Ante Pavelić
The Ustaše leader
A puppet fascist state's brutal head.
Reactionary FascistOne of 729 ideologies · enter the Fascist hall →- Role
- Dictator (Poglavnik)
- Era
- 1889–1959
- Region
- Croatia
- Social band
- Reactionary
- Placement
- +72 · +96 · −72
§ Where Ante Pavelić stands
3 axesThe Ustaše state kept private property for Croats while plundering its victims. From 1941 it confiscated Jewish assets and handed the farms, shops and homes of murdered or expelled Serbs to Croat settlers and loyalists, and its economy was harnessed to German and Italian war needs. That combination of ethnic expropriation and private ownership for the favoured nation places the regime well right of centre.
Pavelić ruled a one-party totalitarian state. Decrees issued within weeks of its founding in April 1941 imposed the death penalty for vaguely defined offences against the state and the Croatian people, the Ustaše militia acted with impunity, and a network of concentration camps, of which Jasenovac was the largest, held and killed opponents and targeted groups.
The Ustaše fused extreme Croatian nationalism with a militant Catholic identity. The racial laws of April 1941 copied Nazi models against Jews and Roma, Serbs were targeted for murder, expulsion and forced conversion from Orthodoxy to Catholicism, and the Cyrillic alphabet was banned. The regime defined the nation by ethnicity and faith, leaving no place for minorities.
How close are you to Ante Pavelić?
Three statements, one per axis. Answer them and we’ll drop you on the compass next to them.
§ The story
HistoricalAnte Pavelić (1889–1959) was the founder of the Ustaše movement and the dictator, or Poglavnik, of the Independent State of Croatia, an Axis satellite, from 1941 to 1945. Born in Bradina in Herzegovina, he became a lawyer and Croatian nationalist politician in Zagreb and sat in the Yugoslav parliament. When King Alexander imposed a royal dictatorship in 1929 he went into exile, founded the Ustaše with Italian support, and in 1934 helped organise the assassination of King Alexander in Marseille.
Installed in Zagreb after the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Pavelić's regime waged a campaign of mass murder, expulsion and forced conversion against Serbs and, alongside the Germans, destroyed most of the Jews and Roma in its territory, notably at the Jasenovac camp complex. As the state collapsed in May 1945 he fled to Austria and Italy, and in 1948 he reached Argentina. He survived an assassination attempt in Buenos Aires in 1957 and died in Madrid in 1959, never having faced trial.
Notable for
- 01Led the Ustaše movement
- 02Headed the WWII Independent State of Croatia
- 03Fled into exile after 1945
Key works & moments
- 1929Goes into exile after King Alexander's royal dictatorship and founds the Ustaše movement abroad.
- 1934His Ustaše help organise the assassination of Yugoslavia's King Alexander in Marseille.
- 1941Installed in April as Poglavnik of the Axis-backed Independent State of Croatia.
- 1941His regime opens the Jasenovac camp complex amid mass killings of Serbs, Jews and Roma.
- 1945Flees in May as his state collapses, later reaching Argentina by way of Austria and Rome.
- 1957Wounded in an assassination attempt in Buenos Aires; he dies in Madrid in 1959.
§ Minds closest to Ante Pavelić
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§ Also in the Fascist hall
Enter the hall →§ Common questions
4 answersWhat was Ante Pavelić's political ideology?
Ante Pavelić was the leader of Croatia's fascist Ustaše movement: on the 99ideologies three-axis compass, a Reactionary Fascist. Economically he sat well right of centre (+72), protecting private property for Croats while plundering Serbs and Jews. On governance he was near the authoritarian maximum (+96), ruling a one-party Axis satellite through terror and camps, and socially he was strongly reactionary (−72), fusing ethnic nationalism and militant Catholic identity in a campaign of genocide.
Was Ante Pavelić left-wing or right-wing?
Far right. Pavelić led a fascist movement that took power under the protection of Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany, copied their racial laws and leader cult, and fought both the communist Partisans and the royalist Chetniks. His regime's goal was an ethnically pure Croatian state, pursued through the murder, expulsion and forced conversion of Serbs and the destruction of Jews and Roma, which places him at the extreme authoritarian right.
What was Jasenovac?
Jasenovac was the largest concentration and extermination camp complex in the Independent State of Croatia, run by the Ustaše from August 1941 to April 1945 near the Sava river. Its victims were mostly Serbs, along with Jews, Roma and Croat anti-fascists, and many were killed by hand rather than by gas. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that between 77,000 and 99,000 people were murdered there, and the death toll has long been contested between Serbian and Croatian accounts.
Which minds are closest to Ante Pavelić?
On the 99ideologies three-axis compass, the minds closest to Ante Pavelić are Benito Mussolini (99% alike), Adenoid Hynkel (99% alike) and Ion Antonescu (98% alike). The furthest is Emma Goldman (0% alike).