Gornje Primišlje is a village in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, under the

Slunj Slunj is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and Plitvice Lakes National Park, on the meeting of the rivers Korana and Slunjčica. Slunj has a popu ...

township, in

Karlovac County Karlovac County () is a county in central Croatia, with the administrative center in Karlovac. It borders Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. The city of Karlovac is a fort from the times of the Military Frontier. It was built as a six-side st ...

History

On 12 April 1941, a group of 700 soldiers of the

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the principal Army, ground force of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It existed from the establishment of ...

launched an attack on

from Primišlje in an attempt to penetrate further towards

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, but after 6 hours the attack on Slunj failed.

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

forces entered Slunj at the behest of the Ustaša administration of Slunj in the evening, while the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

bombed Yugoslav positions. A large number of soldiers were captured, and of those about 30 officers and 100 soldiers pledged allegiance to the NDH. Throughout that same day, a large number of

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

former Yugoslav soldiers from

Bihać Bihać is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una (Sava), Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in th ...

and

Korenica Korenica is a village in Lika, Croatia, located in the municipality of Plitvička Jezera, on the D1 road between Plitvice and Udbina. According to 2011 census it has 1,766 residents. It is the seat of the Plitvička Jezera Municipality. In SF ...

had been making the same pledge. German soldiers returned to

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

that evening with 2 captive Yugoslav generals. In the wake of the executions at Oštarski Stanovi, many Serbs rebelled, and the first shot fired in the region was in Gornje Primišlje on 3 August 1941. On the 15th,

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

and

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

veterans Stjepan Milašinčić and arrived in Gornje Primišlje from Karlovac to organise the rebellion, and on the 17th, Slunj's first

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

detachment was formed here.

Demographics

In 1895, the ''obćina'' of Primišlje (court at Primišlje Gornje), with an area of , belonged to the ''kotar'' of Slunj (Slunj court but

Plaški Plaški is a village and a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is part of the region of Lika. Geography Plaški is situated in the lower part of the Ogulin-Plaški valley. Together with Gorski kotar and Lika, the Ogulin-Plaški valley ...

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

) in the ''županija'' of Modruš-Rieka (

Ogulin Ogulin () is a town in central Croatia, in Karlovac County. It has a population of 7,389 (2021) (it was 8,216 in 2011), and a total municipal population of 12,251 (2021). Ogulin is known for its historic stone castle, known as Kula, and the nearby ...

court and financial board). There were 1067 houses, with a population of 6936. Its 12 villages and 89 hamlets were divided for taxation purposes into 6 ''porezne obćine'', under the Slunj office.

Notable natives and residents

* Svetozar Livada (1928 - 2022) - a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

philosopher, sociologist, historian, politician and demographer

References

Geography of Croatia Populated places in Karlovac County {{DEFAULTSORT:Gornje Primišlje