Ademaga Mešić

Ademaga Mešić or Adem Aga Mešić (25 March 1868 – 1 July 1945) was a Bosnian politician and military officer who served in the Austro-Hungarian Schutzkorps, and later a member of the Ustaše government of the Independent State of Croatia for Bosnian region during World War II.

Ottoman Bosnia
Mešić was married without children, and considered himself a Muslim Croat. Kisić Kolanović, Nada. [http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=62429 ''Ademaga Mešić i hrvatska nacionalna ideja 1895.–1918. godine] // ČSP'', Vol. 40, No. 3 (December 2008), pp. 1128-1229:"On vrlo jasno razdvaja pojam vjere od pojma nacije. Stoga uvjerava sunarodnjake da su “zavedeni da im je neispravno mišljenje u pogledu vjerskog nazora a naročito naziva našeg jezika kojim mi govorimo, da naš jezik nije bosanski i da bosanskog jezika nema nego da je naša pokrajina Bosna i Hercegovina obilježena tim nazivom i da je naš jezik hrvatski i da mi nismo Turci negoli da smo muslimanske vjere a hrvatske narodnosti”. U Hrvatskoj, dakle, “žive tri vjere ali jedna narodnost - hrvatska”. Prema Mešiću muslimani su po narodnosti “Hrvati muslimanske vjere, kao što Grci žive u Turskoj i nazivaju se Turci a vjere pravoslavne”. Očito je da je Mešić svoju bitku za jezik vodio na dva fronta: protiv srpstva i protiv bošnjaštva. On tvrdi da su Srbi “odvraćali muslimane od nacionaliziranja u duhu hrvatskom”, ali muslimani “nisu htjeli ni da čuju da oni govore srpski”. Srbi su također, nastavlja Mešić, “pomagali” Benjaminu Kállayu, zajedničkome ministru financija i upravitelju BiH u stvaranju bošnjaštva koje uključuje sliku da muslimani “nisu Hrvati i da naš jezik nije hrvatski nego da smo Bošnjaci a jezik bošnjački”. Stoga je Mešić glavnim kriterijem uspjeha svog “pokreta” za buđenje muslimana smatrao stvaranje “pravog osjećaja za svojim materinskim hrvatskim jezikom”. Dakle, jezik muslimana nije “bosanski” i “bosanskog jezika nema”, nego je “naša pokrajina Bosna i Hercegovina obilježena tim nazivom”, a naš je jezik “hrvatski”. (...) Prema Mešiću, muslimani su dokazali da su “nacionalni” upravo očuvanjem svoga jezika tijekom osmanskog razdoblja: “Osmanlije su nas silili da se turciziramo, da se odrodimo od svoje narodnosti, da od nas Hrvata naprave Turke (...) Mi smo sačuvali naš hrvatski jezik u našoj užoj domovini.”" He was the publisher of Behar, a Bosnian Muslim political journal published in the period 1900–11.

Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mešić belonged to a Croatian-Muslim bloc installed in 1908 by the government of Austria-Hungary to support its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a Germanophile, he was a leader of the Muslim supporters of the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina who renounced any kind of autonomy, including one based on religion. In 1908, he established the Muslim Progressive Party, which had a pro-Croat orientation. He wrote and published a work titled "Moj odgovor bezimenim klevetnicima".

First World War
At the beginning of World War I he was military commander in the Schutzkorps, an auxiliary volunteer militia established in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian authorities. The unit he organized and commanded was also known as "Ademaga's Army" (Ademagina vojska). After the war Mešić was a poultry trader in Tešanj.

Second World War
During World War II, he belonged to a narrow circle of Muslims who were supporters of the Independent State of Croatia and was vice-president of its government (Doglavnik) with his seat in Banja Luka. At the end of the war he was part of the Independent State of Croatia evacuation to Austria, only to be imprisoned by British forces, who extradited him to the new Yugoslav communist government.

Trial and death
After the war he was tried. In his closing statement he said that he was only a loyal citizen of the Ottoman sultan, Austrian emperor and Yugoslav king Karađorđević in turn, emphasizing his willingness to continue his loyal service, now to the new communist government. Mešić was sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 1945.