Patriotic League (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Patriotic League
Patriotska Liga BiH
Active1991–1992 (became part of the ARBiH)
DisbandedIncorporated into the ARBiH
Country Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
TypeParamilitary organization
Size98,000 (March 1992)
Garrison/HQSarajevo, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
MottosDušman crni mora znati, Bosna nikad neće pasti! (English: Every enemy needs to know, Bosnia will never fall!)
Engagements
Commanders
CommanderSefer Halilović

The Patriotic League (Bosnian: Patriotska Liga) was a Bosnian paramilitary organization formed in 1991 during the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was initially organized outside the Yugoslav People's Army and was later incorporated into the Territorial Defence Force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (TORBiH), which became the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[1]

History

On 19 December 1990, Alija Izetbegović and the officials of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) discussed forming a military organization separate from the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). In March 1991 Sefer Halilović organized the Patriotic League (Patriotska Liga - PL) as an independent Bosnian defence structure, using the same territorial organization as Territorial Defense Forces (TO) system. The Patriotic League was later connected to the TORBiH and, after the outbreak of the war, incorporated into the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2]

Training

This occurred in the context of the former Yugoslav defence system, where military organization was not starting from zero: Yugoslavia's doctrine of Total National Defence relied on the JNA, republican Territorial Defence forces and large numbers of citizen-soldiers and reservists.

According to Nigel Thomas and Krunoslav Mikulan, the Patriotic League personnel received training at Croatian Special Police centres. By March 1992, the organization claimed 98,000 trained troops, organized in nine regions and 103 pre-war Opština (municipalities). Thomas and Mikulan describe the later Bosnian government forces as locally organized, hastily assembled and severely under-armed, with many units below paper strength.[1][3]

The PL's early organization also drew on former JNA personnel. Sefer Halilović, who organized the PL, had been a professional JNA officer and held the rank of major before leaving the JNA in September 1991.[2]

Notable Units

References

  1. 1 2 "Osnovana Patriotska liga BiH". www.historija.ba.
  2. 1 2 "Sefer Halilovic - Judgement". www.icty.org. Retrieved 2026-05-20.
  3. ↑ Thomas, Nigel; Mikulan, K. (2013-02-20). The Yugoslav Wars (2): Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia 1992–2001. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 1977–1983. ISBN 978-1-4728-0196-8.
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