Blue Guard (Slovene)

Blue Guard
Chetnik flag inscription reads: "For king and fatherland; freedom or death"
Active	1941–1944
Allegiance	Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Type	Guerilla organization
Size	300–600
Part of	Yugoslav Army in the Homeland (Chetniks)
Commanders
1941	Jaka Avšič
Ceremonial chief	Karl Novak

The Blue Guard (Slovene language: Plava garda ), also known as the Slovene Chetniks (Slovene language: Slovenski četniki , Serbo-Croatian language: Slovenački četnici), was a Slovenian anti-communist militia under the leadership of major Karl Novak. The detachments under Novak's command were part of the wider "Yugoslav Army in the Homeland" (JVuO) that included units from all over Yugoslavia that swore allegiance to Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović. The ranks were drawn from Slovene officers in the pre-war Royal Yugoslav Army (JV). At first, the JV units in Slovenia that offered resistance were under the command of Jaka Avšič until his mid-1941 transfer to the Yugoslav Partisans. In 1944, the bulk of members joined the Legion of Death.

Slovene Chetniks in Lower Carniola, c. 1942–43.

References

• Gregor Joseph Kranjc (2013). To Walk with the Devil: Slovene Collaboration and Axis Occupation, 1941-1945. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-1330-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=1nVurhv7wwMC. 
• Antonio J. Munoz (1998). Slovenian Axis Forces in World War II, 1941-1945. Axis Europa. ISBN 978-1-891227-12-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=s9AMAQAAMAAJ. 
• Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=fqUSGevFe5MC&printsec=frontcover. 

Further reading

• Slobodan Kljakić i Marijan F. Kranjc, Slovenački četnici, Beograd, 2006 COBISS 134158092
• Marijan F. Kranjc in Slobodan Kljakić, Plava garda – poveljnikovo zaupno poročilo, Maribor, 2006 COBISS 57204737
• Katja Zupanič, Četništvo na Štajerskem, Ljubljana, 2008. ISBN 978-961-92574-1-8