Ustaše Militia

Ustaše Militia Ustaška vojnica
Badge of the Ustaše Militia
Active	11 April 1941 – January 1945
Country	Independent State of Croatia
Allegiance	Ante Pavelić
Branch	Land forces
Type	volunteer party militia
Role	anti-Partisan operations and operation of concentration camps, mostly under German command
Size	approximately 76,000 in December 1944
Engagements	World War II in Yugoslavia Operation Trio
Commanders
Notable commanders	Jure Francetić Rafael Boban Vjekoslav Luburić

The Ustaše Militia (Croatian: Ustaška vojnica) was the party army of the Ustaše, established by the fascist regime of Ante Pavelić in the Axis puppet state the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in Yugoslavia during World War II.

The Ustaše militia went through a series of re-organisations during its existence, during which it expanded to include all armed elements of the NDH government outside of the Croatian Home Guard, navy and air force. It amalgamated with the Home Guard in December 1944 – January 1945 to form the Croatian Armed Forces (Hrvatske oružane snage, HOS), although the amalgamation did not result in a homogeneous organisation, and former Ustaše militia officers dominated its operations and held most HOS command positions.

The Ustaše militia were responsible for some of the most egregious atrocities committed during World War II, including performing a key role in the establishment and operation of about 20 concentration camps in the NDH. It included such notorious units as the Black Legion (Crna Legija) commanded by Jure Francetić and Rafael Boban and the Ustaša Defence Brigades commanded by Vjekoslav Luburić.

The Ustaše militia was created on 11 April 1941 when Marshal Slavko Kvaternik appointed a separate staff to control the various volunteer armed groups that had risen spontaneously throughout the NDH as the Yugoslav Army collapsed in the face of the Axis invasion. On 10 May 1941, Ante Pavelić issued a special order which detailed its formal organisation. However, some of the groups that formed early in various locations were irregular or 'wild' Ustaše units that were not included in the formal organisation, which initially numbered only 4,500. The number of irregular or 'wild' Ustaše across the NDH was reportedly as high as 25,000–30,000. Both formal and irregular Ustaše units were soon involved in atrocities against Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and all alleged and actual opponents of the Ustaša regime.