1941: Croatia

Croatia, a kingdom carved out of Yugoslavia as a result of German aggression against that Balkan kingdom in April 1941. This creation of the 'independent' kingdom of Croatia was a characteristic product of the 'New Order.' Croatia had been a kingdom for only a very brief period in the early middle ages. The first Croatian prince who claimed the title of king was Tomislav about 910 ad, but it is doubtful whether he really possessed the title. Undoubtedly Zvonimir was crowned King by the legate of Pope Gregory VII in 1076, but he died in 1089, and thereby the short-lived kingdom of Croatia came to an end. The land was united with Hungary, later on occupied by the Turks, and after the Turkish defeat in 1718 came under the rule of the Habsburgs. In the nineteenth century the Croats, like other submerged Slavonic peoples, went through a national revival, and on Oct. 28, 1918, the National Council of the Croats assumed authority in the Habsburg lands inhabited by Croats and the next day proclaimed the independence of Croatia. On Nov. 9, its representatives signed an agreement with the Serbs for the formation of a common state of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Prince Alexander, regent of Serbia, proclaimed on Dec. 1, 1918, at the formal request of the Croats, the union of a 'free and united Yugoslavia.'

This Yugoslav unity was progressively undermined during the last few years by a Croat extremist organization of Fascist terrorists, called Ustasha, under the leadership of Dr. Ante Pavelitch, who was regarded as responsible for the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia in Marseille in October 1934.

With the invasion of Yugoslavia by German troops in April 1941, the Ustashi seized power in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, and with the help of the German armies proclaimed the independence of the country. The crown of Zvonimir was to be revived. According to an agreement between Germany and Italy. Croatia was to fall under the control of Italy, and accordingly the new Croatian government offered the crown of Croatia to a member of the Italian ruling dynasty, Aimone, Duke of Spoleto, who assumed the title of King Aimone I in May 1941. It should however be noted that during the whole of 1941 the new king did not once visit his kingdom, probably fearing for his safety there or not believing in the permanency of the new arrangements.

The government of Dr. Pavelitch introduced into Croatia an outright Fascist régime. In many ways, especially in the persecution and treatment of the very large Serb minority and of the very small number of Jews, the Ustashi proved even more brutal and cruel than their Fascist models. The country however, could not achieve any degree of stability. The large majority of Croats had been organized in the Croat Peasant Party which was now excluded from the government. Most of its members remained in opposition. The Serb guerrillas carried on a bitter warfare, and the mountainous regions of the new country frequently were under their control. The frontiers of the country were not definitely settled for a long time, especially the frontiers with Italy on the Dalmatian coast. The Croat national aspirations were in no way fulfilled. Large Croat territories of great historic importance were annexed outright by Italy, territories which were also of strategic and economic importance because they included almost the whole Adriatic seacoast and most of the important ports with their excellent hinterland. Croatia was only allowed a small outlet to the Adriatic Sea, and even this outlet was put under Italian military administration. Permanent economic and military Italian missions were despatched to Croatia to coordinate the whole economic life and political set-up of the new country with Italy. Under these conditions the 'independence' of Croatia became entirely illusory. The Croats had felt themselves threatened for many years by Italy, and now in the 'New Order' they were subject to Italian control. There was little comfort in the privilege granted the new kingdom to join the Axis. See also YUGOSLAVIA.