Croatian Home Guard
Encyclopedia
- For the earlier Croatian Home Guard of the HonvédHonvedHonvéd may refer to;* Honvédség, the Hungarian army.* Budapest Honvéd FC, a Hungarian football team....
, see Imperial Croatian Home Guard
Croatian Home Guard or also, known as the "Homeland Defenders," was the name used for the armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
which existed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Formation
The Croatian Home Guard 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 YugoslaviaKingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
. It was done with the authorisation of German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
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
Royal Croatian Home Guard
The Royal Croatian Home Guard was the Croatian army section of the Royal Hungarian Army , which existed from 1868 to 1918. The force was created by decree of the Croatian Parliament on December 5, 1868 as a result of the Croatian-Hungarian Settlement....
- the Croatian section of the Honvéd component of the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
.
Organization
Royal Yugoslav Army
The Royal Yugoslav Army was the armed force of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from the state's formation until the force's surrender to the Axis powers on April 17, 1941...
105mm weapons of Czech origin), a cavalry regiment in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and an independent cavalry battalion at Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. Two independent motorized infantry battalions were based at Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
respectively.
The fledgling Army crushed the revolt by Serbs in Eastern Herzegovina in June, and fought in July in Eastern and Western Bosnia
Western Bosnia
The Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia was a small unrecognized entity in the northwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
. They fought in Eastern Herzegovina again, when Croatian-Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n and Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
n battalions reinforced local units. By 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
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, 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 battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s, mounted and machine gun companies, a two-gun artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
group, 16 light and 16 heavy machine guns, and six mortars. Two volunteer regiments, and a mobile Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
Brigade were also established; but by November 1942 the Partisans had occupied Northern Bosnia, and the Croats could only hold main towns and communications routes, abandoning the countryside.
During 1943 four Jager
Jäger
Jäger is the German word for "hunter", and also a common Jäger is the [[German language|German]] word for "[[hunter]]", and also a common Jäger is the [[German...
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 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
Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia
The Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia, the Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske was the national air force of the Independent State of Croatia during World War II, founded under German authority in April 1941...
(Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske, or ZNDH), 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
Navy of the Independent State of Croatia
The Croatian Navy of the Independent State of Croatia was a national navy during World War II. Circa 1942, the force was divided into a Coast and Maritime Traffic Command with headquarters in Crikvenica, Makarska and Dubrovnik, and a River and River Traffic Command with headquarters in...
was limited by a special treaty with Fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
. The Navy comprised a few riverine craft and, from 1943, coastal patrol boats. After the Italian Armistice the Croatian Navy was expanded, but the loss of even an unreliable ally further weakened the Croatian state.
Command structure
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:- Slavko KvaternikSlavko KvaternikSlavko Kvaternik was a Croatian military commander and a collaborator with Nazi Germany. He was noted for military service in World War I, later as a deputy leader and founding member of the Croatian Ustaša movement in the 1930s who then became one of the leaders of the "Independent State of...
(1941–1942) - Vilko Begić (acting, 1942–1943)
- Miroslav Navratil (1943–1944)
- Ante Vokić (1944)
- Nikola Steinfel (1944–1945)
The Home Guard also had its General Staff. Chiefs of the General Staff included:
- Vladimir LaxaVladimir LaxaVladimir Laxa was born in Sisak, in what is now Croatia, and was a distinguished soldier and general. He spent his adult life from the age of 20 as a professional soldier who was highly decorated during the First World War...
(1941–1942) - Ivan Prpić (1942–1943)
- Fedor DragojlovFedor DragojlovFedor Dragojlov was a colonel-general in the Croatian Home Guard, as well as its chief-of-staff from 1943 to 1944. He was allegedly of Eastern Orthodox faith....
Weaknesses
Despite being the best-armed and having the best logisticsLogistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
and infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
of all the domestic military formations in the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Balkans, the Croatian Home Guard failed to become an efficient fighting force for a variety of reasons.
One reason was a chronic lack of artillery and heavy weapons, despite repeated promises to remedy the situation by Germany and Italy. Another, more immediate reason was the lack of professional officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
s. 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 the new Ustasha puppet regime. Instead, the higher ranks
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
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 the war.
The other, more practical, reason was the rivalry between the Croatian Home Guard and the Ustasha 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, the gradual decline in support for the Ustasha regime among ethnic Croats, first fueled by the abandonment of Dalmatia to Italy, then by the prospect of Home Guard troops being used by the Germans as cannon fodder
Cannon fodder
Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to deliberately fight against hopeless odds in an effort to achieve a strategic goal...
on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
- a repeat of the same traumatic experience from the First World War. This process intensified while the prospect of the Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
, and NDH with them, losing the war was getting more certain. Domobrani dissention, over the sadistic policies of the Ustasha, led to the outright persecution, deportation, and murder of Home Guard soldiers within the Jasenovac concentration camp system.
Defections
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 the Home Guard than Serb-dominated ChetniksChetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
. 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
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
.
On the other hand, among the more loyal and more pro-Axis elements of the NDH, Home Guards developed a reputation of being cowards and traitors. This reputation was not always justified.
The final stages
Following the capitulation of Italy in September 1943 and the first aid shipments from the Western AlliesWestern Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
, the military situation in Yugoslavia began to even more dramatically shift in favour of the Partisans. By mid-1944, many Home Guard personnel and units began to openly side with Partisans, leading to some instances of mass defection
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
s that included battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
-size formations as well as some ZNDH aircraft. By November 1944 the defections and desertion
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
s, as well as the creaming off of troops to the Ustashe Brigades or the 369th, 373rd, and 392nd Croatian Legion divisions (Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
infantry divisions with Croatian troops under 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.
Merge into the Croatian Armed Forces
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, 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
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
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. From early 1945, 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
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
weapons, including mortars.
The Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia and the units of the Croatian Air Force Legion
Croatian Air Force Legion
The Croatian Air Force Legion , or HZL, also known as the Croatian Legion, was a military unit of the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia which fought alongside the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1943 and then back on Croatian soil...
(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
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
and the Soviet Air Force
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
. Although 1944 had been a catastrophic year for 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 109 G and K fighter aircraft and the ZNDH still had 176 aircraft on its strength in April 1945.
By the end of March, 1945, it 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
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, in order to surrender to the British forces advancing north from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
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 the last desperate attempt to seek shelter among Western allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
. This resulted in many Home Guards becoming victims of the Bleiburg massacre
Bleiburg massacre
The Bleiburg massacre, which also encompasses Operation Keelhaul is a term encompassing events that took place during mid-May 1945 near the Carinthian town of Bleiburg, itself some four kilometres from the Austrian-Slovenian border....
that followed and 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 the legendary sportscaster Mladen Delić
Mladen Delic
Mladen Delić was a Croatian sports commentator.He studied law at the University of Belgrade, but switched to the School of physical education and sport in Belgrade where he graduated in 1938...
. In 1945 the Partisans also destroyed the central Home Guard cemetery in Zagreb's Mirogoj Cemetery
Mirogoj Cemetery
The Mirogoj Cemetery is considered to be one of the most beautiful cemetery parks in Europe and, because of its design, numbers among the more noteworthy landmarks in the City of Zagreb....
.
Personnel
- Fedor DragojlovFedor DragojlovFedor Dragojlov was a colonel-general in the Croatian Home Guard, as well as its chief-of-staff from 1943 to 1944. He was allegedly of Eastern Orthodox faith....
- Colonel-General and Chief-of-Staff - Mihajlo LukićMihajlo LukicMihajlo Lukić was colonel brigadier in the Yugoslav Royal Army and a general in the Croatian Home Guard.At the start of the April War, Lukić headed the Triglav Alpine Detachment. From the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia in April 1941 until June he headed the Osijek Division. From...
- General - Franjo ŠimićFranjo ŠimicFranjo Šimić was a Croatian colonel, and later general, in the Croatian Home Guard. Prior to World War II he served as Maria of Romania's adjutant.Šimić retook Šuica and Tomislavgrad in August 1942...
- Colonel - Mato DukovacMato DukovacMato Dukovac was a Croatian World War II fighter ace.Dukovac was born in September 1918 in Surčin, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. He enlisted in the Croatian Air Force soon after the country was declared independent in 1941...
- Ace pilot
List of generals
Killed in action- Salko Alikadić (Kladanj, 18 March 1896 - Doboj, 16 November 1941)
- Eduard Bona Bunić (Ogulin, 14 March 1894 - Travnik, 22 October 1944)
Died of natural causes during World War II
- Kosta Bader (Zemun, 25 July 1874 - Zagreb, 13 March 1944)
- Pero Blašković (Karlovac, 25 June 1883 - Zagreb, 3 April 1945)
Executed in Yugoslavia
- Junuz Ajanović (Žepče, 5 October 1890 - Zagreb, July 1945)
- Vilko Begić (Čazma, January 20, 1874–1946)
- Oton Čuš (Garešnica, 11 February 1901 - Zagreb, 31 January 1949)
- Stjepan Doležil (Gospić, 2 August 1888 - Zagreb, 15 July 1945)
- Julije Fritz (Tenja, 4 August 1900 - Belgrade 1945)
- Mriko Gregorić (Glina, 4 May 1897 - Belgrade, 24 September 1945)
- Đuro Gruić (Srijemska Mitrovica, 6 December 1887 - Belgrade, 24 September 1945)
- August Gustović (Celovec, 5 February 1889 - Belgrade, June 1945)
- Vladimir LaxaVladimir LaxaVladimir Laxa was born in Sisak, in what is now Croatia, and was a distinguished soldier and general. He spent his adult life from the age of 20 as a professional soldier who was highly decorated during the First World War...
Died in Yugoslav prisons
- Milan Desović (Pljevlja, 24 April 1895 - 1960)
- Franjo Dolački (Sveti Ivan Žabno, 28 January 1884 - Stara Gradiška, 3 December 1950)
- Slavko StanzerSlavko StanzerSlavko Štancer was the commander-in-chief and inspector-general of "Domobranstvo" , the regular army of the Independent State of Croatia during the Second World War....
Fate unknown
- Ćiril Danda (Sarajevo, 19 April 1893 - ?)
- Roman Domanik (Sarajevo, 17 May 1891 - ?)
- Stjepan Gaščić (Pisarovina, 8 December 1898 - ?)
- Stjepan Grlić (Zagreb, 27 July 1894 - ?)
Lived in emigration
- Rafael BobanRafael BobanRafael "Ranko" Boban was a member of the Croatian World War II Ustaše regime, and the commander of the Black Legion....
(Grude, 22 December 1907 - ?) - Ivan Brozović (Križevci, 6 February 1891 - Austria, ?)
- Slavko Cesarić (Jastrebarsko, 31 July 1897 - Buenos Aires, ?)
- Matija Čanić (Gospić, 1901 - Buenos Aires, 3 May 1964)
- Đuro Dragičević (Kalesija, 7 November 1890 - Vienna, 28 July 1980)
- Fedor DragojlovFedor DragojlovFedor Dragojlov was a colonel-general in the Croatian Home Guard, as well as its chief-of-staff from 1943 to 1944. He was allegedly of Eastern Orthodox faith....
(Pančevo, 21 August 1881 - Buenos Aires, 8 December 1961)
Home Guard in modern Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
gained independence during the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
, the new government under the presidency of Franjo Tuđman began the process of re-building the historical Home Guards.
Instead of treacherous quisling
Quisling
Quisling is a term used in reference to fascist and collaborationist political parties and military and paramilitary forces in occupied Allied countries which collaborated with Axis occupiers in World War II, as well as for their members and other collaborators.- Etymology :The term was coined by...
s, or at best, a ridiculously inefficient formation, as they were portrayed by the previous communist regime, they are hailed as a symbol of Croatian statehood and military virtue, drawing on the history of the Imperial Croatian Home Guard. The very name "Home Guard" is taken as a symbol of a true Croatian soldier not being involved in any aggressive war or attacking someone else's country. For many modern Croatian nationalists, this is part of a more positive appraisal of the new Home Guards, by which World War II Home Guards presumably did not participate in the war's worst excesses.
The rehabilitation of Home Guards is only reflected in surviving Home Guards receiving pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s and other state benefits. Home Guards disabled during 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 the communist rule, not being able to gain employment, etc.
The local-based Croatian Army regiments are named the Home Guard Regiments (Domobranska pukovnija).