The Independent State of Croatia (Serbo-Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, Независна Држава Хрватска, NDH; German: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; Italian: Stato Indipendente di Croazia), often referred to simply by the abbreviation NDH, was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. The NDH consisted of most of modern day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with some parts of modern-day Serbia.
The state was technically a monarchy and Italian protectorate from the signing of the Rome agreements on 19 May 1941 until the Italian capitulation on 8 September 1943, but the would-be king, appointed by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Prince Aimone of Savoy-Aosta, refused to assume the crown in opposition to the Italian annexation of the Croat-populated Yugoslav region of Dalmatia.
The state was actually controlled by the governing fascist Ustaše movement and its Poglavnik, Ante Pavelić, which in turn were primarily under German influence. For its first two years up to 1943, the state was also a territorial condominium of Germany and Italy. Additionally, central Dalmatia was annexed directly into Italian territory as part of the irredentist agenda of an Italian Mare Nostrum (Our Sea). Italian influence collapsed in 1943, with the ousting of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
Racial targets of the NDH were Jews, Serbs and Roma people, against whom large-scale genocide campaigns were conducted in places such as the Jasenovac concentration camp.
Read more about Independent State Of Croatia: Government, Zones of Influence, Geography, Racial Legislation, Culture
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