This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Joy (talk | contribs) at 19:56, 23 April 2004 (less biased verbiage, a few bits of earlier info, some copyedit). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 19:56, 23 April 2004 by Joy (talk | contribs) (less biased verbiage, a few bits of earlier info, some copyedit)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Ante Pavelić (July 14, 1889 - December 28, 1959) was the leader and founding member of the Croat Ustashi movement in the 1930s and later the leader of the Independent State of Croatia.
Pavelić was the party secretary of the Croatian Party of Rights until 1929 and the beginning of royal dictatorship in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He then co-founded the Ustaše and went underground until the beginning of World War II. In 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded and he became the leader (poglavnik) of the Independent State of Croatia.
In 1945 he fled to South America via the rat lines. Upon arriving in Argentina, he became security advisor to Juan Peron. Peron issued 34,000 visas to Croatian anti-communists and their families, fleeing from Communism imposed by Tito.
In April 1957 he was shot twice in an assassination attempt. He was subsequently forced to flee Argentina to avoid arrest and extradition, and he found refuge in Spain, where he died in Madrid in late 1959.