Editing History of Croatia (section)

==World War II and the Independent State of Croatia (1941–1945)==
{{Main|World War II in Yugoslavia|Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|The Holocaust in the Independent State of Croatia|Chetnik war crimes in World War II}}
{{See also|World War II}}
[[File:Flag_of_Independent_State_of_Croatia.svg|left|thumb|Flag of the [[Independent State of Croatia]]]]
[[File:Adolf Hitler meets Ante Pavelić.1941.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Poglavnik of the Independent State of Croatia, [[Ante Pavelić]], shakes hands with [[Adolf Hitler]] in 1941.]]
The [[Axis occupation of Yugoslavia]] in 1941 allowed the Croatian radical right [[Ustaše]] to come into power, forming the "[[Independent State of Croatia]]" (''Nezavisna Država Hrvatska'', NDH), led by [[Ante Pavelić]], who assumed the role of ''[[Poglavnik]]''. Following the pattern of other fascist regimes in Europe, the Ustaše enacted racial laws and formed eight [[concentration camp]]s targeting minority Serbs, [[Romani people|Roma]]s, and Jewish populations, as well as [[Croatians|Croatian]] and [[Bosnian Muslim]] opponents of the regime. The biggest concentration camp was [[Jasenovac concentration camp|Jasenovac]] in Croatia. The NDH had a program, formulated by [[Mile Budak]], to purge Croatia of [[Serbs]], by "killing one third, expelling the other third and [[Cultural assimilation|assimilating]] the remaining third".<ref>Tapon (2012), p. 347</ref> The main targets for persecution were the Serbs, of whom approximately 330,000 were killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005449 |title=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum about Jasenovac and Independent State of Croatia |publisher=Ushmm.org |access-date=3 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916030858/http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005449 |archive-date=16 September 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>''Genocide and Resistance in Hitler's Bosnia: The Partisans and the Chetniks, 1941–1943'' p. 20</ref>

Various [[Serbian nationalist]] [[Chetnik]] groups also committed [[Chetnik war crimes in World War II|atrocities]] against Croats across many areas of [[Lika]] and parts of [[Dalmatian Hinterland|northern Dalmatia]].<ref>{{cite book  | last1 = Cooke  | first1 = Philip  | last2 = Shepherd  | first2 = Ben H.  | title = European Resistance in the Second World War  | publisher = Pen and Sword  | year = 2013  | isbn = 9781473833043  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KpFABAAAQBAJ  | page = 222}}</ref> During [[World War II in Yugoslavia]], the Chetniks killed an estimated 18,000-32,000 Croats.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Vladimir Geiger|publisher=Croatian Institute of History|title=Human Losses of the Croats in World War II and the Immediate Post-War Period Caused by the Chetniks (Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland) and the Partisans (People's Liberation Army and the Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia/Yugoslav Army) and the Communist Authorities: Numerical Indicators|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/103223|page=86|journal=Review of Croatian History|volume=VIII|issue=1|year=2012}}</ref>

The anti-fascist communist-led [[Yugoslav Partisans|Partisan]] movement, based on a pan-Yugoslav ideology, emerged in early 1941 under the command of Croatian-born [[Josip Broz Tito]], and spread quickly into many parts of [[Yugoslavia]]. The [[1st Sisak Partisan Detachment]], often hailed as the first armed anti-fascist resistance [[Military unit|unit]] in occupied Europe, was formed in Croatia, in the [[Brezovica Forest]] near the town of Sisak. As the movement began to gain popularity, the Partisans gained strength from Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs, Slovenes, and Macedonians who believed in a unified, but federal, Yugoslav state.

By 1943, the Partisan resistance movement had gained the upper hand and in 1945, with help from the Soviet [[Red Army]] (passing only through small parts such as [[Vojvodina]]), expelled the [[Axis forces]] and local supporters. The [[State Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia]] (ZAVNOH) functioned since 1942 and formed an interim civil government by 1943. NDH's ministers of War and Internal Security [[Mladen Lorković]] and [[Ante Vokić]] tried to switch to the Allied side. Pavelić was, in the beginning, supporting them but when he found that he would need to leave his position he imprisoned them in Lepoglava prison where they were executed.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Following the defeat of the Independent State of Croatia at the end of the war, a large number of Ustaše, civilians supporting them (ranging from sympathizers, young conscripts or anti-communists), Chetniks and anti-Communists attempted to flee in the direction of Austria, hoping to surrender to British forces and to be given refuge. Following the [[Bleiburg repatriations]], they were instead interned by British forces, and returned to the Partisans where they were subject to mass executions.