Čajniče, Rogatica, Višegrad, Srebrenica, Vlasenica |
| Vuka | Vukovar | Vukovar, Vinkovci, Šid, Ilok, Hrvatska Mitrovica, Ruma, Irig, Hrvatski Karlovci, Stara Pazova, Zemun |
| Zagorje | Varaždin | Varaždin, Čakovec, Prelog, Ludbreg, Novi Marof, Ivanec, Zlatar, Krapina, Pregrada, Klanjec |
1943-1945
After the collapse of fascist Italy in early September 1943, the territories of Dalmatia around Zadar and Split, ceded to Italy in 1941, as well as various islands became Croatian territory again.
The Independent State of Croatia also claimed the up to then Italian Istria as well as Rijeka and the offshore islands for itself. In fact, the Croatian state did not exercise any sovereignty over these areas, known as the Greater Raša County. As part of the Adriatic Coastal Operation Zone, they were under German military administration until the end of World War II.
| Greater County | Main parish |
|---|---|
| Baranya | Osijek |
| Bilogora | Bjelovar |
| Bribir | Šibenik |
| Cetina | Split |
| Dubrava | Dubrovnik |
| Gora-Prigorje | Zagreb |
| Hum | Mostar |
| Krbava-Psat | Bihać |
| Lašva-Pliva | Travnik |
| Lika-Gacka | Gospić |
| Livac-Zapolje | Nova Gradiška |
| Modruš | Ogulin |
| Pokupje | Karlovac |
| Posavje | Bread |
| Raša | Rijeka |
| Sana-Luka | Banja Luka |
| Sidraga-Ravni Kotari | Zadar |
| Usora solos | Tuzla |
| Vinodol-Podgorje | Senj |
| Vrhbosna | Sarajevo |
| Vuka | Vukovar |
| Zagorje | Varaždin |
resistance
On June 22, 1941, the first anti-fascist partisan unit on the territory of Yugoslavia was founded in the Brezovica forest near Sisak . Today in Croatia this date is celebrated as “ Day of the Anti-Fascist Struggle ” ( Dan antifašističke borbe ) and is a national holiday.
On June 27, 1941 , at a meeting in Belgrade, the Central Committee of the CPY decided to found the main staff of the people 's liberation movement under Tito's leadership.
On July 4, 1941, Tito called a general uprising and set up partisan units. The first offensive and supraregional active all-Yugoslav combat unit, the "First Proletarian Brigade", was founded on December 21, 1941.
From 1942 the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito and the Yugoslav monarchist Chetniks were also active in Croatia. The German military presence on the territory of the NDH state was limited to the 718th Infantry Division and a few state rifle battalions until mid-July 1942 . The 2nd Italian Army withdrew from parts of Croatia in three stages from mid-1942 to April 1943. This meant that partisans as well as Chetniks were able to intensify their activities. In order to make up for the failure of the Italians, Hitler pushed for general mobilization in Croatia. 75,000 Croatian soldiers were to be transferred to the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS. As a concession, they should only be used within Croatia.
On June 13, 1943, the Anti-Fascist National Council of the People's Liberation of Croatia ( Croatian Zemaljsko antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Hrvatske , or ZAVNOH for short) was founded in Otočac as the supreme body of the anti-fascist movement in Croatia during the Second World War . The ZAVNOH represented the war government in Croatia and consisted of representatives of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) , the Communist Party of Yugoslavia , the Independent Democratic Party led by Serbs and those without party affiliation.
In September 1943, the partisan movement in Croatia under Andrija Hebrang and the ZAVNOH with around 78,000 Tito partisans were subject to more partisans than in the partisan movements in Serbia , Montenegro , Slovenia and Macedonia combined. A total of 228,474 people joined the partisan movement in Croatia between 1941 and 1945, 61 percent of them Croatians (140,124), 28 percent Serbs (63,710) and other ethnic groups ( Slovenes , Muslims , Montenegrins , Italians , Hungarians , Czechs , Jews and others Yugoslav Germans ).
The National Committee of the Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia ( AVNOJ ), founded on November 29, 1943 in Jajce ( Bosnia ) as a provisional government , consequently also claimed to speak for Croatia, which had been liberated from fascism. The partisans managed to get large parts of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina into their hands without direct foreign support through broad popular support, but also through clever tactics with the allies .
Although the Yugoslav communists constantly promised a new Yugoslavia as a democratic state of free and equal peoples, there were also brutal settlements on their part with all real and ideological-political opponents, including the supporters and leaders of the Ustaša . These events peaked in the spring and summer of 1945, when the war had already ended. The Bleiburg massacres also occurred during this phase .
post war period
Even after the collapse of the USK, its founding day is celebrated as a public holiday, especially by Croats in the diaspora. In 1968, Ronald Reagan , in his capacity as Governor of California , proclaimed April 10th as “Croatian Independence Day” to allow the “more than 150,000 Americans of Croatian descent who live decently in California to participate in the economic, cultural and political developments of the Participate in Golden State and always maintain their vigilance against communist aggression by sharing their knowledge and experiences; [...] " to honor " [...] and to invite all citizens to renew their dedication to the just aspirations of all people, for national independence and human freedom. "
literature
- Martin Broszat , Ladislaus Hory: The Croatian Ustascha State 1941–1945 (= series of the quarterly books for contemporary history . No. 8 ). 2nd Edition. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1965.
- Vladimir Dedijer : Jasenovac: The Yugoslav Auschwitz and the Vatican . 6th edition. Ahriman, Freiburg im Breisgau 2011, ISBN 978-3-922774-06-8 .
- Alexander Korb: In the shadow of the World War: mass violence of the Ustaša against Serbs, Jews and Roma in Croatia 1941–1945 (= studies on the history of violence in the 20th century ). Hamburger Edition, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-86854-259-2 .
- Zeev Milo (di Vladimir Müller): In the Satellite State of Croatia: An Odyssey of Survival 1941–1945 . Wieser, Klagenfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-85129-870-3 (autobiography in the context of regional history).
- Marco Aurelio Rivelli, Gaby Rousseau: Le Génocide occulté: État indépendant de Croatie 1941-1945 . L'Age d'Homme, 2009.
- Holm Sundhaussen : Economic history of Croatia in the National Socialist metropolitan area 1941–1945: The failure of an exploitation strategy (= studies on contemporary history . No. 23 ). 1983.
Web links
- Igor Paponja: The “Independent State of Croatia” at the time of the Second World War. Licentiate thesis.
- Ljiljana Radonic: Croatia in World War II and today. Interview with Zeev Milo. In: Context XXI: Magazine for straightening the Alps. Issue 2–3, 2006.
- Eberhard Rondholz : Two Kinds of Memory, Jasenovac - The Croatian Auschwitz . Deutschlandfunk, Feature, August 28, 2009.
Individual evidence
- ^ Marie-Janine Calic: History of Yugoslavia in the 20th century . CH Beck, 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-67757-1 ( books.google.de [accessed December 16, 2017]).
- ↑ Ladislaus Hory, Martin Broszat : The Croatian Ustascha State 1941-1945. 2nd Edition. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1965, p. 53.
- ^ Hermann Ginzel: With the Axis for Europe: An interview with Foreign Minister Dr. Lorkovich. In: Croatia today. Preporod, Zagreb 1942, p. 32.
- ↑ Hermann Ginzel: The Poglavnik. In: Croatia today. Preporod, Zagreb 1942, p. 21.
- ^ Holm Sundhaussen: Economic history of Croatia in the National Socialist metropolitan area 1941–1945. The failure of a strategy of exploitation. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1983, p. 82.
- ↑ Speech by Interior Minister Mladen Lorković in front of the Sabor on January 14, 1944. In: Mladen Lorković: Croatia's fight against Bolshevism . Velebit publishing house, Zagreb 1944, p. 24.
- ↑ a b United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Holocaust Era in Croatia 1941-1945. ( Memento from June 30, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ documents VEJ 14/88 and 14/89 in: Sara Berger u. a. (Ed.): The persecution and murder of European Jews by National Socialist Germany 1933–1945 (collection of sources) Volume 14: Occupied Southeast Europe and Italy . Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-11-055559-2 , pp. 338–341.
- ↑ Operation: Last Chance. Retrieved March 29, 2011 .
- ↑ Malte König: Cooperation as a power struggle. The fascist axis alliance Berlin-Rome in the war 1940/41 , sh-Verlag, Cologne 2007, p. 204 f.
- ↑ König: Cooperation as a Power Struggle, pp. 208–226; Quote: ibid., P. 210.
- ↑ König: Cooperation as a Power Struggle , p. 213 f.
- ^ Michael Portmann, Arnold Suppan : Serbia in World War II. In: Serbia and Montenegro: Space and Population, History, Language. Austrian East and Southeast Europe Institute, p. 281.
- ^ Hermann Ginzel: With the Axis for Europe: An interview with Foreign Minister Dr. Lorkovich. In: Croatia today. Preporod, Zagreb 1942, pp. 30-31.
- ↑ N. Thomas, K. Mikulan: Axis forces in Yugoslavia 1941-5 . Osprey publishing, Oxford 1995, ISBN 1-85532-473-3 , p. 17.
- ^ Rolf-Dieter Müller: On the side of the Wehrmacht. Hitler's foreign helpers in the “Crusade against Bolshevism” 1941–1945. Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86153-448-8 , p. 111.
- ↑ Priručni zemlovid Nezavisne Države Hrvatske . Zemlopisni Zavod Hrvatskog Domobranstva NDH izvršio pregled i ispravak granica (br. 748 od 2nd V. 1942). Scale 1: 800,000. St. Kugli, Zagreb 1942.
- ^ Nezavisna Država Hrvatska. Zemlopisni Zavod Hrvatskih Oružanih Snaga. Scale 1: 1,500,000. Zagreb 1945.
- ↑ Vlado Strugar: Rat i revolucija naroda Jugoslavije, 1941–1945. Vojno-istorijski institut, Belgrade 1962, p. 357.
- ↑ Othmar Nikola Haberl : The emancipation of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia from the control of the Comintern / CPSU 1941–1945 (= studies on contemporary studies of Southeastern Europe 8). Oldenbourg, Munich 1974, ISBN 3-486-47861-3 , p. 28.
- ↑ Klaus Schmider: A detour to a war of extermination? The partisan war in Yugoslavia, 1941–1944. In: RD Müller, HE Volkmann, (Ed. On behalf of MGFA ): The Wehrmacht: Myth and Reality. Oldenburg Munich 1999, ISBN 3-486-56383-1 , p. 920.
- ^ Rolf-Dieter Müller: On the side of the Wehrmacht. Hitler's foreign helpers in the “Crusade against Bolshevism 1941–1945”. Berlin, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86153-448-8 , p. 112.
- ↑ At this point in time, 13,000 in Serbia, 10,000 in Montenegro, 21,000 in Slovenia and 10,000 in Macedonia. See Vlado Strugar: Jugoslavija 1941–1945 . Vojnoizdavački zavod, Belgrade 1969, p. 69, 219, 318 . and Nikola Anić, Sekula Joksimović, Mirko Gutić: Narodnooslobodilačka vojska Jugoslavije . Ed .: Vojnoistorijski institut. Belgrade 1982, p. 69-86, 113, 199, 209, 279, 301, 332, 348 f., 368, 378, 387, 457, 468, 536-540 .
- ^ Ivan Jelić: Hrvatska u ratu i revoluciji 1941–1945 . Školska knjiga, Zagreb 1978, p. 304 .
- ^ State of California (Executive Department): Proclamation of April 4, 1968. In: Ivo Omrčanin: Dramatis Personae and Finis of the Independent State of Croatia in American and British Documents. Back cover. Dorrance & Company, Bryn Mawr 1983.