The article demonstrates why and how the state authorities of the Republic of Slovenia included the members of the internal affairs bodies into the formation of the clandestine defence forces in the summer of 1990. After the confiscation of weapons from the Territorial Defence in May 1990, the Militia remained the most functional armed force under the republican jurisdiction, and it was also envisioned for military police operations. Therefore the Militia was integrated – together with selected members of the Territorial Defence – into a legal National Defence as its manoeuvre structure.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2883700
The author builds on the thesis that in 1990 the National Defence, operating and established at the level of the republic, was covered in the legal and organisational sense in what was then the Total National Defence and Social Self Protection Act. However, in the functional sense the National Defence was the result of the formation of the military part of the defence system under the control of the new Slovenian authorities and an implementation of the concept of defence or armed forces. The main goal of this concept was to organise units and structures which would provide the nascent Slovenian state with military defence functions. To this end the organisers relied on the capabilities of the Territorial defence, answering to the republican leadership, as well as on those militia units which had been equipped and trained in a semi military manner. In this regard the Manoeuvre Structure of the National Defence is certainly a paradoxical term, as in principle the National Defence was a local or stationary rather than manoeuvre force.
COBISS.SI-ID: 30310749
The author presented the formation of the clandestine organisational network of the Manoeuvre Structure of National Defence – a temporary defence force of the Republic of Slovenia – in the Slovenian territory. The existing organisational forms of the internal affairs bodies administrations and Militia stations were used for this purpose. Until the end of September 1990 a secret network was established, which included a considerable percentage of the militia members (about 9000 members), who set up hidden weapon repositories, took part in the secret distribution of weapons, and kept the registers of the recruits.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2883956