Vicko Krstulović (27 April 1905 – 28 September 1988) was a Croatian Yugoslav communist revolutionary, the most prominent Partisan military commander from Dalmatia during World War II, and a post-war communist politician. He was an illegal communist activist during the 1920s and 1930s in Split at a time when communist sympathizers were brutally persecuted by the Yugoslav monarchy. As an officer in the Partisans during World War II, he was in charge of creating and organising the resistance movement in Dalmatia. In Communist Yugoslavia, he worked in various government offices and was remembered for his work and contribution to his native Split.
Early years (1905–1918)
Vicko Krstulović was born on 27 April 1905 in Split during the former Austria-Hungary empire. He was born to a labour family. His father worked in the Split fields as an agriculturist. Vicko was introduced in politics thanks to his father who was a social democrat. His father was the first person to carry the red flag during the Labour Day parade in Split.
When his father was mobilised for World War I, Vicko was forced to carry on his work in the fields. His father returned from the war with an illness which prevented him from doing hard work. At that time, Vicko would hide people in his fields that escaped mobilisation for the war. Vicko like most Split residents supported the Kingdom of Serbia and was a fierce opponent of the Austria-Hungary empire which ruled Dalmatia with repression.
Communist revolutionary
Illegal political activism (1919–1937) After the war, Vicko expected much from the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes but it proved to be a disaster. In 1919, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia was founded and Vicko was attracted by its ideas. In 1920, after the Communists won a large number of the cities in the local elections, the government banned them from acting legally and they became a forbidden party.
At that time in 1920, Vicko became a member of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia. He worked as an illegal and was obligated to spread forbidden communist material around the city (mostly books). In 1922, he officially joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. He became a member of the Dalmatian communist committee where he helped organise secret meetings, welcome foreign communist activists to the city and hide them. He also helped in organising Trade unions.
In the 1930s, his house was under raid by the police, and he was arrested for dispatching illegal material. He was tortured and sentenced to prison. During that time, his mother died from illness after which he swore on her grave that he will avenge her.
Secretary of the Provincial committee of Communist party of Croatia for Dalmatia (1938–1941) During the 1930s, the head of the Dalmatian communists was called Jelaska. He used the communists party in the city for his own pleasure and was neglecting the organisation. Vicko argued that he didn't expand the activity to the Dalmatia hinterlands which would prove devastating in later years. In 1937, Vicko attended a meeting in Zagreb where the Communist Party of Croatia was established.
In 1939, Vicko was made the secretary of the Dalmatian communists. At the time, he was working at the Split shipyard. Vicko began organising the party and expanding it. He welcomed high-ranking members of the party such as Josip Broz Tito, Edvard Kardelj and Rade Končar. He organised labour strikes in Split and managed to strengthen the party.
In 1940, Vicko attended the 5th state conference of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia where the defence of Yugoslavia's independence and the mobilisation of the masses in the struggle to solve the internal social and national problems was discussed. Vicko was one of the organisers for the 1941 Tripartite Pact protests in Split. When the Invasion of Yugoslavia began, Vicko urged party members to join the army and fight against the fascists and collaborators. When it was clear that Yugoslavia was losing, the party members were told to hide as many weapons as possible for the upcoming armed guerilla resistance.
World War II
Organising the first partisan detachments (1941) After Yugoslavia lost the war, the Dalmatian coast along with Split was occupied by the Italian army. On 10 April 1941, the German puppet state and Italian protectorate called Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was established in Zagreb. Soon after, Vicko Krstulović went to Zagreb for a meeting where the communist party planned an armed resistance. Since Vicko was the Dalmatian committee secretary, he was obligated to prepare and lead the resistance in Dalmatia. He was given only a few months to prepare.
Vicko expressed his concerns. He believed that it was impossible to prepare in such a low amount of time, but he was forced to do so. In August 1941, a few partisan detachments were sent from Dalmatian cities with the most notable one being the 1st Split Partisan Detachment which was made of 44 fighters. They went from Split to the Dalmatian hinterlands. Their goal was to reach the Dinara mountains and connect with the resistance movement in Bosnia. The detachment was quickly spotted by the Ustaše militia and Italian army and engaged in combat. After a few hours of fighting, they were outnumbered by the Italian and Ustaše forces and were forced to surrender. 25 fighters were captured, and 13 fighters escaped back to Split. The 24 partisan prisoners were sentenced to death by NDH court in Sinj and executed by the Italians and Ustashe on 26 August 1941 at Ruduša near Sinj.
The rest of the partisan detachments that went from Dalmatia also failed. Most of them were forced to retreat from the hinterlands. Vicko Krstulović later received a letter from the Central Committee for Communist Party of Croatia where he was blamed for the failure of those actions, but he replied that it was their fault. The Central committee for Communist party of Croatia sent Rade Končar to help Krstulović organise another attempt of reaching the Dinara mountains.
Commander of the Dalmatian partisan units (1941–1943) In November 1941, Vicko managed to reach the Dinara mountains and he became the commander of the Dinara partisan detachment. That meant that all of the partisan units in Dalmatia were gradually coming under his command. The partisans in Dalmatia fought mostly against the Italian army, Ustaše militia, Croatian Home Guard and the Chetniks. They used guerrilla warfare. At first, they would use road ambushes against enemy vehicles and steal as many weapons and ammo as possible. They also attacked Ustaše guard posts in small villages. In 1942, the area around Muć was the first major liberated territory in Dalmatia. Vicko Krstulović became the commander of the 4th operational zone of Supreme HQ of Croatia in April 1942. The 4th zone was the entire territory of Dalmatia west from river Neretva.
He also started creating national liberation committees in various liberated villages. They were created for the purpose of installing the new partisan government. He also worked hard on ensuring the arrival of new partisan recruits from the coastal areas and islands of Dalmatia.
Vicko also helped the local resistance movement in Herzegovina called Starac Vujadin. They were Serb fighters who were under the threat of the Ustaše militia and Home guard. Vicko knew there was a danger of them joining the Chetniks, so he tried to keep them with the partisans. Vicko knew the importance Serbian settlers in Dalmatia at that time because they made more than half of the Dalmatian partisans. The Serbs were under the constant threat from the Ustaše government, and the Italians knew that so they would send them to Split as refugees and then they would be mobilised in the Chetniks who were allies with the Italian army. Vicko helped organise the partisan resistance in Bukovica which was near the Chetnik-Italian controlled area of Kninska Krajina.
In July 1942, Vicko went to the mountain Cincar to attend a meeting with the Supreme HQ of the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia and the commander in chief, Josip Broz Tito. Vicko was given orders to create partisan brigades for the upcoming actions. In August 1942, he joined the liberation of Livno in Bosnia. There he created a Dalmatian liberation committee which would ensure better connections with the other committee branches in Dalmatia.
By the end of 1942 and beginning of 1943, there were 5 new brigades created in Dalmatia. On 13 February 1943 in Imotski, the 3rd, 4th and 5th Dalmatian brigade merged into the 9th Dalmatian Division under the leadership of Vicko Krstulović.
Battle for the Wounded (February–April 1943) In the beginning of 1943, the Germans launched the Fourth Enemy Offensive. Their goal was to surround and destroy the partisan forces in western Bosnia and in other parts of Independent State of Croatia. Josip Broz Tito along with the Supreme HQ decided to evacuate the entire area and cross the Neretva river. They were meant to reach Montenegro.
Vicko Krstulović and the 9th Dalmatian division were given a hard task to protect the flanks facing Jablanica and Neretva from the difficult and craggy terrain of Imotski and Biokovo. The division faced heavy attacks from the Germans, Italians, Ustashe and Chetniks. The enemy used heavy aviation, tanks and artillery which gradually forced all 3 partisan brigades to slowly retreat to the right shore of the Neretva River.
While the 9th division was under critical pressure from the enemy and forced to stay in the hills above Neretva, they were still obligated by the orders of Tito and the HQ to take and move the Central hospital and heavy wounded through the mountain terrain of Dinara, Bikovo, Kamešnica and Dalmatia. Vicko refused to accept those orders because he knew they were impossible and suicidal.
After a meeting with the 9th division command, he went to see Tito in the village of Gračanica. He was determined that the only way to save the wounded was to cross the Neretva River on the right shore and go to Montenegro. After hours of talking, Vicko was allowed to continue his plan. He crossed the river with the 9th division and the Central hospital. They moved through the mountain range of Prenj and territory of Glavatičevo to the Boračko Lake. The fighters and wounded suffered from Typhoid fever, Hypothermia and Starvation. The 9th division ended their 2-month long campaign with the liberation of the town Nevesinje.
On 14 April 1943, the 9th Dalmatian division was disbanded in the Kifino village due to a big number of wounded and deceased fighters. The order was given by Tito and the Supreme HQ. Vicko believed that it was a big mistake to disband the division. He thought that it was a conspiracy against the Dalmatian partisans.
Battle of the Sutjeska (May–June 1943) After the 9th division was disbanded, Vicko joined the Supreme HQ and Tito. The entire Yugoslav liberation army was heading to cross the Sutjeska river. The Axis rallied 127,000 land troops and 300 aeroplanes for the Fifth Enemy Offensive. Their goal was to eliminate Tito and central partisan forces.
Vicko and the Supreme HQ went through the Durmitor massive between the Tara and Piva rivers in the mountainous areas of northern Montenegro. Vicko travelled with his family and with the famous poet Vladimir Nazor. They faced heavy fog and slippery terrain in the mountains. The area was Chetnik controlled, and food supply was extremely low. In the early morning, they managed to cross the Sutjeska river under heavy rain and German mortar shelling. When the weather cleared that day, German aviation started advancing.