Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/ss.23.1.10
Forced requisition of agricultural products during Independent State of Croatia, 1941-1945
Nikica Barić
Abstract
The paper presents the activities of enterprises established by the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH), whose aim was to collect food surpluses from peasants. These enterprises were Central State Enterprise for Agricultural Products (Državna poslovna središnjica za zemaljske proizvode, ZEMPRO) and Central State Enterprise for Supplies (Državna opskrbna poslovna središnjica, DOPOS). NDH proclaimed a state monopoly on agricultural products and peasants were forced to sell their surpluses to the state which then distributed this food to other parts of population and to armed forces. Slavonia and Syrmia were the main agricultural regions in NDH and the activities of ZEMPRO and later DOPOS was to a large degree concentrated to those regions. With the development and strengthening of the People’s Liberation Movement and its Partisan army and constant military operations on NDH territory, collection and distribution of food became a major problem for NDH administration.
Peasantry was generally disinclined to sell its surpluses to the state, because these were inadequately paid, in fact paid in NDH’s currency whose value was diminished by rising inflation. Very often peasants were not able to purchase other goods with money, while black market offered the peasants better opportunities to barter food for other goods. From 1943 NDH authorities tried to resolve this problem by offering the peasants industrial and other products for their food surpluses.
The representatives of NDH authorities and its ruling Ustasha movement were aware that forced requisition had created dissatisfaction among peasantry and the regime wanted to retain its loyalty. In fact, during 1943 there were certain initiatives among NDH’s ruling circles to restructure the system of forced collection of agricultural products. Instead of state imposed requisition, this duty was to be delegated to peasants’ cooperatives, which had tradition among Croatian peasantry. But, ultimately, the NDH authorities did not accept such solution, obviously because they did not have faith that agricultural surpluses could be collected without the strong government control.
The end of World War II and the establishment of the new communist regime in Croatia, now as a federal unit in the new Yugoslav state, presented a distinctive break with the NDH regime. Nevertheless, the new regime retained the system of forced requisition of food from peasants, which brought new conflicts between the peasantry and the communist regime lasting until the early 1950s.
Keywords
Independent State of Croatia; Agriculture; Peasantry; Requisition of food
Hrčak ID:
311062
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2023.
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