Blue Guard (Slovene)
| Blue Guard | |
|---|---|
 Chetnik flag inscription reads: "For king and fatherland; freedom or death" | |
| Active | 1941–1944 |
| Country | Yugoslavia |
| Allegiance |
 |
| Type | Guerilla organization |
| Size | 300–600 |
| Part of | Yugoslav Army in the Homeland (Chetniks) |
| Commanders | |
| 1941 | Jaka Avšič |
| 1941–44 | Karl Novak |
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 Royal Yugoslav Army in Slovenia (Serbian: Kraljevska jugoslovenska vojska u Sloveniji)[1]
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. In 1944, the bulk of members joined the Legion of Death.
References
- Gregor Joseph Kranjc (2013). To Walk with the Devil: Slovene Collaboration and Axis Occupation, 1941-1945. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-1330-0.
- Antonio J. Munoz (1998). Slovenian Axis Forces in World War II, 1941-1945. Axis Europa. ISBN 978-1-891227-12-7.
- Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2.
Further reading
- Slobodan Kljakić i Marijan F. Kranjc, Slovenački četnici, Beograd, 2006 COBISS 134158092
- Marijan F. Kranjc in Slobodan Kljakić, Plava garda – poveljnikovo zaupno poročilo, Maribor, 2006 COBISS 57204737
- Katja Zupanič, Četništvo na Štajerskem, Ljubljana, 2008. ISBN 978-961-92574-1-8
- ↑ Vojno-istoriski glasnik. 1983. p. 183.
...dužnosti komandanta Komande „Kraljevske jugoslovenske vojske u Sloveniji” (čiji je komandant tada bio pukovnik Ivan Prezelj).