Capo Kraljevina cuvara

PRILOZI

Hrvoje Čapo

KRALJEVINA ČUVARA Represivni aparat monarhističke Jugoslavije na području hrvatskih zemalja (1918. – 1941.)

HRVATSKI INSTITUT ZA POVIJEST

Zagreb, 2015.

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Predgovor

SADRŽAJ Predgovor...................................................................................................................................

UVOD............................................................................................................................................

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Polazišta i odredišta: o literaturi i izvorima........................................................ 11

Vladavina Aleksandra Karađorđevića.................................................................... 15

Politički režim................................................................................................................... 34

Ustavna obećanja............................................................................................................. 24

Represivna stvarnost..................................................................................................... 29 Ishodišta.............................................................................................................................. 39

USTROJSTVO............................................................................................................................. 45

Središnjica.......................................................................................................................... 47 Širenje spoznaja............................................................................................................... 58 Rješenja diktature........................................................................................................... 62

UPRAVLJANJE........................................................................................................................... 71

Buka političke arene...................................................................................................... 73 Tišina po kraljevu ukusu.............................................................................................. 97 Prilazak dogovoru........................................................................................................... 104

USMJERENOST......................................................................................................................... 121

Pogrešne ideje................................................................................................................... 123 Bjegunci i odmetnici....................................................................................................... 152

Sumnjiva odanost............................................................................................................ 169

Bez rukavica...................................................................................................................... 178

PERIFERIJA................................................................................................................................ 197

ORUŽNIŠTVO..................................................................................................................... 199

Na sliku države................................................................................................................. 199

REDARSTVO....................................................................................................................... 237

Značaj privrženosti......................................................................................................... 217 Rado viđeni gosti............................................................................................................. 227

Mučna obveza................................................................................................................... 237.

Korištenje mogućnosti.................................................................................................. 250 5

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POMOĆNICI........................................................................................................................ 261

Oružničke postaje IV. oružničke brigade (Zagreb)........................................... 327

ZAKLJUČAK................................................................................................................................ 289 PRILOZI....................................................................................................................................... 325

Oružničke postaje VI. oružničke brigade (Split)................................................ 333

Oružničke postaje Oružničke brigade Banovine Hrvatske............................ 336

Odabrani dokumenti Državnog tajništva (Ministarstva vanjskih poslova)

SAD-a o unutarnjoj politici Kraljevine SHS-a/Jugoslavije.............................. 343

POPIS KRATICA........................................................................................................................ 370 IZVORI I LITERATURA.......................................................................................................... 371 SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................. 383 BILJEŠKA O AUTORU............................................................................................................. 389

KAZALO OSOBNIH IMENA.................................................................................................. 391

KAZALO ZEMLJOPISNIH IMENA...................................................................................... 400

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Predgovor

Predgovor Hrvatsko iskustvo u monarhističkoj Jugoslaviji najvećim je dijelom utemeljeno na državnoj represiji. Ta se trauma, proizišla iz državnog negiranja nacionalnog i političkog identiteta, zrcalila u svim budućim procesima hrvatskog povijesnog razvoja u 20. stoljeću. Svrha je ove knjige pokušati objasniti na koji je način djelovao te kako je bio ustrojen represivni aparat Kraljevine Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca/Jugoslavije. Iako je autoritarnost režima međuratne Jugoslavije neupitna, različiti izvori donose drukčiju sliku državne represije od 1918. do 1941.

Ovisno o tome tko ih piše, dokumenti donose i različite „istine” o događajima.

Posljedično tomu postoje primjeri preuveličavanja ili umanjivanja državne represije. Nastojeći ostati unutar uobičajenog historiografskog pristupa, koristio sam dokumente različita podrijetla, ona državnih tijela u Beogradu i na području hrvatskih zemalja, zatim oporbene i diplomatske (najvećim dijelom američke provenijencije).

Srž ove knjige tekst je doktorskoga rada obranjenoga 2012. godine na Hrvatskim studijima Sveučilišta u Zagrebu pred povjerenstvom koje su činili Zdravko Dizdar, Mario Jareb i Darko Vitek. U međuvremenu sam tekst dodatno proširio i preoblikovao. U Uvodu knjige tako sam opširnije opisao režim Kraljevine SHS-a/ Jugoslavije s naglaskom na njegovoj autoritarnosti da bi se jasnije uočila uloga represivnog aparata u takvom političkom okruženju. Poglavlje Ustrojstvo donosi opis zakonskih rješenja i državnih zamisli značajnih pri ustroju i oblikovanju državnog represivnog aparata. Poglavlje Upravljanje pruža uvid u način na koji su političke elite nastojale upravljati Ministarstvom unutarnjih poslova te ističe značaj koji je MUP imao u političkom životu Kraljevine SHS-a/Jugoslavije.

U poglavlju Usmjerenost obrađeno je djelovanje represivnog aparata. Upravo je usmjerenost državne represije dosad najviše obrađivana u historiografiji, stoga sam u ovom poglavlju nastojao uputiti na literaturu i već objelodanjene rezultate istraživanja. Oružnici, redarstvenici kao i niz poluvojnih prorežimskih organizacija predstavljali su izvršni dio represivnog aparata koji je imao zadaću provoditi politiku vladajućeg režima. Njima sam se bavio u poglavlju Periferija, koje sam podijelio na tri potpoglavlja: Oružnici, Redarstvo i Pomoćnici. U Zaključku sam u obliku sažetijih tvrdnji iznio spoznaje koje sam pojasnio u knjizi.

Glavnina korištenih dokumenta pisana je srpskim jezikom na srpskoj ćirilici. Tijela državne vlasti na taj su način dodatno promicala uporabu srpskoga jezika, što je hrvatsko stanovništvo doživljavalo kao još jedan oblik političke represije. Srpsko nazivlje nastojao sam zamijeniti hrvatskim izrazima, osim ako nisu dio navoda. Svrha knjige bila je raščlamba ustroja državnog represivnog 7

Hrvoje Čapo KRALJEVINA ČUVARA

aparata od njegova vrha do dna, od uloge državnog vladara i ministara do djelovanja periferije: oružnika, redarstvenika i niza poluvojnih pomoćnih organizacija. Autoritarnost političkih režima i s njom povezana represija neiscrpna je tema, stoga se nadam da će ova knjiga otvoriti niz dodatnih pitanja, a time potaknuti i nova istraživanja.

Višegodišnji istraživački rad, dugotrajni proces pretakanja dobivenih spoznaja u tekst, a potom i pothvat objavljivanja ove knjige odvijao se uz pomoć mnogih. Zahvaljujem zato mentoru svoga doktorskog rada Zdravku Dizdaru, a istu zahvalnost zaslužuju i recenzenti knjige Mario Jareb i Ivica Miškulin te ravnateljica Hrvatskog instituta za povijest Jasna Turkalj. Također zahvaljujem Mati Artukoviću, Anici Divić, Kristini Ferenčini, Vladimiru Geigeru, Davorinu Hrkaću, Goranu Hruški, Zdravki Jelaski Marijan, Đurđici Jurišić, Marici Karakaš Obradov, Milanu Kovačiću, Nadi Kučan, Radmili Maksimović, Ivanu Medvedu, Mariji Mikačić, Tomislavu Radoniću, Gordani Slanček, Ivani Šubic Kovačević i Ivi Šušku.

Zagreb, lipanj 2015.

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SUMMARY

SUMMARY

On December 1, 1918 Serbian Regent Aleksandar Karađorđević gave a positive reply to the Statement (Address) of the National Council from Zagreb and declared the unification of the State of the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs with the Kingdom of Serbia, by which the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created. Serbia was a state long before 1918 with all its statehood insignias while Croatia (Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia) was a part of a multinational monarchy in which its own statehood was quite suppressed. General absence of Croatian statehood was the reason why Serbian institutions expanded their influence over Croatian ones so successfully.

Authoritarian regime is what marked the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia during its entire existence (1918-1941). What was changing were only the levels of its authoritarian polity. By comparison of the Kingdom SHS/Yugoslavia with its surrounding states it is notable that similarities of the regimes can be perceived. In that way similar regimes existed in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy and Albania. However, the polity of the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia was opposite from the democratic polities of the French Republic, United Kingdom or Czechoslovakian Republic. Considering the value of the polity, four periods can be defined in the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia.

The first period lasted from the moment of its creation until introducing the King’s dictatorship in 1929. The constant characteristic of this period was the fight between centralistic and anticentralistic political forces. Under the surface this fight deprived the collision of the Serbian and Croatian national policies.

Using the repressive system over anticentralistic efforts of major Croatian auspice made the situation of latent violence of Serbian repression over Croatian people as the main characteristic of this polity interval. The second period lasted during the king’s dictatorship (1929-1934) when an eager authoritarian regime was introduced. During this period not a single democratic characteristic of the Kingdom SHS/Yugoslavia’s polity was present. The third period lasted from the assassination of King Aleksandar in 1934 until the fall of Milan Stojadinović’s Cabinet in February 1939. An authoritarian regime was in power but with some changes in the sense of the intensity of the repression. Under the regency of Prince Pavle Karađorđević the regime used a slightly milder repression over its opponents with an introduction of certain democratic categories in the polity. The fourth period lasted from the moment of Dragiša Cvetković’s Cabinet in February 1939 until the Military coup d’état under General Dušan Simović on March 27, 1941. During this period the solving of the Croatian question begun and the Banovina of Croatia was established as the first result of the 383

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Serbo – Croatian talks. Parallely, the democratic characteristics of the Kingdom polity for the first time overcame its authoritarian categories.

A general characteristic of an authoritarian regime is that its political elites rely on the repressive apparatus in their governing. This was also case with the political regime of the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia. The fact that the winning and the defeated sides of WWI were coexisting in the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia was yet another aggravating circumstance in the state unification process.

Furthermore, the new state was formed by the nations which were evolving in different political environments prior to 1918. Therefore, there was an overlap of different political experiences and behaviors, where the Serbian ones had supremacy over others.

Former Austro-Hungarian lands were considered as conquered territories by the Kingdom of Serbia. By such an understanding the proclaimed equality of nations was not a political reality. The expectations of the Serbian and nonSerbian political elites were quite different. That immediately led to the diametrically opposed political thinking, centralist and anti-centralist ones. The central government in Belgrade considered every opposed political activity as an anti-state act. Consequently, the state repressive system was primarily used in political fight.

The state’s repressive apparatus consisted of the army, gendarmerie, police, legal system, as well as the complete state administrative system. The Army of the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia fully developed on the Serbian military legacy and tradition. The Gendarmerie of the new kingdom was made of the combination of the Austro-Hungarian and the Serbian gendarme systems. The organization was founded on the Austro-Hungarian model, while the tradition and the commanding models were build on the Serbian exemplar. The police system in the Croatian lands was organized on the Austro-Hungarian foundation.

The key element in government formations was the control over the Ministry of the Interior. The reason was in the fact that the Ministry of the Interior was controlling the state administrative system, local government, parts of repressive system and by that the electoral system. The fact that all seven parliamentary elections were won by the political party that in that moment held the control over the Ministry of the Interior proves the importance of the ministry control.

Theoretical and practical source of the new gendarmerie education was the Non-commisioned Gendarmerie School in Srijemska Kamenica. The teaching personnel of the School were primarily the Salonika battlefield volunteers who had, prior to their engagement, completed bimonthly preparation courses in Belgrade and Zagreb.

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SUMMARY

Because of the chronic lack of personnel a considerable number of the illiterate and uneducated people was accepted in the gendarmerie. Therefore, the discipline of the gendarmes was low and rare.

By 1923/24 gendarmerie was organized through a brigade system, and later a regiment system. On the territory of Croatian lands there were two brigades, and later two regiments operating. There were the IV brigade of Zagreb and the VI brigade of Split. After abolishing the brigade system there existed Sava Regiment (Zagreb) and Primorska Regiment (Split). After 1939 and the constitution of the Banovina of Croatia, Sava and Primorska regiments were united in the Gendarme brigade of the Banovina of Croatia. During the early 1920s on the IV and VI brigades territory around 615 gendarmerie stations were operating.

That number declined and by 1941 there were around 450 stations.

The prescribed number of gendarmes per station was from a minimum of five to a maximum of twelve with a major as a commanding officer. However, a chronic lack of personnel caused detachment of the regular numbers. It was common that some of the stations had only two or three gendarmes with just a sergeant as a commander. The frequent illiteracy of the gendarme personnel, their legislative ignorance and given duty of guarding the state regime caused the enforcement of violence and repression over population.

Army authorities enforced their governance over civilian administration.

That was made possible by enforcing the laws of the former Kingdom of Serbia which were unknown in the Croatian lands.

The repressive system was in the service of the political surveillance. In that sense the Ministry of the Interior Department of Public Security, as of 1923 the Department of State Protection, had the most important role in the repressive system. Their activity was divided into internal and external intelligence services.

External intelligence service was conducting surveillance of the foreign countries as well as their legations to the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia in order to detect any of the possible foreign anti-state activities.

Internal intelligence service was monitoring all political parties, religious organizations, and sport societies in order to detect anti-state activities. Internal intelligence service was conducting surveillance activities over the entire political and social life of the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia and its inhabitants.

The Department of State Protection had a widespread network of civilian informers, and therefore in a way a complete society was under surveillance.

The police was the lowest level of the repressive system and, unlike the army and the gendarmes, it was financed from the local authorities’ budget.

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Only from the mid 1920s their financing was divided between the state and the local governments in the ratio of 55% to 45 %. However, police work was elemental all up to 1931 when finally a police law was promulgated. Only after that year a uniformed organization and police activity was insured. Police and gendarme system was not equally developed in the Croatian lands. Therefore on the territory of Dalmatia it was underdeveloped due to the lack of personnel and equipment.

State regime was backed by the civilian militarized organization for the whole existence of the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia. First such organization was the Organization of the Yugoslav Nationalists (Organizacija jugoslavenskih nacionalista, Orjuna). There also existed the Serbian National Youth Organization (Srpska nacionalna omladina, Srnao), while the most consistent guardian of the regime was the Chetniks organization. Although Orjuna and Srnao were banned in 1929 when the king’s dictatorship was introduced, the regime nevertheless relied on similar new organizations Mlada Jugoslavija [Young Yugoslavia] or Jugosalvenska akcija [Yugoslav Action].

During his reign King Aleksandar Karađorđević relied on the army. Consequently, army influence on the politics and the regime was undoubted and the use of repression as well. During the dictatorship regime the army was given a more important role in the state repressive system. That position was publicly strengthened by the fact that a general was the head of the government.

The army president of the government personally controlled the Ministry of the Interior, simultaneously. During that time the military intelligence service expanded its activities over civilian political opposition groups and even civilian state authorities. During elections military presence was multiplied, especially on the Croatian lands. During the dictatorship period the gendarme population increased by around 4,000 members, too.

During the dictatorship the state repressive system was additionally shaped by the legislative and institutionalized solutions which presented authoritarian regime and the enforcement of repression. The most important institution of the dictatorship regime was the Court of the State Protection.

In the period of the dictatorship, with the regime of creating an integral Yugoslay nation, it was banned to expose any of the national symbols. However, the ban did not refer to all the national symbols equally. While Croatian symbols were consistently banned, the Serbian ones were openly displayed.

During the dictatorship the police system was improved while the police became the protector of the regime involved in the political surveillance and repression. The most notorious police regime on the territory of the Croatian 386

SUMMARY

lands was that of Janko Bedeković, the Zagreb police chief, between 1929 and 1932. The state repression and political violence caused a reaction of various opposition forces. The extreme terrorist methods were organized by the communists and the Ustasha organization.

The national minorities were under the attack of the state repression system, especially those of the defeated WWI nations: Germans, Austrians, Hungarians and Bulgarians. The Jews came under state surveillance most in the very last years of the existence of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia through the implementation of various regulations as part of the foreign policy engagement with the Nazi Germany.

After the assassination of King Aleksandar in Marseille on 9 October, 1934 the state was governed by the Regency in which the most influential person was Prince Pavle Karađorđević. The characteristic of the authoritarian regimes is that the regime is very tightly connected with the personality of the ruler. That was the Yugoslavian case, too. Certainly, the different personalities of the late King Aleksandar and Princ Pavle caused almost immediate polity change.

However, most of the dictatorship legacy was still present even during the late 1930s. The Croatian question was a burden to the Yugoslavian political environment. Until 1935 resolving the Croatian problem was out of the question, mostly due to the traditional political mentality where the army had a responsive role.

After the 1935 National Assembly elections the Croatian Peasant Party became the ultimate exponent of the Croatian interests developing its activities on different fields, including economy and charity, and even forming the semimilitary security organizations (Hrvatska seljačka zaštita I Hrvatska građanska zaštita).

Although during the Regency period an era of “tensions calming” was empowered the harsh political violence was still present. The murders in Sibinj, Slavonski Brod, Sinj or Omiš were the clear examples of open repression over Croatian people. In order to prevent violent reactions in response to such examples of repression over Croatian people, the government representatives in the Croatian lands were calling for the end of such repression.

In this environment Prince Pavle caused the fall of the Stojadionović’s government. This was due to several reasons, one being the wish to accelerate the resolution of the Croatian question, and another to put an end to Stojadinović’s ambition of becoming the Yugoslav “Leader”. Dragiša Cvetković became the new president of the government and made an agreement with the Croatian Peasant Party leader Vladko Maček. On August 26, 1939 the Banovina of Croatia 387

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was created. This was the key moment in the history of monarchical Yugoslavia, which influenced the state repressive system as well. The police came under a direct control of Zagreb. Furthermore, by the unificitaion of the Savska and the Primorska gendarmerie Regiment the Gendarmerie regiment of the Banovina of Croatia was created. What followed was the manpower exchange so that the Croatian members of the police system, and by smaller amount of the gendarmerie, were repatriating in the Croatian lands. What changed immediately was the repression and violence against Croatian people. The communists and the Croatian nationalists were still under state repression. Croatian Peasant Defence and Croatian Civil Defence became legal and official police and gendarmerie body.

Nevertheless, the Belgrade government had no trust in the new Croatian government. In such a reality, the army (still under mainly Serbian influence) had even broader responsibilities in the Croatian lands. The General Staff reports were still informing the Belgrade regime on the activities of Croatian Peasant Party, national minorities and even the Croatian question.

The political delamination of the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia which influenced the repressive apparatus reached its peak in the moment of the outbreak of WWII in April 1941. The short April War 1941 was ended in complete defense failure under the longterm influence of state repression, distrust of the Croatian elements in army, and backward war doctrines.

The organizational foundations of the police and gendarmerie regiment of the Banovina of Croatia became a predecessor of the police and gendarmerie organization of the Independent State of Croatia.

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