Hakija Hadžić (1883–1953) was a

Bosnian Muslim The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

politician. He belonged to the group of Muslim politicians from Bosnia, who nationally felt Croat and approached the Ustasha movement. Hadžić belonged to a group of Muslim politicians who held pro-Croatian positions in the interwar period.

Background

Hadžić was a Croat from

Stolac Stolac is an ancient city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the region of Herzegovina. Stolac is one of the oldest cities in Bosnia and Herzego ...

. He attempted to set up a boarding school but could not gather even twenty prospective students to do so, in contrast to the Serbian Muslim society

Gajret Gajret was a cultural society established in 1903 that promoted Serb identity among the Slavic Muslims of Austria-Hungary (today's Bosnia and Herzegovina). After 1929, it was known as the Serb Muslim Cultural Society. The organization was pro-Ser ...

, which had over 300 students at the time.

Interwar period

Hadžić was a politician who had the strongest influence on the Muslim population of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Before the 1938 elections Hadžić established a new political party (Croatian Muslim Peasant Party) which had received very modest support at the elections.

Second World War

As a personal friend of Ante Pavelić, he promoted Ustaša politics in regions of Herzegovina and Bosnia. Hadžić thanked Pavelić for the establishment of NDH, while Pavelić appointed Hadžić as his Commissioner for Bosnia. Hadžić was Muslim Ustaša with highest rank in Sarajevo. Alija Nametak described Hadžić as one of the extreme Croats, to distinguish them from people for whom their Croatian ethnic identity was less emphatic. Group of Muslims around Hadžić were the strongest proponents of annexation of

Sandžak Sandžak (; sh, / , ; sq, Sanxhaku; ota, سنجاق, Sancak), also known as Sanjak, is a historical geo-political region in Serbia and Montenegro. The name Sandžak derives from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a former Ottoman administrative dis ...

into

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

(NDH). This was also supported by NDH government, as they thought that Sandžak is part of the same region as Bosnia and Herzegovina. In May, NDH forces occupied northern Sandžak, and new administrations in the occupied area was appointed by Hadžić, and it consisted of either Bosnian Muslims or reliable local collaborators. In municipality of

Pljevlja Pljevlja ( srp, Пљевља, ) is a town and the center of Pljevlja Municipality located in the northern part of Montenegro. The town lies at an altitude of . In the Middle Ages, Pljevlja had been a crossroad of the important commercial roads and ...

new government transferred 1,5 million dinars in budget to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

for 'safe keeping'. New governments adopted Ustaše racial laws on Hadžić's orders and started to discriminate Serb population, but because of German occupier they were unable to fully implement their racist policies. This occupation was short-lived as after negotiations in July 1941 with Italy territory of Sandžak occupied by NDH forces was given to Italian occupier. Hadžić claimed that he challenged

Mehmed Spaho Mehmed Spaho (13 March 1883 – 29 June 1939) was a Bosnian politician and leader of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization. He was the first Bosnian Muslim politician in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Spaho was described as the "undispu ...

to a duel, while both of them were in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, but Spaho refused to appear. Hadžić denounced

Džafer Kulenović Dr. Džafer Kulenović (17 February 1891 – 3 October 1956), often referred to as Džafer- beg Kulenović, was a Bosnian Muslim and Yugoslav politician who led the Yugoslav Muslim Organization in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and was briefly Min ...

too, although he also had a prominent position in the NDH.

References

Sources

* * *

Background

Interwar period

Second World War

References

Sources

Further reading