User:Antidiskriminator/Drafts of articles/Legalized Chetniks

The Legalized Chetniks were units of Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland that were subjected to process of legalization with the occupation forces in Axis occupied Yugoslavia.

In the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia around 20 units of Yugoslav Army were legalized with Government of National Salvation of Milan Nedić. Trough legalization with Nedic's government Mihailovic's movement sucessfully avoided destruction in the offensive of German forces which chased away Communist forces out of Serbia.

In Montenegro some of the units of Yugoslav Army forces were legalized with the Italian governorate of Montenegro. In Dalmatia and Herzegovina the Yugoslav Army units were legalized with Italian occupation forces.

Two waves of legalization
The legalization of Chetnik detachments had two waves. The first wave was in period November—December 1941 when legalization with Serbian puppet government was accepted by the following Chetnik units and commanders: In the second wave of legalization which happened at the beginning of 1942 the Serbian puppet government even established new Chetnik detachements as already legalized, such as Ribnički Detachment in Valjevo region.
 * Ljubić Detachment commanded by Raković
 * Požega Detachment commanded by Glišić and Ignjatović
 * Užice—Požega Detachment commanded by M. Korać
 * Montenegrin Detachment commanded by Mladenović
 * Detachments commanded by V. Pantelić, R. Stojanović, Rajković, Kalabić and many other

The Chetnik detachment commanded by Major Miloš Glišić was named Sandžak Military Chetnik Detachment (legalized by the Government of National Salvation) The illegal Suva Planina Chetnik Detachment under command of Mašan Đurović had 520 soldiers was legalized under the name of Ibar Chetnik Detachment which code name was C-54 and was composed of several Battalions and headquarters first in Raška and then in Jošanička Banja. The number of its soldiers increased until beginning of 1942 to more than 1,200 soldiers and officers. The Golija-Sjenica Chetnik Detachment under command of Leutenant Mirko Tomašević was legalized and merged into Ibar Chetnik Detachment as its 5th Battallion. The Kolašin Chetnik Detachment commanded by voivode Todor Dobrić and composed of soldiers who were refugees from Ibarski Kolašin was also legalized. At the end of 1941 Božidar Ćosović also legalized the Javor Chetnik Detachment under his command which was renamed to Javor Independent Chetnik Detachment with code C-37. Since he disobeyed his detachment was disbanded but he kept his arms and became illegal and had numerous military conflicts with Italian and German forces and Sandžak Muslim militia.

In the Spring of 1942 the seat of Chetnik organization and its activities were moved to Montenegro and Bosnia while in Serbia around 20 Chetnik detachments were legalized to serve Nedićs government. Trough legalization of part of Chetnik forces with Nedic's government Mihailovic's movement successfully avoided destruction in the offensive of German forces which chased away Communist forces out of Serbia. The German military and intelligence structures managed to realize about this process of legalization while Abwer included it in its analysis of situation in Serbia published in December 1941. Already on 20 December 1941 the Abwer noticed that remnants of defeated Mihailović's Chetnik groups are trying to join Pećanac Chetniks and insited that "all Mihailović's followers should be treated as rebels and in no other way".

Conflict between Chetniks and Ljotićevci
Soon there were conflicts between illegal Chetniks and legal Chetniks and Ljotićevci. At the end of May 1942 Raković organized attack on Budimir Nikić and his associates, wounding Nikić and killing four of his companions near Čačak. At the end of June 1942 another member of Ljotićevci, Dragutin Bulić, was attacked and killed at the market in Čačak.

At the same time in Valjevo there was conflict between illegal Chetniks of Major Nikola Kalabić and legalized Chetniks of Captain Rajko Terzić. Since April 1942 Terzić arrested members and associates of illegal Chetniks and handed over them to Germans who either executed them or sent them to concentration camps in Germany. The illegal Chetniks soon took revenge and killed Terzić in his office.

German suspicion results with capture, disarming or rearming of legalized Chetniks
German General Majsner was suspicious toward legalized Chetniks since he arrived in German occupied Serbia. Many of legalized Chetnik detachments actually acted as illegal Chetniks, some even annexed newly established legal Chetnik units. Germans expected that Allies might organize invasion of their troops at Yugoslav Adriatic coast in the first half of 1943 and decided to disarm Chetniks, both legalized and Pećanacs.

Therefore German authorities organized disarming, capturing or rearming of Chetnik units. The rearming was organized in such way that German authorites took away from some Chetnik units their arms with standard ammunition and replaced it with nonstandard arms and ammunition that could only be acquired from German authorities once it was spent. Some Chetnik units were simply disarmed and disbanded, while some Chetniks ware disarmed and taken to concentration camps in Zemun Concentration Camp or Mathauzen.

The Legalized Chetniks were formally incorporated into Serbian State Guard until December 1942. The last two legalized Chetnik detachments were disbanded in March 1943.

Reactions
British in general considered "legalization" as a good ruse. On his trial Mihailović emphasized that he approved legalization of some Chetnik units as best way to inflitrate Axis forces. At the beginning the reports about collaborationism of the "legalized" units received criticism which was soon suppressed after anti-fascist activities of these forces against volunteers of Dimitrije Ljotić.