The Promise of a Clean Regime | An Independent State of Croatia TL

[John_Smith]

Of course, we know what's coming up for the Germans and Italians: disaster in the Soviet Union and North Africa (eventually)...

BTW, I expect Croatia to start negotiating to join the Allies at the first available opportunity...

Naturally, it's going to happen rather soon, especially with the upcoming failures in North Africa and Russia.

I'm fairly certain Neu-Belgrad wasn't a thing until after WW2, with Bežanija being the dominant settlement, which I'm sure just fell under the jurisdiction of Semlin.

Yes, checked it, and you are correct, thank you for pointing this out to me! I'll have it fixed as soon as I can. If anyone finds more mistakes and things that need to be fixed make sure you share them here, I appreciate all the feedback I receive, no matter the content!

 

[Changundramon]

And so, Pavelić rears his head. I am not sure Germany would necessarily fail in Russia- at least it would take more time for them to bleed out, especially in the area of SE Europe is better controlled with regards to Communist partisans.

 

[John_Smith]

And so, Pavelić rears his head. I am not sure Germany would necessarily fail in Russia- at least it would take more time for them to bleed out, especially in the area of SE Europe is better controlled with regards to Communist partisans.

Definitely, I will try and point out as many changes as I can pertaining to the success of Croatia as well as Mussolini's downfall in Italy.
Germany... well, I don't think all that much would change in the East, at least when the outcome is taken into consideration but yes, the timing of certain events will be different than IOTL.

 

[Triune Kingdom]

Very good story, with an interesting premise, I did not expect to find a Croatia-centric story here, but I was pleasantly suprised. I was also suprised to see Mussolini being removed so quickly, even if Hitler demanded it, but this is your story.

So, after this, what is next?

Homeguard is going to become rather busy, rather soon, once all the Communists come crawling out of the woodwork, and I wonder how will the Homeguard fare this time around. Its performance is sure to be much better then in real life, as they did fight against Italy and not just seen huge part of their country being signed off without a fight. They hae also seen combat, or at least some of them did, and their commanders as well, and that is certianly something that is going to hurt the Partisans. There is also no Ustaše, so a lot of equipment and competent men are going to go to Homeguard, which in turn will make it a much more capable force.

Of course, equipment is still going to be a constant problem, as the only ones that Croatia can rely on are Germans, and they are somewhat busy in the East, so who knows what they have availlable, what they are willing to give, and what would they ask for it. Can Croatia in this point in time even produce any kind of weapons or equipment? I think boots, uniforms and leather gear should be well within their reach, but weapons or ammunition I think are simply not possible. They were forced to accept a King, and he did have some conections with the Nazi leadership, especially Goering, so something may come about from there, but we will have to wait and see.

As for the civilian side of things, I think Maček would try and improve the lot of the common people, so will we see any kind of projects for that? In NDH they built Radničko naselje Ante Starčević, also commonly known as Pavelićevo naselje, and there were extensive planns to improve and expand agriculture, which was a staple of its econommy, at least according to this. Of course they have to improve and in many cases create infrastructure, with very few resources at their disposal, in the middle of the global war, with constant threat from both within and without. Fun times are ahead indeed.

As I sayd before, excellent story, and I hope we see more soon.

 

[Triune Kingdom]

Well, I was interesited, so I went and looked up in more detail the Croatian Homeguard of WW2. The more I looked, the more I realized that it never really had a chance of being any kind of effective fighting force, because of variety of reasons. Both the Italians and Germans constantly intefered, during both its creation and existance, with Italians constantly trying to limit both its size and duties, while the Germans were trying to make them a primarily occupational, static force, whose only duties would be to secure the lines of comunications and to serve as a defensive force, in case of Allied landing, while not presenting a valid threat to German interests there. To that we must add the lack of trust Pavelić had towards them, and their leader Kvaternik, which resulted in Homeguard lacking men, officers and weapons, which meant that they never were as good as they could have been. Lastly, at least some of the problems, could be related to its high level officers, and Slavko Kvaternik, these men were generally veterans of WW1, lacking understanding and training for more modern war, while many former Royal Yugoslav Army officers were turned away as politicaly unreliable and many of them joined Partisans later on.

Here, situation is sure to be much more different, without many of the problems the army faced. It is going to be a much smaller force, but hopefully a much more competent, and better led and equiped then it was in real life. I have seen that there are plans for Homeguard to be between 35 to 50 thousand men, with up to 10 thousand in reserves, and I think that is sufficient to keep control of their territory, and to combat the inevitable Communist guerrilas. If we add to that Oružništvo, and HGSZ we may be talking about substantial numbers of men of varied quality.

Has some thought been made about organization of these units, some tables of organization and equipment (TOE), so we can see what they have to work with. I see that they decided on regiments of some 2.5 thousand men, and that seems to be a rather decent thing? It seems that they would benefit more by just keeping the regiments, only combining them in larger units (brigades, etc.) when there is the need for it, as we can see with benefit of hindsight that standard infantry divisions were unsuited for their needs.

In regards to equipment, unlike in real life, their only source of armaments is going to be Germany, and what they manage to source from other countries under German occupation, provided of course these countries are willing to sell in the first place. Their army is not as large as it was in real life, if we consider that we have some 60 thousand soldiers, with many of them already having their weapons, and many of the paramilitary organizations (Oružništvo and HGSZ) already armed with small arms, and not requiring anything else. Problem will be finding heavy weapons, such as machine guns and artillery, various vehicles (trucks, cars and artillery tractors), and aircraft. These things Germans lack as well, and acquiring them will not be easy.

 

[John_Smith]

Snip.

Thank you very much, I am incredibly glad to see people liking my story and posting such extensive replies!

I am juggling a few ideas at this moment, but I still have to decide which will be covered first, and if some should be scrapped or not, since I don't want to veer off too much into Implausible Territory.

While I do agree that Mussolini's downfall may be seen as a bit of a stretch, I still think Hitler's influence would win over in the end, especially with such colossal failures as Greece and now Croatia. Farinacci does seem like a more obedient servant than Mussolini, plus his worldview and code of conduct aligned much more with Hitler's.

The Home Guard definitely benefited from the war experience-wise, and of course the pro-HSS newspapers will certainly help with extra recruitment if needed. This new strength of the Home Guard will be shown in later chapters when things start heating up, but we will have a few simpler chapters until then.

Croatia is pretty much on its own, the Germans will be too busy in the East to care much, but Philipp's friendship with Göring might turn out to be a valuable asset to have, but it all depends on how much Maček is willing to push the King, as well as Philipp's dedication to protecting Croatia's interests.

He does seem like a guy that would care a lot about the common man, so these kinds of projects and ideas will be tried and they try and come to fruition after the election (the current chapter is 8 days away from it), but of course, the lack of resources will be a major burden that will have to be overcome.

Snip.

Well said, and ITTL the Home Guard is already relieved of a few of these problems that you mentioned. The Royal Italian Army is completely forced off its territory, and instead TTL's Croatia is only a German puppet state, which will make communication easier (still not easy, but better than OTL). Plus the paranoia Pavelić felt about Kvaternik, as well as Pavelić's constant preference of Ustaška vojnica over the Home Guard is nonexistent in this timeline, which will make it a much more efficient fighting force in the long run. Maček will also be a more favorable leader for many KJV officers, since he still wanted to maintain friendly relations with other nationalities, and the burden of OTL's distrust and political unreliability Pavelić labeled many of them with will be gone. The issue will still arise with the lack of understanding of modern war many of the high ranking military men had (such as Slavko Kvaternik who you mentioned).

I haven't given the organization of units much thought, actually, since I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to such things, but any help and suggestions are definitely welcome! I think that regiments will work best, and combining them into bigger units when needed is the way to go.

In the situation that Croatia finds itself in ITTL, it will have to share the same problems that Germany is suffering. After all, Germany considers Croatia a puppet state, and if Croatia has anything beneficial (including anything, not just the military) for the Reich, then those useful things will be transported there, which will be shown in future chapters, but it did happen IOTL.

 

[Triune Kingdom]

@John_Smith Yes, the conflict between Pavelić and Kvaternik, existance of Vojnica, as well as German and Italian meddling really crippled any potential Homeguard had as a fighting force. This time around, without all of these factors, with some victories (in many cases draws) against the Italians, under their belt, morale and fighting spirit of them will be miles better then it was in our time.

Numbers should not be such a problem, if they limit themselves up to 60 thousand men, enough volunteers should be availlable to cover all their needs, at least in the short term, because numbers do not tell the whole story. Not all of these 60k men carry a rifle or are directely involved in combat, an army also needs quartermasters, doctors, veterinarians, armorers, drivers..... Aside from various battalions, regiments, brigades etc., there will also be a need for garrison forces in many parts of the country, especially parts of Bosnia and Krajina, where there is a possibility of insurrection and people providing aid to the guerrilas. There will also be need for actual combat units, mobile formations whose task is to actually hunt down and defeat Partisans, and it is possible that Homeguard is going to end up with something similar to what they had in real life, mainly mountain and jaeger (gorske i lovačke) brigades, as they were very suited for the type of warfare common.

Also, do you have any numbers for Oružništvo and HGSZ, so we can see what further forces are availlable if they are needed. While they never will be on the same level as regular army, neither in equipment, leadership or training, they could still be relied upon to take upon themselves some tasks, such as garrison duty for example, thus freeing up regular army units for other, more crucial duties.

Better performance against Italians, may also have an effect of Germans being much more willing to give greater amounts of equipment, since there is no "shared" duty with the Italians. We could also see a much greater and earlier German involvement in training of Homeguard, with Croatian officers and soldiers going to Germany for military education courses, with positive knock on effects on their military capabilities.

And lastly, since Croatia is now a kingdom, does that mean Homeguard is now named Royal Croatian Homeguard?

 

[Triune Kingdom]

Also, in regards to value of Croatia to the Germans, there are boxite mines, with 500k tons output per year, and that is something Germans would find a use for. There is also relatively well developed logging industry, with a long tradition, also something that has its uses in war industries. Also there are considerable agricultural areas, which, if properly employed, can easily feed the entirety of Croatia, with quite a bit left over for export. Large part of Dalmatia has not been lost, so it too can do its part to the rest of the country. Last, and perhaps the most valuable resource availlable are the people themselves. Germany will need a constantly increasing number of workers, both to increase its production and to replace people concripted into the armed forces, and Croatia can be source of generally willing labour, on which one can count not to purposly sabotage production, unlike slave/forced/POW labour.

Militarily, Croatia should also provide some advantages to the Germany. It would be essentialy self-policing, with relatively loyal and competent forces ready and willing to combat any guerrilas. It also economizes on German manpower, so thqt there is less need for German units garrisoning the country, aside from possibly token military presence in larger cities. So units that would be fighting Communists in Bosnia in OTL, could be sent to Ukraine, Russia or Poland to fight the guerrilas there. Either way, a net gain for the Germans.

Of course Croatian military would be a drain on the military equipment availlable to the Germans, but we must take several things into consideration. Croatian military needs are not that large in the first place. If we assume that most of the first line units are already fully armed in regards to small arms (rifles and LMGs), requiring only artillery and HMGs, and even that should be present in at least some amounts, from captured Yugoslav army stocks. Of course they will require more sophisticated things, such as trucks, staff cars, tanks and the like, but then again their needs are relatively small, and could be covered by supplying them with captured or obsolete vehicles.

Aircraft needs should be covered, at least in the short term and until the spares run out, and it is not like Croatian airforce needs to darken the sky with their aircraft or fight a prolonged air campaign. Again, obsolete and/or captured aircraft could be easily availlable, with a preference given to bombers/recon types. Various trainer aircraft can also play a role, not just in their intended purpose, but also can be armed and used in anti-partisan operations, where their ease of use, simplicity, reliability and oftentimes rough field/STOVL capability should serve them well.

I would even dare to say that the greatest need Homeguard has is not the one for equipment, but rather for military and technical education, with only nation even remotely willing and able to give that level and amount of expertise being Germany.

As for organization of various units, feel free to simply copy German TOE, under the assumption that German influence/cooperation is greater and more pervasive then in OTL. I see most units being a variations of light infantry formations employed by the Germans, with lower proportions of heavy armaments, less automatic weapons, having little to no motorized supply, relying almost entirely on horses and lacking tanks and other AFV, or having them in much lower proportions then the German units.

Second line/garrison/static units can also be a variations on the German theme. Little to no artillery, lacking/low numbers of automatic weapons, in some cases not even having horses for supply purposes, generally armed with obsolete weapons.

Lastly, there is going to be a need for some sort of mobile formation, able to move at a much greater speed then other rank-and-file units. These can be a variety of units, equiped with everything from trucks, horses or bicycles, generally with what is availlable. One, maybe two of these formations should be within their reach, up to battalion size, perhaps having a platoon/company of tanks, depending what is availlable at the time.

Maybe an armored train, with improvised armor could have its uses, and one can simply put tanks on empty flatcars and use them in that way. Barring some sort of mine laid on the tracks, Partisans will have nothing capable of harming it for quite some time, and it would serve as a formidable way of consolidating their influence in contested areas.

 

[Triune Kingdom]

Hopefully somebody other then @Zagan reads my writings, this is supposed to be forum after all, not a place for my monologues.

Hopefully Croatia is going to establish contact with the Western powers soon, and try to ensure its survival in the immediate postwar period. Croatia does have a substantial diaspora in USA, and they could be very useful tool for the newly established state, seeking recognition from countries other then Axis powers.

Croatia could also be seen as rather useful by Western Allies, perhaps Churchill, he was obsessed with his "soft underbelly" , and having a country willing to switch sides and provide allied armies with secure foothold on the continent would be very valuable. There is also a question of Western support for the Communist Partisans, and while it took until 1943 for them to be recognized by Western Allies and start receiving support, one can assume things will be somewhat different this time around.

Either way, I would say that the greatest losers would be the Partisans, since state of Croatia is fundamentaly differerent then in OTL. Dalmatia has not only not been signed over, but has been actually fought over, and relatively succesfully one may notice when one considers the disparaty of forces between Croatia and Italy. So you will not have a pool of discontent people, ready recruits for partisans, since they felt betrayed by their own government. Of course Croatia did lose many of its islands, but even back then islands were relatively sparsly populated, and between both Regia Marina and Croatian Navy that actually exists, many would be partisans would meet their end in the Adriatic.

Also, Serbian population is much more content then in OTL, with no "Wild Ustaše" roaming about and no government sanctioned persecutions, number of people willing to take arms is substantialy reduced then what it was in real life.

Of course you still have dedicated communists, but their presence should be rather small, since their potential pool of recruits has been substantialy decreased, and while there is sill enough of them to be a problem, I frankly do not believe they will ever reach the size and the threat of their OTL counterparts.

That is all from me for now. I intend to take a closer look at what aircraft would be availlable to the airforce of Croatia, and hopefully I will have something soon to post here.

 

[John_Smith]

Snip

Indeed, the only real issue would be the lack of experience many of its generals had IOTL and will still have ITTL if facing the Partisans, but then again, the Partisan insurrection will most likely be lessened due to the general feeling of contentment in the populace as well as the generals and soldiers being sent to Stockerau for better training.

HSZ and HGZ were disbanded and absorbed into the Home Guard and Oružništvo respectively, unfortunately I cannot find any definite numbers, other than an estimated 200 000 thousand (according to Ivan Košutić, which seems like a bit of a stretch if you ask me), so we really don't have anything certain in this instance.

Correct, it is Kraljevsko hrvatsko domobranstvo, which will be addressed in a future update.

Snip.

It all depends on many factors, some of which might be a burden later, but we still have a while until we can get to see the real side effects of these.

The issue with self-policing is... would the Germans really allow it? Especially since Croatia rebelled against one of their allies after only two months of its existence, and if things start to escalate in Serbia? I don't think they would be as lenient and trusting of a puppet state they created, especially one with a rebellious streak going for it.

Yes, I do agree, the cooperation between the Wehrmacht and the Home Guard will be increased in comparison to OTL, and it is reasonable to assume they will make use of older and obsolete vehicles and equipment, since they won't be needing it as much as the Germans will, and the Germans might become stingier as the events of the East slowly unfold.

I will make sure to address the issue of additional training that the General Staff and the Home Guardsmen are in need of.

That seems reasonable, after all, with greater cooperation comes greater influence of the stronger force (Germany in this case).

I'll certainly keep these details in mind and use them when the opportunity arises, thank you for going into so many details, I really appreciate all the help I get with matters such as these!

 

[Triune Kingdom]

snip

I would not even say that the inexperience, or lack of modern war experience in amongst its generals would pose such a handicap to the Homeguard TTL, because its lower ranked officers, from colonels down, and its NCOs are somewhat more experienced thanks to the conflict with Italy. And in Counter-Insurgency operations I would consider tactical operations somewhat more important then the strategic ones, even though the strategic operations do play an important part in those operations as well. Having the Croatian officers and NCOs go through the training at Stockerau will certianly make the Homeguard quality overcome some of its other limitations, and ensure that the Partisans have a much harder time then they had in OTL. The number of men sent to be trained can be up to a regiment in strenght, and after 6 months or so, these men can be broken up, and used to pass on their knowledge and skills to other units.

As for the numbers of HGSZ, when I asked about them I meant about the numbers of organized men, men actually armed with firearms instead of with clubs. From a several sources, I have managed to find that they had roughly some 3 thousand men in total, organized in 3 battalions, along with two independent formations, a cavalry and a motorized companies, of 200 men each. So, a useful addition to the fighting strenght of the Croatian forces.

snip

I would dare to say that even if they do not allow Croatian forces to run around completely unsupervised, I am quite sure situation is going to be much different then in OTL, where Germans had to approve actions of units the size of battalions (1000 men), and higher. We may also see, if not none, then at least a reduced numbers of German units, I am not very sure but I think there were 4 German divisions present? The Homeguard also has somewhat proven themselves against the Italians, and I would hardly call that a rebellion, as Germans were almost a neutral observer in the conflict. And do not forget that some members of SS considered Croatians Slavicized Goths, much better then the Italians in the eyes of some Germans, and the Croat performance against them may be helpful in the eyes of the more racialy inclined members of the Third Reich.

Good thing is that Croatian forces will require relatively miniscule amounts of equipment, and the more advanced needs such as tanks and aircraft can be comfortably filled by equipment so obsolete even Germans would not use it.

Panzer I tanks are a prime example, useless against any peer opponent, but rather adequate for counter-insurgency due to its relatively small size, weight and relative simplicity. Same with FT-17 tanks Germans captured in rather large numbers from the French, while rather useless for a modern war, and a waste of fuel IMHO, they can be put on flatcars, and used in armoured trains, as was done in OTL.

Aircraft are a bit harder, but not impossible problem. Croatian airforce has inherited a rather mixed types of aircraft, something that will certianly cause numerous problems regarding maintenance and training. But they really do not need frontline aircraft in the first place.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

 

[Changundramon]

Churchill would need to be swayed seriously by someone, as he probably preferred the Royalist Yugoslavian Chetniks more than any other resistance group. I think that here, Chetniks vs. Domobrans will be the main fight, with Partisans playing a minor role.

 

[John_Smith]

His eyes followed the small frame of a tired man as he cautiously paced around the tiny confines of the room. While the choice of a small unassuming hotel in Varaždin seemed rather fitting in hindsight, when Vladko Maček suggested the idea, it was met with lackluster reception, with most of his battalion of loyal bodyguards proposing other locations, but the Ban was vehement in his choice. Danko Jović [1], one of the youngest men tasked with His Excellency's safety, had no intentions of going against Vođa's [2] decisions so he kept quiet, not uttering a single comment, instead obeying his superiors' commands obediently, now finding himself with three other older guards in the same room as Maček.

Idyllic photograph of Varaždin in the 1930s​

The initial happiness after the Marburg Treaty quickly disappeared off his comrades' faces, and was instead replaced with reserved optimism, especially after recent rumors that have increasingly started to show up. Of course, word travels quite fast when it has positive connotations, but even faster when the news are bad, and these definitely belonged to the latter category. According to his friend, who heard it from his friend, who in turn heard it from another friend, apparently eavesdropped on one of many conversations held between Vladko Maček and Đuka Kemfelja, but the things he apparently heard were rather surprising to many.

The long thought to be forgotten Communist Party of Yugoslavia, an unassuming relic of the past in the eyes of many, with only few distant disturbing memories left remaining, such as the 1921 assassination of Yugoslav Internal Affairs Minister Milorad Drašković [3] and the bloody 1929 Samobor standoff [4], has apparently returned to the scene with a bang, or many bangs, to be precise. It all started a day after the treaty was signed, when an unknown amount of explosive went off in Vinkovci, destroying parts of the Zagreb-Zemun railway passing through it. Although the ragtag band of misfits only caused minor damage to the important transportation system that a large part of Croatian imports relied upon.

While the apparent goal of the scheme was unsuccessful, luck was still on the saboteurs' side, as they successfully evaded capture after a platoon of constables was sent on location to investigate the commotion. Simultaneously, though, as the constables struggled to catch any delinquents, a whole slew of similar attacks happened in other towns and cities, such as Sisak, Kostajnica, Novska and Osijek, all with varying degrees of success, however, the lack of experience and proper organization on Gendarmerie's side caused all felons to evade capture.

The public was, of course, less than thrilled about the whole affair. Unhappiness and uncertainty of the population were quickly taken advantage of by the HOSP, with many of its members and higher-ups quickly pointing fingers at the Communist Party, despite no hard evidence backing up their claims, but their ploy worked, and people started supporting the newly restored party with much more respect and support, no doubt increasing their hopes and chances of a surprise election result that is only a few days away. HOSP leader Mile Budak definitely had his reasons to be optimistic about his party's future, but only time will tell if his nowadays rarely found bursts of optimism would be justified or not.

Budak, leader of the anti-HSS bloc in the first democratic election to be held on 13 July 1941​

Danko was well aware, from these recent events alone, that this particular summer is going to be an eventful one, but until then, he would have to content with the exchange that he anticipated with bated breath. And just as his thoughts flowed through his mind in rushed waves, one after another, each eagerly awaiting the meeting of the two arguably most important men in his country, one of them entered the confined room, followed by three bodyguards. The sight was almost comedic in a sense, with all three well-built black coat-wearing armed men standing much taller than the crown prince himself. None of those things mattered to Landgrave Philipp, though, as his overt confidence and a charming smile suggested. The forty three year-old stopped dead in his tracks, only raising his left hand, wordlessly ordering his guards to calm down and join Danko's squad for company. While this action was somewhat unprecedented, considering the circumstances, it was still a welcome one, indicating that the prince was here on cordial terms.

He shook hands with Vladko Maček, offering a friendly smile in addition. Maček was reluctant, but he quickly returned the favor. Philipp was the first to initiate the conversation, and in Croatian, no less.

„Dobar dan.“ [5]

Although the two words were heavily accented, his use of Croatian surprised both Maček and his guards, including Danko. The young man's light brown eyes widened, and the grip he unintentionally held on his coat pocket loosened, his left arm dropping to the side. He eagerly waited for the rest of the exchange, but it quickly grew apparent Philipp's knowledge of his new homeland's language was still in its infancy, so the duo decided on German, which Danko was not as knowledgeable about, so he tried to catch any and all words that came from the middle of the room, all the while trying to block out the hushed whispers of his comrades.

„I have to admit, this responsibility was bestowed upon me out of left field. I was not aware of the rich history of this country, but nevertheless, after spending a few days reading and catching up on everything I missed out on, I will say I am very enthused to be working with you, Ban Maček, and I cannot help but smile at the future that is in front of us.“

„The pleasure is all mine.“

Danko noticed sadness and melancholy in His Excellency's tired voice, and he could not help but think of how this situation will pan out in the future, with one side being so adamantly against the other.

„And of course, since I am going to be crowned king soon, I would need a suitable residence for me, as well as my family. After all, what is a king without a castle?“

„Did you have anything particular in mind?“

„Well, I gave myself some freedom to research that, and I was unable to find any here, at least not in the general vicinity of Zagreb, and since it is a political center of my nation, I see great issue with that.“

„What do you propose, then?“

„Build a new castle. Perhaps atop Medvednica [6]?“

„On Sljeme [7]?“

„Yes, it does seem to have a great view, and it would be a welcome change of pace.“

„Alright… You do know that is going to take a lot time and money?“

„Of course, but seeing as you embarrassed my father-in-law's crown so spectacularly I do not see how a mere pile of rocks and marble would prove to be an issue to you.“

„I will make sure we have the finest builders start the project as soon as possible.“

„Excellent. Now, onto the coronation.“

„Did you have anything specific in mind?“

„How does the end of August sound to you? I am sure that will be just enough time for you to polish the Crown of Zvonimir. [8]“

„It will take some time to prepare it, but I am sure everything will be in order when the time comes.“

„Good, good. I will make sure all my friends and acquaintances get invited, I do have valuable connections after all.“

With more words leaving Philipp's mouth, Danko found himself disliking the man more and more as the uncomfortable conversation progressed. Maček seemed to unknowingly sympathize with his young bodyguard, his wrinkled face delineating discomfort and clear wish to end the seemingly pointless chit-chat as soon as possible, but it continued, much to Danko's unpleasant surprise, but whatever the two leaders said, he was unable to understand a thing, only agitating him further.

However, as is with good things, all bad ones must come to an end as well. The prince of Hesse quickly left the room, whistling a carefree tune, as if nothing bad had happened. Vladko Maček turned to his guards, visibly upset.

„Come, let's go.“

Jović's two partners gave each other a knowing look, indicating things had not gone well, but they were still certain the Ban would find a solution for all their problems, he did succeed almost every time up until this point, and their faith in him was at an all-time high, but only time will tell if their trust was well-founded or not.

*****
​

[1] Completely fictional character, serving to spice things up and move a bit from Maček's perspective on events.
[2] Vođa is a title that was very rarely given to Maček that is literally translated to Leader, and it served as an equivalent to Romanian Conducător, Italian Duce, Spanish Caudillo etc.
[3] Serbian lawyer and politician, Drašković served briefly as Yugoslav Minister of Internal Affairs in 1921. His anti-communist views and fervent support of enactments of anti-communist laws led to him being assassinated by Alija Alijagić, member of Crvena pravda (lit. Red Justice), a terrorist left-wing organization whose only successful assassination attempt was the one on Drašković (the other being on Regent Alexander) that led to the banning of the Communist Party.
[4] An hour-long shootout between the police and three communists that led to the latter's deaths.
[5] "Good day." in Croatian. A good day to start a formal conversation.
[6] Medvednica is a mountain just north of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, marking the southern border of the historic region of Zagorje.
[7] Sljeme is the highest mountain peak on Medvednica (1033 meters).
[8] The Crown of Zvonimir was first bestowed upon Dmitar Zvonimir of Croatia in 1076 by the papal legate, and since then it has become synonymous with the crown of Croatia. The original one is widely believe to have been lost during the Ottoman incursions into Croatia in the 16th century, which is why Maček mentioned it will take some time to prepare.

 

[Triune Kingdom]

Good chapter. It seems to me that poor man does not really understand what he is getting himself into, talking about palaces and crowns..... He is going to have some interesting times ahead of himself. I need to take a look at the architects of the time, so we can see what they have to work with, but here you can find some rather interesting things and photos, even though the situation is not the same as in OTL.

Commies make their appereance too, small attacks for now, and it seems police forces are not any more effective then they were in OTL, but that is to be expected. Hopefully regular military formations are going to step in, and start combating them, because it is still early days, but it seems their attacks were rather effective, if only on the public perception. They have also begun their campaign somewhat later then in OTL, but I would still say that their task is much harder then it would be in OTL.

Great work as always, keep it up.

 

[Ozzymandias]

Hope that there will be continuation of the story soon. Keep it going !

 

[John_Smith]

The day seemed like any other. Warm sunlight bathing the green hills on the outskirts of Zagreb would make for a picturesque sight soothing to any man's eyes. In any other scenario, the man of the people would relish such a calming view, but today something else was on his mind. The summer had already arrived, as evidenced by the immense warmth enveloping his person even while wearing a simple white shirt, and his thoughts did not help his case at all. A rush of happiness engulfed him completely after a sweating Juraj Krnjević rushed inside his office bearing more than favorable news.

The first parliamentary election results were in. After what seemed like an eternity, his dreams of a free election independent of any obstruction and military interference, no unfair quotas and unaccounted ballots to worry about were finally coming to fruition. It was a long time coming, but his people could finally enjoy numerous benefits of a truly fair democratic system that was merely a ruse back during the Karađorđević Kingdom. Every person above the age of twenty one [1] could have their voices be heard, despite Maček's worries of German interfering in the election, but so far he has heard no complaints from anyone.

The reality, however, was a bit different from Vođa's wishes. The ballot containing two simple questions, one regarding the person for the position of Ban, and the other concerning the favorable party to enter the parliament, was met with fierce criticism from the opposition. Mile Budak cited numerous irregularities in the procedure, from the unequal amount of seats that the proportional system promised (as in, the number of seats is equal to the percentage of votes given to each party, with the leader of each bloc personally choosing who will represent the people in the parliament) to the inability to even have the ballot offered to people in remote parts of the country, such as Višegrad and territory close to the Drina that was prone to attacks from random bands of Chetniks from time to time, especially intensifying in the last few weeks after summer had begun.

The election for the National Parliament was obvious. It was a clear landslide.

The Republican Coalition won over ninety percent of the seats, establishing an overwhelming, unbreakable majority in Sabor, and the Volksdeutschers received three guaranteed seats, no matter the percentage of votes they received [2], so the rest was up to the HOSP to take. Measly eleven seats were still enough for Budak's party, as they immediately went on an anti-HSS, pro-German campaign, advocating for more men to be sent on the Eastern Front as well as a more identical form of government resembling that of Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy, favoring a strongman taking in the reins rather than having two hundred and fifteen democratically chosen people having a say in the leadership of the country. Osman Kulenović and his Croatian Muslim Organization certainly had their reasons to sport a grin on that particular day.

The viceroyal election, however, was even clearer.

Vladko Maček and Adam Pribićević won with an even bigger margin. Nine in ten people had put their trust in the two men whose cooperation ensured the survival of the entire country. Vladko Maček and Adam's older brother Svetozar had already laid the foundations for a mutual Croatian-Serbian partnership, and Adam was there to carry the torch after Svetozar's unfortunate demise in 1936. The combined ticket of Jozo Dumandžić, lawyer and organizer of the Velebit Uprising [3] and Mladen Lorković, another attorney and one of many advocates for pro-German collaboration within the Ustaše movement, only managed to receive a meager ten percent of the vote, mostly being restricted to mountainous parts of Hum, Livno-Dalmatia and Dinara, but still unable to form a majority in those counties. Even the Autonomous Province of East Syrmia (Autonomna Provincija Istočni Srijem/Autonome Provinz Ostsyrmien), noted for its significant German-speaking population, had voted for Croatia's strongest political party, something that surprised Croatian Restored Party of Rights' leaders. But despite the obvious, crushing electoral defeat, their determination was still not discouraged. Their incendiary, often chauvinistic speeches continued on, garnering more and more supporters with each passing day due to the horrifying events coming from the Eastern Front with each new newspaper issue, but that was not even the worst that the HSS had to worry about.

In the past week, an uprising had risen in Serbia, leading to a new Commissioner being announced by the German leadership there . The leaders of the rebellion were still unknown, but military commander Ludwig von Schröder's accusations of Communist schemes were taken as hard truth, even without any proper evidence, so that was the information Vladko Maček himself absorbed as well. Milan Aćimović's Commissioner government was ultimately replaced, with the German administration citing their lack of efficiency coupled with the ever-rising insurgencies that tore apart the harsh order the Nazis established in occupied Serbia. Pantelija 'Panta' Draškić was chosen as the most acceptable man to take over instead of Aćimović, despite von Schröder wishing to see Milan Nedić replace the former Yugoslav Minister of Interior [4], his anti-Communist attitude being the best trait the Germans cited for taking him in as the leader of the puppet territory. But despite Draškić's purported anti-socialist stance, his success at putting out the flame of Red dissent still remains to be seen.

Panta Draškić, 2nd Head of the Commissioner Government of Serbia
​

Again, today seemed like any other, but the experienced old Ban knew better than most. The searing heat of this summer was not the only thing firing up during the humid July days. The disturbing noise of rifles reloading kept springing up in his mind, and just like Supreme General Kvaternik warned, „the people's revolution that started in Montenegro today is only a warning of things to come, we must be prepared to protect our historic borders at all costs“, and Maček had no reason not to trust the man who managed to bring victory even in the face of defeat against Italy.

*****
​

[1] Before the Second World War, voting age in almost all countries around the globe was 21, with the trend of lowering the age only coming with Czechoslovakia in 1946 and slowly spreading to other countries as time went on.
[2] Parallel to today's Croatian parliamentary system where minorities already receive the previously established number of seats despite the number of votes they actually receive
[3] A small-scale sabotage planned by Ante Pavelić and his associates in November 1932 that resulted in 1 dead Ustaša, with the so-called uprising being quelled in a single day, with nothing being accomplished other than a stronger Yugoslav crackdown on the media.
[4] ITTL the Smederevo Explosion that originally happened on 5th June never happened, thus Milan Nedić's son is not caught in the blast, resulting in Nedić being more resolute in his decision not to accept the German offer of leading his country.

Infobox stuff: ZG - Zagreb, capital of the country; APES - Autonomous Province of East Syrmia

 

[John_Smith]

Hey, guys! I do apologize for the lack of updates during the past couple of months, I've no excuses to defend myself, but now that school is over and everything else is relatively in order, I will be able to post more chapters here. As always, all feedback is appreciated, be it positive or negative.

 

[Triune Kingdom]

Excellent work.

What happened in Sisak, was the Sisak Partisan unit still formed as in OTL, on 22.June, ir was that butterflied away? I would say that it is very likely that unit is either never created, or its numbers are substantialy reduced when compared to OTL.

One worrying thing is also the uprising in Montenegro, especially considering the territory that was taken from Croatia and given to them after the war, it gives the communists a way to get in, and that terrain is going to favour the guerillas.

Are there any reactions to the Croatian-Italian war among the Western Allies?

Great work, very enjoyable.

Edit: a bit more on the Partisans in Croatia. Sisak Partisan detachment numbered some 78 men (and one Serb woman), but here with no Ustaše roaming around Serb populated areas, there is much less incentive for both Serbs and Croatians to join the Partisans. For example, Janko Bobetko, who was a general in both YPA and Croatian Army, and later on Chief of Staff, would probably not join the Partisans, since his father and brothers have not been killed by Ustaše. He is only an example, but I would say that many people who joined the Partisans had reasons to fight other then liberation and implemetation of Communist Yugoslavia. Without a real impact in their personal life, many people would not be pushed to fight, and that is a real net gain for the Croatia.

We must also need to take into account the happenings so far, biggest of which was war against Italy and the free elections. Croatian government has proven to its people that it is willing to fight for its territory and its population, even against a much superior foe. That means a lot, and even the territorial concessions at the end could be portrayed as something that was forced upon them by Germans, against whom Croatia really could do nothing. That, and elections could really give a lot of faith in the government and Maček, that they know what they are doing, and that staying loyal to the rightfully elected government is a much better option then going with the Communists, and fighting for something many people at this time would consider a pipe dream.

 

[John_Smith]

Excellent work.

What happened in Sisak, was the Sisak Partisan unit still formed as in OTL, on 22.June, ir was that butterflied away? I would say that it is very likely that unit is either never created, or its numbers are substantialy reduced when compared to OTL.

One worrying thing is also the uprising in Montenegro, especially considering the territory that was taken from Croatia and given to them after the war, it gives the communists a way to get in, and that terrain is going to favour the guerillas.

Are there any reactions to the Croatian-Italian war among the Western Allies?

Great work, very enjoyable.

Edit: a bit more on the Partisans in Croatia. Sisak Partisan detachment numbered some 78 men (and one Serb woman), but here with no Ustaše roaming around Serb populated areas, there is much less incentive for both Serbs and Croatians to join the Partisans. For example, Janko Bobetko, who was a general in both YPA and Croatian Army, and later on Chief of Staff, would probably not join the Partisans, since his father and brothers have not been killed by Ustaše. He is only an example, but I would say that many people who joined the Partisans had reasons to fight other then liberation and implemetation of Communist Yugoslavia. Without a real impact in their personal life, many people would not be pushed to fight, and that is a real net gain for the Croatia.

We must also need to take into account the happenings so far, biggest of which was war against Italy and the free elections. Croatian government has proven to its people that it is willing to fight for its territory and its population, even against a much superior foe. That means a lot, and even the territorial concessions at the end could be portrayed as something that was forced upon them by Germans, against whom Croatia really could do nothing. That, and elections could really give a lot of faith in the government and Maček, that they know what they are doing, and that staying loyal to the rightfully elected government is a much better option then going with the Communists, and fighting for something many people at this time would consider a pipe dream.

Thanks, man! I really appreciate the feedback!

Yes, the Brezovica unit was still formed simultaneously with a few other ones, as noted in Chapter III.II, but their numbers are lacking due to a better position Croatia finds itself in for now ITTL so the damage they caused was seen and felt, but on a smaller scale than IOTL.

It is definitely going to become problematic for Croatian soldiers and constables stationed there, which will slowly unravel throughout the following chapters.

It's hard not to have people reacting when there's chaos in the Axis ranks, albeit a short-lived, but nonetheless a surprising one, but considering I am writing this story almost exclusively from the point of view of Vladko Maček and his associates (with an occasional exception) because I want to portray the sense of isolation Maček would most likely feel when trying to lead a stable democratic country engulfed on all sides by horrid totalitarian regimes, brutal war and general misery and balancing it all with trying to remain in Germany's good graces, with his favored democratic countries he believes in so much being a long distance away from him and with seemingly no possible contact with them, so I'm most likely not going to cover the WAllies' reaction to the war in the story, but all I can say is: Churchill is biting down on his cigar hard, contemplating just what a Game of Thrones-level mess the former Yugoslavia is becoming, and he is certainly going to have a lot of trouble trying to find sense in all of it.

I agree, the government has already done a whole lot more than the Ustaše ever did, and that kind of commitment will certainly pay off in the future, as will be clearly shown when future updates arrive. Already a huge number of the population (minorities, specifically) does not feel antagonized and in a constant fight-or-flight mode, as was clearly shown in the election where they showed significant support for the Maček/Pribićević ticket as well as the Republican Coalition's campaign for the National Parliament, so the social/ethnic situation is quite stable and homogenous, especially in comparison to OTL.

 

[Triune Kingdom]

Yes, these units are going to cause some damage in the short term, before the Homeguard and the Gendarmerie can get their act together, but these units have a much different and larger problems then in OTL. For one, they are weaker, both in numbers and likely in competence of the personell, since many Serbian and Croatian ex-Yugo military are less likely to join up. The loss of these men, since Croatian leadership is not persecuting Serbs and is not untrusting to the Ex-Yugo Croatian officers, will be a heavy blow to the Partisan movement. Then we must also consider that the Croatia and its government would be seen differently, fighting the Italians, having Serbs having their say in the government and so on.

Then, Croatian military units are also a different animal then what they were IOTL. An army that managed to eek out a draw against Italians, while being outnumbered in both men and material, is going to have a much different view of itself, with morale to match. They have combat experience under their belt, in at least some units, and that will count for a lot, especially considering that they will have some of already mentioned Ex-Yugo officers, so profesionallism will be higher then it was IOTL. Their numbers may be substantialy smaller, but 60k men, backed by sufficent numbers of reservists should be more then adequate. Smaller numbers also mean that equipment situation may not be as dire as it was OTL, with less men needing to be equiped, and without Vojnica sucking up everything they could get their hands on.

But, we must all be aware, that Croatian military is not going to have a easy task ahead of it. Situation may be miles better in many regards, but one does not create an army overnight, it takes time to do so. Look at modern Croatian Army during the Homeland War, they did have professional, educated commanders and officers, weapons were smuggled in, NCOs and soldiers were being trained, but it still took some time for the army to become capable of large military operations.


Yes, the rest of the world is likely going to be scratching their heads over the disorder in the Axis ranks, and some may be thinking about trying to widen that rift if possible. I understand why you want to keep the TL mostly from Mačeks point of view, but we have had different, if relatively short POVs from others before, so a few more, just for varieties sake could be nice. Churchill may be confused by the situation, but that never dettered him before, from jumping in. Look at the situation from his somewhat limited POV, disorder, if not outright rebellion in the Axis ranks, a new nation fighting Italy to a standstill, requiring German intervention and mediation. And that new nation is at least, again from his likely limited knowledge, nominally democratic, constitutional monarchy, jas not declared war against the allies, with possibly very bad relations with its neighbors, some of which have taken territory from it. Can you hear "Soft Underbelly of Europe"? Because Churchill will get a boner after getting a bit more information about Croatian leadership, either from intelligence services, or more likely from Yugo government in exile. Then after US gets into the game, and OSS comes right behind, we could easily see secret contact and discussion between the Allies and Maček, or more likely Šubašić, as he would be more acceptable to the government in exile. Up to you.

Lastly, I have promised some months ago, that I will take a look on what aircraft may be availlable to the new state, so here is a rather short overview. Germans and Italians are going to take everything that has more then one engine and that is not a biplane, and is on Royal Yugo airfields. Situation may be even worse then OTL, since Italians did make use of their airforce, so some aircraft may have been destroyed on the runways, or at the very least damaged. Some of the more modern aircraft may have escaped that fate, by being in repair shops, but do not hope for much. Modern fighter aircraft, such as Hurricane and Bf.109 are going to be taken, as will most of the Blenheims, with at most 8-10, perhaps availlable as they were being repaired/refitted at the time.

Most of the air burden will then have to be born by three types of aircraft, rather similar to what happened OTL. These three types were Breguet 19 (50+), Potez 25 (40+), and Fizir FN (20+), all of them were completely obsolete at this point in time as front line aircraft, suitable only for training or second line duties. However, they are still more then usable, and considering that Croatia is going to have to fight a prolonged counterinsurgency operation, these aircraft may even be somewhat of a blessing in disguise. They are slow, but that is good for COIN aircraft, and can carry a decent payload: B.19(400kg), P.25(200kg), Fz FN(72kg). Add to that generally decent loiter time, possesion of forward firing armament (except on Fizir), and relative simplicity and reliability of them, these aircarft can and will do valuable service for Croatian airforce.

TBC...