The Montenegrin Volunteer Corps (, ; ) was a collaborationist military formation that was created in the spring of 1944 under

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 ...

leader Pavle Đurišić with assistance from the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Milan Nedić Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the ...

, and Dimitrije Ljotić. It was formally a part of the Serbian Volunteer Corps. The Corps consisted of some of Đurišić's former troopers that were released from German captivity, but the majority were Chetniks that remained in Montenegro under the name of "national forces". Đurišić developed the force in

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and

Sandžak Sandžak (Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) is a historical and geo-political region in the Balkans, located in the southwestern part of Serbia and the eastern part of Montenegro. The Bosnian/ Serbian term ''Sandžak'' derives from the Sanjak of Novi Paza ...

and it consisted of between 7,000 and 8,000 men. Tomasevich (1975), p. 350 In April 1945, negotiations were launched between Đurišić,

Sekula Drljević Sekula Drljević ( sr-cyrl, Секула Дрљевић; 7 September 1884 – 10 November 1945) was a Montenegrin nationalism, Montenegrin nationalist, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav jurist, politician, orator, and theoretician. During Wo ...

, and the Ustaša for safe passage to German-occupied Slovenia and a safe-conduct agreement was formed. Tomasevich (1975), pp. 447-448 The details of the agreement are not known, but it appears Đurišić and his troops were meant to cross the Sava River into

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

where they would be aligned with Drljević as the " Montenegrin National Army" with Đurišić retaining operational command. Đurišić, however, along with some other Chetnik commanders, including Zaharije Ostojić and Petar Baćović, some political leaders, and a number of Orthodox priests were killed in apparent trap set by Drljević and the Ustaša. A small part of Đurišić's troops escaped and went west; however a larger part of them, left without a leader, were integrated into Drljević's forces and were dispatched towards the Austrian border. A portion of both groups were later caught by the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

in Slovenia. The majority of those who successfully crossed into Austria were returned by the Partisans to Slovenia, where, alongside other collaborationist forces, they met their doom in May. Of the entire force that began with Đurišić in Montenegro and other Chetniks that joined him for the trek less than a fourth survived.

Notes

References

* {{Factions in the Yugoslav Front Military units and formations of the Chetniks in World War II Montenegrin collaborators with Nazi Germany Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945