Lorković–Vokić plot

Lorković–Vokić plot (Croatian: Urota Lorković-Vokić) was a mid-1944 attempt initiated by the Minister of Interior, Mladen Lorković and Minister of Armed Forces, Ante Vokić, to form a coalition government with the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), abandon the Axis powers and align the Independent State of Croatia with the Allies with the help of the Croatian Home Guard. The plan originated from the HSS which was also involved in the negotiations with the Allies. The plot ended with massive arrests and the execution of major plotters, including Lorković and Vokić.

Mladen Lorković, Minister of Interior
Ante Vokić, Minister of Armed Forces

Situation in Europe

On 24 August 1942, the Germans launched an attack on Stalingrad. The battle of Stalingrad ended in German defeat on 2 February 1943. After this victory, the war turned in the Soviets' favour.[1] The Allied invasion of Sicily was launched on 9 July 1943,[2] and not long after, Benito Mussolini was overthrown and arrested on 25 July.[3] On the same day, Italian king Victor Emmanuel named Pietro Badoglio as Italy's new Prime Minister and on 8 September 1943, signed the unconditional capitulation of Italy.[4] On 6 June 1944 the Allies launched the D-Day landings on the German-occupied coast of Normandy.[5]

Coup attempts among the Axis nations

Because of defeats that Axis forces suffered from the Allies, some Axis nations tried to change sides. On 1 August 1944, pro-Japanese leader Plaek Phibunsongkhram was ousted in Thailand. On 23 August 1944, as the Red Army approached Romania, Romanian King Michael staged a coup against dictator Ion Antonescu and joined the Allies.

Not long after the coup in Romania, the Fatherland Front in Bulgaria overthrew the pro-German Bulgarian government on 2 September 1944. Three days later, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria, soon occupying the northeastern part of the country. The Bulgarian Army was ordered not to offer any resistance. Bulgaria joined the Allies on 8 September 1944.

On 15 October 1944, the regent of Hungary, Miklós Horthy, announced that he had signed an armistice with the Soviet Union. In response, the Germans launched Operation Panzerfaust, arrested Horthy and installed Ferenc Szálasi, leader of the fascist Arrow Cross Party, as leader of Hungary. Hungary would continue to fight the Red Army on the Axis side until the end of the war.

Preparations for the coup
August Košutić, Vice President of the HSS
Ljudevit Tomašić, Deputy Secretary of the HSS

Vladko Maček, the President of the Croatian Peasant Party, thought that the British would support the democratic and anti-communist Croatian state. Because of that, he thought that the Allies would eventually land on the Dalmatian coast and support his party as democratic and anti-communist. He also assumed that the Croatian Home Guard would support the HSS once the invasion of Dalmatia started. Nevertheless, Draža Mihailović's Serb-dominated Chetniks had a plan directed against both Croats and Communists if the projected Allied invasion of Dalmatia were to occur. The three members of the HSS' leadership, August Košutić, the Vice President; Ljudevit Tomašić, a deputy secretary and representative who was already in contact with the Allies; and Ivanko Farolfi were assigned the task of carrying out negotiations with the British. Farolfi was the most active and was in charge of maintaining contact with Croatian army officers, party leaders and foreign intelligence services.[6]

Mladen Lorković had a plan to disarm the German army on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), install the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) as the new government, and to call all of the Allied armies to land on the territory of the NDH. He also believed that the HSS would prevent the communists or King Peter II from coming to power.[7] In July 1944, Vokić held a meeting at which he pointed out that once the Allies invaded the Balkans, the German armed forces would have to be disarmed. The Germans were aware that Croatia could join the Allies. The Luftwaffe's attaché in Zagreb on 11 August reported that the Croatian military was becoming increasingly uncooperative towards the Germans. He also noted their request for more arms and ammunition from the German military.[8] Lorković established contact with the Croatian Peasant Party representatives in Croatia, Ivanko Farolfi, Ljudevit Tomašić and August Košutić.

Their notion of an Allied invasion of Dalmatia failed to materialize, as Allies had no intention of landing in Dalmatia. Even so, Winston Churchill was sympathetic to the idea of an Allied invasion of the Croatian coast, so he initiated a discussion with Josip Broz Tito about a possible invasion of the Istrian peninsula in August 1944.[8] The representatives of the HSS and Croatian Home Guard offered only promises, while the Yugoslav Partisans were involved in the war, and at the Teheran Conference, the Partisans gained the status of an Allied force. The British did not wanted to risk cooperation with the Partisans, and their involvement in Yugoslavia was already complicated as they dealt with both the Royal Yugoslav government-in-exile and the Communists; the involvement of the Croatian Home Guard and the HSS would complicate the situation even further.[9]

The Croatian negotiators with the Allies were Tomo Jančiković, Zenon Adamić and Ivan Babić. The British always had a separate meeting with them. The HSS thought that their emissaries were successful in securing the Dalmatian invasion plan. The appointment of Ivan Šubašić as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia in exile and General Ivan Tomašević's offer to put his army under Allied command once the invasion began, encouraged the plotters even more. Finally, the Romanian coup and the advance of the Soviet troops led them to believe that the Allies would soon invade Dalmatia.[9]

End of the plot and arrests

Ante Pavelić, Poglavnik of the Independent State of Croatia, thought that the Germans would win the war with the "horrible weapons". He called a meeting of his cabinet to his villa, which was guarded by armed men. A meeting took place on 30 August 1944, and Pavelić accused both Lorković and Vokić of involvement in the plot and treason. Vice President of the Government, Džafer Kulenović, and many others defended them, but to no avail. Lorković and Vokić were arrested, along with 60 others. Lorković requested that Pavelić not do harm the members of the HSS, "as promised", while Vokić defended them in front of Pavelić, asserting that they did everything he ordered them to do. Some of those who were arrested were soon released, while Lorković and Vokić were tried, imprisoned, and later executed.[10]

Conspirators

References
Citations
  1. Barbier 2002, p. 22.
  2. Parkinson 1979, p. 289.
  3. Ginsborg 2003, p. 11-12.
  4. Lewis 2002, p. 51.
  5. Ostrom 2009, p. 117.
  6. Tomasevich 2001, p. 444.
  7. Karaula 2008, p. 141.
  8. Tomasevich 2001, p. 450.
  9. Tomasevich 2001, p. 451.
  10. Tomasevich 2001, p. 451-452.
  11. Nikica Barić. Ustroj kopnene vojske domobranstva NDH, 1941. – 1945.. Hrvatski institut za povijest. Zagreb, 2003. (pg. 355)
  12. Nikica Barić. Ustroj kopnene vojske domobranstva NDH, 1941. – 1945.. Hrvatski institut za povijest. Zagreb, 2003. (pg. 467)
  13. Previranja u Bjelovaru uoči “puča Vokić - Lorković” 1944. godine
Bibliography
  • Barbier, Kathryn (2002). Kursk 1943: The Greatest Tank Battle Ever Fought. Zenith Imprint. ISBN 9780760312544.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Ginsborg, Paul (2003). A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943-1988. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403961532.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Lewis, Paul (2002). Latin Fascist Elites: The Mussolini, Franco, and Salazar Regimes. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313013348.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Ostrom, Thomas P. (2009). The United States Coast Guard in World War II: A History of Domestic and Overseas Actions. McFarland. ISBN 9780786442560.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Parkinson, Roger (1979). Encyclopedia of Modern War. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780586083215.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanfrod University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3615-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Further reading
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