SUMMARY
The Croatian irregulars is an umbrella term used by the UCDP, to refer to a collection of militia groups that fought on the side of the self-proclaimed Republic of Croatia in the intrastate armed conflict over territory against the Government of Serbia (Yugoslavia) in the early 1990s (see Serbia (Yugoslavia): Croatia). The Croatian irregulars also fought alongside the self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the intrastate armed conflict over territory against the Government of Bosnia-Herzegovina 1993-1994 (see Bosnia-Herzegovina: Croat).
In 1991, the label “Croatian irregulars” contained various militias and loosely organized Croat civilians. Among these militias were the Croatian Defense Forces (Hrvatske Ombrambene Snage, HOS), which was the military wing of the extreme nationalist Croatian Rights Party (Hrvatska Stranka Prava, HSP), which was led by Dobroslav Paraga. The paramilitary wing, HOS, was led by Ante Paradžik. HSP/HOS was an ultra-right wing organization with considerable fascist tendencies, inspired by the Ustasa movement that ruled an independent fascist Croatian state during the Second World War. Despite fighting alongside the self-proclaimed Republic of Croatia in 1991, HSP’s leader Paraga was strongly opposed to the Croat President Franjo Tudjman; the latter considered HSP/HOS a threat against his own nationalist image. Other militia groups included in the Croatian irregulars in 1991 were the Wolves of Vukovar (a renegade unit of Croatian National Guards), neofacist-affiliated groups like the Zebras, and the Black Legion. In 1991, most HOS forces that remained in Croatia were integrated into the Croatian National Guard.
In 1993-1994, the Croatian irregulars refers to the non-local Croats fighting in the Bosnia-Herzegovina: Croat conflict, supportive of the idea that the Bosnian Croats needed a political entity of their own after Bosnia-Herzegovina had seceded from the Yugoslav federation. During these years, the umbrella term refers mainly to HOS forces led by Blaž Kraljević, and possibly remnants of the other militias involved in the fighting against the Government of Serbia (Yugoslavia) in 1991 and 1992. At this point, the HOS included both Croats and Muslims supportive of the self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina; they had entered the conflict on Paraga’s orders. The purpose of HOS’ involvement in the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict was to restore the territory controlled by the Croatian Ustasa regime during the Second World War. The last remaining HOS forces were integrated into the Croatian Military Council (Hrvatsko vijeće obrane, HVO), which was the formal armed force of Croatian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in April 1993. As a part of the HVO, it was subsequently integrated into the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995.
