The Lorkovich-Vokich Conspiracy

The attack on Stalingrad launched by Germany on August 24, 1942 choked and led to the defeat and defeat of the Wehrmacht on February 2, 1943 , which turned the tide of the war in favor of the USSR and the Western Allies ^[1] . On July 9, 1943, the Allies landed in Sicily ^[2] and overthrew Benito Mussolini , arresting him on July 25 ^[3] . On the same day, King Victor Emanuel III appointed Pietro Badoglio as the new Prime Minister, and on September 8, Italy was withdrawn from the war after its unconditional surrender ^[4] . On June 6, 1944, the Allies dealt another blow to Germany, landing in Normandy ^[5] . All these defeats of the Wehrmacht undermined the confidence of the axis countries in their main patron.

• On August 23, 1944, after the entry of Soviet troops into Romania, King Mihai I organized a coup and declared war on Germany. The country was split into two parts: supporters of the king were on the side of the anti-Hitler coalition, opponents joined Hitler and his ally, Ion Antonescu .
• September 2, 1944 in Bulgaria, the Patriotic Front overthrew the pro-German government, and three days later the USSR occupied the northeast of Bulgaria, formally declaring war. Bulgarian troops showed no resistance and on September 8 they began to fight on the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.
• On October 15, 1944, Hungarian regent Miklos Horthy announced a truce with the USSR, but the angry Germans organized a coup and placed their man - Ferenc Salashi from Crossed Arrows , who did not accept the truce and ordered the war to continue.

Vladko Macek , the head of the Croatian Peasant Party, dreamed of creating an independent democratic and anti-communist Croatia, created with the support of Great Britain. He hoped that the allies would land on the coast of Dalmatia and support his aspirations, and the Croatian household would abandon the Ustashi and go over to the side of the Croatian Peasant Party. However, the Chetniks of Drazhi Mikhailovich , who hoped to expel both the Communists and Croatian nationalists from the country with the help of the British, had their own plan for this case. Three leaders of the Croatian Peasant Party - August Koshutich (vice president), Ludevit Tomasic (deputy secretary) and Ivanko Farolfi were given the task of starting negotiations with the British. Farolfi was also responsible for establishing contact with the officers of the Croatian household, party leaders and foreign intelligence ^[6] .

Mladen Lorkovic prepared a plan for the disarmament of the Germans in the NHC, the establishment of the power of the Croatian peasant party and a call on the allies to land on the coast of Dalmatia. Lorkovich believed that this would not allow his power to be established either by Josip Broz Tito or by King Peter II ^[7] . At a meeting in July 1944, Vokic stated that as soon as the Allies landed in the Balkans, the Germans would need to be disarmed, since the Germans were afraid of such a development of events with Croatia becoming an ally. The Luftwaffe attache in Zagreb reported on August 11 that the Croatian military refused to cooperate with the Germans, but demanded more weapons and ammunition ^[8] . Lorkovich, meanwhile, made contact with Farolfi, Tomasic and Koshutich.

The conspirators' plan cracked after it turned out that the Allies were not going to land in Dalmatia. Winston Churchill , however, did not rule out such a scenario, as a result of which he began negotiations with Broz Tito on a possible landing in Istria in August 1944 ^[8] . The Croatian peasant party and the Croatian housekeeping could not offer anything but promises, while the Yugoslav partisans of Tito were already recognized as fighters of the Anti-Hitler coalition. The British, who had previously helped the Yugoslav Chetniks , later found out about the Chetniks' cooperation with the Nazis and were not going to take a second risk so as not to become completely confused in the forces opposing on the Balkan Peninsula, therefore they were not going to help the Croatian dominance and the Croatian peasant party ^[9] .

On behalf of the Croatian conspirators, negotiations with the allies were also conducted by Tomo Yanichkovich , Zenon Adamich and Ivan Babich - the party thought that all three of them had agreed successfully on the Allied invasion of Dalmatia, and the appointment of Ivan Shubasic to the post of Minister of Yugoslavia in government in exile and a proposal by General Ivan Tomashevich to give troops to the allies inspired the conspirators even more. Subsequently, their faith in the landing of allies in Dalmatia strengthened after the Soviet troops entered Romanian territory and overthrew the pro-Hitler government of Ion Antonescu ^[9] .

The head of the NHC Ante Pavelich nevertheless believed that the Germans would win the war at all costs. On August 30, 1944, he invited Lorkovich and Vokich to a meeting at his well-guarded villa. In the presence of many armed men, Pavelich publicly accused Lorkovich and Vokich of attempting a coup and ordered them to be arrested. The efforts of Deputy Prime Minister Jafer Kulenovich to save the accused were in vain: 60 people were put on trial. Lorkovich asked Pavelic not to harm the leaders of the Croatian peasant party, and Vokic convinced the head officer that they simply carried out orders from above. Several people were nevertheless released, and Lorkovich and Vokich themselves were convicted and later executed ^[10] .

• Mladen Lorkovic , Minister of the Interior
• Ante Vokic , Minister of Armed Forces
• Franjo Šimić , General of Croatian Household; prepared in the event of the landing of Americans and British in Dalmatia to escape to them ^[11] .
• Ivan Babić , Lieutenant Colonel of Croatian Housekeeping; He revealed to the Allies a coup plan ^[12] , after the war he fled to South America.
• Petar Blashkovich , General of the Infantry of the Croatian Household
• Ivan Gloom , former commander of the Croatian Air Legion ^[13]
• Ivanko Farolfi , leader of the Croatian Peasant Party
• Ludevit Tomasic , leader of the Croatian Peasant Party
• August Koshutich , leader of the Croatian Peasant Party

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