The Organization of Yugoslav Nationalists (''Organizacija Jugoslavenskih Nacionalista'', ''ORJUNA''; ''Организација Југославенских Националиста'', ''ОРЈУНА''), was a political organization in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
that existed from 1921 to 1929. ORJUNA supported
Yugoslav nationalism
Yugoslavism, Yugoslavdom, or Yugoslav nationalism is an ideology supporting the notion that the South Slavs, namely the Bosniaks, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes, but also Bulgarians, belong to a single Yugoslav nation ...
, promoted the creation of a
corporatist
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
state, and opposed
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
,
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
,
separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
,
Serbian and
Croatian nationalism
Croatian nationalism is nationalism that asserts the nationality of Croats and promotes the cultural unity of Croats.
Modern Croatian nationalism first arose in the 19th century after Budapest exerted increasing pressure for Magyarization of Cr ...
. It is believed to have been inspired by
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
.
It was created in
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
, in 1921, in order to fight communist insurgencies and Croatian separatism, and later Italian and Austrian irredentism. The nominal leader was
Milan Pribićević
Milan Pribićević ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Прибићевић) was a Yugoslav political activist who nominally led ORJUNA. He had three brothers, Svetozar Pribićević, Adam Pribićević and Valerijan Pribičević, all of them were writers and po ...
, brother of Yugoslav politician
Svetozar Pribićević
Svetozar Pribićević ( sr-cyr, Светозар Прибићевић}, ; 26 October 1875 – 15 September 1936) was a Croatian Serb politician in Austria-Hungary and later Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He was one of the main proponents of Yugoslavism a ...
. The organization ceased to exist in 1929, after the
6 January Dictatorship
The 6 January Dictatorship ( sr-cyr, Шестојануарска диктатура, Šestojanuarska diktatura; hr, Šestosiječanjska diktatura; sl, Šestojanuarska diktatura) was a royal dictatorship established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croa ...
was established by
King Alexander I.
History
![Plakat Organizacija jugoslov](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Plakat_Organizacija_jugoslov._nacionalista_Vi%C4%8D-Glince_1923.jpg)
The ORJUNA was founded in March 1921 in
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
by the royal administrator of Croatia and funded by the provincial government to secure Yugoslavia from threats posed by communists, separatists, and other persons deemed threatening to the state. The first president was
Marko Nani
Marko may refer to:
* Marko (given name)
* Marko (surname)
* Márkó, a village in Hungary
See also
*Marco (disambiguation)
*Markko (disambiguation)
*Marka (disambiguation)
*Markov
*Marku
Marku is an Albanian surname. Notable people with the ...
and the first secretary
Edo Bulat
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
. The first actions organized by JNNO were demonstrations against
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
s because of the communist assassination of the Minister of Interior Milorad Drašković. JNNO organized demonstrations in Split,
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
and
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
. In Zagreb, JNNO members even demolished offices of newspapers that blamed the government for assassination.
It was particularly influential in areas of
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
and
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
that were of interest to
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
irredentism
Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...
as well as in areas where ethnic minorities where viewed to be powerful or separatist, such as
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
in
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
. The membership of the movement was ethnically mixed of the various
Yugoslav nationalities. However most of its members were Croats from
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
. It ran its own newspapers, had an academic club, a labour organization, a high school students wing "Young Yugoslavia", and a
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
organization, the Action Section.
![Orjuna v Celju](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Orjuna_v_Celju.jpg)
After 1922 people of all age groups started to join the organization, which changed its name in May 1922 to ORJUNA. ORJUNA's main political goal was maintaining a unitary Yugoslav state. Its members clashed with Austrian and Italian border patrols. ORJUNA never participated directly in elections but its supporters voted for Yugoslav oriented parties. In 1929, when the King proclaimed his personal
dictatorship
A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...
and disbanded the parliament, ORJUNA supported the King's action, but because the King outlawed all political parties and organizations, the ORJUNA ceased to exist.
By 1925, ORJUNA's Action Groups accounted for 10,000 people.
Ideology
The primary ideological component of ORJUNA was
integral Yugoslavism and establishing the
corporatist state. The ORJUNA is believed to have been influenced by fascism in that like the original
Italian Fascism, it had a similar organizational structure including a Yugoslav version of the ''
Duce
( , ) is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word 'leader', and a cognate of ''duke''. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as ('The Leader') of the movement since the birth of the in 1919. In 1925 ...
'' ("Leader"), titled ''Vođa'' and like Italian Fascism it glorified violence, including in its mottoes "Victory or Death" and "Whoever is not with us, is against us!". The organization was loyal to the
Karađorđević dynasty
The Karađorđević dynasty ( sr-Cyrl, Динасија Карађорђевић, Dinasija Karađorđević, Карађорђевићи / Karađorđevići, ) or House of Karađorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Кућа Карађорђевић, Kuća Karađ ...
.
See also
*
Yugoslav National Movement
The Yugoslav National Movement ( sh, Jugoslavenski narodni pokret / Југословенски народни покрет), also known as the United Militant Labour Organization (''Združena borbena organizacija rada'' / ''Здружена бор ...
*
Yugoslav Action
Yugoslav Action ( sh, Jugoslovenska akcija, acronymed JA) was a radical Yugoslavism, Yugoslav nationalist organization that supported an authoritarian Corporatism, corporatist system and a planned economy, active between 1930 and 1935. During its e ...
*
Association of Fighters of Yugoslavia The Association of Fighters of Yugoslavia ( sl, Združenje borcev Jugoslavije), known as Boj (an abbreviation, also meaning "battle"; members were known as sh, Bojovnici), was a Yugoslav nationalist organization in the Drava Banovina (Slovenia) of ...
*
Yugoslav Radical Union
The Yugoslav Radical Union (Serbian language, Serbian: ''Jugoslovenska radikalna zajednica'', Југословенска радикална заједница; sl, Jugoslovanska radikalna skupnost, Croatian language, Croatian: ''Jugoslavenska rad ...
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Orjuna
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Organizations based in Yugoslavia
1921 establishments in Yugoslavia
Political parties established in 1921
Political parties disestablished in 1929
Yugoslavism
Anti-communist parties