What was Ustasha?
O Ustasha,also known as Use, was an extreme right-wing party founded in 1929 and defended the creation of an Independent State of Croatia. During the Second World War, this party took power from an alliance with the Nazi invaders and started a period of intense violence in the region of the former Yugoslavia. The Ustasha promoted the persecution of Orthodox Serbs (considered enemies of the Croats), Jews and Gypsies, sending many of these people to concentration camps.
How did it come about and what was the Ustasha's ideology?
Ustasha emerged from a extreme nationalism existing among the Croatian population since the 19th century. This Croatian nationalism was strengthened by the rise of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, after First World War. The main objective of the Ustasha was the emancipation of Croatia, that is, its separation from Yugoslavia for the formation of an independent Croatian state.
The Ustasha advocated the formation of independent Croatia through violent actions such as terrorist acts and fighting. direct armed, as this party claimed that the constitutional means had failed to conquer the independence. The use of violence was aimed mainly at reaching the
Orthodox Serbs, who concentrated power in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.In addition to defending the use of violence as a tool to conquer Croatia's independence, the Ustasha had in its ideology elements originating from the italian fascism It's from German Nazism. Other characteristics that can be cited regarding the Ustasha ideology are: chauvinism (extreme nationalism), xenophobia (mainly against Serbs), anti-Semitism, glorification of violence, contempt for liberal democracy, etc.
The party leader was Ante Pavelic and was called by the party members of Poglavnik. This term would be the Croatian counterpart for Fuhrer, used by the Nazis, and Duce, used by the Italian Fascists, and served to pay reverence meaning “supreme leader”.
The foundation, in fact, of the Ustasha took place in 1930, with the group's activities concentrated in Italy, since, in Yugoslavia, it would suffer political persecution. The party had the support of many Croatians spread throughout Europe and even had their financial assistance. In Croatia, the party received considerable support from people from the lower strata of society (usually peasants).
How did the Ustasha take power in Croatia?
The Ustasha rose to power in Croatia from the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Nazis in April 1941, during World War II. This invasion led to the ousting of Pedro II, king of Yugoslavia. The Ustasha's rise to power only came after negotiations between Germany, Italy and Ante Pavelic, the leader of that party.
The Nazis occupied the region and, together with the Italians, carried out a great territorial division of Yugoslavia. To assume power, Ante Pavelic had to accept that part of the territory would be occupied by Germans, Italians and Hungarians. In practice, the Ustasha was left with control of a region corresponding to part of present-day Croatia and Bosnia.
Furthermore, the Croatians had to accept the appointment of the Duke of Spoleto as King of Croatia and submit to German interference, even in the region that was directly controlled by the Ustasha. After accepting all these conditions, the Nazis created the Independent State of Croatia.
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This Ustasha-controlled puppet state existed until it was defeated by the Partisans Yugoslavs in 1945. During its period in power, the Ustasha carried out intense terror in the region, persecuting and killing thousands of Orthodox Serbs, Jews and Gypsies.
How was Ustasha's period of domination over Croatia?
As soon as they took power in Croatia, the Ustasha, led by Ante Pavelic, started an intense persecution, mainly against the Orthodox Serbs. Pavelic received authorization from Hitler to start his program of persecution, and so, in June 1941, massive massacres of Orthodox Serbs took place in different parts of Bosnia and Croatia.
Ustasha militias were sent to Serbian villages with the mission of destroying them and executing their inhabitants, regardless of whether they were men, children or women. Furthermore, these militias promoted the destruction of Orthodox churches (the Ustasha was a party that proclaimed itself Catholic) and had as their main targets Orthodox priests.
The policy of persecution promoted by the Ustasha was evidenced by a speech given by the Minister of Justice of Croatia, Milovan Zanic:
This state, our nation, is only for Croats and nobody else. There are no methods and means that we Croats will not use to make this nation truly ours and cleanse it of all Orthodox Serbs. All those who came to our country 300 years ago must disappear. This is the policy of our State and during its implementation we will do nothing but follow the principles of the Ustase|1|.
The persecution promoted by the Ustasha resulted in the death of more than 300 thousand Serbs until 1945. In addition, thousands of Jews and Gypsies were also sent, along with the Serbs, to concentration camps built in Croatia (the biggest camp was called Jasenovac). Jews were accused – as in Nazism – of being the creators of Bolshevism and, in 1941 alone, approximately 30,000 Jews had already been killed in the country.|2|.
The death toll of Jews would have been greater had it not been for the performance of elements of Croatian society, such as the Archbishop of Zagreb (Croatian capital), Lojzije Stepinac, who secretly acted in the rescue of hundreds of Jews.
The Ustasha's hold in Croatia was weakening as Nazi Germany was defeated and was officially ousted from power by the Partisans, Communists led by General Josip Broz Tito. Croatia then again became an integral part of Yugoslavia and only achieved its independence in 1991, after the dismemberment of that nation.
|1| OGNYANOVA, Irina. Nationalism and National Policy in Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945), p. 15, my translation. Available on here (in English).
|2| Idem, p. 21.
*Image credits: nephthali and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
