Marko Natlačen (April 24, 1886 – October 13, 1942) was a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n politician and jurist, who also served as the last ban (governor) of the Drava Banovina in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. His

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

at the hands of the Slovenian Communist secret police (VOS) during World War II was an important event in the escalation of the armed conflict between the Slovenian partisans and the Slovenian paramilitary anti-revolutionary forces in the

Province of Ljubljana The Province of Ljubljana (, , ) was the central-southern area of Slovenia. In 1941, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy, and after 1943 occupied by Nazi Germany. Created on May 3, 1941, it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when the Slovene Parti ...

. The role of Natlačen during World War II and the extent to which he collaborated with the Fascist Italian forces has been disputed.

Biography

Natlačen was born in the village of Manče in the upper Vipava Valley, in what was then the

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola (, , ) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarc ...

within the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. Natlačen finished his law studies in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and then moved to

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, where he worked in a law firm. He was a member of the Slovene People's Party and an

anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

. During the Second World War he founded the National Council of Slovenia () together with the leaders of other political parties.Sirc, Ljubo. 1992. ''Med Hitlerjem in Titom''. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, pp. 14–15. On April 6, Germany, Italy and Hungary invaded Slovenia. Natlačen and the mayor of Ljubljana greeted and handed the occupying Italian army the keys to the city. On April 12–14, Natlačen met with the German occupation army, asking them to create a Slovene quisling state, like the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

. The Germans refused, and Germany, Italy and Hungary partitioned Slovenia. Germany annexed

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

to the Reich, while Italy annexed the

to Italy, instituted the Italian Fascist system, and forbade all Slovene political organizations. A day after the Italians annexed the

to Italy, Natlačen and a number of other Slovene politicians wrote a letter to Mussolini, congratulating him on the act. Ljubljanski sosvet in mussolini

He initially accepted a position on the Fascist-established advisory council for the Province of Ljubljana, and on June 8 led a delegation to meet with Mussolini in Rome, after which he wrote Mussolini another letter expressing "complete loyalty". But he resigned later that year since he saw the Italians were not interested even in any advice from the council and his opposition to the Italian authorities and their unlawful treatment of people in the Province of Ljubljana. Together with the Albert Kramer of the Liberal Party, he helped draft the London Points () in October 1941, which stated that the goals of Slovene prewar parties was the renewal of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and designated the

Chetnik The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

army of Draža Mihailović as the only legal force, while all others, including the Partisans, were declared treasonous. In 1942 Natlačen played a key role in establishing the MVAC, a Slovene collaborationist militia that fought under the command of the Italian fascist forces, having written in May 1942 a memorandum to the Italians suggesting the creation of such unit

Natlačen was still the internal leader of the Slovene People's Party, when the party's army, the Slovene Legion, joined the Italian MVAC forces, to jointly fight with the Italian occupation army against Slovene Partisans, the Partisans. He was assassinated by a member of the VOS, Security and Intelligence Service, Franc Stadler, at the order of the Communist Party of Slovenia. Reflecting his importance to the collaborationist cause, the Fascist authorities in retaliation for Natlačen shot 24 Slovene hostages, suspected supporters of the Liberation Front. After the war the communist authorities desecrated his grave, exhumed his remains, and disposed of them at an unknown location.

Controversies

Natlačen published the anti-Serb xenophobic poem '' Srbe na vrbe'' (Hang the Serbs on the Willow Trees) in the Ljubljana newspaper ''Slovenec'' on July 27, 1914, the day before

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

declared war against the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

.Slovene History – 20th Century, Selected Articles Written by Dr. Božo Repe, p. 116
In 2007, Ivan Princes, the mayor of Vipava, where Natlačen's birth village of Manče is located, tried to dedicate a bust statue to Natlačen, but abandoned the plan because the local inhabitants ended being "universally opposed" to the monument, in view of Natlačen's WWII collaborationist role. Mayor Princes cancelled the planned ceremony after SDS MP Eva Irgl, NSi President and Finance Minister

Andrej Bajuk Andrej Bajuk, also known in Spanish as Andrés Bajuk (18 October 1943 – 16 August 2011) was a Slovene politician and economist. He served briefly as Prime Minister of Slovenia in the year 2000, and was Minister of Finance in the centre-righ ...

withdrew their participation in the unveiling of the monument.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natlacen, Marko 1886 births 1942 deaths Yugoslav politicians People from the Municipality of Vipava Slovene People's Party (historical) politicians Assassinated Nazis Assassinated Yugoslav people 20th-century Slovenian lawyers Slovenian anti-communists Yugoslav anti-communists Slovenian civilians killed in World War II Slovenian collaborators with Nazi Germany Slovenian collaborators with Fascist Italy Bans of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia People killed by Yugoslav Partisans