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61-857: The militia went through a series of re-organisations during its existence, expanding to include all armed elements of the NDH government outside of the Croatian Home Guard , Navy , and Air Force . It amalgamated with the Home Guard in December 1944 and January 1945 to form the Croatian Armed Forces ( Hrvatske oružane snage, HOS), although the amalgamation did not result in a homogeneous organisation; former Ustaše militia officers dominated HOS's operations and held most command positions. The Ustaše militia were responsible for some of

122-487: A German officer cadre) reduced the size of the Croatian Home Guard to 70,000 men, down from its peak at 130,000 in 1943. The NDH government, under heavy German pressure, reacted by formally integrating Croatian Home Guard and Ustasha Militia. New and more reliable officers were appointed, and draconian measures were introduced to increase discipline and prevent further defections. As a result, by May 1945,

183-592: A cavalry regiment in Zagreb and an independent cavalry battalion at Sarajevo . Two independent motorized infantry battalions were based at Zagreb and Sarajevo respectively. The fledgling Army crushed the revolt by Serbs in eastern Herzegovina in June, and fought in July in eastern and western Bosnia . They fought in eastern Herzegovina again, when Croatian- Dalmatian and Slavonian battalions reinforced local units. By

244-646: A reputation for extreme brutality. The Brigades ran the string of concentration camps established by the Ustaše regime. Like the Legion, they also fought the Chetniks and Partisans, and were responsible for large-scale atrocities against the Serb population. On 18 March 1942, a law decree organised the armed forces into the Home Guard, Navy, and Air Force; the gendarmerie; and the Ustaše militia. By special decree on 26 June 1942,

305-587: A separate staff to control the various volunteer armed groups that had risen spontaneously throughout the NDH as the Yugoslav Army collapsed in the face of the Axis invasion. On 10 May 1941, Ante Pavelić issued a special order which detailed its formal organisation. However, some of the groups that formed early were irregular or "wild" Ustaše units that were not included in the formal organisation, which initially numbered 4,500. The number of irregular Ustaše across

366-589: A two-gun artillery group, 16 light and 16 heavy machine guns , and six mortars. Two volunteer regiments, and a mobile Gendarmerie Brigade were also established; but, by November 1942, the partisans had occupied northern Bosnia, and the Army could only hold main towns and communications routes, abandoning the countryside. During 1943, four Jäger Brigades (5th to 8th) were set up, each with four 500-man battalions in two regiments and an artillery group, equipped for hilly terrain. The Home Guard reached its maximum size at

427-523: The 1st Standing Active Brigade ( Prvi stajaći djelatni sdrug ), was an Ustaše Militia infantry unit active during World War II in Independent State of Croatia . The legion was formed in September 1941 as the 1st Ustaša Regiment. It consisted largely of Bosnian Muslim and Croat refugees from eastern Bosnia , where large massacres were carried out by Chetniks and to a small degree by

488-771: The Armistice of Cassibile , the Croatian Navy was expanded, but the loss of an ally further weakened the Croatian state. The Home Guard was under the command of the Ministry of the Croatian Home Guard, in 1943 renamed to the Ministry of the Armed Forces (MINORS). The ministers were: The Home Guard also had its General Staff. Chiefs of the General Staff included: Despite being the best-armed and having

549-648: The Yugoslav Partisans . It became known for its fierce fighting against the Chetniks and the Partisans and massacres against Serb civilians. The legion's commanders were Colonel Jure Francetić and Major Rafael Boban . It consisted of between 1,000 and 1,500 trained mechanized infantrymen . The Black Legion was formed in Sarajevo in April 1941 with 12 founding members, of whom 11 were Croats and one

610-619: The Croatian divisions were allocated to various German corps and by March 1945 were holding the Southern Front. Securing the rear areas were some 32,000 men of the Croatian Gendarmerie ( Hrvatsko Oruznistvo ), organised into five police volunteer regiments plus 15 independent battalions, equipped with standard light infantry weapons, including mortars. The Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia and

671-754: The Croatian section of the Royal Hungarian Landwehr component of the Austro-Hungarian Army . The Croatian Home Guard was originally limited to 16 infantry battalions and two cavalry squadrons – 16,000 men in total. The original 16 battalions were soon enlarged to 15 infantry regiments of two battalions each between May and June 1941, organised into five divisional commands, some 55,000 men. Support units included 35 former Yugoslav light tanks returned by Italy, four engineer battalions, 10 artillery battalions (equipped with captured Royal Yugoslav Army 105mm weapons of Czech origin),

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732-652: The Home Guard than Serb-dominated Chetniks . A year later, this manifested in Croatian Partisan commanders referring to the Home Guard as their "supply depot", due to its personnel being reliable source of arms, ammunition, general supplies, and intelligence . Following the capitulation of Italy in September 1943 and the first aid shipments from the Western Allies , the military situation in Yugoslavia began to even more dramatically shift in favour of

793-721: The Italians would not relent, and used auxiliary Chetnik units to maintain the peace in those zones instead. By September 1942, no more than about 1,000 Ustaše militia members were in Zone II, and they were under close Italian command and supervision. In mid-1942, the Germans took full command of any NDH troops operating with them north of the German-Italian demarcation line. In mid-1941, the Ustaše militia consisted of 5,000 men, which increased by late 1941 to 16,000 soldiers. In

854-608: The Legion's commander became Major Milan Šulentić but just eight days later he was replaced by Major Franjo Sudar . Near the end of 1944 the Legion was incorporated into the 1st division of the Croatian Armed Forces under the command of General Roman Domanik . Soldiers of the Black Legion continued to wear the black uniform right up to the end of the war, probably as a sort of honorary mark of distinction. Lastly, at least 120 former Black Legion men were executed by

915-598: The NDH armed forces in total numbered 200,000 men. The army of the Independent State of Croatia was organized in November 1944 to combine the units of the Ustaše and Croatian Home Guard into 18 divisions, comprising 13 infantry, two mountain, two assault and one replacement Croatian divisions, each with its own organic artillery and other support units. There were also several armoured units, equipped in late 1944 with 20 Pz III N and 15 Pz IV F and H medium tanks. From early 1945,

976-402: The NDH was reportedly as high as 25,000–30,000. Both formal and irregular units were soon involved in atrocities against Serbs , Jews , Gypsies , and all alleged and actual opponents of the Ustaše regime. The militia consisted mostly of volunteers, and only 25% of the officer corps were professionally trained. Members were indoctrinated in Ustaše ideology and committed to defending Pavelić and

1037-538: The NDH were officially transferred from the Ministry of Interior to the Ustaše Surveillance Service, which had been running the camps since August 1941. There were about 20 large and medium-sized camps, the largest of which was a cluster of facilities near the confluence of the Sava and Una rivers at Jasenovac . The camps there were notorious for their brutality, barbarism and large number of victims. Even after

1098-580: The NDH's Serb population. In May 1941, in the town of Glina , 50 kilometres from Zagreb , militia members herded about 260 locals into a church, killed them and set the church on fire. By September 1941, over 118,000 Serbs had been expelled from the NDH, many Orthodox churches had been destroyed or desecrated, and many of the Orthodox clergy had been killed or expelled. The militia used promises of conversion to gather Serb peasants so they could be killed more easily. In late July 1942, all concentration camps in

1159-465: The NDH. Until September 1942, the Ustaše militia was filled exclusively with volunteers. Since then, the Croatian Home Guard conscripts were given an option to carry out their obligatory military service in the Ustaše militia units too. The recruitment of minors was initially not allowed, although their presence, mostly refugees, was not unusual. In December 1944, the Ustaše Headquarters allowed

1220-656: The NDH. The Surveillance Service consisted of four elements: the Ustaše Police, Ustaše Intelligence Service, Ustaše Defence Brigades, and Personnel. The head of the Surveillance Service was appointed by and directly accountable to Pavelić. In the first months after Independent State of Croatia has been established, most of Ustaše groups were not under centralized control: besides 4,500 regular Ustasha Corps troops, there were some 25,000-30,000 "Wild Ustasha" (hrv. "divlje ustaše"). The government-controlled press and

1281-527: The Partisans. By mid-1944, many Home Guard personnel and units began to openly side with Partisans, leading to some instances of mass defections that included battalion -size formations as well as some ZNDH aircraft. By November 1944 the defections and desertions , as well as the creaming off of troops to the Ustashe Brigades or the 369th , 373rd , and 392nd so-called legionnaire divisions ( Wehrmacht infantry divisions with Croatian troops under

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1342-670: The Service was disestablished in January 1943, Vjekoslav Luburić remained in charge of the camps through most of the war. In August 1942, elements of the Ustaše militia, along with Croatian Home Guard and German forces, conducted a major anti-Partisan operation in Syrmia. During this offensive, Ustaše militia units perpetrated large-scale atrocities against the Serb population. Along with German units, they sent thousands of Serb civilians, including women and children, as well as some Partisans, to

1403-647: The Ustaše Defence Brigades, numbering about 10,000, who remained outside the armed forces. Ustaše members with appropriate experience, along with some professional military officers with strong loyalty to Pavelić, were placed in all key positions. The new force was named the Croatian Armed Forces (Hrvatske oružane snage, HOS), but the amalgamation only combined existing formations such as Ustaše militia brigades and Croatian Home Guard regiments as separate elements under divisional command. Uniforms, equipment, and supply appear to have remained as they were prior to

1464-609: The Ustaše militia and the Croatian Home Guard deteriorated further, to the detriment of the Home Guard. In May 1943, the militia included about 30 regular battalions of varying strength. Twelve were deployed in the Italian zones of occupation, primarily in Zone III, while the remainder worked with the Home Guard light infantry and mountain brigades and the German-Croatian SS police. This pattern of deployment applied until

1525-488: The Ustaše militia membership was made up of Muslims. Among units stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, their share was slightly above 50%, but formed a small part of the officer corps. In July 1943, the Ustaše Headquarters issued an order to fill the ranks of the new SS Handschar Division with Muslims serving in its army. Several elite units were excluded from the order, such as Pavelić's personal guard. Ethnic Germans within

1586-478: The Ustaše militia were organized in the "German ethnic group militia" ( Vojnica Njemačke narodne skupine or Einsatzstaffel der Deutschen Mannschaft ). Its battalions and other units, the last of which was formed in early 1943, numbered around 4,700 officers and soldiers. Their reorganization began in September 1942. By 1 May 1943, all of those units were incorporated into the Waffen-SS or German police within

1647-422: The Ustaše regime. Whilst Pavelić was its titular commander-in-chief, he exercised no practical control over its military operations, as Ustaše formations and units in the field were placed under command of Home Guard or Axis forces. The militia had a significant number of Muslims , although their numbers fell after mid-1943, and there were no Muslim militia leaders and few promoted to higher ranks. It also included

1708-467: The ZNDH, with aircraft losses amounting to 234, primarily on the ground, it entered 1945 with 196 planes. Further deliveries of new aircraft from Germany continued in the early months of 1945 to replace losses. April 1945 saw the final deliveries of up-to-date German Messerschmitt Bf 109G and K fighter aircraft and the ZNDH still had 176 aircraft on its strength in April 1945. By the end of March, 1945, it

1769-436: The administration of the NDH. Although Hitler considered the proposal, he decided not to proceed with it due mainly to the additional German troops that would have been required to implement it. On 1 December 1944, the Ustaše militia and the Croatian Home Guard were amalgamated and organised into 16 divisions across three corps . At the time, the militia consisted of about 76,000 officers and men. This figure did not include

1830-512: The amalgamation of the Home Guard and militia in December 1944. In June 1943, the Ustaše Surveillance Service was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Interior. However, the Ustaše Defence Brigades under Luburić continued to operate independently. By September 1943, shortly after the Italian surrender, the Ustaše militia included 25 battalions (22,500 men), plus Pavelić's personal guard of about 6,000 men,

1891-591: The amalgamation. In March 1945, the Ustaša Defence Brigades were incorporated into the HOS. When the Italians reoccupied Zones II and III in 1941, they assumed control of about one-third of the territory of the NDH, and ordered all Ustaše militia units (whom they accused of excesses against the Serb population of the NDH) and most Home Guard units to withdraw from those zones. The NDH government protested vigorously, but

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1952-436: The backbone of which was provided by 500 former Royal Yugoslav Air Force officers and 1,600 NCOs with 125 aircraft. By 1943, the ZNDH was 9,775 strong and equipped with 295 aircraft. The small Navy of the Independent State of Croatia ( Ratna Mornarica Nezavisne Države Hrvatske , or RMNDH) was limited by a special treaty with Fascist Italy . The Navy comprised a few riverine craft and, from 1943, coastal patrol boats. After

2013-525: The best logistics and infrastructure of all the domestic military formations in the World War II Balkans, the Croatian Home Guard failed to become an efficient fighting force for a variety of reasons. The most immediate reason was the lack of professional officers . Although initially significant numbers of ethnic Croat officers from the old Yugoslav army joined the Croatian Home Guard, most not entirely voluntarily, they were mistrusted by

2074-456: The central government used some 6,000 gendarmes and some 45.000 newly recruited members of "Domobranstvo" forces. In the rest of the war, some "village militias" (hrv. "seoske straže") composed of the Wild Ustaše remained. The Wild Ustashe groups attracted criminal elements. This was recognised by Pavelić himself - who in fact used these elements as a convenient scapegoat for actions ordered by

2135-545: The communist rule, not being able to gain employment, etc. The local-based Croatian Army regiments were named the Home Guard Regiments ( Domobranska pukovnija ). They were first created on 24 December 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence , and ceased to exist in a 2003 reorganization. Black Legion (Usta%C5%A1e militia) The Black Legion ( Croatian : Crna Legija ), officially

2196-490: The concentration camps at Jasenovac, Sisak , Stara Gradiška , and Zemun . The rank insignia of commissioned officers . The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel . Notes Bibliography Croatian Home Guard (World War II) The Croatian Home Guard ( Croatian : Hrvatsko domobranstvo ) was the land army part of the armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia which existed during World War II . The Croatian Home Guard

2257-529: The core of the Ustaše movement. In late 1941, an Ustaše militia unit known as the Black Legion was formed mostly from Muslim and Croatian refugees from villages in eastern Bosnia , where the Chetniks and Partisans had already committed large-scale massacres. The Legion, which had a strength of between 1,000 and 1,500 men, created a fierce reputation in fighting against both Chetniks and Partisans, and

2318-582: The end of 1941, the NDH military forces consisted of 85,000 home guard and the national police force of about 6,000. In January 1942, it forced the Partisans in eastern Bosnia back into Montenegro , but could not prevent their subsequent advance into western Bosnia. Clearly conventional infantry divisions were too cumbersome, and so, in September 1942, four specially designed mountain brigades (1st to 4th) were formed; each had two regiments totalling four 1,000-man battalions , mounted and machine gun companies,

2379-531: The end of 1943, when it had 130,000 men. By 1944, the Croatian Army had 90,000 men, though only 20,000 were front-line combat troops, organised in three mountain, four Jager and eight static garrison brigades, and the 1st Recruit Training Division. The Croatian Home Guard also included an air force, the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia ( Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske , or ZNDH),

2440-527: The gendarmerie of about 18,000 men, and many smaller armed groups. In October 1943, the German commander-in-chief in southeastern Europe, Generalfeldmarschall Maximilian von Weichs , made a proposal to the Wehrmacht operations staff which included the merging of the Ustaše militia into the Croatian Home Guard. The proposal effectively recommended removing the Ustaše from power as part of sweeping changes to

2501-484: The gendarmerie, the regular police, the Ustaše Surveillance Service, the Ustaše educational establishment, the Ustaše preparatory service, and the disciplinary court. The Ustaše Surveillance Service included the Ustaše Defence Brigades, which had been established in late 1941. Following the dismissal of Marshal Kvaternik from his positions of Minister of the Army and commander-in-chief in October 1942, relations between

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2562-406: The gendarmerie, which had previously been part of the Home Guard, became part of the Ustaše militia and was placed under the command of a young Ustaše colonel, Vilko Pečnikar. In July and August 1942, the militia took control of all armed forces of the NDH other than the Home Guard, Navy, and Air Force. It then consisted of the regular militia, Pavelić's personal guard, the railroad security troops,

2623-528: The gradual decline in support for the Ustaše regime among ethnic Croats, first fuelled by the abandonment of Dalmatia to Italy, then by the prospect of Home Guard troops being used by the Germans as cannon fodder on the Eastern Front – a repeat of the same traumatic experience from the First World War . This process intensified while the prospect of the Axis powers , and NDH with them, losing

2684-599: The last desperate attempt to seek shelter among Western Allies . This resulted in many Home Guards becoming victims of the Bleiburg repatriations during which the victorious Partisans showed little mercy or even tendency to treat captured Home Guards separately from captured Ustashas. Those Home Guards who survived the ordeal, as well as members of their families, were mostly treated as second-class citizens in Tito's Yugoslavia , although there were some exceptions, most notably with

2745-589: The legendary sportscaster Mladen Delić . In 1945 the Partisans also destroyed the central Home Guard cemetery in Zagreb's Mirogoj Cemetery . As Croatia gained independence during the Yugoslav wars , the new government under the presidency of Franjo Tuđman began the process of re-building the historical Home Guards. The rehabilitation of Home Guards is only reflected in surviving Home Guards receiving pensions and other state benefits. Home Guards disabled during

2806-455: The most egregious atrocities committed by the Ustaše regime during World War II, including playing a key role in the establishment and operation of about 20 concentration camps in the NDH. Its units included the Black Legion ( Crna Legija ), commanded by Jure Francetić and Rafael Boban , and the Ustaše Defence Brigades, commanded by Vjekoslav Luburić . The Ustaše militia was created on 11 April 1941 when Marshal Slavko Kvaternik appointed

2867-454: The new Ustaše puppet regime. Instead, the higher ranks were filled by presumably more reliable former Austro-Hungarian officers. Those men were older, retired and generally had little knowledge of modern warfare. NDH authorities tried to remedy this by forming officer schools and having junior staff trained in Italy and Germany, but effects of this policy came too late to affect the outcome of

2928-470: The recruitment of minor volunteers from the age of 16. The Ustaše militia was different in almost all respects from the mostly conscripted Croatian Home Guard. While the Home Guard was poorly equipped and subject to mass desertions from late 1942 onwards, the Ustaše militia consisted of young, well equipped and indoctrinated volunteers who were loyal to Pavelić and the NDH. Although they were ill-disciplined, they liked to fight and were tough combat soldiers. It

2989-501: The second half of 1942, its units numbered 42,000. After the capitulation of Italy in September 1943, the Ustaše militia was reorganized. By late 1943, it grew in size to around 55,000 soldiers, organized into nine brigades, three regiments, 48 battalions, and several independent units. There was another reorganization in the 1st half of 1944. The Ustaše militia size increased to 76,000 soldiers. The Ustaše militia recruited ethnic Croats, Muslims, and Germans in its ranks. An estimated 30% of

3050-542: The small Volksdeutsche militia ( German : Einsatzstaffel der Deutschen Mannschaft , EDM), which was created in July 1941 and grew to 1,500 regular and 1,200 reserve troops by June 1942. The main task of the EDM was to protect German communities in Yugoslavia, mainly in Slavonia and Syrmia . In August 1941, the Ustaše Surveillance Service ( Ustaška nadzorna služba ) was created to combat anti-Ustaše activities throughout

3111-680: The state officials encouraged these poorly organized and very aggressive groups to fight enemies of the regime. After mass crimes against Serb populace committed by Ustaše during the Summer months of 1941, the regime decided to blame all the atrocities to the irregular Ustaše - undisciplined, uncontrolled and paid for their service only with the booty; authorities even sentenced to death and executed publicly in August and September 1941 many of them for unauthorized killing and looting against Serbs and Gypsies. To put an end to Wild Ustasha uncontrolled activities,

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3172-700: The units of the Croatian Air Force Legion ( Hrvatska Zrakoplovna Legija , or HZL), returned from service on the Eastern Front provided some level of air support (attack, fighter and transport) right up until May 1945, encountering and sometimes defeating opposing aircraft from the British Royal Air Force , United States Army Air Force and the Soviet Air Force . Although 1944 had been a catastrophic year for

3233-503: The war received state recognition in 1992 equivalent to Partisan veterans. The Home Guard has also received recognition from the government in helping to establish the democratic Republic of Croatia. There has been no official historical revisionism of their role in World War II, and the measure of providing pensions is viewed just as a social security measure because most of the surviving members could not provide for themselves under

3294-606: The war was getting more certain. Domobrani dissention, over the sadistic policies of the Ustaše, led to the outright persecution, deportation, and murder of Home Guard soldiers within the Jasenovac concentration camp system. As early as 1941, the Croatian Home Guards was being infiltrated by resistance groups. Yugoslav Partisans , who were based on non-sectarian ideology and had Croatian statehood as part of their pretext, were more successful in making inroads into

3355-528: The war. The other, more practical, reason was the rivalry between the Croatian Home Guard and the Ustaše Militia ( Croatian : Ustaška vojnica ), the less numerous but yet more reliable paramilitary formation. Those two formations never properly integrated their activities and the Militia was gradually taking more and more dwindling resources from the Home Guard. Third and, arguably, most important reason,

3416-444: Was a Bosnian Muslim. The force grew to be predominantly Muslim in response to the atrocities carried out against Bosnian Muslims . After the battle of Kupres , the Legion's 1st and 2nd battalion were used to form the cadre for the newly formed 5th Standing Active Brigade which was put under the command of Rafael Boban and incorporated into the 5th division of the Croatian Armed Forces in December 1944. In August 1942, Francetić

3477-449: Was also responsible for large-scale massacres of Serb civilians. It was initially commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jure Francetić, and later, after Francetić was killed by the Partisans in December 1942, by Major Rafael Boban. It became part of the HOS 5th Division in December 1944, with Boban promoted to general to command the division. The other special force was the Ustaše Defence Brigades, commanded by Vjekoslav Luburić, who quickly gained

3538-608: Was appointed the supreme commander of all standing active brigades of the Ustaše Army and the Legion's new commander became Colonel Ivo Stipković . Under Stipković's command the Legion lost even more men when the 23rd and 28th battalions (composed mainly of Bosnian Muslims) were disbanded and their soldiers transferred to the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar . After the death of Colonel Stipković in September 1943

3599-412: Was founded in April 1941, a few days after the founding of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) itself, following the collapse of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . It was done with the authorisation of German occupation authorities. The task of the new Croatian armed forces was to defend the new state against both foreign and domestic enemies. Its name was taken from the old Royal Croatian Home Guard –

3660-425: Was not until mid-1944 that Ustaše militia units began to suffer from significant numbers of desertions, although these were never on the scale suffered by the Home Guard. As a result of their greater reliability, Ustaše militia units were used on the flanks of suspect Home Guard units fighting Partisans in order to discourage mass desertions during action. The Ustaše militia committed many abuses and atrocities against

3721-442: Was obvious to the Croatian army command that, although the front remained intact, they would eventually be defeated by sheer lack of ammunition. For this reason, the decision was made to retreat into Austria , in order to surrender to the British forces advancing north from Italy . In May 1945, following the final Partisan offensive and collapse of the NDH, remaining Home Guard units joined other Axis forces and civilian refugees in

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