''Spremnost'' was a weekly

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

of the Ustaše movement with articles about many topics like politics, war, economy and culture. It was published in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

from early 1942 to the collapse of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

in May 1945. Its publication was restarted in 1957 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

by , a former

Ustaše Youth The Ustaše Youth (, ) was the youth wing of the Ustaše, a Croats, Croatian fascist organization active during the interwar period and World War II. The Ustaše governed an Axis powers, Axis puppet state called the Independent State of Croatia (, ...

member who had fled to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1950. Publication of the magazine ceased in 2007.

Founding and breakdown

Since the establishment of the

the leading Croatian dailies, have become; ' and ', the leading ideological weekly newspaper of general type was ''Spremnost''. Other newspapers that are coming out then were; weekly humorous magazine ', newspapers ', ', ', ', ''

Hrvatska revija ''Hrvatska revija'' ( or HR) is a Croatian quarterly published by Matica hrvatska (MH) based in Zagreb. History and profile The magazine's original run lasted between 1928 and 1945 when it was published by MH and during which it became a renowned ...

'' and ''

Vijenac ''Vijenac'' ( English: '' The Wreath'') is a biweekly magazine for literature, art and science, established in December 1993 and published by ''Matica hrvatska'', the central national cultural institution in Croatia. Historical background The ...

''. Newsmagazine ''Spremnost'' was initiated only when the Ustaša regime mastered the methods of total control of the press. The initiator and main organizer was and chief editor was Tias Mortigjija (until 1944). In addition with Mortigjija and Bogdan, the magazine regularly published articles on politics by , Savić Štedimlija and

Ante Ciliga Ante Ciliga (20 February 1898 – 21 October 1992) was a Croatian politician, writer and publisher. Ciliga was one of the earliest leaders of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ). Imprisoned in Stalin's Gulags in the 1930s as part of the Grea ...

(since 1943). Magdić was responsible for the critique of

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism () is a communist ideology that became the largest faction of the History of communism, communist movement in the world in the years following the October Revolution. It was the predominant ideology of most communist gov ...

, Štedimlija was some kind of specialist in

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

issues, especially for the ''

Chetnik movement 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 Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist movement and guerrilla ...

'', and Ciliga wrote about the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(where he had lived from October 1926 to December 1935). Other important collaborators were

Ljubomir Maraković Ljubomir Maraković (Topusko, June 17, 1887 – Zagreb, February 22, 1959) was a Croatian literary critic and historian, and one of the leaders of the Croatian Catholic movement. He was the first editor of the literary magazine ''Luč'' and for ...

(literature), , Radoslav Glavaš, ,

Antun Barac Antun Barac (20 August 1894 – 1 November 1955), was a Croatian historian. Biography Barac was born in Kamenjak, a hamlet near Grižane. He graduated at the Faculty of philosophy at the University of Zagreb in 1917, and received his Ph.D. ...

and . Overall ''Spremnost'' was a typical puppet news magazine of this time with a strong nationalistic note; it defended the policy of its

sponsors Sponsor or sponsorship may refer to a person or organization with some role (especially one of responsibility) regarding another person or organisation: *Sponsor (commercial), supporter of an event, activity, or person *Sponsor (legislative), a per ...

, and critical writing about politics of

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

tried to show his politics as disastrous for Europe. Allies are generally portrayed as unnatural interest coalition of ''

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

''. Thus, to illustrate the ''Spremnost'' published on 13 September 1942. Ivo Bogdan article that says that the

must resist »the Jews, freemasons, communists«, as internal enemies, with »courage, determination and political foresight«. Even when it was clear that the Axis powers have lost the war - the Allied successes were depicted in an entirely different light, or are completely minimized. In this light is described

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

- as a completely insignificant event, which does not have any military significance in relation to the main east front. The editor of the Australian publication, Fabijan Lovoković, was a founder and leading figure of the far-right Ustasĕ

Croatian Liberation Movement The Croatian Liberation Movement (, HOP; ) is a minor far-right political party founded in 1956 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by Ante Pavelić, poglavnik of the Independent State of Croatia and its ruling party Ustashe – Croatian Revolutionary Mo ...

(, HOP) branch in Australia. This group is regarded as being responsible for many terrorist acts in the post-WW2 era.

Literature

*Macan, Trpimir, Bogišić, Vlaho i drugi: ''Spremnost : 1942-1945'', Zagreb : Matica hrvatska, 1998 godina,

References

{{Reflist Fascist magazines Croatian-language magazines Defunct magazines published in Yugoslavia Magazines established in 1942 Magazines disestablished in 1945 Mass media in Zagreb News magazines published in Europe Weekly magazines