Croatian Home Guard (Croatian: Hrvatsko domobranstvo, often abbr. to Domobrani) was the name used for the regular armed forces of the Independent State of Croatia which existed during World War II. The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) is a was a Nazi puppet state founded during World War II when in April 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded by the forces of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, geographically encompassing most of modern-day Croatia and Bosnia... Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France/Free France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others• Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, • ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II...

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 Yugoslavia. It was done with the authorisation of German occupation authorities. A Home Guard is a part-time civilian reserve military force similar to a militia. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a kingdom in the Balkans which existed from the end of World War I until World War II. It occupied an area made up of the present-day states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, and most of present-day Slovenia... Belligerent military occupation, occurs when one nations military garrisons occupy all or part of the territory of another nation or recognized belligerent during an invasion (during or after a war). ... In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. ...

Its name was taken from the old Royal Croatian-Hungarian Home Guard - the Croatian section of the Honved component of the Austro-Hungarian Army. The Honvéd was a specifically Hungarian army within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, distinct from the Austrian Landwehr. ... The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ...

Croatian Home Guard was originally limited to 16 infantry battalions and 2 cavalry squadrons - 16,000 men in total. Soon, due to the inability of the NDH to extend its authority throughout its entire territory, notably in the Serb-populated areas, the Germans allowed Croatian Home Guard to be expanded. The Home Guard reached its maximum size at the end of 1943, when it had 130,000 men. Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme, First World War. ... In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ... Cavalry is also a common misspelling of the Biblical hill Calvary. ... A Squadron is a grouping of aircraft, naval vessels, armoured fighting vehicles or soldiers. ... Serbs (in the Serbian language Срби, Srbi) are a south Slavic people living chiefly in Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ...

Croatian Home Guard also included a small air force, and an even smaller navy, limited by a special treaty with fascist Italy. The navy comprised a few boats. An air force is a military organization that primarily operates in aerial warfare. ... The multinational Combined Task Force One Five Zero (CTF-150) A rare occurrence of a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea. ... Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, refers to the right-wing authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Lobster boat A boat is a watercraft, usually smaller than most ships. ...

Weaknesses

Despite being best-armed, best-supplied and having the best logistics and infrastructure of all domestic military formations in World War II Yugoslavia, the Croatian Home Guard failed to become efficient fighting force for a variety of reasons. It has been suggested that Logistics Overview be merged into this article or section. ... Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France/Free France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others• Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, • ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II...

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, they were mistrusted by new Ustasha regime. Instead, the higher ranks were filled by presumably more reliable former Austro-Hungarian officers. Those men were old, 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. An officer is a member of a military service who holds a position of responsibility. ... Croats (Croatian: Hrvati) are a south Slavic people mostly living in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (where theyre one of the constitutive nations). ... The Ustaše (often spelled Ustashe in English; singular Ustaša or Ustasha) was a Croatian right-wing organisation put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers in 1941. ... Military rank, or simply rank, is a system of grading seniority and command within military organizations. ... Retirement is the status of a worker who has stopped working. ...

The other, more practical, reason was the rivarly between the Croatian Home Guard and the Ustasha Militia (Croatian Ustaška vojnica), the less numerous but yet more reliable military formation. Those two formations never properly integrated their activiteis and Militia was gradually taking more and more dwindling resources from Home Guard.

Third and, arguably, the most important reason was gradually declining support for Ustasha regime among ethnic Croats, first fueled by the abandonment of Dalmatia to Italy, then by the prospect of the Home Guard being used by Germans as cannon fodder on the Eastern Front - a repeat of generally traumatic experience from the First World War. This process intensified with more certain prospect of Axis powers, and NDH with them, losing the Second World War. Dalmatia (Croatian Dalmacija, Italian Dalmazia) is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, (mostly) in modern Croatia, spreading between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. ... Cannon Fodder is an expression used to denote the treatment of armed forces as a worthless commodity to be expended. ... The Eastern Front of World War II was the theatre of war covering the conflict in eastern Europe, notorious for its unprecedented ferocity, destruction, and immense loss of life. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Defections

Even in 1941 this began to reflect in Croatian Home Guards being infiltrated by resistance groups. Partisans, who were based on non-sectarian ideology and had Croatian statehood as part of their platform, were more successful in making inroads into the Home Guard than Serb-dominated Chetniks. A year later, this manifested in Croatian Partisan commanders referring to Home Guard as their "supply depot", due to Home Guard personnel being reliable source of arms, ammunition, supplies and intelligence, or the fact that Home Guard units preferred surrender or retreat to any serious combat in anything less than completely favourable situatuon. On the other hand, among the more loyal and more pro-Axis elements of NDH, Home Guards developed reputation of cowards and traitors, although this reputation was not always justified, especially among units recruited from Bosnia or among the Bosnian Muslims. Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France/Free France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others• Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, • ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II... The Column The Rebellion The Yugoslav Partisans were the main resistance movement engaged in the fight against the Axis forces in the Balkans during World War II. // Origins The Yugoslav Partisans went under the official name of Peoples Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia (Narodno-oslobodilačka vojska... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... The Chetniks (Serbian četnici, четници) were a Serbian nationalist and royalist organization with origins in the 19th century Serbian movement opposing Ottoman rule. ... The word arms may refer to: The arm is anatomically the part of the body extending from the shoulder to the elbow. ... Boxes of ammunition clog a warehouse in Baghdad Ammunition is a generic military term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ... The supply and demand model describes how prices vary as a result of a balance between product availability at each price (supply) and the desires of those with purchasing power at each price (demand). ... Intelligence (abbreviated or ) is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... Look up surrender in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term retreat has several related meanings, all of which have in common the notion of safety or temporarily removing oneself from ones usual environment. ... Combat, or fighting, is purposeful conflict between one or more persons, often involving violence and intended to establish dominance over the opposition. ... Cowardice is a vice. ... In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation. ... Motto: none Anthem: Intermeco Capital Sarajevo Largest city Sarajevo Official language(s) Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Government Presidents Prime Minister Federal republic Sulejman Tihić1 (Bosniak) Borislav Paravac (Serb) Ivo Miro Jović (Croat) Adnan Terzic Independence From Yugoslavia 5 April 1992 Area  â€¢ Total  â€¢ Water (%)   51,129 km² (124th) Negligible Population  â€¢ July... Bosniaks (natively: Bošnjaci) are South Slavs descended from those who converted to Islam during the Ottoman period (15th-19th century). ...

Following the capitulation of Italy in September 1943 and the first aid shipments from the Western Allies, 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 mass defections that included battalion-size formations and officers in the rank of general. By November 1944 the defections and desertions reduced the size of the Croatian Home Guard to 70,000 men. The Western Allies were the democracies and their colonial peoples, within the broader coalition of Allies during World War II. The term is generally understood to refer to the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations (from 1939), exiled forces from Occupied Europe (from 1940), the United States (from 1941), and... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... A defector is generally a person who gives up allegiance to a certain country in exchange for allegiance to another. ... General is a high military rank, used by nearly every country in the world. ... Desertion is the act of abandoning or withdrawing support from an entity to which one has given. ...

NDH government, under heavy German pressure, reacted to this by formally integrating Croatian Home Guard and Ustasha Militia. New and more reliable officers were appointed, and draconian measures introduced to increase discipline and prevent further defections. As a result, by May 1945, the NDH armed forces in total numbered 130,000 men. Draco is an Athenian law scribe, whose laws were described as Draconian. Draconian (D&D) refers to creatures unique to the Dragonlance fantasy world. ...

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. This resulted in many Home Guards becoming victims of Bleiburg massacre 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. Offensive may relate to In sports or combat, the team which is attacking, pitching or moving forwards In language or morals, terms and concepts which are unacceptable to some people, such as swearing and profanity. ... The Bleiburg massacre occurred near to the end of World War II, during May 1945. ... The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a Balkan state that existed from 1945 to 1992. ...

Home Guard in modern Croatia

As Croatia gained independence during the Yugoslav wars, the new government under the presidency of Franjo Tuđman began the process of historical revision of Home Guards and their role in World War II, in many ways similar to the process currently applied to the Chetniks in Serbia. The Yugoslav wars were a series of violent conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia that took place between 1991 and 2001. ... Franjo TuÄ‘man (May 14, 1922 - December 10, 1999) was the first president of Croatia in the 1990s. ... Serbia and Montenegro  â€“ Serbia    â€“ Kosovo and Metohia        (UN administration)    â€“ Vojvodina  â€“ Montenegro Official language Serbian1 Capital Belgrade Independence- Declared from the Ottoman Empire Gained autonomy 1817 Independence July 13, 1878 Area – Total – % water 88,361 km² n/a Population – Total (2002) (not including data for Kosovo and Metohia Province) – Density 7. ...

Instead of treacherous quisling, or at best, ridiculously inefficient formation as they have been in previous regime, they are hailed as symbol of Croatian statehood and military virtue. The very name "Home Guard" is taken as a symbol of true Croatian soldier not being involved in any aggressive war or attacking someone else's country - although involvement of the Home Guards in Battle of Stalingrad or in the German offensive in 1941 Serbia points otherwise. For many modern Croatian nationalists, a more positive appraisal of Home Guards, in which Home Guards presumably didn't participate (in a same way many try to separate Wehrmacht from Nazism). Look up Quisling in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Quisling is the surname of Vidkun Quisling the leader of the Norwegian fascist party Nasjonal Samling (NS) and a staunch ally of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was executed by firing squad for his crimes. ... Combatants Axis Powers Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Friedrich Paulus Georgy Zhukov Vasily Chuikov Strength 500,000 1,700,000 Casualties 850,000 military 750,000+ military 40,000+ civilian The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in World War II and is considered the bloodiest battle... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 Wehrmacht (help· info) (Defence force) was the name of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. ... The term National Socialism has been used in self-description by a number of different political groups and ideologies, some of which have no connection with the Nazis; see National socialism (disambiguation). ...

Rehabilitation of Home Guards officially reflected in surviving Home Guards receiving pensions and other state benefits, just like the Serbian Parlament did in 2005 equalising the pension rights of the surviving WWII chetnicks and partisans. A pension is a steady income paid to a person (usually after retirement). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The local-based Croatian ground army regiments are named the Home Guard Regiments (Domobranska pukovnija). Croatian Ground Army (Croatian: Hrvatska kopnena vojska), commonly referred as Croatian Army (Hrvatska vojska) is a branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia. ...