Blue Guard (Slovene)
The Blue Guard (Slovene: Plava garda), also known as the Slovene Chetniks (Slovene: Slovenski četniki, Serbo-Croatian: Slovenački četnici), was a Slovenian anti-communist militia, initially under the leadership of Major Karl Novak and later Ivan Prezelj. Their official name was the Royal Yugoslav Army in Slovenia (Serbo-Croatian: Kraljevska jugoslovenska vojska u Sloveniji).[2]
| Royal Yugoslav Army in Slovenia Blue Guard | |
|---|---|
 Chetnik flag inscription reads: "For king and fatherland; freedom or death" | |
| Active | 1941–1945 |
| Country | Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
| Allegiance | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
| Type | Guerilla organization |
| Size | 300–600 |
| Part of | Yugoslav Army in the Homeland (Chetniks) |
| Motto(s) | Svoboda ali smrt[1] |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| 1941 | Jaka Avšič |
| 1941–44 | Karl Novak |
| 1944–45 | Ivan Prezelj |
The detachments under Novak's command were part of the wider "Yugoslav Army in the Homeland" (JVuO) that included units from all over Yugoslavia that swore allegiance to Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović. The ranks were drawn from Slovene officers in the pre-war Royal Yugoslav Army (JV). At first, the JV units in Slovenia that offered resistance were under the command of Jaka Avšič until his mid-1941 transfer to the Yugoslav Partisans. Based on direct appointment of Draža Mihailović, the commander of Slovenian Chetniks was Karel Novak. Slovenian Chetnik units included Styrian Chetnik detachment that was, according to some estimates, the only anti-Communist military unit that consistently attacked Axis occupiers throughout the war.[3] The detachment under Melaher's command had 200 men.[4]
In 1942, the bulk of members joined the Legion of Death.
When Karel Novak resigned in 1944, because the defeat in the Battle of Grčarice, Mihailović appointed Ivan Prezelj as commander of the Royal Yugoslav Army in Slovenia.[5] His headquarter was with the Inner Carniola Detachment and Soča Detachments, and the Royal Yugoslav Army in Slovenia also included the Lower Carniola Detachment[6] and the Styria Detachment, commanded by Jože Melaher.
References
- Ljubičić, Saša (11 February 2014). "Slovenski 'plavi četnici' dobivaju mirovine, a vođa oporbe Janez Janša im pohodi skupove". Slobodna Dalmacija. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
Grupa slovenskih četnika uz zastavu 'Svoboda ali smrt'
- Vojno-istoriski glasnik. 1983. p. 183.
...dužnosti komandanta Komande „Kraljevske jugoslovenske vojske u Sloveniji" (čiji je komandant tada bio pukovnik Ivan Prezelj).
- (Kranjc 2013, p. 191): " the Styrian formation led by Joze Melaher (alias Zmagoslav), which by some estimates was 'the only anti-revolutionary military unit that attacked occupiers with arms on a consistent basis"
- (Plut-Pregelj, Kranjc & Lazarević 2018, p. 473)
- (Plut-Pregelj, Kranjc & Lazarević 2018, p. 86)
- (Rebić 1987, p. 81)
Sources
- Antonio J. Munoz (1998). Slovenian Axis Forces in World War II, 1941-1945. Axis Europa. ISBN 978-1-891227-12-7.
- Kranjc, Gregor Joseph (2013). To Walk with the Devil: Slovene Collaboration and Axis Occupation, 1941-1945. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-1330-0.
- Plut-Pregelj, Leopoldina; Kranjc, Gregor; Lazarević, Žarko (22 February 2018). Historical Dictionary of Slovenia. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1106-2.
- Rebić, Đuro (1987). Špijuni, diverzanti, teroristi: ostaci kontrarevolucije u Jugoslaviji. Centar za informacije i publicitet. ISBN 978-86-7125-009-2.
- Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2.