LAUSR

The paper presents the state of railway traffic in the coastal belt of the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) and the railway lines that connected that area with Zagreb and the rest of the NDH. These lines were the Zagreb–Rijeka (Fiume) line, the Lika line from Zagreb to Split, and the Bosnian narrow gauge line from Brod na Savi via Sarajevo to Mostar and Dubrovnik. In early September 1941, the Italian army took over command of the civilian and military NDH authorities in the coastal zone, and accordingly over the rail lines in that area. Relations between the NDH and Kingdom of Italy were formally those of close alliance and cooperation. In reality, however, the fact that the Italians annexed certain parts of Croatian coastal territory in May 1941 as well as the Italian occupation of the coastal zone caused mutual distrust and disagreements between the Italians and the NDH regime. Such relations were also visible in the railway traffic, where Italians often assumed command and control without consulting the Croatian State Railways. Already during late 1941, the Partisan movement directed its attacks on railway communications. Partisans committed hundreds of attacks on railway and trains, and soon traffic was heavily disrupted and limited on all railway lines connecting the coastal belt with Zagreb and the hinterland. In early 1943, Italian troops withdrew from Lika, and Partisans quickly took control over that region. After that, the Lika railway from Zagreb to Dalmatia was cut, and it did not become operational until after the war. After the Italian armistice with the Allies and the disintegration of Italian troops in the NDH and areas annexed in 1941, the Zagreb–Rijeka line was also cut. Only the Bosnian narrow gauge line remained operational as a link between the coastal parts of the NDH and its hinterland. In fact, because of the attacks on other railway lines, already from late 1941 the NDH authorities were redirecting the traffic to the Zagreb–Rijeka line (or Zagreb–Ljubljana–Rijeka line), and transports that arrived to Rijeka were then shipped by sea to ports in the Croatian Littoral and Dalmatia.